黙れ、お前, or お願いだから、黙ってくださいませんか？: Translating the 2020 Presidential Debate

I was inspired to write this post by two recent discussions that I came across regarding the 2020 American presidential debate. The first was this examination of how Japanese media translated American reporters’ comments that the first debate was a “shitstorm”. The second was this Twitter thread analyzing Biden’s use of “man” towards Trump (I personally wonder if disrespect is also involved, as “man” in the context of a debate over “Mr. President” could be seen as not recognizing authority?). Both of these interesting conversations made me curious about how other particular choices in the debate were being translated – or if they were being translated at all – into Japanese.

In this post, I’m going to be surveying blogs, articles, and videos regarding two memorable quotes from the 2020 debate: “Will you shut up man” and “It’s hard to get any word in with this clown, excuse me, this person.” The first has become somewhat of a meme, even spawning official merchandise, and the latter is quite a distinct term of address for a presidential debate. Given the interesting phrasing of both sentences and their newsworthy nature, I decided to see how their particular phrasing was tackled in Japanese. Obviously this overview isn’t a formal survey of every post, but I tried to attend to a range of both formal (e.g., Asahi Shimbun) and more casual (blogs) sources to get at least a decent overview of where areas of alignment/debate could be found. The biggest problem in the data here will be that I overlook sources which don’t reference the English or debate at all. Searching “Trump” and translations of “shut up/clown” without including “Biden” or “debate” does turn up results, but few link to the specific event.

Will you shut up man?

Starting with the Asahi Shimbun¹, this newspaper translated the phrase as 黙っててくれるか (damatte te kureru ka). Here the base verb damaru means “to be quiet”, but (thanks to @sina_lana and @schrift_sprache for this detail) it is conjugated into a continuous form (i.e., “being quiet”). The てて (te te) then connects the verb to the request, leading to what can be over-translated as “do me the favor of being quiet/continuing to be quiet”. In standard Japanese though this would be teite, with an i sound in-between, so the use of te te is interesting. In my experience this dropping of i is not “correct”, but is commonly seen in representations of colloquial speech. The use here is therefore potentially to indicate a lack of formality. The request form used is くれる (kureru), which is in a “plain form” conjugation. In Japanese, use of the plain form to end a sentence is generally treated as casual. Without appropriate surrounding context, however, it is not rude on its own. It is fine to ask a friend to do something via kureru. Certainly though, the form is not in the level of formality one might expect from speech in a presidential debate, with politer request forms based on kureru like kuremasenka (would you mind doing) or the super-polite (keigo) kudasaimasenka version rejected. While honorifics can obviously be used sarcastically, the newspaper avoids them here. The sentence ending か (ka) is then of note as well. In polite speech, the use of か is simply how one ends a question. In contrast, in casual speech questions are usually marked via context and/or a rising intonation, with the use of か after plain form often sounding curt, blunt, or demanding. Edit: As my former PhD supervisor reminded me, it also has a potential “masculine” feel that may be intended here. In my introductory Japanese classes, I often describe the difference between omoshiroi desuka (polite) and omoshiroi ka (plain) as “Is it interesting?” vs “Oh, you think it’s interesting do you?”. This explanation is an oversimplification. It is intended more to make sure first year students don’t use the phrase accidentally and get in trouble than paint a full picture of when and where plain form + ka is used. In reality, like any sentence-final particle, there are many potential interpretations of ka in context and the form is used to serve many functions. For instance, it can also be used in self-speech to indicate something like surprise (e.g., omoshiroi ka could also be “Oh, its interesting [to them]? Hmm….”). But minimally we can say that its use in the current context diminishes the sense of politeness that might be inherent even in a casual-but-polite (i.e., contextually appropriate between friends) use of kureru as a request form.

