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Humor helps you translate Turkish A spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down As you know by now, Peri and I are very fond of the Turkish cartoon-humor of 'Maganda' (The Lout) -- the politically-incorrect cartoon-strip character that we first found in Gözcü Gazetesi in the late 1990's. (Note: Though the paper was reborn as Sözcü Gazetesi in 2007, it has retained the Maganda cartoon-strip intact.) We like the cartoon-series on several levels...for its usefulness in helping us explain the meaning of Turkish idioms and cultural mannerisms -- and for its pure entertainment value as humor (frequently politically-incorrect) that makes us laugh. It's that humorous quality of a politically incorrect Maganda cartoon that transforms it from a boring Turkish translation 'problem' into a translation inspiration... You won't give up... exercising your inquisitive 'all' to extract the correct meaning regardless of the difficulty of the sentence... because you know that when you finally do 'break the code', there'll be a rewarding chuckle... that'll make your translation success that much more satisfying... In the typical cartoon examples below (seen here for the first time on our website blog), we hope you'll appreciate what we mean -- when you try the translations on your own first, by left-clicking the cartoon images. Ahh, sweet memories of youth... hatırlamak; to remember Click for image enlargement. Click for image enlargement. The Lout (indignantly, in first panel): Aren't you too young to be smoking cigarettes? Just how old are you, anyway? Wise-Assed Kid (first panel): I'm 10 years old. The Lout (nonplussed, in second panel): Are you only 10? How old were you when you started smoking? Wise-Assed Kid (second panel): Right after the first time I made love with a girl. The Lout (with worldly resignation, in third panel): And when exactly did you first make love? Wise-Assed Kid (third panel): Oh wow, I was really drunk... I can't remember. Please note that translations above and below are more figurative than literal.

"If my wife doesn't go to the Imbeciles Bazaar..." Click for image enlargement. Click for image enlargement. The Lout's pal (first panel): My (our) wife buys everything she sees when she goes to the Turkish bazaar. The Lout (first panel): Mine too. (The one that is ours, is like that too.) His pal (first panel): Why are they like that? The Lout (third panel): [I don't know, but I can tell you this...] If my wife doesn't go to the Imbeciles Bazaar, it's only because they aren't selling any rotted or badly-made merchandise [that day].

That's been one helluva long celebration... (-- a two ki illustration --) Click for image enlargement. Click for image enlargement. The Lout's wife (first panel): Before I married you, I used to heavy-date that young man over there.... And when we broke up, I left him there -- in that very seat... The Lout (second panel): That [ki usage #1] means he's been drinking in the same place for seven years... The Lout (continuing in the third panel): I understand what you say -- but I didn't think it was really possible [ki usage #9] to celebrate an event for such a long time... (A more literal translation would be: I comprehend [what you say], but an event can't possibly [ki usage #9] be celebrated for this long a time.)