Translating taboos in Arabic subtitles: key insights

I watch a lot of TV series in Arabic or with Arabic subtitles. I see this as a way not only to practice my Arabic, but also to learn more about how to translate idioms, swear words, and cultural differences, especially taboos.

In many Arab countries, taboos include sex, drugs, and same-sex relationships. Subtitling comedy is especially challenging in the Arab world because it’s important to keep the original message intact.

Cultural sensitivities, local dialects, and censorship affect how subtitles are created for Arab audiences. Lately, many researchers from mainly Arab countries have been studying how Western TV shows are adapted for Arab audiences.

In this article, I will present a study which focused on the U.S. sitcom Two and a Half Men. The researcher compared the subtitles used on the satellite channel MBC4 and the DVD version and gave examples of changed, mistranslated, and censored subtitles in Arabic. This article summarizes his key findings and presents some insights and techniques for translating sensitive topics into Arabic.

The TV show Two and a Half Men

Two and a Half Men is a popular American sitcom that aired from 2003 to 2015.

The show initially centers around Charlie Harper (Charlie Sheen), a hedonistic jingle writer living a carefree life in his Malibu beach house. His life changes dramatically. His uptight brother, Alan (Jon Cryer), moves in with him after Alan’s divorce.

Alan’s young son, Jake (Angus T. Jones), also moves in. The series explores the comedic dynamics between the brothers and the challenges of raising Jake in such an unconventional household.

Regarding homosexuality, one notable character is Jenny Harper (Amber Tamblyn), Charlie’s long-lost daughter, who is openly lesbian. She joins the show in later seasons and brings her unique humor and perspective to the series.

Researcher Amer al-Adwan explained in his academic study that he chose Two and a Half Men because of its sensitive themes. These themes include sexual references, taboo language and swear words. They pose significant challenges for Arabic subtitlers.

The channel MBC4

MBC4 is a popular Arabic television channel that primarily broadcasts entertainment programs, including series, talk shows, and reality shows.

• MBC4 was launched in 2005. It quickly gained prominence for its diverse content.
• The channel is owned by the Middle East Broadcasting Center (MBC Group).
• The MBC Group is headquartered in Dubai. However, the government of Saudi Arabia owns a majority of it (54%).
• Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim also owns a significant share (36%). Waleed bin Ibrahim Al Ibrahim is a prominent Saudi Arabian businessman. He founded MBC Group and continues to serve as its chairman. Waleed was born in 1962 in Riyadh (الرياض), Saudi Arabia. He is related to the Saudi royal family. His sister was married to the late King Fahd bin Abdulaziz Al Saud.

➤ So if you look at who owns the channel, you won’t be surprised by what we’re going to discuss in the next section: that MBC4 is stricter when it comes to sensitive issues related to sex, gender, or drugs. Let’s see the details.

Comparing MBC4 and DVD Arabic subtitles

The researcher compared the original dialogues from selected episodes and their Arabic subtitles on MBC4 and DVD versions. Some episodes aired on MBC4 were cut short, primarily due to censorship that impacted the series’ storyline.

➤ We see that MBC4’s subtitle creator has intervened more strictly and frequently.

Euphemization

According to the author of the study (Amer al-Adwan), euphemization is the most commonly adopted strategy in dealing with taboo and offensive references. How does it work?

Euphemism here means that the subtitler uses a milder version of the original statement. Modern Standard Arabic, the language used in most Arabic subtitles, is perfect for this because it is a relatively polite and indirect language by structure and vocabulary.

We will now see two examples that were analyzed in the study.

Example 1: drugs

Two characters are involved: Missi (f) and Jake (m). Missi, says they reunited after Jake baked her a heart-shaped cookie. Jake then reveals the cookie was filled with pot.

• MBC4: The subtitler chose to soften the original word pot and replaced it with the more general term الممنوعات, meaning forbidden things. This indirectly conveys the intended meaning.
• DVD version: The subtitler translated the original unpleasant word as المخدرات, meaning drugs. “Despite the fact that this rendition is semantically closer to the original word, it is certainly more face-threatening to the Arab viewers,” said the study’s author, Amer al-Adwan.

Example 2: “balls”

Two characters are involved: Whitney (f) and Walden (m). Whitney gets very agitated and threatens Walden that she will rip off his balls and feed them to him.

• MBC4: The subtitler weakened the original sentence by changing your balls to أعضاءك, meaning your organs. The subtitler also omitted feed them to you, reducing the impact of Whitney’s threat.
• DVD version: The subitler kept the original message intact. The subtitler translated your balls as خصيتاك, lit. your testicles, conveying a similar offense to Arab viewers. Additionally, the subtitler added على العشاء (lit. for dinner), making Whitney’s words more expressive and threatening.