The slide I use to advise new students to avoid plain form + か

In complete contrast to Asashi then, Huffpost.jp translated Biden’s comment as お願いだから、ちょっと黙って下さいませんか？ (onegai dakara, chotto damatte kudasaimasenka?, “I’m asking you, so would you mind please [hon.] piping down a little bit?”). Here, the phrase onegai dakara (Literally: “Because I’m requesting”) is added, and the plain/casual form of kureru used by Asahi Shimbun is replaced with the super-polite kudasaimasenka. Again, I do not wish to rule out the idea that this all comes off as sarcastic or frustrated. The use of onegai dakara certainly has an exasperated feel. But at least on paper it instead seems that the quote was on the whole made more polite than the English original. It is quite expanded beyond its original length, and the second half is placed in a stereotypically more polite register. This strategy was almost mirrored by MSN News and Yahoo! News, which both went with お願いだからちょっと黙って (onegai dakara, chotto damatte). Here the ending kudasaimasenka is rejected for the more casual request form damatte, making the statement much less “polite” overall and emphasizing the potential exasperation of onegai dakara, but the “I’m asking you, so please […] a little” frame is maintained. Finally, translation of Biden’s statement into a polite form (or, again, what is on paper polite) was also performed by テレ東NEWS. During their segment, as seen in the image below, Biden’s statement was translated as 静かにしてくれませんか (shizuka ni shite kuremasenka). This phrase also ends in a polite request form, although a bit less polite then kudasaimasenka, with shizuka ni shite similar in meaning to damatte.

The BBC News Japan then took a bit of a middle route, going with 少し黙ってくれないか (sukoshi damatte kurenai ka, wouldn’t you be quiet for a bit?). Here Huffpost’s choices are mirrored in the BBC’s use of sukoshi, which works like chotto to add the meaning of “a bit/a little” to the sentence. The overall register is casual though, albeit slightly more polite than seen with Asahi’s translation, as rather than use kureru the negative form kurenai is applied. This works like “won’t you” in English normally (again, I’m going off stereotypical values of these items here for now), but the intention here could once again be to convey sarcastic politeness. This possibility is especially worth noting given that the ka particle also seen in Asashi is attached to the end. A video posted by FNN used this kurenai ka translation as well, although they dropped the sukoshi. Arab News then went a bit farther in emphasizing the frustration of the statement, going with おい、黙っててくれないか？ (oi, damatte te kurenai ka). Again, the tete form common in representations of colloquial speech is seen, mirroring Asahi. The oi then serves as a way of grabbing attention, expressing frustration, and/or outright taking the turn to speak, functioning as an interesting addition absent from all other translations.

Newsweek and TBS News then instead went with the most aggressive translation of the major publishers, using only 黙ってくれ (damatte kure, shut it). Here there is no mitigating sukoshi or chotto, and the kureru verb is shortened to its imperative form kure. The statement therefore comes off as a demand, rather than the (potentially sarcastic or exasperated) request forms used by other news sites.

Blogs and other “unofficial” discussions then upped the level of aggression implied in their translations of Biden’s statement, perhaps indicating a willingness to go beyond what mainstream publishers feel comfortable posting. This post on NOTE was the most similar to what’s been seen so far, as it used damatte kurenai while translating Biden’s statement as いい加減に黙ってくれないかな (ii kagen ni damatte kurenai kana). The use of ii kagen ni (properly) and the sentence-final kana (I wonder) are interesting though, as the sentence comes off as something like “I wonder if you’ll do the right thing and shut up for me?”. I’m over-translating here to include all elements, but the ultimate result is that the phrase appears more like a rhetorical statement than an actual request. More aggressive forms were then used by a blog by “Keri-sensei” and “sirowaniko“. The former writer used おまえは、黙ってろ！ (omae wa, damattero). Here we see the first use of a term of address, with omae being a fairly disrespectful or provocative second person pronoun, and a very aggressive imperative in damattero!. This latter phrase did not appear in any mainstream articles I searched, but it was used in a Wall Street Journal editorial by their editorial board. Sirowaniko then goes with ちょっとは黙れ (chotto wa damare), keeping the imperative but adding the chotto seen in many other translations. A blogger named Matsuoka instead avoided translation entirely. In his post, he wrote that “‘Will you shut up’ is a very stringent term of rebuke in American society, as it stresses freedom of speech”, explaining the phrase rather than attempting to recreated it. Finally, in the most blunt translation, a writer going by Choro uses だまれ、うっせ (damare, usse), combining the imperative form with the slang phrase usse “used to make someone become quiet“. Both forms could arguably be translated as “shut up”.

