I need to translate ‘Teddy Grahams’ into Spanish for work and I can’t figure it out. Somehow I was given the task even though I don’t really speak Spanish. I couldn’t find ‘graham’ in a Spanish dictionary. I coundn’t even find it in an English dictionary. I asked one of the natinve Spanish speaking workers and we came up with ‘Galletas de trigo de figura de osos.’
One of the non-native Spanish speakers came up with the phrase ‘galletas dulces de trigo en figura de osos.’
First does it matter if the word before ‘figura’ is ‘en’ or ‘de’?
Would one of the phrases make sense to a native Spanish speaker or should we try something completely different?
As a proper noun and a trademark, I’d say “Teddy Grahams” shouldn’t even be translated at all.
Think about it. “Volkswagen” is not translated out of German. “Parmalat” is not lengthened back out, then translated from Italian. Similarly with “Mistubishi” from Japanese.
That thought crossed my mind, but I don’t think a native Spanish speaker would know what they were if they saw it listed on a menu. Which brings to mind another question, do they sell these things in Mexico or any other Spanish speaking country and if so what do they call them there?
For a menu, huh? Give us more details about your project, if you can. I think it’ll help people formulate a better answer.
BTW, I’d bet a nice of chunk of change that “Teddy Grahams” is untranslated on bilingual packaging sold in, say, south Texas, or Southern California, or in the Miami area.
Can anyone living in those areas run to the nearest grocery or convenence store – or maybe even to your cupboard – and confirm?
How you treat such a word really depends on the context. Is this a work of fiction? A technical manual? A menu?
If it were a work of fiction I would leave it as “Teddy Grahams.” If it were a newspaper article, I might use “Teddy Grahams” with an explanation in parentheses. If it were a more technical article I suppose you might use one of the longer versions that your co-workers suggested.
If you want to be technical:
cookie = galletita (or galleta dulce)
graham (flour) = (harina) de trigo entero; that is, whole wheat
teddy bear = osito de juguete; that is, little toy bear. I have also seen osito de peluche (plush)
To be long-winded about it: galletitas de trigo entero en figura de ositos de juguete.
I don’t think that there would be a lot of difference between using “de figura de” or “en figura de.” Note one could also say “en forma de.”
I haven’t seen “Teddy Grahams” marketed here in Panama, but many other items are that use the English brand names. Most likely they would either be marketed under their English name, or called something like “Ositos de Trigo.”
Yes, but Kraft’s website does list “Nabisco” as a “brand” being sold in Mexico and internationally. Teddy Grahams is a Nabisco product, so we need more info to rule out Teddy Grahams being sold in Spanish-speaking countries.
One summer I was living in Bulgaria and they had a remarkably Teddy Graham-esque product available known as “Snack Teddies.” (In English, unranslated).
Obviously you have to know what a Graham cracker is for Teddy Graham to translate, and I don’t think most countries/cultures do.
Graham Crackers were invented in the U.S. in the 1800s. They were connected to the mad health craze that also gave us Kellogg’s corn flakes (and the hand-held vibrator, but I digress) http://en2.wikipedia.org/wiki/Graham_cracker
Unless you’re really pitching the healthful aspects of Graham crackers, why not try something more along the lines of: “bear cookie.”
Here is a Venezuelan grocery supplier that lists 33 breakfast cereals, most of which are U.S. brands, and most of which they don’t bother to translate, including Kellogg’s Fruit Loops and Quaker Cap’n Crunch.
Don’t know if it is any help but animal crackers are called galletas de animalitos here in Mexico. That may be something many patients will recognize or understand.