Note: Testicle in Arabic is خُصْيَةٌ. When talking about one man, you use the dual: الْخُصْيَتانِ. When talking about more or in general, the plural is used: خُصًى. For example: he got kicked in the balls in Modern Standard Arabic is رُفِسَ عَلَى خُصْيَتَيْهِ.

Semantic mistranslation

The second most common strategy is semantic mistranslation, which involves creating an inaccurate version of the original dialogue.

Subtitlers often use this strategy for two reasons:

• They may misinterpret the original meaning.
• Or they are driven by their own intentions about what can be shown or altered in the content.

Example 3: Tequila

Two characters are involved: Walden (m) and Jenny (f). Jenny explains that she is blending a hangover cure made of kale, wheatgrass, and three shots of tequila.

• MBC4: The subtitler intentionally mistranslated the word tequila as شراب البطاطا. This translation means potato soup. It was done to avoid the negative connotation of alcohol in Islam. This action prevented Arab viewers from seeing the word tequila. They may still recognize it and know it was not accurately translated.
• DVD version: The subtitler transliterates the word tequila into Arabic, providing an uncensored version of the original sentence. This accurately reflects Jenny’s character in the show.

Note: An informal and medical expression for hangover in Modern Standard Arabic is خُمارٌ. Watch out: خِمارٌ (with “i”) is a garment worn by some Muslim women that covers the hair and body. Sometimes, for hangover, you may also read صُدَاعُ الْخَمْرِ with صُداع meaning headache. The subtitlers of the DVD version of Two and a Half Men used a direct translation آثار الكُحول which means effects of alcohol. In Arabic dialects, most people nowadays will use the English word “hangover”.

Example 4: Having wild sex

Two characters are involved: Alan (m) and Lyndsey (f). Alan talks about his wild sex with Lyndsey and describes the intensity of her desire by saying, Lyndsey bangs my brains out”.

• MBC4 and DVD version: The subtitlers perhaps thought this sexual expression was too explicit for Arab viewers, as it could cause embarrassment. Therefore, the subtitlers translated it literally into Arabic, which led to an inaccurate meaning, especially given that Alan points to his private area while saying it.

Omission

Omission is the least common way to handle taboo and offensive references in the material examined. I will focus only on linguistic omission, as cutting scenes is not relevant to Arabic.

Example 5: Bitch be gone

Two characters are involved: Walden (m), Alan (m) and Jenny (f).

In this scene, Walden is frustrated that Jenny has taken one of his rooms for too long. He tells Alan he will turn either her room or his into a gym. Alan quickly responds, “Bitch be gone”.

• MBC4: The subtitler omitted the derogatory swear word bitch. In Modern Standard Arabic, ساقِطة means prostitute.
• DVD version: The subtitler retains all the elements of the whole sentence. The swear word has been subtitled as الساقطة. In Modern Standard Arabic, ساقِطةٌ means prostitute.

The author of the study concludes that “omitting such offensive references will affect how characters are constructed on screen, and thus Arab viewers will perceive a different portrayal of their traits and characteristics.”

Idiomatic expressions

The author of the study only looked at topics that are censored or difficult to discuss in Arab culture. In practice, however, subtitlers are often faced with phrases that they must translate into the everyday lives of viewers.

In general, there are fewer problems translating from Arabic to English. The Arabic Streaming platform Shahid, for example, usually has really good English subtitles for their original Arabic shows. So it is mainly from English to Arabic where there are problems. In particular, idioms can be challenging to translate. Some examples:

• The idiom to break the ice does not make sense in Arabic if translated literally as كَسَرَ الْجَلِيدَ. Instead, subtitlers use كَسَرَ الْحَواجِزَ (to break barriers) to convey the intended meaning.
• While watching YouTube videos with automatically generated Arabic subtitles, I noticed that sometimes phrases are translated literally. For example, the saying raining cats and dogs is mistranslated into Arabic as تُمْطِرُ قِطَطًا وَكِلابًا, which confuses Arabic speakers. The correct translation should be تُمْطِرُ بِغَزارَةٍ (raining heavily).

You should also be careful when using tools like Reverso. I ran a query for raining cats and dogs and the first entries were literal translations.

• On TV shows, the English phrase What’s up? is often translated in Modern Standard Arabic as ما الأخبار؟ which literally means: What’s the news. While this is correct, it sounds a bit too formal for Arab-speaking viewers. A more casual translation would be the Egyptian Arabic إيه الأخبار؟ which means What’s up?.

➤ In general, it’s okay to use colloquial elements sometimes in Modern Standard Arabic texts or speeches. We often do this in English or German as well, which makes texts and languages sound more natural.