Who knocketh without
от Hyperboreus, 5 апреля 2012 г.
Сообщений: 13
Язык: English
Hyperboreus (Показать профиль) 5 апреля 2012 г., 16:44:05
ludomastro (Показать профиль) 5 апреля 2012 г., 18:38:53
But even then, it is simply an odd phrase to me.
Bruso (Показать профиль) 5 апреля 2012 г., 19:15:05
ludomastro:For some meanings, yes, "without" could be considered as "ekstere."It's an archaism. Probably few English-speakers would use or even understand it in that sense these days.
But even then, it is simply an odd phrase to me.
(That's why it's humorous in the play.)
sudanglo (Показать профиль) 5 апреля 2012 г., 19:27:16
Hyperboreus (Показать профиль) 5 апреля 2012 г., 23:39:18
vejktoro (Показать профиль) 5 апреля 2012 г., 23:50:22
Hyperboreus:OK, then indeed the joke of these lines is something like:"Who's knocking outside?"
- "Kio frapas ekstere?"
= "Sen kio?"
- "Ekstere de la pordo"
Or did I get it wrong?
"Without what?"
"Without the door."
.......
Hahaha
vejktoro (Показать профиль) 6 апреля 2012 г., 0:00:33
in a the-author-tries-to-sound-Shakespearian-but-not-so-smart kinda way.
"Stay in for it storms without."
"Who knocks outside?" sounds stranger then "who is knocking outside."
So the reader already knows the author is being silly by the time we get to "without"
Hyperboreus (Показать профиль) 6 апреля 2012 г., 0:09:09
RiotNrrd (Показать профиль) 6 апреля 2012 г., 1:04:16
The joke is very well constructed. But that's how Pratchett rolls.
Donniedillon (Показать профиль) 6 апреля 2012 г., 2:56:20
The joke is very well constructed. But that's how Pratchett rolls.Right on. Love me some Pratchett

I think that puns are extremely difficult to translate well. They rely on rhymes and double meanings of words which when translated may no longer rhyme or have double meanings. They are very language specific jokes. This is why so much humor is "lost in translation", which a a bit of a pun itself.