OK…let’s see what my lousy Spanish and google translate can do.
Panel 2 – “Um…who are you?”
Panel 4 – “Who is that?”
Panel 6 – “What?!”
Panel 7 – “Why are you screaming? Are you crazy? You scared me!”
Panel 8 – “Who are these cats?”
Panel 10 – “Sorry….but do you mind if I smell your nose?”
Panel 11 – “Vanilla?”
Thanks! I was doing fine up to the bit about smelling his nose. Thought I was gonna have to get out my dictionary for that one. It’s getting interesting… can’t wait to see how all the cats (y los gatos) overcome the language barrier!
I remember in Spanish class being told that the familiar/casual you was used for “family, friends, children, and pets” and thinking “only ’cause cats can’t tell you their opinion about that!” I guarantee if Elvis knew Spanish, he would get twice as puffy at being so disrespected!
Gato Noticias se pasó con los acentos aunque falló en algunos símbolos ortográficos. ¿Quienes…? does not need the accent. Basic rules are:
1. Emphasis on the last syllable and the word ends in a vowel, N or S then the last vowel gets the accent. (ratón, encontré,)
2. Emphasis on the next to last syllable and the word does not end with rule 1 then the next to last vowel gets the accent.
3. Emphasis on the next to next to last syllable always gets an accent. (pretérito, esdrújula)
4. There are exceptions for questions ¿Dónde? gets and accent ¿Quienes? does not because of rule 2 you can figure out were the emphasis goes
—
Missed a couple of question and imperative marks. In spanish they are always double ¿ ? ¡ !
Hmmm, a friend of mine helps me to translate these and some of the punctuation was left out more because they’re in a comic form, vs essay, etc (Much like how sometimes I leave out English punctuation, such as periods and whatnot if the word bubble itself serves as a frame visually for a gag). Thank you for letting me know, but in this case some of them may stay as they are.
Every language has regional variations, including ASL, and Spanish is spoken in a huge number of countries. Grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary can be different in different Spanish-speaking countries, much like the differences between American & Australian English. Which is to say that you could say something completely fine in Peru, and have someone in Venezuela tell you there was a mistake.
Georgia, you’re doing *fine*. Please never stop bringing us wonderful funny true comics about cats.
And I also loved seeing the other cat seeing the monitor in panel 4. “Who are those cats?” Very puzzling indeed.
Thank you so much, Jennifer! These words are a great comfort!!! 🙂 I think you’re making a terrific point (and I agree, I suspect this is the case). It eases my own confusion/anxiety for when I post a comic and get different responses to the translations. Thank you.
The comic has been updated with accent returned, to reflect that rule. Thank you for help on this!! From now on my Spanish speaking friend’s translations are going to stay, since this is the second strip in a couple of months that I’ve had to correct BACK to her original translations after second guessing them. It’s a lot of editing just to have them returned to how they were originally posted. I have learned my lesson not to second guess Francela!
That is why I went with “Um.” I try my best to translate their dialogue for Spanish speaking readers, but I also attempt to balance it with the fact that the comic is mostly in English and so many of its readers are relying on visual/language clues to try and get what the Gatos De Noticias reporters are saying. Sometimes I’m a little liberal with hints, or choose a Spanish word that might be more recognizable to the English speaking readers, just to give them a hint at what is happening. My best hope is to give the feel of flipping through channels and stumbling on a Spanish news broadcast and trying to figure out what’s happening in their headlines, while still entertaining readers who can actually speak Spanish and giving them characters they can truly smile with too!
(Which I realize I haven’t entirely explained yet, and it may give some relief to the folks wanting the Spanish to be a little more precise. My South American born now Canadian friend who helps me with the Spanish lines translates understanding that’s my goal and finds words that keep the dialogue easier, or punches it up a little).
Kitty sign language! Oh I’m so happy to see that! I am an interpreter, and I have been waiting and wondering if you were going to do something like this since you mentioned that he was deaf! Not disappointed at all. The sign for “deaf” is only one finger up, though, not two. Aslpro.com is a good resource if you plan to do more 🙂
Thank you! That’s one language I do speak a little of, (I worked with deaf and non verbal folks when I was first out of college–so much of it has left me without continued practice, though I try to refresh myself when I can! It’s a language I greatly enjoyed learning and speaking at the time). We did two fingers, but of course this must have been wrong somehow! Whoops! Thank you for letting me know! I still hope to have a “special report” strip at some point if I ever find the extra time, to show some “behind the scenes/in the studio” moments, and I always wanted to have Puck and Lupin signing to each other somewhere in there. 🙂
(In real life, Lupin knows the ASL signs for “stop,” “no,” and “wait,” but like all cats he chooses whether or not to obey commands at his leisure, ha! We also sign “you’re a good cat” or “you’re a beautiful cat” to him often followed by head rubs).
