Subtitling brand names...
Thread poster: Adam Aabel
Adam Aabel
Adam Aabel  Identity Verified
Argentina
Local time: 05:10
Spanish to English
Nov 8, 2016

Hi, I'm taking a class about subtitling and we have to put subtitles in a scene where the people are naming candy brands from the U.S. and I was wondering if I am supposed to leave the brand names as they are or translate them into Spanish (chicle, golosinas, chocolate caramelos...). Thanks!

 
Christopher Schröder
Christopher Schröder
United Kingdom
Member (2011)
Swedish to English
+ ...
Depends Nov 8, 2016

Can your viewers be expected to know the brands? If so, don't translate.

Do they actually need an explanation of what the products are? If not, don't translate.

But only you know the exact context. Just use common sense.


 
Zehavit Ehre
Zehavit Ehre  Identity Verified
Israel
Local time: 10:10
English to Hebrew
+ ...
Brand names Nov 8, 2016

Hello Amanda,
As they are brand names I would leave them as they are in English.
Zehavit

[Edited at 2016-11-08 14:48 GMT]


 
TranslationPanacea TranslationPanacea
TranslationPanacea TranslationPanacea
India
Local time: 13:40
Brand names are proper nouns Nov 9, 2016

Hello
Brand names should be treated as Proper nouns and should be kept as in the source language.


 
Patricia Ferreira Larrieux
Patricia Ferreira Larrieux  Identity Verified
Italy
Local time: 09:10
Member
English to Italian
+ ...
Translate only if an official translation of the brand exists Nov 9, 2016

For example, if I found "Coke" in English I would write "Coca-Cola" in Spanish or Italian.

Many medicines have different names in different countries, so in that case I would "localize" the brand name.

In short, if a "localized" name exists, just use it. Otherwise, do not create your own translation, just leave the brand as it is, as suggested by most colleagues in this thread.

Hope this helps.


 
Gerard de Noord
Gerard de Noord  Identity Verified
France
Local time: 09:10
Member (2003)
English to Dutch
+ ...
That's the way to go about it Nov 9, 2016

Patricia Ferreira Larrieux wrote:

For example, if I found "Coke" in English I would write "Coca-Cola" in Spanish or Italian.

Many medicines have different names in different countries, so in that case I would "localize" the brand name.

In short, if a "localized" name exists, just use it. Otherwise, do not create your own translation, just leave the brand as it is, as suggested by most colleagues in this thread.

Hope this helps.




That's the way to go about it.

Cheers,
Gerard


 


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Subtitling brand names...







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