Oolon Colluphid Was Right - translation

Some time ago Melannen posted a delightful SGA fic that required the characters to talk in nothing but geeky references, and said at the end, "Translation is left as an exercise for the readers." Recently she encouraged someone to post a translation, so what follows is my best effort. I occasionally went for an extremely loose translation as that's what seemed to fit the story best, and in one place was stumped entirely. I bolded the lines that are my translation so you can see at a glance what's original Melannen and what's me. If anyone wants to argue with me about my translation choices or enlighten me on the "Older Brother" reference PLEASE DO. And Melannen, I'd love to hear how close I got to your intended meaning!

(the translated fic reads very oddly, I'm afraid, as the characters keep on responding directly to the references, not just the underlying meaning, so there's now what look like some pretty glaring non-sequiturs. It makes me feel a little bit a failure as a translator that I can't make the fic read just as well in translation as it did in the original. But in my defense I don't think there is a way to seamlessly translate this fic into readable non-nerd without losing a lot of the banter and charm!)


Oolon Colluphid Was Right, by melannen


( The Flaw in the Translator )