# How to say this catchy? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 30, 2011, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196 "2011-09-30T20:17:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Snickers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Snickers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snickers)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/41 "2011-10-03T19:15:35Z")
I wanted to say exactly what **Oy** said. “Well said” works, both for **Oy** ’s post and a game show name. ---
**Author:** ![robert\_columbia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e79b87/32.png) [@robert\_columbia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/robert_columbia)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 7:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/42 "2011-10-03T19:44:22Z")
> [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](#): > > Native speakers please advise: I’m correcting some subtitles and I’m trying to translate the name of a game show. Literally it says “if you said it well, you are halfway to victory”, or, “Gut gesagt ist halb gewonnen”. > > I’d be grateful for any suggestions how to make this catchier / shorter. The following don’t seem to be it. > “half the battle is how you say it” > “saying it right is half the battle” > “well spoken is half won” > “well said, halfway there” > > There must be something better but still more or less literal? Native US English speaker here. #2 sounds the best. #1 and #3 are awkward but understandable. #4 is confusing and doesn’t clearly state the premise, but is just a compliment and a status update (it doesn’t tell you that saying it well got you the entire half way) We have an expression “Just showing up is half the battle”. I think making an allusion to this would help. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Piranha_Brothers)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 7:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/43 "2011-10-03T19:45:20Z")
> [@Oy](#): > > For the name of a game show, “Well Said” would be perfectly adequate. You don’t have to spell out the rules or even the entire premise in the title. Sorry, but I want to make subtitles that reflect the original. Just “Well said” would be less than the original. ---
**Author:** ![Kiber](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiber/32/317_2.png) [@Kiber](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiber)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/44 "2011-10-03T20:00:58Z")
> [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](#): > > This is becoming more difficult… > > - “Well said is half won” sounds like a proverb but isn’t, but so is the original. It’s more literal but some people don’t understand its meaning > - “It’s all in how you say it” is a bit long, but so is the original In my head, it works better without the “is”, giving it more of a rhythm. “Well Said, Half Won.” ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 3, 2011, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/45 "2011-10-03T20:13:30Z")
> [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](#): > > So is “well said is half won” stilted or not? Sounds like something out of _Lord of the Rings_, perhaps what Merry or Pippin might say. Can you tell us more about the game show-- rules and objectives? I think that would help us find a better name. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Piranha_Brothers)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 8:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/46 "2011-10-04T08:12:34Z")
> [@John\_Mace](#): > > Sounds like something out of _Lord of the Rings_, perhaps what Merry or Pippin might say. > > Can you tell us more about the game show-- rules and objectives? I think that would help us find a better name. Not really, I mean I’m not trying to name the show, I’m trying to translate the German name. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 2:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/47 "2011-10-04T14:01:25Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I’d suggest “Speaking well is half the battle”. I think I’d go with this if you want to preserve a natural structure and all the meaning of the original. It’s not a pithy gameshow title, but it’s got all the elements you’re asking for. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 2:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/48 "2011-10-04T14:46:05Z")
> [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](#): > > Not really, I mean I’m not trying to name the show, I’m trying to translate the German name. This, I believe, is at odds with trying to make it “catchy.” It seems to me that “well spoken is half won” or “well said is half won” achieve the goal of translation, and any attempt to make it catchy will adversely affect that goal. The German original wasn’t catchy, why should the translation be? ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/49 "2011-10-04T14:49:30Z")
> [@Mops](#): > > That’s because it is a play on the well known proverb _Frisch gewagt ist halb gewonnen_ (boldly dared is half won), which is said to derive itself from Horace’s _dimidium facti qui coepit habet_. Absent that allusion it isn’t catchy of course. Might also be a reference to [this Monty Python skit](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Woe8N-8kU). ---
**Author:** ![Peter\_Morris](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peter_morris/32/359_2.png) [@Peter\_Morris](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peter_Morris)\ **Post date:** [October 4, 2011, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/50 "2011-10-04T18:39:15Z")
> [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](#): > > Native speakers please advise: I’m correcting some subtitles and I’m trying to translate the name of a game show. Literally it says “if you said it well, you are halfway to victory”, or, “Gut gesagt ist halb gewonnen”. > > I’d be grateful for any suggestions how to make this catchier / shorter. There is a common English saying, which more or less means the same thing: _“It ain’t what you say, it’s the way you say it. That’s what gets results”_ So, any of the following titles would be instantly recognisable as a reference to the longer phrase: 1. It ain’t what you say … 2. The way you say it. 3. That’s what gets results. ---
