Ponytails confession

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Florin
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Ponytails confession

Post by Florin »

Just wondering which one is more correct. In anime and Strato translation, it's "ponytails turn me on", and in BT translation it's "I really like you in a ponytail". Latter seems more logical thing to say, but given Kyon's situation, logic can go flying out of the window. What was that key phrase really about?
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Smidge204
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Post by Smidge204 »

It's worth noting that Strato did the translation for the anime, which is why they're identical.


The line from the novel is:
俺、実はポニーテール萌《も》えなんだ
Which would be: "おれ じつは ポニーテール もえる" (ore jitsuha PONITERU moeru) -> "I, as a matter of fact, feel ponytails are moe." (Best translation I could come up with)

"Actually, ponytails turn me on." would be closer to the intent, IMHO.

=Smidge=
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quigonkenny
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Post by quigonkenny »

Smidge204 wrote:The line from the novel is:
俺、実はポニーテール萌《も》えなんだ
Which would be: "おれ じつは ポニーテール もえる" (ore jitsuha PONITERU moeru) -> "I, as a matter of fact, feel ponytails are moe." (Best translation I could come up with)
Looks like the anime slightly changed the line. In the anime, it sounds like Kyon actually says "Ore jitsuha poniteru moe nanda." I don't know a lot about Japanese grammar, but doesn't that change it to a question? More like "Actually, did you know that I feel ponytails are moe?" Still means the same thing, of course.
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magus
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Post by magus »

Necromancy FTW...... It mean's "I'm moe for ponytails." :3
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duncan
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Post by duncan »

quigonkenny wrote:
Smidge204 wrote:The line from the novel is: Which would be: "おれ じつは ポニーテール もえる" (ore jitsuha PONITERU moeru) -> "I, as a matter of fact, feel ponytails are moe." (Best translation I could come up with)
Looks like the anime slightly changed the line. In the anime, it sounds like Kyon actually says "Ore jitsuha poniteru moe nanda." I don't know a lot about Japanese grammar, but doesn't that change it to a question? More like "Actually, did you know that I feel ponytails are moe?" Still means the same thing, of course.
No, but it's easy to get confused by this. "nanda" can be short for more than one thing, which is why it's confusing. It can be short for "nani da" (though in practice the contraction is always used) which is in fact a question. If you watch a lot of anime you'll hear "Nanda, korya" pretty often, which basically means "What the hell is that?" That phrase is not quite as common in real-world day to day life, mainly because giant alien mecha are less likely to suddenly appear at the top of Tokyo Tower in real life than in anime, but it's still worth knowing, just in case ;).

In this case "nanda" is short for "na no da", which is not a question. The scary thing here is that the "na" and the "da" in that phrase are actually the same word. When "da" gets used before the particle "no" it is pronounced "na". The "no", in this case, is what is often called the explanatory no. In this case the phrase is used to soften the tone of the sentence. It's like the difference between saying "Ponytails are hot" and saying "I think ponytails are hot." He further softens it by using "jitsu ha", which basically gives you something like "Actually, I think ponytails are hot." That would be a good translation of the sentence if "hot" were a good translation of "moe." Unfortunately "moe" is hard to pin down even in Japanese, and has no exact equivalent in English, so it's pretty subjective. I can see why someone would render that as "I like you in ponytails", even if that is not very literally accurate. I think I would choose "Actually, I think ponytails are cute", but it depends on the context.

By the way I tried to post something like this yesterday, but failed to realize I wasn't logged in (in my defense it was my first post here, so I didn't really understand the anonymous comment system.) If a mod sees this you can just toss what I posted as anon. Thanks, and sorry for the trouble.

Guest post deleted, no problem. - TGM

OK, thanks- sorry for the trouble- I hadn't seen that it had been posted when I submitted this, or I wouldn't have submitted it. I should have had more faith ;). Sorry for the trouble.
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