Author / EditorM

by EditorM

Scope?

The last panel doesn’t make much sense following her declaration in the third panel, under the straightforward reading I would normally give it: “Nineteen weeks ago was the last time I felt directionless and at a loss. Since then it’s been pretty good.”

But to try to save it, is there a reasonable way to construe “since” and “had no” to give an overall meaning of “Nineteen weeks ago I had the wake-up call about my directionless life. And since then, no real progress. I am still at a loss.” That might gather applause for courage / honesty / forthright confession, but still aupport her thought that the applause is paradoxical. But is it really a passable reading of the words?

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by EditorM

Yeah, it’s real. But still, why the reactions?

Okay, Carlos is not quite making sense, but is it so bad that Tina is face-palming over it?

I wasn’t familiar with the idea of a special “Cornish Lobster” and thought maybe the joke was that Carlos was inventing it, on analogy to “Cornish game hen”. And if a customer ordered a roast chicken, say, and was served a Cornish hen, it would indeed be surprisingly small, and the cook or waitstaff might want to claim it is a prized variety. But it still wouldn’t fit the menu if sold by weight..

Here, however, is “An Introduction to Cornish Lobster” – claiming “Cornish lobster really are the king of the shellfish. During the season, they are delivered daily to us from a select lobster pot fleet, who catch these critters in pots dotted around the rocky Cornish coastline. A beautifully delicate, subtle-sweet flavour which is unlike anything you’ve ever tasted, our lobsters are a supreme choice to treat your taste buds.”

But still, what is Carlos thinking? That the delicacy should override the weight? And is that what Tina is cringing about? (Of course the customer is still steamed.)

Late-breaking P.S. — Just saw news flash that Red Lobster restaurants company is filing for bankruptcy. But I don’t think there is an intended allusion.

by EditorM

He popped one out?

Okay, yes, I do understand the plot. Cindy couldn’t catch the ball; or it went nowhere near her, and right for one of the houses in the background. And now Moose is on the hook to repair it.

But are we expected to believe his batting sent it all the way over to those houses? Also, isn’t 9×16 kinda small for a window? Also, if they have modern modular windows, is it even possible to replace just the glass as a DIY project?

All right, done quibbling. Your turn.

by EditorM

Bonus post: Back in the translation shop

Today’s Macanudo, twice:

“It was nice while it lasted.” Okay, I’ll buy the pairing. Both are sweetly regretful but have just a tiny bit of a sting, don’t you think?

But now, today’s Baldo, also twice:

Now at first this looks like something we’ve seen a few times with Baldo: A pun or language-dependent joke in the English version, and then a reduction to a univocal expression in the Spanish version with no attempt to preserve the polysemy needed for the pun.

But not this time!

The key is in hachacento, which does not register as a recognized or translatable Spanish word, at least by Google Translate. But looking at parts:

hatchet ==> hacha
accent ==> acento

So we do get both axe and accent! (But not sent ==> enviad{o/a}. But who cares at this point!)

P.S. Don’t forget to stop and smell the noises in panel 3.