Telltale Games

donmilliken · 07/08/2009, 03:26 pm

The winds on Flotsam do, literally, suck though.

It's only as modern English speakers that we apply the slang meaning to it.

I guess that's the joke, that Flotsam's winds both suck (as in suck people towards the island, then keep them there) and suck (as in something bad).

Obviously it's a play on words that won't work as well for a non-native English speaker. Not every joke needs to work for everyone though. That's why the game has more than one!

hansschmucker · 07/08/2009, 03:36 pm

I think most German people who play this game know both these meanings... but would a typical English-native player make enough sense of the German bits to actually get to this joke? That's what I'm wondering about.

TashSunrider · 07/08/2009, 03:38 pm

It's not like I'm not getting the double meaning of suck.

If the flag was in english the double meaning actually might be funny. By translating it wrong that joke is pretty much lost though to anyone but people that are good enough in german to decipher the translation attempt.

The recycling symbol might be an attempted pun on the fact that the winds bring everything back to flotsam basically making you go in circles if you try to leave.
Also could be pun on the people there recycling everything they find... which pretty much is trash (flotsam)

And just for the files: I didnt just register to whine about this flag. As you can see i registered in June already, just didn't have anything I wanted to talk about before.

Leak · 07/08/2009, 03:42 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ara

Luft means wind... but the sentence makes no sense in German

"saugen" isn't a swearword in German and it hasn't a "double entendre"

Also diese Aussage saugt ja wohl gewaltig...

(Lately, "saugen" is used a lot in the "this sucks" sense in German...)

np: Tim Exile - Fortress (Listening Tree)

Qgar · 07/08/2009, 03:52 pm

My guess is someone on the staff is a Stanford alum... its motto is:

Die Luft der Freiheit weht

Leak · 07/08/2009, 03:56 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qgar

My guess is someone on the staff is a Stanford alum... its motto is:

Die Luft der Freiheit weht

I think we have a winner...

np: Tim Exile - Bad Dust (Listening Tree)

hansschmucker · 07/08/2009, 03:59 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leak

Also diese Aussage saugt ja wohl gewaltig...

(Lately, "saugen" is used a lot in the "this sucks" sense in German...)

Ich glaub da haben die Österreicher ihre eigene Interpretation. Bei uns heist saugen, naja... saugen eben. Sonst nichts.

(Talking about people in Austria using the word differently from people in Germany)

Cortez · 07/08/2009, 04:01 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qgar

My guess is someone on the staff is a Stanford alum... its motto is:

Die Luft der Freiheit weht

Seeing how this is a motto on both the flag and the Keelhauler Gazette, this must be it.

Thanks!

Qgar · 07/08/2009, 04:04 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Leak

I think we have a winner...

np: Tim Exile - Bad Dust (Listening Tree)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qgar

My guess is someone on the staff is a Stanford alum... its motto is:

Die Luft der Freiheit weht

And, I bet that someone is Mike Stemmle. Used to write shows for the Band.

hansschmucker · 07/08/2009, 04:08 pm

Hehe, now it makes sense and is actually a pretty good joke... but they could have made it a little easier... the spelling mistake was too much.

Megaloman · 07/08/2009, 04:10 pm

Haha, I had never, ever got that joke if it weren't for these forums. Thanks!

Vegan · 07/08/2009, 04:53 pm

Can anyone spare any conditioner? Because there's a lot of split hairs in this thread.

hansschmucker · 07/08/2009, 04:56 pm

Not really. Just a lot of people who couldn't understand what that sign was trying to say and who were very happy when they finally found out.

Macco · 07/08/2009, 06:07 pm

Um... I guess they used word saugen, because the wind is sucked on the island. The big horny thing with the statue...

Mad Mary · 07/09/2009, 03:21 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macco

Um... I guess they used word saugen, because the wind is sucked on the island. The big horny thing with the statue...

Oh my gawd... ROFL! Sorry, but it's HORNED. The word you used means... well... never mind.
As for the German sentence, maybe something like 'Flotsamer Wind wirbelt Staub auf' would have been better. A German double meaning.

(Flotsam wind disperses dust/ Flotsam wind creates a great stir)

Corv · 07/09/2009, 08:01 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by hansschmucker

Ich glaub da haben die Österreicher ihre eigene Interpretation. Bei uns heist saugen, naja... saugen eben. Sonst nichts.

