"Sie" in German Buffy

[pne]

I just happened to watch a snippet of Buffy the Vampire Slayer in German and found it rather amusing that Giles and Buffy use Sie to one another. It just seemed odd to me; they seemed more buddy-buddy to me than that.

Ah, the joys of having to translate from a language with fewer distinctions into one with more! (In this case, T-V.)

Comments

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

About a year ago, I switched the language on my iPod from English to German and suddenly it became "Bitte klicken Sie" this and "Bitte laden Sie" that and I was all like, What happened? We used to be such pals!

[pne.livejournal.com]

Haha! Yeah, similar :)

[schnurble.livejournal.com]

It always amuses me that Ronon, Teyla and Sheppard from Stargate Atlantis use Sie - they're a team, they risk their lives together each day, they're friends, and they still don't use Du...

[alsatia.livejournal.com]

Lazy translators? Although I can see the argument for them being formal with each other. Although the characters are actually very close, their relationship "shouldn't" be that way based on their respective social roles.

[pne.livejournal.com]

No, I don't think they were lazy.

It's more what you say: neither "Du" nor "Sie" completely fits the relationship between them, partly due to their social roles, but the translators had to choose one or the other, and didn't have the liberty of leaving it ambiguous as in English. I imagine their choice was probably the best they could do.

I still found it a bit odd, though :)

[lexabear.livejournal.com]

Was it an early episode, when Giles was still her librarian? It would be interesting to see if they switched to Du later when their relationship was more equal-adults.

[nik-w.livejournal.com]

This is what I was thinking - in earlier seasons, their relationship was more formal, more student-teacher. My knowledge of German linguistics is pretty much non-existant, but maybe they thought using "Du" could make people think there was some sort of non-professional interest in each other? Maybe also because of the age difference and that she should use "Sie" as a sign of respect and he would use it because he doesn't want to get too close to her (or at least wants it to sound like he's not getting too close to her)?

[elgrande.livejournal.com]

I think a problem is that the change from "Sie" to "du" always has to be made expressly. (I suppose similarly you cannot just change to addressing someone on a first-name basis in English without them saying something like "Just call me ...".) So, I guess the translators had to stick with either "Sie" or "du" for all episodes.

[alsatia.livejournal.com]

The reason I suggested laziness, which I ought to have elaborated on originally, was that I thought perhaps they had chosen formal usages anywhere that there could be the slightest ambiguity because it would less offensive to treat someone formally when you shouldn't than to treat them informally. Which is a thought that comes from a place of both "respect for elders" and "studying Spanish", and I admit to knowing not a lick about German.

Elaborating on the later comments, I think it would have been ideal if they'd been formal in front of people who would expect that relationship, and informal in private or with the other people who knew about their roles as Slayer and Watcher. That makes things really complicated though, and perhaps adds a level into the show that wasn't already there since in English the distinction would be made with tone of voice and/or body language, which are much more subjective.

What word would be used in a father-daughter relationship? Aside from the earliest episodes where everyone's still getting to know one another, that's how I'd expect Buffy and Giles to address each other.

[pne.livejournal.com]

What word would be used in a father-daughter relationship?

For anyone born later than, oh, 1920 or so, I would expect the informal "du" in that case.

Having someone address their parents with formal "Sie" sounds like something my grandfather might have done, but not anyone younger. (Addressing their own children with "Sie", on the other hand, seems completely wrong.)

[jpallan.livejournal.com]

I was trying to explain why I use Mr. and vous with my husband to him recently. He strongly disputes the T-V usage, whereas I find it sexier and a bit more intime to maintain that distinction.

I often call him "Chris", of course, but I like occasionally using the more formal usage.

[pthalo]

I suppose it's because of the age difference between them? Do they both use Sie or just Buffy to Giles?

[pne.livejournal.com]

I only watched a minute or so, but I think Giles called Buffy Sie, too.