# Errors in closed captions **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [December 18, 2017, 4:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769 "2017-12-18T16:23:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![erysichthon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/d07c76/32.png) [@erysichthon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/erysichthon)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 5:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/21 "2017-12-20T05:07:22Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > I’ve seen lots of similar cases, where the text doesn’t match the dialog (most recently in an episode of Marvelous Mrs Maisel)-as if the captions came from an early version of the script that got altered at the last minute. This is why I always watch _Simpsons_ with the captions on. Sometimes there are completely different jokes! ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 9:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/22 "2017-12-20T09:07:40Z")
_Do not want!_ ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [December 20, 2017, 9:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/23 "2017-12-20T09:53:52Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > I believe most captioning is now done by software. I dunno. I had an online acquaintance who did closed captioning work as of less than a year ago, though she recently quit. One interesting thing is how little she could talk about her work. She could discuss some things that happened, but she had to be very cagey about what she actually worked on until it actually came out. Not just avoiding spoilers, but mentioning she worked on the series at all. I also learned that each person gets a small section, without a lot of context, which explains a lot of errors. And that there are specialists who get stuff with a lot of foreign languages, while she was required to just say “[foreign language]” if it came up for her. She’s friends in real life with people I know and trust, so I’m pretty sure this is all on the up and up. * * * I do note we can see machine captioning in action on YouTube. I notice it can’t punctuate, and makes mistakes of a kind that don’t show up on TV shows. The mistakes I see on TV tend to make sense on their own, while YouTube may produce some gibberish. I do know that people who caption on YouTube definitely use the machine version as a base if at all possible. So I bet a lot of stuff is machine aided. I also know, however, how bad YouTube can be if there’s any background noise. Stuff like podcasts and info videos work better than actual filmed scenes of life. With that stuff, it’s probably better to start from scratch. I know the acquaintance above said she didn’t get a machine transcription. ---
**Author:** ![Tilt-A-Whirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@Tilt-A-Whirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tilt-A-Whirl)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2017, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/24 "2017-12-24T18:51:41Z")
On the opposite end of things, I was recently watching the original Mad Max on DVD, and the subtitles were great. They must have been using the script, or something like that, because they caught all the dialogue, even muffled or unclear things. And it was all accurate, as far as I could tell. ---
**Author:** ![Mr\_Shine](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mr_shine/32/464_2.png) [@Mr\_Shine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr_Shine)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2017, 7:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/25 "2017-12-24T19:04:08Z")
On the episode of _Star Trek: Discovery_ where Burham got shown around the ship the captions indicate that the ship can perform hundreds of discreet projects at the same time. This makes my think of some very very quiet scientists. ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2017, 7:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/26 "2017-12-24T19:57:52Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > I dunno. I had an online acquaintance who did closed captioning work as of less than a year ago, though she recently quit. > > … she was required to just say “[foreign language]” if it came up for her. Could you ask her about the rules for “foreign” and “native” language? Because it seems to be based solely and the amount of pigment in the speakers’ skin. I find it offensive. ---
**Author:** ![DummyGladHands](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/49beb7/32.png) [@DummyGladHands](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DummyGladHands)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2017, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/27 "2017-12-25T21:45:03Z")
> [@j666](#): > > Could you ask her about the rules for “foreign” and “native” language? Because it seems to be based solely and the amount of pigment in the speakers’ skin. I find it offensive. I do captioning as a part time gig. We have a key in code that prints “other language” ---
**Author:** ![Rysto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ecccb3/32.png) [@Rysto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rysto)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 3:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/28 "2017-12-26T03:31:27Z")
I like to watch Japanese anime, so I see a lot of subtitled stuff. The quality variance between supposedly professional work by large companies is _astonishing_. Amazon Prime Video’s quality is by far the worst overall. In one series, I managed to find a character’s name was translated in four different incorrect ways. This was especially embarrassing because the character’s name was the English word “Reinforce”, or “Rein” for short. The morons doing the subtitles managed to spell that as “Gin”, “Lein”, “Re-enforce” and my personal favourite, “Rain Force”. In that same series, there are these weapons that speak little bits of English from now and then, with the voice actors being native English speakers who are perfectly understandable. And yet these idiots have managed to make errors like “cythe foam” for “scythe form” or “ark saver” for “arc saber”. Needless to say, I’m desperately hoping that Amazon’s little foray into anime licensing dies a quick death. ---
