One of the most entertaining parts of working on The No Asshole Rule is the challenge of translating the title into other languages. The trick is to find the phrase or term that may not be a literal translation, but that is the best "cultural" translation. For example, most Germans I know seem to think that Der
Arschloch-Faktor is the right translation, although I did get one comment that the implications were a bit too strong, that asshole is a nastier word in German than in English.
I also had an incredibly fun dinner at the Frankfurt book fair in October with a group of book buyers from Asia. The folks from Amazon Japan had great fun talking about the right term to use in Japanese, and although they considered other words, they agreed that something with the word baka was perfect. A translator wrote me that it means "horse-deer", and is "the ultimate and
all-purpose insult for stupidity." She also suggested hirame (flatfish/turbot/flounder who’s eyes
rotate to the top side so it can only see above itself, not below), "slang for
someone who sees only up the hierarchy." I know there is interest in Japan, and the English version will be sold widely there, but I don’t know if the title will include "baka." In addition, the French translation rights were just sold, and my charming editor there Geoff
Staines tells me that the translation is done, the book will appear in March, and he will be sending me a cover
picture soon (and then I will get to find out what they call it too). The trick here, as you can see, is to come up with a word that translates culturally, not literally, like baka. This brings us to the Spanish translation. I got word from my literary agents that:
“Your
Spanish publisher is struggling a bit with how to translate the title and has
asked how it’s been translated in other languages. I’m going to send them the other title
translations, and ask our Spanish agent for her thoughts, but if you or Don [she
means Don Lamm, my main agent along with Christy Fletcher] have particular
thoughts about the Spanish use of "asshole" please do let me know.”
Don
Lamm checked around (he is an amazing guy with about 50 years in the business;
Don has only been an agent for a few years and was CEO of W.W. Norton before
that), and wrote back “The
best street linguist I know in Santa Fe came up with this: Qulone. It
may, however, not carry over from Mexican to Iberian Spanish.”
So that is where we are at
right now: Clearly, we need some help. Calling all Spanish speakers! What is
the right cultural translation for “The No Asshole Rule?”
I’ll offer an incentive: a free copy of both
the English and Spanish versions of the book to the first five people who make
suggestions (post the suggestion as a comment on my blog, to get conversation
started, but email me your address so I can pre-order your books).
We look forward to your ideas.
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