: Re: Can non-English-speaking characters use wordplay specific to English? Would it be jarring if in an original (non-translated) story, the characters, who don't speak English in-universe, use "untranslatable"

Yes, this is part of the translation convention

People tend to think of translation as a word-to-word equivalency, but it isn't. Different languages have different grammars, and each language words for concepts that can't be clearly defined in other languages. Translation is about communicating meaning and intention, and wordplay can be a vital part of that.

Part of the translation convention is to assume that an English language pun is replacing a roughly equivalent pun in the native language.

You can see this in good translations of existing novels, where puns in one language will be transformed int similar, but different puns in the new language. TvTropes calls these transformations Woolseyisms (Although Woolseyisms go beyond just puns). You won't find them universally, because translating is hard, but there are some good examples there.

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: Re: Can non-English-speaking characters use wordplay specific to English? Would it be jarring if in an original (non-translated) story, the characters, who don't speak English in-universe, use "untranslatable"

More posts by @Pierce369

: What weight should be given to writers groups critiques? I joined a writers group that meets every three weeks. I submitted the first eighteen pages of my work and also sent the same file

: How do I write a "take action" scene for a play? Here is what I mean. My character- Violet- started the play with a lofty attitude, but now her pride has been broken by her mother's death

: How to write a convincing religious myth? In my story the protagonist hears, in a temple ceremony, the reading of a religious/mythological text. Now in the actual story, I don't need the text

: Do modern fiction writers adapt their style to the 21st century reader? With shortening attention spans and the way we consume content nowadays, is there any shift in the way modern fiction

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