Advice for translators

[kleptoquark]

So, puns can be tricky to translate. The most common approach is to not bother:

I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my church

This is no fun at all. Countless millions of Christians have no idea that Jesus is making a super lame dad joke here.

What else can we try? Maybe translate one word here or there?

I say also unto thee, That thou art Peter, and upon this petra* I will build my church

*Translator's note: petra means rock.

Still not ideal.

So why not go the other way? Nobody ever said proper nouns were sacred.

I say also unto thee, That thou art Rocky, and upon this rock I will build my church

Comments

[kleptoquark]

Thou art Hillel, and that's the hill I'll die on.

[deusvulture]

...and upon this peat bog I will build my church

[mathemagicalschema]

see also: the Phoenix Wright localization team. they're fuckin' *masters*.