Comments on What War Zone???: Can We Get Roger Ebert on the Phone, Please?

Ha ha...good one, Esther. Ok, then how about Gene...

2008-04-03T12:07:00.000+03:00

Ha ha...good one, Esther.

Ok, then how about Gene Siskel? (waiting...)

Not to be Debbie Downer or anything, but I wouldn'...

2008-04-02T19:02:00.000+03:00

Not to be Debbie Downer or anything, but I wouldn't try to get Roger Ebert on the phone...

[wah, waaaahhh.]

Sticky situation indeed. One way around vocabular...

2008-03-22T19:53:00.000+02:00

Sticky situation indeed. One way around vocabulary issues is to Hebraicize the word "groundhog." If the news anchors can get away with this trick (e.g. "americanizatzya, balkanizatzya, regulatzia, etc.) why can't you?

Pronounce it "gehroundchog" with an emphasis on the guttural "chog". This way you look really smart and the person you're telling the story to looks like an ignorant hillbilly. ;)

"Mah, lo lamadata baTichon ma zeh Groundhog?! Kol yeled ben 5 mevin al mah medubar!"

"Americayit" only works because of the joke:What d...

2008-03-20T09:56:00.000+02:00

"Americayit" only works because of the joke:
What do you call a person who speaks three languages? Tri-lingual.
What do you call a person who speaks two languages? Bi-lingual.
What do you call a person who speaks one language?
American.

Ms. Worldwide, you can try "tsarfatiya", but I don't know if it will help you. "Blondinit" may be enough...Good luck!

"blondinit" and "americayit"Hilarious!!! I'm gonna...

2008-03-20T02:42:00.000+02:00

"blondinit" and "americayit"

Hilarious!!! I'm gonna start doing that but with "tzarfatia" instead.

1. There's this site called Targumon for translati...

2008-03-20T00:46:00.000+02:00

1. There's this site called Targumon for translating movie titles from Hebrew to English and vice-versa.
2. Here's the entry for Groundhog Day. As Ilana said it's לקום אתמול בבוקר, "Getting up yesterday morning".
3. It appears that "groundhog" in Hebrew is מרמיטה or marmita. Strange.
4. Subtitles are really useful for learning another language.

I was GOING to post the name of the movie but Ilan...

2008-03-19T15:52:00.000+02:00

I was GOING to post the name of the movie but Ilana beat me to it. So instead, I will post a MARVELOUS group on Facebook, in honor of this movie and others, that you should all join: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=15776790183

It is called:
העמותה להמתת חסד של מתרגמי שמות סרטי הקולנוע לעברית

or in English:

The movement for the euthanization of the translators of movie titles to Hebrew. (Or something like that.)

Groundhog Day לקום אתמול בבוקר Cats died all over ...

2008-03-19T14:43:00.000+02:00

Groundhog Day לקום אתמול בבוקר

Cats died all over Israel with this one. I just had to know what Groundhog Day was in Hebrew. Found it and found this site that gives you a handy reference what you call that movie in Hebrew
http://dotancohen.com/eng/movies.php

Whenever I don't know where I'm going with a story...

2008-03-19T13:01:00.000+02:00

Whenever I don't know where I'm going with a story because I've run out of words, I have two options: 1.) Switch to English (this is Jerusalem!) 2.) If option 1 fails, I just smile my sweetest smile and say, "lo mishane". Laugh a little, point at my head and say "blondinit" and "americayit". And let me just say, that works EVERY TIME. (Note: I am only considered blond in Israel because my hair is not black.)

And on that note, perhaps you can solve a mystery as to why some movie titles are translated directly and others are just transliterated. There is no rhyme or reason to any of it as far as I can tell. Probably if you said "Groundhog Day" with an Israeli accent, your flatmate would have known exactly which movie you were talking about.

I know the feeling: you take a risk and start tell...

2008-03-19T12:40:00.000+02:00

I know the feeling: you take a risk and start telling a story in hebrew, then halfway through the story, you run out of words and you think "how am I gonna get out of this?" I know exactly!