It might also be regional differences. I am from the Midwest and I know that the closer you get to California, the more variances there are.
My cats are not deaf, but they know “cut it out” from a mile a way! That’s when they know I’ve had enough of them jumping on each other at 3am. They generally ignore everything else unless it is the thunderous rattle of a food dish. Haha.
I adore this comic strip and so look forward to the arrival of each segment. Lupin is so clever to hang his microphone on his belt to free his paws to sign that he is deaf.
I didn’t noticed that! fantastic.. everything is so well thought and carefully captured in every panel I love that you care about every last little detail Georgia
For months I have been so, so tempted to add an “AV cat” into the mix! I even have a real life candidate in mind.. I don’t believe there is one there right now (though I reserve the right to go back on that, ha!) I once drew out how they use monitors and a camera, but I ended up scrapping it because it wasn’t entirely thought out yet and I was anxious to fully commit to the set up. It was however, a self-set up that the boys could tweak or adjust as needed, probably with web feeds….
One piece of the real life puzzle is the Man works as a video/media creative editor, so funny enough the boys are surrounded by a lot of studio equipment! Soundboards, mics–We even have a green screen… I’m not kidding! Maybe someday it will all come together a little more cohesively in my head and I’ll write a story line or two hinting on how the boys run the technical side of things. For now, I credit all of the broadcasts to “the mysteriousness of cat ways.”
Incidentally and totally randomly–the news desk is a real desk we own. The Man sits at a 1980s wooden and metal teacher’s desk we scored at a Good Will. I based the news desk on it in the first few strips and it stuck.
Lupin’s adventure has been so enjoyable, and now we have Sir Figaro and Puffy Elvis! This is a joy. And of course a basement laundry room full of warm, clean clothes to snuggle in would be a marvelous place to a cat.
I always wondered if cats (and dogs, etc) from different countries speak different languages! I am so glad that I am not the only one who wonders about this! I love this strip!
Awwww…. Lupin dropped his hat & Sir Figaro handed it back to him! (I love going back & “seeing” all of the artistic details) — Kudos, Georgia, on an amazing comic strip!!
I love that Elvis gets progressively puffier and puffier! Do you have any real photos of Puffy Elvis? In all the ones on the site, he is so sleek and beautiful!
I love the subtle implication that the boys have played some form of “THERE’S A [SCARY THING] RIGHT BEHIND YOU – ha ha, just jokies!” I think our own cats may have played this game as well.
Just adorable. I LOVE how the guest kittie has a microphone labeled GN — it took me a minute to realize it was Gatos! Clever. And like others, I like Puck’s paw in poor Elvis’s face. So cute. Thanks for all the enjoyment, Georgia. It just perks my day right up when I see Breaking Cat News in my Inbox.
We both REALLY LIKE this comic! Pero mi esposo no comprende espanol.* Suggestion: include subtitles or some other form of translation. [*But my husband does not understand Spanish.]
As time goes on, I have something in mind 😉 In the meantime, it’s okay! I mean for most of the readers to be in the same boat as the boys for a bit. If readers can speak Spanish: bonus! If not, neither can Puck, Lupin, or Elvis–more will unfold in time 😉
Georgia, are you a member of the Cat Writers Association? http://catwriters.com/wp_meow/ If you were interested in joining, I’d be proud to sponsor you.
… it took me 5 days to notice that everything Sir Figaro Newton says in this strip, other than “¡Me asustaste!” and (sort of) “Lo siento…” is a question.
When i went to Chile, i stayed with a pastor and his family. I was there as a missionary. To help pay my ticket over, i sold a comic i wrote and drew. As a gift to the pastor children our translator helped me translate it into spanish. It was so much fun! The tricky part was making English puns work in Spanish.
OK…let’s see what my lousy Spanish and google translate can do.
Panel 2 – “Um…who are you?”
Panel 4 – “Who is that?”
Panel 6 – “What?!”
Panel 7 – “Why are you screaming? Are you crazy? You scared me!”
Panel 8 – “Who are these cats?”
Panel 10 – “Sorry….but do you mind if I smell your nose?”
Panel 11 – “Vanilla?”
