6 “friends” jokes that were missing due to poor translation

The “Friends” series is distinguished by a huge number of jokes that only Americans understand. In addition, the character dialogues are often based on a pun – of course, in English. It is said that such humor does not translate. However, even poetic lines can be translated, retaining all the charm of the poetic images of the original. With an expert, we analyze 6 funny moments from the sitcom that were misreported to us.

All the salt is in some of Chandler’s lines. Joe’s suggestion that the chicken and the duck could have a baby and name him Chuck, he retorts, “Or Dick.”

The joke is that the name Chuck sounds like a combination of two words – “chicken” and “duck” (“chicken” and “duck”, respectively). But the proposed name Dick is “duck” more “chicken”. In common parlance, “dick” also refers to virility. Because of this, Chandler’s expression changes so much during the conversation.

At the refusal of Monica (in the original – Monica) to organize an event for several dozen people, Phoebe notices that her friend looks like a “nemoguy”.

The humorous meaning of the phrase has been lost in translation. In the original version, the girl says “Monican’t” and “Monican”, and these words are translated as “non-moguy” and “moguy”. In English, this sounds quite normal, but it is extremely problematic to accurately convey this dialogue in Russian.

In the scene where the stripper appears, the heroine exclaims to the character played by humorist Danny DeVito: “Are you all men or old people?”. The words “all” and “old” sound very similar. Here everything is built on the consonances of the language. In transliteration, the phrase looks like this: “Is this man real or ancient?”.

Friends discuss how they would behave if they became omnipotent (the English version is “omnipotent”). This word sounds almost like the word “impotent” (“impotent”). Joe, the last to join the company, is asked, “What would you do if you were omnipotent?” (“But if you were omnipotent, so what?”). Joe replies that he would hang himself, as the girls wouldn’t forgive him for that.

Ross focuses on the word “almighty”. It is similar to “Je suis impotent” (“I am helpless”). This is followed by the phrase, “We’re not talking about girls at all!”, and Joe replies, “How awful!”.

Friends went to a party at a restaurant to celebrate Monica’s new job. Rachel, Jo, and Phoebe are saving money because they are struggling financially. It turns out that the amount is split equally among everyone except Monica.

Ross suggests: “We split the bill by five. From each – 33.50.

Phoebe is indignant: “Well, no, I don’t agree.”

Chandler: “Ah! Flashback to graduation!

In one of the film studios, this remark was translated more correctly: “Wow! I was told the same thing at graduation.”

Phoebe and Ross follow Rachel to the airport to talk her out of going to France. Over the phone, Phoebe eloquently convinces her friend to get off the plane. She doesn’t have the strange feeling that something is wrong with the plane’s equipment (“left flange”).

In fact, “flange” means “side”. The meaning of the girl’s joke is a clue to her friend’s pseudonym, which sounds like this – Flange.

When Chandler decided to find another job, he was asked during the interview about his attitude towards official duties. Chandler almost laughs in response. What amused him so much is not clear at first. Here’s the thing: “Doodits” is sometimes translated as “poo.”