atw: Re: Censoring humour in translation (STIR)

Bob Trussler:
You wrote:
> Is it only me, but this discussion is becoming as boring as batshit?
>

Yeah.  This makes a suitable end as far as I'm concerned.  Life can be light 
and simple, and one exception breaks a rule.



> Many years ago in the pre-Idiot's Guide days, I wrote a training course titled
> "Programming for the real beginner".
>
> Humour was deliberately used because we did not want to scare off people who 
> were
> either frightened or confused by computer programming.  We lightened it up and
> simplified the explanation of each concept.  At the time, there was a chap in 
> our team
> that could draw very good cartoons and we used many in the same way you might 
> use a key
> phrase.
> One that comes to mind was a drawing of a person trying to jam lots of 
> letters into a
> bucket, to make a point about keeping things simple.
>
> I reckon that humour of that style could be used and translated, mainly 
> because it
> emphasises a point in a way that everyone can understand, and it is based on 
> a cartoon.
>
> In another course manual, I used examples of Mr Green, Ms White, Ms Black and 
> so on.  I
> guessed that even even people who could hardly use English could understand 
> that.  This
> led to a few simple jokes on Mr Light Green, and Ms Dark Blue.
>
> The diagrams of the paths to access the database were kept very simple.  A 
> user [smiley
> face] on one side and a database [oil drum symbol] on the other side and 
> various bits
> in the middle.  Some serious professional programmers didn't like the 
> simplistic
> diagrams, so as a humourous aside, I would display the original diagrams from 
> the
> manufacturer's manual but with my own commentary.  The proof of my method was 
> that
> people began to really understand how to access data efficiently.  I have 
> been told
> that my approach and my diagram have been used by other people and that the 
> original
> manufacturer in Germany rewrote their manuals in my style.
>
> The trainer who took over the course reckoned that she could not deliver the
> introductory half day in my style and so rewrote the presenters notes, but Mr 
> Grey and
> the smiley face diagram remained.
>
>
> Bob Trussler


-Peter M
 peterm_5@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
 
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