Nailed it!! 😀
Thank you for the translation! I have almost zilch Spanish in my lexicon. But if we ever run across some Italian feline neighbors, I’m on it!
Ditto here for Latin.
And I can cover the French Quarter!
I know very little Spanish, so thanks for the translation! 😀
Thanks! I was doing fine up to the bit about smelling his nose. Thought I was gonna have to get out my dictionary for that one. It’s getting interesting… can’t wait to see how all the cats (y los gatos) overcome the language barrier!
Thank you! 😀 Bless their whiskers they are adorable.
buhwhahahahahaha….the fur.
Me encanta Gato Noticias siempre alegra mi dia ;). I love Cat News always makes happy my day. Gracias (Thank You)
De nada! 😀
Realzies! Ha ha ha this is such a funny one 😀
I loved that, too! Jokies or realzies?!
Oooo…fantastic!!! I seriously need a print of the frame with Elvis all poofy and yelling Realzies! I need that! OMG…I love this!
Oh me too!
Yelling “REALZIES!” *and* tossing his script. 😀
I made a pic of it on my computer! lol
…I glad somebody understands it.
It is awfully unprofessional for Sir Figaro Newton to use the familiar ‘you’ instead of the formal, however… 😉
I’m not sure that there is a formal mode to “do you mind if I smell your nose?” It seems familiar or intimate would be the way to go.
I remember in Spanish class being told that the familiar/casual you was used for “family, friends, children, and pets” and thinking “only ’cause cats can’t tell you their opinion about that!” I guarantee if Elvis knew Spanish, he would get twice as puffy at being so disrespected!
Instead of “tu”, use “su”. Tu is more personal, su is more formal.
Source: 34 years of Mexican Spanish.
He starts out using the formal, but then they start to become friends.
It’s like the United Nations in here. Peace between kitties.
Puffy Elvis! And I <3 the Upstairs Cat! So cool!
I *almost* understood the Spanish, even without the translation so kindly supplied by catena. Hurrah for five semesters of university Spanish!
And Georgia? Thank you for the puffy Elvis and Puck shutting him up xx 🙂
You’re welcome! I’ve wanted to do that panel somehow for a while, haha!
I always wondered how Lupin could “hear” and understand the other cats! Now I know: he was reading their whiskers!
Love it!
Sweet, Lupin signing “deaf” 🙂
A Laundry Chute? Spanish Cats? It’s ALL going down over there!!!! 😉 I am so enjoying this!
Gato Noticias se pasó con los acentos aunque falló en algunos símbolos ortográficos. ¿Quienes…? does not need the accent. Basic rules are:
1. Emphasis on the last syllable and the word ends in a vowel, N or S then the last vowel gets the accent. (ratón, encontré,)
2. Emphasis on the next to last syllable and the word does not end with rule 1 then the next to last vowel gets the accent.
3. Emphasis on the next to next to last syllable always gets an accent. (pretérito, esdrújula)
4. There are exceptions for questions ¿Dónde? gets and accent ¿Quienes? does not because of rule 2 you can figure out were the emphasis goes
—
Missed a couple of question and imperative marks. In spanish they are always double ¿ ? ¡ !
Hmmm, a friend of mine helps me to translate these and some of the punctuation was left out more because they’re in a comic form, vs essay, etc (Much like how sometimes I leave out English punctuation, such as periods and whatnot if the word bubble itself serves as a frame visually for a gag). Thank you for letting me know, but in this case some of them may stay as they are.
Every language has regional variations, including ASL, and Spanish is spoken in a huge number of countries. Grammar, pronunciation, and vocabulary can be different in different Spanish-speaking countries, much like the differences between American & Australian English. Which is to say that you could say something completely fine in Peru, and have someone in Venezuela tell you there was a mistake.
Georgia, you’re doing *fine*. Please never stop bringing us wonderful funny true comics about cats.
And I also loved seeing the other cat seeing the monitor in panel 4. “Who are those cats?” Very puzzling indeed.
Thank you so much, Jennifer! These words are a great comfort!!! 🙂 I think you’re making a terrific point (and I agree, I suspect this is the case). It eases my own confusion/anxiety for when I post a comic and get different responses to the translations. Thank you.
I love your comic so much!! I think having a spanish speaker helping out is working great. The use of ‘¿Quiénes?’ is correct. There is a rule that says that it has a tilde when it is used as a question or exclamation (http://www.rae.es/consultas/tilde-en-que-cuales-quienes-como-cuan-cuantoaosas-cuando-donde-y-adonde).