(Talking about people in Austria using the word differently from people in Germany)

I am from Austria (west - Tirol) and by no mans does "saugen" mean anything but "saugen".

Maybe in eastern Austria it's different, who knows.

But I think they tried to translate "The flotam wind sucks". Unfortunatley in a very very bad way.

[Hunter.Wolf] · 07/09/2009, 10:14 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Corv

I am from Austria (west - Tirol) and by no mans does "saugen" mean anything but "saugen".

Maybe in eastern Austria it's different, who knows.

But I think they tried to translate "The flotam wind sucks". Unfortunatley in a very very bad way.

Also West-Tirol here, so...
+1

I can't think of a reason why they left the "t" from "Luft" out. Are they that careless, or is that part of that "joke"?

Cyphox · 07/09/2009, 10:26 am

i wondered about this, too. and i didn't realize that it means "The winds of Flotsam suck!" until i read it in this thread, lol.

Why is it translated into (very bad) german at all?

Cyphox · 07/09/2009, 10:29 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Astro Gnocci

I wouldn't know, "kartoffel and "arsch" are the only german words i know.

ROLF!!! omg, that was great, i nearly laughed myself to tears.

you're hilarious

Corv · 07/09/2009, 12:21 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by [Hunter.Wolf]

Also West-Tirol here, so...
+1

Hehe, wie cool, die Welt ist wirklich klein, vor allem im Internet

Quote:

Originally Posted by [Hunter.Wolf]

I can't think of a reason why they left the "t" from "Luft" out. Are they that careless, or is that part of that "joke"?

I think they put each word into some online translation page and then accidently left the "t" out... lazy

07/08/2009, 03:52 pm	#25
Qgar Junior Member Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 5	Stanford motto My guess is someone on the staff is a Stanford alum... its motto is: Die Luft der Freiheit weht

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07/08/2009, 03:26 pm	#21
donmilliken Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 4	The winds on Flotsam do, literally, suck though. It's only as modern English speakers that we apply the slang meaning to it. I guess that's the joke, that Flotsam's winds both suck (as in suck people towards the island, then keep them there) and suck (as in something bad). Obviously it's a play on words that won't work as well for a non-native English speaker. Not every joke needs to work for everyone though. That's why the game has more than one!

07/08/2009, 03:36 pm	#22
hansschmucker Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 945	I think most German people who play this game know both these meanings... but would a typical English-native player make enough sense of the German bits to actually get to this joke? That's what I'm wondering about.

07/08/2009, 03:38 pm	#23
TashSunrider Junior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 8	It's not like I'm not getting the double meaning of suck. If the flag was in english the double meaning actually might be funny. By translating it wrong that joke is pretty much lost though to anyone but people that are good enough in german to decipher the translation attempt. The recycling symbol might be an attempted pun on the fact that the winds bring everything back to flotsam basically making you go in circles if you try to leave. Also could be pun on the people there recycling everything they find... which pretty much is trash (flotsam) And just for the files: I didnt just register to whine about this flag. As you can see i registered in June already, just didn't have anything I wanted to talk about before.

07/08/2009, 04:08 pm	#30
hansschmucker Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 945	Hehe, now it makes sense and is actually a pretty good joke... but they could have made it a little easier... the spelling mistake was too much.

07/08/2009, 04:10 pm	#31
Megaloman Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2008 Location: Southern Sweden Posts: 188	Haha, I had never, ever got that joke if it weren't for these forums. Thanks!

07/08/2009, 04:53 pm	#32
Vegan Member Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 32	Can anyone spare any conditioner? Because there's a lot of split hairs in this thread.

07/08/2009, 04:56 pm	#33
hansschmucker Senior Member Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 945	Not really. Just a lot of people who couldn't understand what that sign was trying to say and who were very happy when they finally found out.

07/08/2009, 06:07 pm	#34
Macco Member Join Date: Apr 2008 Posts: 84	Um... I guess they used word saugen, because the wind is sucked on the island. The big horny thing with the statue...

07/09/2009, 10:26 am	#38
Cyphox Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Germany Posts: 665	i wondered about this, too. and i didn't realize that it means "The winds of Flotsam suck!" until i read it in this thread, lol. Why is it translated into (very bad) german at all?