Regular readers of Balladeer’s Blog are familiar with my odd sense of humor. While searching for some more obscure films to watch and review, I came across this synopsis of the storyline for a 1974 Italian comedy. The movie in question is La Cugina (The Cousin), and the English translation of whatever the contributor actually wrote in Italian is … a bit garbled. Hilariously entertaining, but garbled nevertheless.
Here it is, word for word:
Balladeer’s Blog
“A strong plot and mutual physical attraction binds the sensual Enzo since adolescence and her cousin Agata: the two are happy with amusement tricks erotic equivocally poised between innocence and malice instinctive. In the years after Enzo neglects the university where it is written and prefers the abundant pleasures of the Sicilian beef.
“Agata instead, circumventing the court of his cousin, the Baron prefers the flaccid Ninì from whose desires marriage license, money and comfort. Achieved this goal, the crafty and malicious woman reconciles with Enzo and it is given.”
Who the hell is the Baron and why would Enzo and Agata care about their preferences in flaccidity? And you can insert your own joke about “Sicilian beef” here.
Is it just me, or does this seem like the end product of a Mad Libs session? Or that they left out the line “All your base are belong to us.”
Just a harmless diversion on this Tuesday afternoon. For whatever reason, this storyline summary that redefines the expression “lost in translation” gave me a laugh. But I’m kind of weird.
Balladeer's Blog 
The Sicilian steer (beef) is a man: strong and mighty as a steer. There is the Sicilian steer, the Latian steer, the Lombard steer…
He is not known for his acumen and intelligence, but for brute strength.
It is a saying that is still used today, in all its dialectal variations 😀
In my dialect it is called ‘manzol’ and it also means herdsman.
Whoever wrote the synopsis exaggerated a bit about Ranieri’s attractiveness, but the new actor/singer had to be launched 🙂
Thank you very much for adding some Italian perspective to that synopsis! I needed it!
🙂
😀
I wonder how much better the auto-translation would be if done with today’s latest software?
That’s a good question!
The computer generated translations are getting so much better.
I agree.
Italian. like many other languages, can be tough to translate and if one tries word-for-word translation, one simply asks for trouble. What we’ve got here, looks to me is translation done by an Italian with no English-speaking proof reader. Relax, man, you ain’t weird in your sense of humor. And every visitor to your posts loves you for it.
Thanks, dude! I often wonder if I seem a bit off to people. Anyway, you raise a great point about how there must have been no English-speaker as a proof reader.
Maybe it’s comedy but a good story line! Well reviewed .👍
Thank you!
☺️
So tiny!
Ok make it large. 🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩🤩
And numerous!
😇😇😇😇
This reminds me of the sort of translations you used to see in the instruction manuals for Japanese video games, back when such things existed. (Instruction manuals, I mean. Japanese video games still exist I’m sure.) It also reminds me of what I found to be a hilarious one-sentence synopsis of “Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome” that I once saw on the cable guide:
“Aunty Entity will return Mad Max’s camels if he will fight the giant Blaster in a barbaric caged arena.”
Must be talking about cigarettes, right?
Ha! Exactly! And yeah, that Beyond Thunderdome synopsis really does sound like it means Max’s cigarettes. Hilarious!