... AND BOB'S YOUR FRENCH UNCLE

In the latest Jim Jarmusch’s film Father Mother Sister Brother, there is apparently a British idiom in the dialogue used again and again: "And Bob’s your uncle". 

I haven’t seen the movie, but listening to a critic on France Inter, they reported that this expression was translated literally in the French subtitles by: “...et Robert est votre oncle”. 

Ridiculous?

The perfect transcreation should have been: “...et le tour est joué”, or more simply: “...et voilà”.

I often have my gripes with subtitles, but this one is particularly stupid.

Another example.

Working for Brewdog, I encountered a nonsensical product description for the Clockwork Tangerine Session IPA. It was obvious that the translator had never seen the film A Clockwork Orange and didn’t make the link between the two. I had to rewrite the copy. A Clockwork Orange is one of my favourite films. 

Both illustrate the same issue: French translators who have never lived in Britain are given translation jobs for which they are plainly unqualified, making fools of themselves, and worse, their clients. 

It demonstrates that translation companies that offer transcreation services are frauds. 

It also shows why it frustrates me when I am asked how long I have been living in the UK. As if being young and having just arrived in London is a promise of a kind of updated and perfect French. Or something.

In the case of subtitles, I hope AI wasn’t used because, in this case, it would be a perfect argument to prove how dangerous and perfectly stupid it was.

These two occurrences exemplify the importance of popular culture when it comes to transcreation. You are young, and you’ve always lived in France? You can always have all the translation diplomas in the world, or have worked as a copywriter exclusively in France, but you can never be able to transcreate copy or subtitles properly.

It’s only with a professional French copywriter and transcreator that have been living in the UK with a proven record over many years that you can be sure that your copy will be expertly transcreated.