What the General Opinion on Non-English Words in English Quotes

By ltshine - updated: 5 years ago - 5 messages

I think it's fine as long as it's not the bulk of the quote but I don't want to trip people up by putting in quotes that have them. For instance I watch a lot of anime so I want to post anime quotes, but if they contain a character name or something is that cool?
By twofingertyper - posted: 5 years ago

Strong no for me. Common Latin phrases and other foreign words adapted to the English vocabulary are fine, but things not in the typical lexicon are just awkward to type. Even speaking generally, having a name that is uncommon or atypical in its structure is a massive pain to type, and it would be even worse for Japanese names.

I'm glad that you ask the question rather than just going for it, though. Although I don't watch anime, I can tell that the English tends to be pretty stilted, and when you combine that with weird foreign names it's a deadly combo for a quote being enjoyable to type.
By itaidagan - posted: 5 years ago

I actually think that's it's good practice to type out names and other words that are not part of the English language, it challenges one's typing skills and develops typing for difficult combinations.
By ltshine - posted: 5 years ago

I get where you are coming from twofingertyper but not all localization's are bad. Poor translations definitely result in poor sentence structure but a lot anime, especially higher budget ones, tend to have skilled and dedicated localization teams.
By user263053 - posted: 5 years ago

I find Japanese names to be a PITA for typing. They're not just unfamiliar, but also long.
By endvisible - posted: 5 years ago

The general rule is as follows: If a character's name is Japanese, be sure to spell it in phonetic English, but avoid using non-English words or phrases unless there is absolutely no direct translation.

Say, for instance, you want to submit a quote that contains the word "hiragana." This is fine, because that is a proper noun. However, don't submit a quote that has the phrase "Jigoujitoku," (自業自得) when you could translate it to "One's act. One's profit."