Austin Powers Gold member

[miyuki]

Have you watched the movie 'Austin Powers Gold member'?
In that movie,I had some questions.

(1)Austin and his father began to talk in English English each other.
What did they say?
Is their English so different from others?
(standard or American??)

(2) Japanese man spoke something in Japanese.
(I'm sorry I forgot what he said...)
How did others understand his Japanese?
They heard his Japanese as English.

Anyone remember the scene?

I like Austin Powers 2. ^^

[Maciamo]

This was a great movie ! I laughed so hard I thought I was going to die.

(1)Austin and his father began to talk in English English each other.
What did they say?
Is their English so different from others?
(standard or American??)

I don't remember all the conversation and I couldn't understand everything either, but basically they just made up a conversation using only specifically British words. You could do exactly the same with American English or Aussie (Australian) English. It was a bit caricatural. It's definitely not the usual way people speak.

In England, every region (should I say every town and village ?) has its own "dialect", its own pronounciation or at least its own repertory of words and expressions. It is commonly said that if you travel North of Oxford (which is in the South of England), you need an interpreter. If you ever meet someone from Liverpool or Newcastle, you might very well not understand half of what they are saying. For example they might pronounce the word "town" like "toon" (a remnant from old English). In Scotland people roll the "r" (like in Spanish). People from Glasgow and the Highlands have a particularily strong accent and may give a tough time even to other British people. Irish an Welsh also have their accents, with differences from North to South, like every other region.

Not everybody speaks with a regional accent in the UK though. There is what is called Received Pronounciation ("RP" or what used to be called "BBC English"). This is supposed to be the "best" British English and the one people learn if they want to sound posh or well-educated. RP is spoken the same way throughout the UK (and also abroad), but less than 10% of the population speak like that.

The diversity of "Englishes" in the UK contrast with the US/Canada where most of the people speak with a roughly similar accent. That surprises me considered the size of North America compared to the UK. Of course a New Yorker accent is different of a Californian accent, but not enough to create confusion when they meet.

(2) Japanese man spoke something in Japanese.
(I'm sorry I forgot what he said...)
How did others understand his Japanese?
They heard his Japanese as English.

I don't understand your question. Have you seen the film in English or Japanese ? There were subtitles in English when someone spoke Japanese.

[moyashi]

BBC vs CNN is sort of like kansai vs kanto too.

Honestly, at times I've found British English a bit difficult but in general still much easier to understand that Tohoku-ban.

[miyuki]

Thank you,Maciamo-san.
Thank you,moyashi-san.
I see.

Yes,we also have own dialect,too.
Mine is Hakata accent and hakata ben.
Kagoshima ben is special.I can't understand it.

Question (2) is...
Old japanese sometimes say to small children,
"When you'll go to America and want to know the time,
ask 'hotta imo 掘った芋' in Japanese."
or...
My uncle said, "When you'll buy a hotdog in Paris,
say 'Otto dokkoi オットドッコイ'. "

In that scene, Japanese man said something.
We understand it in Japanese and others understand it in English,
of course each of us understand it in different meanings,I guess.
The Japanese caption at that scene was confusing.

Anyway, Mike Myers is great!

[moyashi]

I guess I better see the movie

[deborah gormley]

I'l see if I can get it out soon on video, and let you know what I think of the japanese verses, it sounds great and I have only seen an advertisment on T.V about it , so its a must now

[moyashi]

Hmmm, I wonder how many Japanese picked up on the meaning of the Title of the movie.

I asked my 18 year old students (boys) and they had no clue.

[Maciamo]

Yeah, I have also asked around, though I was sure of the answer, even with advanced students. Most Japanese wouldn't understand more explicit titles such as "the spy who shagged me". I have always wondered why Japanese so rarely translated movie titles, sticking to the katakana form that sounds absurd at times. Why don't they change "Star Wars" into a "hoshi no sensou" etc. Titles are usually translated into French (Star Wars = "La guerre des etoiles") from English or other languages, like they are translated in English from French, Italian or Japanese whenever it's possible. Japanese only change it when it's too long or too difficult to understand/pronounce, so "Le fabuleux destin d'Amelie Poulain" becomes just アメリ (ameri).

I guess it's not yet socially acceptable in Japan to show titles like "the spy who shagged me", while in English so few people understand that even the officials from the censor division wouldn't get it. I would like to have seen a オースチンパワース : 金男根 (o-suchin pawa-su : kindankon, ie Austin Powers : Gold member, translated with the meaning of virile member) in posters for old baba to fantasize about it (they'd not get shocked like Western ones, believe me ).

