Just a small point.
I’m seeing an amazing flood of headlines exclaiming that Kim called Trump this weird insult, “dotard.” Like, at the top of the Washington Post’s list of Most Read right now is “A short history of ‘dotard,’ the arcane insult Kim Jong Un used in his threat against Trump.”
But that’s absurd, because of course he didn’t. Are all these headline writers forgetting that Kim didn’t say what he said in English? Someone translated what Kim said as “dotard” – and that’s just not a very interesting fact, is it.
From what I’ve seen the literal translation of what Kim said is just crazy old guy or the like – pejorative but not “arcane.” And also not “dotard.”
Kim did not literally call Trump a dotard on account of how that’s an English word and Kim is Korean and spoke Korean.
Lordy, people, get a grip.
Comments
16 responses to “Silly Headlines Department”
Yes, but I’m still giving a thumbs up to the translator who chose “dotard” as the appropriate English word.
Yeah, it’s a suitable word and it doesn’t get enough use. (Well – if we aren’t worried about ageism, anyway. I guess?)
I’m not sure we can always say that this or that is “the literal” translation of anything, but all this breathless dotard coverage is silly indeed. And did everyone really not know that word? Am I actually the supergenius I’ve been telling everyone I am all these years?
And even if he did mysteriously chose to insult Trump in english, dotard is not an obscure word except perhaps to 20 somethings that have never picked up a book.
I’m not sure whether or not I was familiar with the word before. I immediately understood what it meant, and didn’t have a “is that really a word” reaction, so perhaps I had come across it before, but I really couldn’t say.
Screechy Monkey: It was pretty clear from context–I don’t think I’d heard that specific word before either, but I was pretty sure that it shares roots with “dotage” (a term far more common), and perhaps “dullard”.
Apparently North Korea makes all these official announcements in English, and they’ve developed a curious language style over the years. This article laments that the announcement wasn’t in Korean (plenty of translators are available, after all), which would avoid these questions over shades of unusual English. The article also links to another that is specifically about this North Korean “official English” style.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/the_slatest/2017/09/21/north_korea_s_kim_jong_un_responds_calling_trump_a_dotard.html
Holmes @4, quite. I’m amazed, bemused and a little concerned at the number of journalists who have actually admitted to reaching for a dictionary (free online one of course).
It’s a great word and an inspired choice by the translator.
Yeah “dotard” isn’t very common but “dotage” is, and so is “dote,” so it shouldn’t be all that baffling.
https://www.facebook.com/144310995587370/photos/a.271728576178944.71555.144310995587370/1668477773170677/?type=3&theater
I didn’t get where I am today by not knowing what a dotard was.
Lol
Sackbut, #7:
Kim was probably giving the translators a break. The poor buggers were beyond mental exhaustion after having to deal with translating Trump’s own shades of unusual English (beautiful phrase that, btw).
“Arcane”? Seriously?
How is it people who find “dotard” arcane know what “arcane” means?
What Sackbut said: The North Korean Government translates these things into English before the post them, but they really should move beyond Google translate, or whatever they’re using. So the word “Dotard” was their call in their translation into English.