Lost in Translation

Sometimes, things really don't translate well. You lose the meanings of idiomatic expressions and culture specific terms. For example, the words senpai and kohai really don't tramslate into English very well ("senior" and "junior" are often used).

So with that in mind, I present to you... the Cockney version of the Lord's Prayer.

King James version:
Our Father which art in heaven, Hallowed be thy name.

Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven.

Give us this day our daily bread.

And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen.


Cockney version:
'ello, Dad, up there in good old 'eaven,
Your name is, well, great and 'oly,
and we respect you, Guv.

We 'ope we can all 'ave a butcher's at 'eaven
and be there as soon as possible.
And we want to make you 'appy, Guv,
and do what you want 'ere on earth,
just like what you do in 'eaven.

Guv, please give us some Uncle Fred,
and enough grub and stuff to keep us going today.
And we 'ope you'll forgive us when we cock things up,
just like we're supposed to forgive them who annoy us
and do dodgy stuff to us.

There's a lot of dodgy people around, Guv;
please don't let us get tempted to do bad things.
'elp keep us away from all the nasty, evil stuff
and keep that dodgy Satan away from us,
'cos you're much stronger than 'im.

You're the Boss, God,
and will be forever, innit?

 

A meme I saw floating around went something like:

Forgive me Father, for I have sinned

sounds much more somber than

I'm sorry Daddy, I've been a very naughty (girl/boy).

 

Thing is, in the Hebrew version of the Lord's Prayer, the word for Father is Aba. Aba is not Father. It's daddy or pappa. It's a child's word, an endearment. As a professional, trained and certified translator, I would mark Father as a bad translation because it fails to carry the original register and intent.

 

Penitence?

 

Yes, but what about Aramaic? I'm told that's the language Jesus & His Merry Men probably spoke.

 

He would have known the Hebrew text and tongue, arguably. We are all children is a religious theme of the day...

 

Aba is similar to Ab. Ab is Arabic for Father and not for daddy. Though, obviously Arabic won't be relevant here, but it has the same Semitic roots.