SMS/Internet language question (for translation)

Discussion:

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BFR

2007-02-24 11:31:21 UTC

hello!

I'm a audiovisual translator working on the French version of a American
TV series, and I have the following dialog:

two characters (a man and a woman, video gamers) are chatting...

He says:
W R U D ? (that I understand: "what are you doing?")

She says:
Mainly SOMAANDA ! (???)

He says:
Ha ha, IFYGIFY ! (???)

any thoughts/ideas will be greatly appreciated!

thanks! have a nice weekend!

BFR

2007-02-24 11:42:12 UTC

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Post by BFR
hello!
I'm a audiovisual translator working on the French version of a American
two characters (a man and a woman, video gamers) are chatting...
W R U D ? (that I understand: "what are you doing?")
Mainly SOMAANDA ! (???)
Ha ha, IFYGIFY ! (???)
any thoughts/ideas will be greatly appreciated!
thanks! have a nice weekend!

additional clue: it may well have something to do with the game "World
of Warcraft" since the female character has been playing it right before
this little dialog...

Miss Elaine Eos

2007-02-24 15:25:35 UTC

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Post by BFR

additional clue: it may well have something to do with the game "World
of Warcraft" since the female character has been playing it right before
this little dialog...

Since it's TV, the acronyms may be non-standard and/or faked. That is,
they may not mean anything, or might be an "inside joke" for the
writers/actors (for example, something silly or tawdry.) Given the mix
of english & acronyms ("mainly..." and "ha ha..." instead of "LOL" or
":)"), I suspect this to be the case.

A possible interpretation:

Sitting On My Ass And Not Doing Anything
(although, if this were a "real" chat-cronym, it'd drop the "and" and be
"SOMANDA")

I Found You, Girl, I Found You (or "I'll Fight..." in WoW, or any number
of other things that start with "F")

Basically, it's a take-off on the old Budweiser commercial theme:

Yo, whatcha doin'?

Nuthin'. Watchin' the game, havin' a Bud...

True...

--
Please take off your pants or I won't read your e-mail.
I will not, no matter how "good" the deal, patronise any business which sends
unsolicited commercial e-mail or that advertises in discussion newsgroups.

BFR

2007-02-24 21:19:05 UTC

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Post by Miss Elaine Eos

Post by BFR
W R U D ? (that I understand: "what are you doing?")
Mainly SOMAANDA ! (???)
Ha ha, IFYGIFY ! (???)
any thoughts/ideas will be greatly appreciated!

Since it's TV, the acronyms may be non-standard and/or faked. That is,
they may not mean anything, or might be an "inside joke" for the
writers/actors (for example, something silly or tawdry.) Given the mix
of english & acronyms ("mainly..." and "ha ha..." instead of "LOL" or
":)"), I suspect this to be the case.
Sitting On My Ass And Not Doing Anything
(although, if this were a "real" chat-cronym, it'd drop the "and" and be
"SOMANDA")
I Found You, Girl, I Found You (or "I'll Fight..." in WoW, or any number
of other things that start with "F")
Yo, whatcha doin'?
Nuthin'. Watchin' the game, havin' a Bud...
True...

Thanks very much for your reply, it was really helpful :o)

Richard Polhill

2007-02-27 12:23:04 UTC

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Yes, it means that the two protagonists are complete imbeciles. ;-)