Difference between revisions of "User:FoxHound/PortugueseWA"

Revision as of 17:45, 5 January 2017

I'm creating this page to make my considerations about W:A portuguese translations.

There are some weapons and other words I consider wrong translations or at least not-so-good ones. Some of them are quite funny, though. I don't think it is really necessary to change the portuguese translations of the game and if this happens some people might not like to see different weapons names, I don't know how people would react. Also, my considerations may not be agreed by all portuguese speakers and may be only correct in Brazil's portuguese.

In-Game weapon names (in weapon panel)

1. The Sheep translation is "Carneiro". I think this would mean "Ram" in english and the Sheep of the game doesn't have horns, so it seems to be an "Ewe" = "Ovelha" in portuguese. The same thing goes for Super or Aqua Sheep.
2. When we brazilians see the Skunk in game which is a stinky animal we think in another stinky animal (because it is more common in our fauna than the skunk) called "Gambá" by people from South or Southeast regions or "Timbu" by people from Northeast region (which is called "Opossum" or "Possum" in english). One of the most common opossums in Brazil is Didelphis albiventris which is probably the species that come in mind when we see a stinky animal (just to ilustrate better, this species of opossum appears in a very big area in Brazil, and it is common to see it in cities, actually I've seen many inside my garden and I already took care of one. Many people confuse opossum with a rat, since they found them in the garbage, eating the dog food, etc). Opossum is an animal which came from Gondwana supercontinent and it is a typical animal from South America. When North America joined South America in the Great American Interchange some opossums migrated to North America, but very few survived there so that there is only one species there (Didelphis virginiana). However, the Skunk is very different from an opossum, they are from different Orders. Opossum is a type of marsupial from the family Didelphidae, while the Skunk is a mustelid from the family Mephitidae (they are way different, but both stinks and have similar size). After all this explanation, translation "Doninha fedorenta" is probably right (Doninha is like a Weasel and Doninha-fedorenta is the Skunk), another option would be "Cangambá" (it refers correctly to a skunk too).In my research, it seems there is a brazilian animal that can fit in the Skunk group, it is very similar to the typical north americans and it is similar to the in-game one. It is called here "Jaritataca" (Conepatus semistriatus). However, it is not very common to see a skunk in Brazil as an opossum is and it is one of the few species of skunk of our fauna. I'm not sure, but I believe and it is very likely that skunks came from Laurasia supercontinent, they probably migrated to south america after the Great American Interchange, that's why only one genus of skunk is found in South America, Conepatus, the one who represents hog-nosed skunks.
3. Teleport is translated as "Teleporto" (this "o" at the end seems to be Portugal-like portuguese), in Brazil, "Teleporte" ("e" at the end) could be a translation, but I think "Teletransporte" would be the best translation.
4. Baseball Bat is translated as "Bastão de Basebol" while in menu. It is not a wrong translation, but nobody says "bastão de basebol", everybody say "Taco de Beisebol" (at least in Brazil). However the In-game weapon panel is with "Taco" only.
5. Old Woman is translated as "Mulher", Mulher means "Woman". Come on she is OLD! So, the translation could be "Senhora de idade" (a respectful way to say Old Woman, or "Idosa" (which is used mainly in bus exclusive seats for old people, I mean, it is used in legislation and formal stuff), or the best one in my opinion: "Velha" (this may sound a bit offensive, since it is a vulgar/common word, but I think that's exactly what fits in the game mood/humor and we would offend only a WA weapon xD).
6. The Homing Missile is translated just as "Míssil" wich is just "Missile". It is complicated to translate "Homing", so just Missile is fine. However, I think "Míssil guiado" (Guided missile) would be a good option, or "Míssil Teleguiado" (a missile guided externally) which is the way I like to call it.
7. Petrol Bomb has a sinonym in english that is "Molotov cocktail" which is "Coquetel Molotov" in portuguese, although, the game translation is just "Molotov".
8. Cluster Bomb is translated as "Frag". I have no idea what "Frag" means, probably it is an abreviation for "fragmentada" (fragmented in english). One possible translation for Cluster Bomb is "Bomba de Fragmentação" (Fragmentation Bomb), but may have better ones.
9. Prod is translated as "Broca" (it is that metal stuff you put in the drill to drill a wall. YES! LOL translation!). A friend of mine used to call it "Dedo" (Finger), however I think this is not exactly what prod is. I think "prod" is like "poke" so "Cutucada" or "Cutucão" would be decent translations.
10. Another funny translation is the Bungee one: "Repelente" this is that cream you use on your skin to protect against mosquitoes (the annoying insects). One possible explanation for this LOL translation is the sport: "Canyoning" which is called "Rapel" in portuguese. Even though Rapel wouldn't be a bad way to refer to Bungee, Bungee probably was inspired in other sport: Bungee jumping. So, maybe just "Bungee" would be better, or "Bungee jump" (but the original name has no "jump").
11. Pneumatic Drill is translated as "Furadeira", but "furadeira" is actually a drill. The correct translation should be "Martelo Pneumático" (that is probably its technical name), or its most popular name: "Britadeira" (which I find the best translation for the game).

W:A Menu/General stuff

1. "Team" is translated as "Equipa". "Equipa" means the same as "equips" (for example: "she equips the equipment") in portuguese. So, a better translation would be "Equipe" (we use this word for any team: organizations, corporations, etc.) or "Time" (we use this word more specifically for sport/game teams, basketball teams, soccer teams, etc. But it is not wrong to say "Equipe" for a game/sport team). Overall, I think the word "Equipe" is more adequate for the game, since the game makes much reference to the army and other military stuff, and the word "Time" cannot be used for a group of soldiers, "Equipe" can.
2. "Round" is wrongly translated as "Ronda" (that is a "patrol" in english). The correct translation is "Rodada".
3. The "C" removal. Some words seem to be translated in the Portugal's way: with extra "C"s in the word. For example: "Select" is translated as "Seleccione", in Brazil it's just "Selecione"; "Current" is translated as "Actual", in Brazil it's "Atual"; etc.
4. Placing the mouse over the hot seat time icon, "Control" is translated as "Controlo", at least in PT-BR the correct is "Controle".
5. Oil Drums is translated as "Bidões de Óleo". This translation is probably not wrong, it's not a bad translation. However, I never heard the word "Bidão" or "Bidões" before, I had to look up on the dictionary, and search on google (I discovered a new word! LOL), and the term probably is right, however I always used the term "Barris de Óleo" referring to Oil Drums, it sounds more natural I think, even though many other words can be used: "Latões de Óleo", "Galões de Óleo", "Botijões de Óleo" and even "Bujões de Óleo". Too many possibilities. Also, I'm not sure if the meaning of "oil" (used in the game) is just a common oil or "petroleum", if it is petroleum, then I think "Barris de Petróleo" is definitely the best possible translation for "oil drums".
6. Many weapon names are different while in game or while in the menu (editing a scheme). This may confuse players. Some translations are better in the menu and others are better in game.
7. A "whisper" is not the same thing as "speak softly", so definitely "fale baixinho" is not a good translation and it's bizarre to see on the chat. A good translation would be "sussurro", but for me the perfect one is "cochicho" (because it gives the idea of someone speaking very close to the ear of a person, usually using the hand to muffle the voice). "Sussurro" can be used when a person is almost dying and is weak to speak louder. "Cochicho" is more related to gossip so I think it is the best possible translation.

I have many other considerations I'd like to do, I may add them here later, because I'm lazy/tired now.