Subject: Is that so?
Author:
Posted on: 2013-08-07 18:39:00 UTC
Then again, I usually use Google Translate to translate stuff from other languages to English, rarely the other way around, so I had no idea that it butchered other languages that badly!
Last night I was working on a story/background/origin type thing, and developed this exorcism for Mary Sues. My Latin isn't very good (I used Google Translate), so I would really appreciate people's opinions.
The text is:
Maria spiritu exsecrabántur Sue. Tu tibi fama habitant abieris, et fuge in extrema inferni. Sint pura, pulchra canonicus, libera
which means
Detested Mary Sue spirit. You shall vacate the story you are inhabiting, and fly into the furthest reaches of hell. Be pure, fair canon, be free
If you like it, I would be honored if you'd use it in any stories or Sporks that you're doing.
~TE
Numquam Translatorem Googlem consule ut aliquid latinat!
In other words: Never use Google Translate to translate anything into Latin. (Google Translate sucks. Believe me, I took Latin.)
The idea of having an exorcism ritual is a good one, but you've been beaten to it a long time ago; the PPC already has a ritual for exorcising Sue-wraiths.
But for your edification (and in case someone does feel like using Latin), your text, correctly translated, would read something like this:
Spiritus Mariae Susannae abominatus, fablula quae habitas abito, et fugito in extumum infernum. Purus es, canon, liber es.
As you can tell, quite a mouthful--especially given how unruly Sue-wraiths can be!
Should have been latinet, not latinat; ut takes the subjunctive mood! IF only there were an edit function on this board!
(in case anyone cares)
In my translation of the incantation, it should have been abominate (vocative), not abominatus (nominative). Also, I missed a word: the original said "fair canon", but I forgot to translate "fair": pulcher would be appropriate.
Have you even seen what it does to Spanish? The grammar is suddenly dropped out of a trapdoor, and it just gets... weird after that.
I'm with the other guys- don't use Google Translate!
At least, I know it's pretty bad for Hebrew and French. It does give you a basic idea, though, even if it is pretty far off.
Bing is much, much worse, though. How do I know that, you may ask? Because Facebook uses it, and I have friends who post in Hebrew whose messages I've occasionally translated out of curiosity.
~DF
Bing is so much better for the Google Translate game because it makes things way, way wackier.
Then again, I usually use Google Translate to translate stuff from other languages to English, rarely the other way around, so I had no idea that it butchered other languages that badly!
I hardly ever see people drawing the chalk circle in the more recent missions, instead opting to restrain or surprise the possessed character before leaping at it and shouting. Also, I don't think I've ever seen the bit about the whisk in a mission. Normally, agents just hurl things at the Sue-wraith and break it apart, or the wraith flies out and vanishes after a few seconds of whining. I'm not sure what carrying around a big whisk would be most useful for, really. Would someone need to perform the stirring motion in order to keep the wraith down, or just wave the whisk around in there? Would an incomplete stirring just give the wraith vertigo rather than destroy it? Wouldn't a whisk be too small for dispelling a wraith, assuming we aren't talking about an oar-sized stirring implement here?
And the bit at the end about the secondary method of ripping a page out of a book, shoving it down a possessed character's throat, and then hitting the character over the head with the rest of the book is not only sort of excessive, but it would ruin the book.
This is really late now, because I thought I posted this several days ago.
That Latin translation is something that I think Kelok would actually use. He is good with languages and it's appropriate to canon. All the well educated people spoke Latin in Sherlock Holmes' time. I bet I could even find a fic that throws in a few Latin terms to make it extra appropriate.
None of my agents have ever used a whisk, but they do normally draw the circle, and often light the candles depending on time and strength of their foe. They usually have some sort of large bell or other source of noise, and canon source materials that they whack the affected canons about the head with while shouting various imprecations. Then they fairly frequently lob the canon source material through the wraith (phantom) to dissipate it. Of course, tying up the canons before setting this ritual up is always a good idea, too.
I did remember a whisk used in exorcism missions, so I asked the Wiki and it says: Flip Finley’s “Weapon of choice is a three-foot whisk (it is believed that she started the trend of using whisks as exorcism tools).”
The whisk was actually only used in two missions many years ago, and nobody ever followed this trend.
Intentionally ruin the canon source in an exorcism? I’ve never seen this.
Now I should really go to work on my introductory post.
Bah, now it sounds like a lisp to me. Anyway.
I haven't read the missions yet, but they look good. Also, I'm now quite tempted to have one of my DIC agents test out a whisk during an exorcism...it sounds hilarious. Especially if he/she then tried to make some sort of Sue-Wraith Soufflé...
~DF
I was not paying that much attention to details other than the usual "The power of [creator] compels you" invocation; thanks for reminding me that there is more to the formal exorcism than that.