**Author:** ![crucible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/5f8ce5/32.png) [@crucible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crucible)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 2:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/29 "2017-12-26T14:14:18Z")
some time ago, and I don’t recall the source, a relative in Brazil told me about attending a showing of a war film there. It was English or American, subtitled in French (and Portuguese?). Two men were in a WWII bunker, one keeping watch. He suddenly said “Tanks!”, and the subtitle read “Merci!” ---
**Author:** ![j666](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/9de0a6/32.png) [@j666](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/j666)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2017, 11:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/30 "2017-12-26T23:24:00Z")
> [@DummyGladHands](#): > > I do captioning as a part time gig. We have a key in code that prints “other language” You know, I think I’m talking about subtitles, not closed captions. ---
**Author:** ![Cardigan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardigan/32/187_2.png) [@Cardigan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardigan)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/31 "2017-12-27T15:48:03Z")
The limitations and shortcomings of closed captioning become most apparent when one watches talking head shows where surly politicos constantly interrupt one another. You’re lucky to get 50% of what gets said in print. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 5:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/32 "2017-12-27T17:11:53Z")
> [@jsc1953](#): > > Sound of Music. Max complains that a singing group had been snatched up by [Sol Hurok](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sol_Hurok). The captions spell it more like “Saul Feurik”. Dude, maybe they were under the influence of LSD? ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 7:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/33 "2017-12-27T19:48:25Z")
I was reading a different article on this site just now and [this](https://en.rocketnews24.com/2017/03/18/subtitling-glitch-turns-schoolgirl-band-anime-into-tale-of-drugs-guns-and-murder/) article showed up in the right-hand panel of suggested videos. Perfect for this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [December 27, 2017, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/34 "2017-12-27T20:03:05Z")
> [@purplehearingaid](#): > > I watch METV and when the word "cocktail’ is being said or the ‘CC ’ is showing a gun is being cock \*\*\*\* will show up in place of the word “cock” ! This is so annoying seeing \*\*\*\* for words when it is not getting beeped out . I agree you do get a good laugh when the CC has the wrong word. I was watching’ Have Gun will Travel ’ online and it had CC and the word ‘Taliban’ kept showing up and I was like WTF ! The CC should had read 'Paladin ’ and not Taliban . I’m fairly certain I’ve seen cases where a minor curse word is bleeped but is shown in the closed captioning. ---
**Author:** ![ekedolphin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ekedolphin/32/10003_2.png) [@ekedolphin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ekedolphin)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 1:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/35 "2017-12-28T01:00:39Z")
During a Nationals/Mets game this season, the closed-captioning on the Nationals’ TV network, MASN, misspelled the name of pitcher Noah Syndergaard. Oh, they got his impossible-to-spell last name correctly. But they misspelled his first name, which was in The Bible, as “Know-Ah”. I thought that was funnier than hell. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 1:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/36 "2017-12-28T01:25:21Z")
Another sort of error I’ve seen is when news shows are showing archival clips (like, say, they’re comparing some person/organization’s response to a current event to their response to an event earlier in the year). The audio is the talking-head talking about how it relates to the current news, but the closed captions are still the original ones from the first time the clip aired. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 2:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/37 "2017-12-28T02:20:06Z")
> [@purplehearingaid](#): > > I watch METV and when the word "cocktail’ is being said or the 'CC ’ is showing a gun is being cock \*\*\*\* will show up in place of the word “cock” ! This is so annoying seeing \*\*\*\* for words when it is not getting beeped out . Seriously? Like the captions would say “And Best in Show goes to the \*\*\*\*er Spaniel?” 'Cause that’s messed up. > [@Nava](#): > > Still not a cieRRa… zomg, the captioner put in TWO r’s instead of one? What a moron!! (Really, it’s okay to admit that you were just wrong about the captioner not knowing a Ford from a Panzer) ---
**Author:** ![Darren\_Garrison](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/darren_garrison/32/92_2.png) [@Darren\_Garrison](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darren_Garrison)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2017, 11:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769/38 "2017-12-28T11:56:01Z")
> [@Green\_Bean](#): > > Seriously? Like the captions would say “And Best in Show goes to the \*\*\*\*er Spaniel?” > > 'Cause that’s messed up. It is the [Svaginahorpe problem](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scunthorpe_problem). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/errors-in-closed-captions/804769.md?page=1)