A few months ago my good pal japecake wrote a hilarious post about using Google Translator to screw up the lyrics of popular songs. Then recently my friend Nostra wrote a post about film titles getting lost in translation, so I decided to do a little something of my own. I’ve come up some well-known quotes/lines from films, and I’ve thrown them through Google Translator to translate them through a ton of different languages and then back to English again, to see what the result was. Here’s what I got:
“I know it was you, Fredo. You broke my heart.” – The Godfather Part II translated into:
“I know you, Fredo. You hurt my heart.”
“You don’t understand! I coulda had class. I coulda been a contender. I could’ve been somebody, instead of a bum, which is what I am.” – On the Waterfront translated into:
“I do not understand! I class. I would like the candidate. This is what I someone, instead of the anus, it can be.”
“Here’s looking at you, kid!” – Casablanca translated into:
“Here’s a look at my son.”
“A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice Chianti.” – The Silence of the Lambs translated into:
“Inventory, once tried to test. I ate his liver with red beans and fine wine.”
“Badges? We ain’t got no badges! We don’t need no badges! I don’t have to show you any stinking badges!” – The Treasure of the Sierra Madre translated into:
“Plate, we did not have badges! We do not need a personality? I could not see the stinking badges!”
“Mama always said life was like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re gonna get.” – Forrest Gump translated into:
“Mother always said life was a box of chocolates. You do not know what you eat.”
“You’ve got to ask yourself one question: ‘Do I feel lucky?’ Well, do ya, punk?” – Dirty Harry translated into:
“You should ask yourself a question: You’re an idiot, well, ‘I feel happy?’”
“Gentlemen, you can’t fight in here! This is the War Room!” – Dr. Strangelove translated into:
“Gentlemen, you can fight here. This is the number of war!”
“Cinderella story. Outta nowhere. A former greenskeeper, now, about to become the Masters champion. It looks like a mirac…It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole! It’s in the hole!” – Caddyshack translated into:
“A Cinderella story. From nothing. Greenkeeper, former Masters champion. It’s like… Hole! This hole! This hole!”
“Listen to me, mister. You’re my knight in shining armor. Don’t you forget it. You’re going to get back on that horse, and I’m going to be right behind you, holding on tight, and away we’re gonna go, go, go!” – On Golden Pond translated into:
“Please listen to my Lord. You’re my knight in shining armor. Do not forget. To return the horses, and I’ll be all over you, come on, come on!”
“In Italy for thirty years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, bloodshed – they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love, fire hundred years of democracy and peace and what did that produce…? The cuckoo clock.” – The Third Man translated into:
“Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and the Renaissance of production – in Italy for 30 years at Borgia, this is war, terrorism, murder, there was blood. In Switzerland, as the brother of love, 500 years of democracy and peace, and… happened? Cuckoo!”
“Mr Kane was a man who got everything he wanted, and then lost it. Maybe Rosebud was something he couldn’t get or something he lost. Anyway, it wouldn’t have explained anything. I don’t think any word can explain a man’s life. No, I guess Rosebud is just a piece in a jigsaw puzzle, a missing piece.” – Citizen Kane translated into:
“Kane was a man, and I would like all is lost. Maybe Rosebud, but lost it was something I could do whatever I can. In any case, it explains nothing. If I can explain what a word I do not think that a human life. No, I only have one piece of the puzzle, I think the missing piece of the eye.”
“Don’t knock masturbation. It’s sex with someone I love.” – Annie Hall translated into:
“Please do not beat off sex and masturbation, I liked it.”
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There. Those are some pretty strange translations of famous film quotes. Hope you enjoyed them. Try it yourself at home with some other film quotes, simply by translating them through a feed of several different languages (the more the better) then back into English again, and see what you get. In the meantime, leave a comment below with what you thought of these.