I often wonder why Japanese are so attracted by Western countries, especially America and absolutely want to write everything in katakana or (J)english without sometimes knowing the meaning behind it. That's one of Japan's greatest mystery for me. Like those children who come to you and utter some incomprehensible English they've read who knows where ; at the same age, I would have been to ashamed of doing th same thing without knowing exactly what I was saying. Sometimes it's salarymen. I often hear them let out a few very simple English words in the train when talking together. Not about me, just things like "ah Japanese Bridji" when they arrive in Nihombashi. Right, why saying it in English ? Why not in Ainu or Korean ? Why not in French or German ? Why not simply in Japanese. What is it that even my grand-mother-in-law tries to say a single English word like "rain, rain", when she what to ask me if it's raining while I can speak Japanese and she knows it ? What's more English in not even my first language, and she knows it as well. I don't understand her when she doesn't speak Japanese, but she insists, making a fool of herself (she is not willing to learn at her age anyway). Can someone explain to me what's it that my Japanese people crazy with (Japanese-)English.

Sorry I am tired. I'll check tomorrow I didn't say anything I shouldn't have.

[moyashi]

hehe, just a late night thread. We all do that at times.

LOL ... have no clue but it must have to it's seeds in occupied Japan.

[miyuki]

To Deborah-san,
Arigatou. Thank you, Deborah-san.
Demo...but you need not to buy its video.(I think)
It may be on TV next year.
I will waiting for it.



To Maciamo-san,
As for old movies,they had sentimental,lyric Japanese titles.

Love is a many splendid thing= 慕情
The way we were = 追憶
Enter the Dragon= 燃えよドラゴン

When I talk to others about old movies,
I have to check their original titles.
Because most of them are so different from original ones.
Recently most of the title are in katakana...
Which is better...???

We can't image a story from katakana title.
I guess most of japanese(include me) don't understand
the meaning of japanese-English katakana title rightly.

But when I would have seen only the title,
オースチンパワース : 金男根(sounds like hong kong movie)...
I wonder if I would have bought a ticket.

[thomas]

Forgive me, I'm probably not exactly up to date, but is 'Austin Powers Gold Member' the third part of that movie series? I've never heard about it.

[moyashi]

hmmm, I've wondered about the same thing at times. I think it's number 2 though.

[miyuki]

Auastin3 desu.

[Maciamo]

Austin Powers 3 (Goldmember) has just been released. It might not have come to Austria yet if they need to translate it in German.

"Austin Powers 1 : International Man of Mystery" was with Elizabeth Hurley and "Austin Powers 2: The Spy Who Shagged Me" with Heather Graham.

[moyashi]

ugh, that explains it. I started with The Spy Who Shagged Me. Thanks for clearing that up

[thomas]

Same here, thanks for the clarification.


Last time I was in cinema was 1998 in Tachikawa ("L.A. Confidential"), lol.

[moyashi]

ugh, I'm not that bad but pretty close.
hmmm ... what else do we have in common ;)

[shintemaster]

@miyuki

Kagoshima-ben has got to be one of the most difficult... wow.... I like Hakata-ben too... But I'm forgetting it...!

[miyuki]

@shintemaster
Have you ever been to Hakata?

I like Hakata ben.
=Hakata ben suitoh. (in Hakata ben)

Kagoshima ben is difficult.
=Kagoshima ben'na mutsukashika. (in old Hakata ben)

[miyuki]

;)

[Takakoo]

Hi, I just stumbled over this forum having seen the movie, and wanted to see what everyone else has to say.

Originally Posted by miyuki

Have you watched the movie 'Austin Powers Gold member'?
In that movie,I had some questions.

(2) Japanese man spoke something in Japanese.
(I'm sorry I forgot what he said...)
How did others understand his Japanese?
They heard his Japanese as English.

In the English version of the movie, there are english subtitles when someone speaks in Japanese. There is one scene where they let the characters (i.e. Austin and Foxy) see and read the subtitles. This is turned into a joke, where Austin misreads the subtitles due to white objects behind the subtitles in the shot. ( e.g. "Please eat some shitake mushrooms" - したけを食べて下さい - is misread as "Please eat some sh*t" - くそを食べて下さい )

I hope I explained that right, because sometimes when I try to explain things it just makes them more confusing...

[miyuki]

I forgot my post I'd ever mentioned about this movie....
Thank you for your message.

miyuki

[Bucko]

This is a cool post, even though it is old.

Regarding the conversation between Austin and his father, a lot of that conversation is done in "rhyming slang". This was common in working class communities in England and Australia. Not many people these days talk in rhyming slang but it's fun to do as a joke sometimes.

For example, in rhyming slang "look" gets translated to "Captain Cook", "phone" gets translated to "dog and bone", "road" gets translated to "frog 'n toad", "mate" gets translated to "China plate".

So you could have a conversation that goes along the lines of, "I was on the public dog 'n bone to the trouble 'n strike down the frog 'n toad when my blood 'n blister and a country cousin of her mates just happened to walk past! Problem was that they were all totally Adrian Quist which totally gave me the Jimmy Britts because I couldn't hear the trouble 'n strife properly!"