Argentina v Brazil Translates To The Air Waves

January 6th, 2009 | by: chris | View Comments

Our tips hotline (1-800-HOT-TIPS) received a great email today from Scott J on the spilling over of the Argentina-Brazil war of South American football, giving us a clear cut message as to its prominence: it knows no bounds.

Scott, in Argentina, is watching Conan O’Brien (American talk show host who is the bastard love child of Tarja Halonen & Gheorghe Muresan) which is broadcast in English and subtitled in Spanish. Then the subject of Pele comes up. This can only go well.

The interview with Judah Friedlander (comedian type) swings the topic of convo to soccer and this is what transpires in spoken English:

J.F. – Do you know who Pelé is?

C.O’B. – Sure, he’s the greatest soccer player of all time.

J.F. – Yeah, he’s my father

He’s not but…..wait a second, don’t quote me on that.

And the corresponding translation into Spanish Argentine:

J.F. – Conoces a Pelé?

C.O’B. – Claro, es uno de los mejores jugadores de todos los tiempos.

J.F. – Sí. Es mi padre.

Magically, Pele goes from the greatest player in spoken English to one of the greatest players post-translation.

Good to know subtitling in Argentina is subjective. Amazing how such a subtle tweak within one simple sentence can define a major part of an entire continent’s culture.