Ultimately, outside of Huffpost it does seem like most news sites attempted to make Biden’s statement appear informal, although a few sources simply didn’t translate it at all. Efforts at implying aggression, contempt, or sarcasm were also used, but “rude” vocabulary or imperatives were found mostly in blogs. While at times the blogs seemed to hit the right tone, I feel they did tend to exaggerate the level of aggression. On the other hand, the use of man which was discussed in the Twitter thread I mentioned earlier wasn’t translated explicitly in almost any data. Personally, I agree with the analysis in the Twitter thread that this use of “man” instead of nothing, “Trump”, “Donald”, or “Mr. President” is a meaningful choice. While certainly translating the overall tone of Biden’s statement does not require a term of address, I am a little surprised that only one writer included them given how many exist in Japanese. The use of omae is interesting, as it can imply “cool solidarity” in the sense the Twitter thread presumed with “man”, and it certainly comes off as uncommon to a political debate. It’s definitely not a 1 for 1 match with “man” though. A Japanese anime might have a villain call a hero omae, but it would seem silly if, say, the Joker referred to Batman as “man”. I don’t think it’s a bad choice by any means, however. Going more aggressive with a term of address like temae or kisama which are contemptuous but have no real recognized use as solidary terms feels a bit overboard, as do forms like damare, usse.

It’s hard to get any word in with this clown, excuse me, this person

The reference to Trump as a “clown” saw less attention overall. Most articles I read didn’t even mention it right out. For instance, this Yahoo! article mentions that it’s source article is titled “Biden Calls Trump a ‘Clown’ as Candidates Spar in First Debate”, but does not actually include a reference to the act. The fact that Biden referred to Trump as a “clown” twice and a “fool” once often muddled details too, as it wasn’t often clear which incident Japanese press were referring to. This problem can be seen in outlets like Bloomberg, Nikkei, Gendai, Suponichi Annex, and a Wall Street Journal editorial, which simply note that Biden called Trump a 愚か者 (orokamono) without further context. This phrase indicates that Biden had called Trump an “idiot” or “fool”, and while some articles do state that they are translations of English articles about the use of “clown”, in others the specific English is unclear. Yomiuri instead mentions that Biden said 本当に愚か者だ (hontо̄ ni oroka mono da, you really are a fool), which is slightly confusing. As far as I can tell from transcripts, Biden never said that Trump “really is” anything. The closest phrase is a statement that Trump is “absolutely wrong”, but this doesn’t match Yomiuri’s phrase. Presumably then, “clown” is not just an oroka mono for this translator, but rather REALLY oroka mono.

On the more literal end of mass-media translation then, a Wall Street Journal article on the debate just translated the term directly as ピエロ (piero, clown), presumably under the assumption that the insult crosses language barriers. I agree with this assumption in some respects. I don’t imagine that being called a clown goes over well in any language. But I do think something is lost here. Being called a clown is certainly a more common and implication rich insult in English compared to being called a piero in Japanese. A similar issue exists with the choice of Mutsu Shinpо̄ Newspaper to instead used 道化師 (dо̄keshi). This is a broader “native” term referring to jesters, clowns, and associated professions, but I’m not sure it specifically implies the performance of a attention-demanding fool implied by the English insult “clown”. Yahoo! seems to skip these concerns by taking the middle road, noting all the insults to state that Biden called Trump a orokamono ya piero (idiot and clown). Across these sources and those in the prior paragraph, the “this clown, excuse me, this person” transition is unfortunately left unmentioned.

