More fun with Danish: International Edition

One of the continuing, unpredictable pleasures of living abroad is watching the Danish translation services try to keep up with American television programs. They particularly struggle with sitcoms that specialize in wordplay and puns. Mostly, they do a pretty good job, but every once in a while, they do something that makes me wonder if these people actually know anything about this mythical place known as "America." Here are three of my favorite mistranslations:

On _Scrubs_ one of the characters was moving into a new apartment and her friends were helping her move her things. There was a long line of people handing things into a truck and naming them as they went. A character handed up a tacklebox, said "Tacklebox," and the Danish translators translated that as "Box of tacos." Makes sense: you're moving, and hungry, so why not bring a box of tacos?

On _The Gilmore Girls_ (which has become a favorite of mine, rumors that I have a crush on Rory notwithstanding), two characters were vying for the position of town troubador. One character, arguing that troubadors need to be mysterious and elusive, attempted to demonstrate the mundanity and therefore unworthiness of his competitor by asking what he did for a living. He answered, "I manage a Kinko's." Translation in Danish: "I manage a sex club." Evidently, in Denmark, that is a very pedestrian thing to do.

My favorite came just last night, and again on _Scrubs_. As a sidenote, I feel sorry for the translator of this program. It's based largely on puns, abstract silliness, cultural tropes, and slang, so it must be driving the translator crazy. Still, if the person had ever, I don't know, been to America, a lot of this could be avoided. Anyway, last night the mentor figure on the series, Dr. Cox, was lecturing his students about taking responsibility for themselves and medical standards. He asked the rhetorical question, "Why do I care whether you pay attention to my lectures or not?" Answer: "Because I'm accountable. I'm accountable to our patients and to this hospital..." Translation: "Because I'm a cannibal. I'm a cannibal..." I didn't catch anything after that for several minutes because I was laughing until snot threatened to shoot out of my nose. It's a wonderful idea: faced with two translation possibilities, the translator decided that the reason Dr. Cox cares about hospital standards is because he wants to eat his patients.