Thank you, Yenny!! And I will pass the compliment onto her! (We are working out the dialogue for the next strip right now, actually!)
The comic has been updated with accent returned, to reflect that rule. Thank you for help on this!! From now on my Spanish speaking friend’s translations are going to stay, since this is the second strip in a couple of months that I’ve had to correct BACK to her original translations after second guessing them. It’s a lot of editing just to have them returned to how they were originally posted. I have learned my lesson not to second guess Francela!
I did just go back in to take that unnecessary accent mark out, thank you so much Eduardo!
One thing I’d note.. Hispanics don’t say “Um” they say “Em”. At least that’s what I learned in my Spanish phonetics class.
But I understand that in a primarily English speaking comic, it’s less confusing for them to say Um.
That is why I went with “Um.” I try my best to translate their dialogue for Spanish speaking readers, but I also attempt to balance it with the fact that the comic is mostly in English and so many of its readers are relying on visual/language clues to try and get what the Gatos De Noticias reporters are saying. Sometimes I’m a little liberal with hints, or choose a Spanish word that might be more recognizable to the English speaking readers, just to give them a hint at what is happening. My best hope is to give the feel of flipping through channels and stumbling on a Spanish news broadcast and trying to figure out what’s happening in their headlines, while still entertaining readers who can actually speak Spanish and giving them characters they can truly smile with too!
(Which I realize I haven’t entirely explained yet, and it may give some relief to the folks wanting the Spanish to be a little more precise. My South American born now Canadian friend who helps me with the Spanish lines translates understanding that’s my goal and finds words that keep the dialogue easier, or punches it up a little).
AHH!!! Puffy Elvis is the best!!
POOFY ELVIS RETURNS!!!
I love Elvis going out of his mind! Then Lupin with the jokies or realzies, he is startled but quickly recovers–what a hero!
Adorable Lupin reading whiskers, perfect 🙂
Kitty sign language! Oh I’m so happy to see that! I am an interpreter, and I have been waiting and wondering if you were going to do something like this since you mentioned that he was deaf! Not disappointed at all. The sign for “deaf” is only one finger up, though, not two. Aslpro.com is a good resource if you plan to do more 🙂
Thank you! That’s one language I do speak a little of, (I worked with deaf and non verbal folks when I was first out of college–so much of it has left me without continued practice, though I try to refresh myself when I can! It’s a language I greatly enjoyed learning and speaking at the time). We did two fingers, but of course this must have been wrong somehow! Whoops! Thank you for letting me know! I still hope to have a “special report” strip at some point if I ever find the extra time, to show some “behind the scenes/in the studio” moments, and I always wanted to have Puck and Lupin signing to each other somewhere in there. 🙂
(In real life, Lupin knows the ASL signs for “stop,” “no,” and “wait,” but like all cats he chooses whether or not to obey commands at his leisure, ha! We also sign “you’re a good cat” or “you’re a beautiful cat” to him often followed by head rubs).
It might also be regional differences. I am from the Midwest and I know that the closer you get to California, the more variances there are.
My cats are not deaf, but they know “cut it out” from a mile a way! That’s when they know I’ve had enough of them jumping on each other at 3am. They generally ignore everything else unless it is the thunderous rattle of a food dish. Haha.
<3, <3 <3! and the difference – one finger/two may be a regional or even "home sign" for the people you were working with – it is all good!
Bookmarking Aslpro.com right now, for future reference and to get myself practicing again! Thank you again!!
I just corrected his paw to have only one finger up. Thank you for catching that, Mere!
oh my carp.. I seriously love this! the fluff.. the ‘slow down I’m deaf’ the ‘can’t read your whiskers’ Elvis with his floof suit on..
perfection
I’m not sure, but wouldn’t the Spanish cat be rather “saying” esnif, esnif, esnif? Need some help from native speaker!
Haha love it!!!
He knows the sign for deaf!!! How cute.
YES PUFFY ELVIS!! Omg that’s the best one yet.
I adore this comic strip and so look forward to the arrival of each segment. Lupin is so clever to hang his microphone on his belt to free his paws to sign that he is deaf.
I didn’t noticed that! fantastic.. everything is so well thought and carefully captured in every panel I love that you care about every last little detail Georgia
Puffiest Elvis ever! This is what cat newscasters look like when they have a Howard Beale meltdown. 🙂
Wait…who’s filming Lupin? For that matter, who films all these guys? Is there a techie cat we haven’t seen yet?
