toe-may-toe, tow-mah-toe

Feb 16, 2020 23:18

I'm listening to 'The Last Wish', the first book in The Witcher series ( Read more... )

currently_reading, reading, books, witcher

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Comments 9

rogueslayer452 February 17 2020, 04:32:41 UTC
I heard about this, and I didn't doubt it was true, but it makes me wonder why they didn't have his name be "Dandelion" on the show.

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beccadg February 17 2020, 16:18:13 UTC
...it makes me wonder why they didn't have his name be "Dandelion" on the show.

My guess, when I learned about the whole "Jaskier translates to Buttercup, but the book and game translators called him Dandelion" situation, was that the show team preferred using the Polish version of his name to using a different kind of flower from Buttercup.

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hamsterwoman February 17 2020, 04:40:06 UTC
My understanding is that Jaskier (the actual Polish name in the original books) is "buttercup" rather than "dandelion". I am guessing the English translators decided "Buttercup" was either too girly or too likely to make fantasy fans think of The Princess Bride.

But regardless, "Dan-DILL-ee-On" is such a bizarre choice!

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beccadg February 17 2020, 15:48:38 UTC
I am guessing the English translators decided "Buttercup" was either too girly or too likely to make fantasy fans think of The Princess Bride.

As soon as I heard "Jaskier" is "Buttercup" I just assumed they didn't use Buttercup in English because they knew I wouldn't be able to keep Princess Buttercup from popping into my head every time someone spoke to him. :D

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hamsterwoman February 17 2020, 19:00:00 UTC
Heh (also, perfect icon :D)

But, yeah, I think given how formative The Princess Bride is to a lot of the same demographic who would watch(/play/read) The Witcher, I think there was probably something to that decision.

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beccadg February 20 2020, 01:22:31 UTC
Heh (also, perfect icon :D)

Thanks! Think I've had the icon almost as long as the journal which would be more than 15 years. ;-)

But, yeah, I think given how formative The Princess Bride is to a lot of the same demographic who would watch(/play/read) The Witcher, I think there was probably something to that decision.

Yeah, with the feeling it was natural for them to use something other than "Buttercup" for his name, I'm actually kind of impressed by their sticking with a flower name either by switching to Dandelion or by using the Polish. I mean if they were really worried about the "girliness" of the name they could've gone with something more "butch" than just another flower name.

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beccadg February 17 2020, 16:03:43 UTC
Because in the game, he is definitely called "Dandelion", pronounced just like the flower.

Makes sense. I haven't tried a game yet or read a book, but when I learned about how Jaskier is Buttercup in Polish I understood the translators going with Dandelion instead of Buttercup. It's still a common yellow flower, but it doesn't immediately make me think of Princess Buttercup.

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elizalavelle February 17 2020, 16:04:12 UTC
Are you liking the book series? I'm intrigued but haven't got into the show at all.

Maybe the narrator had never seen the word dandelion before in print? Or thought it was meant to be a high fantasy word and just went with it? Wild.

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chocolate_frapp February 17 2020, 16:10:21 UTC
There's a really dumb horror movie they made fun of on MST3K and the 'heroine' (I put it in quotes because she's supposed to be the heroine but she's the dullest character in the movie and doesn't do anything brave) is named Nina but it's pronounced NINE-uh instead of NEEN-uh for some reason.

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