Other blogs and videos offered more detail though, and/or were more creative in their translations. Many attempted to contextualize the term “clown”. In this video by TBS, the live translation uses the longer phrase このようなピエロのような状況できちんとはなすことができないですね。(kono yо̄ na piero no yо̄ na jо̄kyо̄ de kichinto hanasu koto ga dekinai desu ne, In this clown-like situation it’s impossible to properly speak, isn’t it.). Here the translation avoids calling Trump a clown specifically. It also mirrors Huffpost’s translation of “shut up man” in rendering the statement in a fairly polite register of Japanese. In contrast though, when TBS later used video of the debate in a shorter news segment, the subtitle used was こんなピエロが相手では話にならない。失礼、この方が、(konna piero ga aite de wa hanashi ni naranai. shitsurei, kono kata ga, With a clown like this as a [debate] partner I can’t say anything. Excuse me, this fellow). As far as I could find (again, I certainly could have missed something!), this is the only translation in a fairly mainstream account which tackled the full statement. Here Trump is described first as a piero aite (literally a “clown interlocuter”), but then Biden switches to kata, a polite term for a third party. I would argue that kata is more polite than “person”, but the switch in politeness is effectively maintained.

Like with “Shut up man”, blogs tended to use a bit more casual phrasing in their translations than mainstream news sources. A writer named Handa used このピエロが相手だと何を言っても無駄だ (kono piero ga aite da to nani wo ittemo muda da, with this clown as an interlocuter, no matter what I say it’s a waste). Here “clown” is translated as is, but phrasing like hanashi ni naranai (literally: doesn’t become a conversation) or hanasu koto ga dekinai (literally: can’t speak) is dropped for the blunt “no matter what I say, it’s a waste”. A blogger named Choro instead used the phrase “このタコ野郎に言葉がないぜ, translating “clown” as tako yarō. This term is literally something like “octopus bastard”, and the only dictionary I found that included it translates it into English as “chomper”, which isn’t helpful. According to native speakers I spoke with though, tako yarō is simply a term used like “idiot” or “asshole”, with the reference to octopuses not really relevant. Choro also uses the stereotypically rough and masculine sentence final particle ze in their translation, adding a level of informality and potentially aggression absent in many mainstream accounts. The blogger Keri Sensei then just bluntly translates clown as このバカ (kono baka, this idiot), and uses the phrase 言葉を挟みようもない (kotoba o sebamu yо̄ mo nai, there’s no way to squeeze in a word). This, in my mind, seems like one of the best translations of “it’s hard to get any word in”, with the translation employing a casual register but excluding any particular sentence-final particles.

Concluding Thoughts

Ultimately, the rather marked nature of the language use in the 2020 debate resulted in mainstream Japanese media sites employing a number of distinct strategies. The use of polite language was rare, although not absent. In general casual form was treated as acceptable, with “Will you shut up man” often involving some casual conjugation of the verb kureru (to receive) following the verb damaru (to be quiet), often with rather colloquial elements thrown in. The use of plain form + sentence-final ka was also rather dominant, with many translations using this strategy to (apparently) reduce the overall politeness potentially implied by kureru. The result was that the English version, which to me at least seems like a command, was generally transformed into a casual, sarcastic, or frustrated request, with few formal news organizations using Japanese imperative verbs. The selection of “man” saw no explicit translation though, while “clown” instead was either translated literally or turned into a term for idiot/fool. I’m a bit surprised by this former phenomenon, as my assumption was that Japan’s large number of terms of address would result in a lot of creativity in attempting to access the potential importance of “man”.

In contrast, blogs and other “casual” media tended to be a bit more creative in their translations. Uses of specific insulting terms of address appeared, as did provocative sentence-final particles or insults. In some cases I feel these went a little overboard in emphasizing the curt manner of the original. I’m not sure Biden really ever spoke in a way that demanded a ze, or a damattero. But a few do seem to use their editorial freedom in ways that I feel get at the nuance of the statements a little better than their newspaper/broadcaster counterparts. Personally, my favorite phrase that I learned from all this is tako yarō, or “octopus bastard”, and I’ll be keeping my ears open to catch a glimpse of it in the wild. Perhaps the styles used by Biden and Trump will be influential, and we’ll get a chance to hear the phrase at an upcoming Japanese political debate?

Footnotes

¹On Twitter, @Matt_Alt pointed out to me that the paper version of Asahi uses 黙れ (damare) only. See image below. Why a difference exists, I do not know, but a comparison of newspapers (which I don’t have access to) and online sources would be interesting.

Additionally, this blog post resulted in a full research article, which you can read in the journal Continuum.

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