For months I have been so, so tempted to add an “AV cat” into the mix! I even have a real life candidate in mind.. I don’t believe there is one there right now (though I reserve the right to go back on that, ha!) I once drew out how they use monitors and a camera, but I ended up scrapping it because it wasn’t entirely thought out yet and I was anxious to fully commit to the set up. It was however, a self-set up that the boys could tweak or adjust as needed, probably with web feeds….
One piece of the real life puzzle is the Man works as a video/media creative editor, so funny enough the boys are surrounded by a lot of studio equipment! Soundboards, mics–We even have a green screen… I’m not kidding! Maybe someday it will all come together a little more cohesively in my head and I’ll write a story line or two hinting on how the boys run the technical side of things. For now, I credit all of the broadcasts to “the mysteriousness of cat ways.”
Incidentally and totally randomly–the news desk is a real desk we own. The Man sits at a 1980s wooden and metal teacher’s desk we scored at a Good Will. I based the news desk on it in the first few strips and it stuck.
In my house, the techs would be ferrets, but that’s just here…
That is excellent, haha!!
Kudos on accurate ASL!
Lupin’s adventure has been so enjoyable, and now we have Sir Figaro and Puffy Elvis! This is a joy. And of course a basement laundry room full of warm, clean clothes to snuggle in would be a marvelous place to a cat.
I always wondered if cats (and dogs, etc) from different countries speak different languages! I am so glad that I am not the only one who wonders about this! I love this strip!
Puck paw in the face of Puffy Elvis is hilarious. I love the whole comic but that is my favorite panel by far.
I am way too excited over the pads on Lupin’s back paw but yes, Puck’s facepaw still takes it. <3
Awwww…. Lupin dropped his hat & Sir Figaro handed it back to him! (I love going back & “seeing” all of the artistic details) — Kudos, Georgia, on an amazing comic strip!!
Elvis got SUPER puffy!!! 😀 Very excited to see this development of upstairs cat meeting Lupin
I love that Elvis gets progressively puffier and puffier! Do you have any real photos of Puffy Elvis? In all the ones on the site, he is so sleek and beautiful!
Alas–I do not! Though I hope to capture it one day. In real life, real puffy Elvis is all tail with a flash of spikey mohawk streaking up his back! 😀
Ah, yes. I am familiar with the mohawk. Flint, the boy in my avatar, sports a Mohawk when he is mad, too. 🙂
I love the subtle implication that the boys have played some form of “THERE’S A [SCARY THING] RIGHT BEHIND YOU – ha ha, just jokies!” I think our own cats may have played this game as well.
Just adorable. I LOVE how the guest kittie has a microphone labeled GN — it took me a minute to realize it was Gatos! Clever. And like others, I like Puck’s paw in poor Elvis’s face. So cute. Thanks for all the enjoyment, Georgia. It just perks my day right up when I see Breaking Cat News in my Inbox.
I love how the kitty version of lip reading is whisker reading.
We both REALLY LIKE this comic! Pero mi esposo no comprende espanol.* Suggestion: include subtitles or some other form of translation. [*But my husband does not understand Spanish.]
As time goes on, I have something in mind 😉 In the meantime, it’s okay! I mean for most of the readers to be in the same boat as the boys for a bit. If readers can speak Spanish: bonus! If not, neither can Puck, Lupin, or Elvis–more will unfold in time 😉
My 8 year old wants to adopt a white cat and name him Lupin after Break Cat News Lupin. He’s learning Spanish in 2nd grade. He will love this strip.
I hope he does!! (Love the strip and get to one day adopt a white kitty and name him Lupin! 🙂 )
I’m just speechless. Keep it up!
I found Breaking Cat News with my Go Comics account and we love what you do! I knew you were “owned” by cats!
Keep up the excellent work!
Thank you so much!
Georgia, are you a member of the Cat Writers Association? http://catwriters.com/wp_meow/ If you were interested in joining, I’d be proud to sponsor you.
I am not, but I would love to join!!
… it took me 5 days to notice that everything Sir Figaro Newton says in this strip, other than “¡Me asustaste!” and (sort of) “Lo siento…” is a question.
My sister and I have 18 cat companions between us. You nail it every time Georgia.
I understood “vainilla!”
When i went to Chile, i stayed with a pastor and his family. I was there as a missionary. To help pay my ticket over, i sold a comic i wrote and drew. As a gift to the pastor children our translator helped me translate it into spanish. It was so much fun! The tricky part was making English puns work in Spanish.