**Author:** ![Becky2844](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/91b2a8/32.png) [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 7:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/51 "2011-10-05T07:35:47Z")
> [@Kiber](#): > > In my head, it works better without the “is”, giving it more of a rhythm. > > “Well Said, Half Won.” I like this one. Good translation and catchy. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/aca169/32.png) [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Piranha_Brothers)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 7:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/52 "2011-10-05T07:36:32Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Might also be a reference to [this Monty Python skit](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_Woe8N-8kU). Yes, or…? > [@Gary\_T](#): > > This, I believe, is at odds with trying to make it “catchy.” It seems to me that “well spoken is half won” or “well said is half won” achieve the goal of translation, and any attempt to make it catchy will adversely affect that goal. The German original wasn’t catchy, why should the translation be? It’s proverb-like, so slightly more difficult to translate. I wanted to go with “well said is half won” but I wasn’t sure if that made sense in English. I’m still not sure. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/53 "2011-10-05T11:27:25Z")
> [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](#): > > It’s proverb-like, so slightly more difficult to translate. I wanted to go with “well said is half won” but I wasn’t sure if that made sense in English. I’m still not sure. It does make sense (sort of) because it’s somewhat similar to the proverbs “well begun is half done”. The part that doesn’t really make sense is that we don’t name our game shows after proverbs in North America. (Maybe there’s a counterexample that I’m not thinking of, though.) ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/54 "2011-10-05T13:42:27Z")
> [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](#): > > Yes, or…? > It’s proverb-like, so slightly more difficult to translate. I wanted to go with “well said is half won” but I wasn’t sure if that made sense in English. I’m still not sure. It absolutely makes sense; just sounds a bit odd and archaic in wording. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 3:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/55 "2011-10-05T15:52:50Z")
> [@The\_Piranha\_Brothers](#): > > It’s proverb-like, so slightly more difficult to translate. I wanted to go with “well said is half won” but I wasn’t sure if that made sense in English. I’m still not sure. It makes sense in that it’s understandable. What it doesn’t do is explain the game, and neither does the German original. “If you said it well, you are halfway to victory” raises a number of questions as to just what is the game, why does saying it well get you halfway to winning, what must one do after saying it well to get all the way to victory, etc. I, and I think most if not all Americans, don’t know of anything to compare it to, to help figure out what kind of game this is. It’s a matter of “I understand the words, but what does it mean?” I don’t know if Germans (or other Europeans) have a different frame of reference, where they get the idea of the game from “Gut gesagt ist halb gewonnen.” But whether they do or not, if you want to communicate the whole nature of the game to Americans, it will require further explanation that can’t be done with just the name of the show. If all you want to do is translate the title so that the name of the show is understood, then “well said is half won” will work just fine, and I doubt it can be said any better. ---
**Author:** ![Quercus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/7ab992/32.png) [@Quercus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quercus)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/56 "2011-10-05T16:42:35Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > There is a common English saying, which more or less means the same thing: _“It ain’t what you say, it’s the way you say it. That’s what gets results”_ > > So, any of the following titles would be instantly recognisable as a reference to the longer phrase: > > 1. It ain’t what you say … > 2. The way you say it. > 3. That’s what gets results. I think I disagree. I’ve heard “It ain’t what you say; it’s how you say it”, but never followed by the sentence “That’s what gets results.” I don’t think most (U.S.) English speakers would recognize 3) above as anything meaningful. “.. It’s How You Say It” might be a good name for a gameshow, though. But if you’re leaning a little more towards a literal (but somewhat snappy) translation of the German title, as opposed to coming up with a good English title for the show, so far I like “Well Said is Half Won”. It’s a bit awkward in English, but it seems to be a pretty good literal translation. Plus it sounds in English like a slightly modified common saying, which is what the German title is, right? And if you think the original title is slightly awkward in German, then the translation is near perfect! ---
**Author:** ![HawksPath](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/f07891/32.png) [@HawksPath](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/HawksPath)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2011, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/57 "2011-10-05T18:08:18Z")
Words are Truth Believe My Words Saying is Believing ---
**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:** [October 6, 2011, 8:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196/58 "2011-10-06T08:57:02Z")
In my experience, subtitles generally use the most literal translation possible that is still grammatical in the target language. Unless this is the title of the work, “Well Said Is Half Won” is probably the best translation. If you were actually showing the game show itself, then I would consider using a more colloquial title. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-to-say-this-catchy/598196.md?page=2)