# Interplanetary Unusual Attack Team Bites the Wax Tadpole **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [October 7, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interplanetary-unusual-attack-team-bites-the-wax-tadpole/700636 "2014-10-07T12:25:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 12:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interplanetary-unusual-attack-team-bites-the-wax-tadpole/700636/1 "2014-10-07T12:25:39Z")
China’s translation of the title _Guardians of the Galaxy_ leaves something to be desired. > **[China Changed Guardians Of The Galaxy’s Title, And It's Hilariously Awkward](https://www.cinemablend.com/new/China-Changed-Guardians-Galaxy-Title-It-Hilariously-Awkward-67569.html)** > > Because some Hollywood movies feature titles with idoms or complicated phrases that won't market well in foreign territories, it's not uncommon for film's names to be changed when reels get sent overs But at least it’s not _Captain Supermarket_. ---
**Author:** ![Jophiel](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jophiel/32/66_2.png) [@Jophiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jophiel)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interplanetary-unusual-attack-team-bites-the-wax-tadpole/700636/2 "2014-10-07T12:59:39Z")
What’s up with Chinese and [biting wax tadpoles](http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/tadpole.asp)? ---
**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:** [October 7, 2014, 2:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interplanetary-unusual-attack-team-bites-the-wax-tadpole/700636/3 "2014-10-07T14:24:55Z")
I don’t know, “Interplanetary Unusual Attacking Team” doesn’t sound too far off, to me. Sticking “unusual” in the middle sounds a bit odd to English-speaking ears, but then, the rules for adjective use are subtle and complicated, and it could well be perfectly natural to Chinese-speakers. ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interplanetary-unusual-attack-team-bites-the-wax-tadpole/700636/4 "2014-10-07T15:35:44Z")
Sounds like something produced by a translation program. I’m sure a live translator who’s a native English speaker would render it differently. ---
**Author:** ![jharvey963](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/54ee81/32.png) [@jharvey963](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jharvey963)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interplanetary-unusual-attack-team-bites-the-wax-tadpole/700636/5 "2014-10-07T23:03:17Z")
I was in Spain not too long ago and they had movie ads that translated to “Infiltrating the University”. Not too bad – at least it’s kind of an accurate description for 22 Jump Street. J. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Bailey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/justin_bailey/32/8792_2.png) [@Justin\_Bailey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Bailey)\ **Post date:** [October 7, 2014, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interplanetary-unusual-attack-team-bites-the-wax-tadpole/700636/6 "2014-10-07T23:59:39Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > But at least it’s not _Captain Supermarket_. Honestly, that’s not a terrible alternate title for Army of Darkness. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interplanetary-unusual-attack-team-bites-the-wax-tadpole/700636/7 "2014-10-08T01:38:17Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > I don’t know, “Interplanetary Unusual Attacking Team” doesn’t sound too far off, to me. Sticking “unusual” in the middle sounds a bit odd to English-speaking ears, but then, the rules for adjective use are subtle and complicated, and it could well be perfectly natural to Chinese-speakers. Assuming that Chinese characters work like they do in Japanese, in China, it’s not really an adjective. The “unusual” is probably treated more like a prefix. E.g. normal and abnormal. In Japanese, I believe that the title in the link would be: Seisai Ikoutai Minus the “unusual”, it would be just: Seisai Koutai Only one letter difference. A better translation of the title would probably be “Galactic Xenoforce”. ---
**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 8, 2014, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interplanetary-unusual-attack-team-bites-the-wax-tadpole/700636/8 "2014-10-08T02:40:42Z")
Yeah, probably machine translation. I remember hearing about a (bootleg?) Chinese version of Star Wars Episode 3 that translated “The Jedi Council” as “The Presbyterian Church”. It made sense, in a way, as “Jedi” supposedly derives from the Japanese word “jidai” meaning era, and “Presbyterian” comes from the Greek for “of elders”. For the second word, “church” really can mean any group in a metaphorical sense. In many languages, the word typically used for “church” basically is the same word used for many non-religious gatherings. So, translating “The Jedi Council” as “The community of elders” isn’t that far off the mark. In theory. ---
**Author:** ![thelurkinghorror](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7c8e57/32.png) [@thelurkinghorror](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thelurkinghorror)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 6:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interplanetary-unusual-attack-team-bites-the-wax-tadpole/700636/9 "2014-10-08T06:52:51Z")
> [@Sage\_Rat](#): > > Assuming that Chinese characters work like they do in Japanese, in China, it’s not really an adjective. The “unusual” is probably treated more like a prefix. E.g. normal and abnormal. In Japanese, I believe that the title in the link would be: > > Seisai Ikoutai > > Minus the “unusual”, it would be just: > > Seisai Koutai > > Only one letter difference. A better translation of the title would probably be “Galactic Xenoforce”. Or what seems to be the Japanese title: ガーディアンズ・オブ・ギャラクシー gaadianzu obu gyarakushii Although the literal Chinese title _does_ sound like stereotypical translations of maybe a tokusatsu film. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 7:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interplanetary-unusual-attack-team-bites-the-wax-tadpole/700636/10 "2014-10-08T07:34:35Z")
> [@thelurkinghorror](#): > > Or what seems to be the Japanese title: ガーディアンズ・オブ・ギャラクシー > gaadianzu obu gyarakushii > > Although the literal Chinese title _does_ sound like stereotypical translations of maybe a tokusatsu film. Almost every sci-fi anime has a pre-title that sounds something like “Guardians of the Galaxy”, so I suppose it makes sense for them to keep the English transliteration. ---
**Author:** ![DeptfordX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@DeptfordX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeptfordX)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interplanetary-unusual-attack-team-bites-the-wax-tadpole/700636/11 "2014-10-08T21:38:46Z")
Assuming it’s not a hoax. I don’t understand the logic here. I mean there must be a Chinese word for Guardian. Whether it be the Chinese equivalent of that is Sentry, Defender, Warden etc. The concept of ‘Someone that protects something’ must surely exist in Chinese. Similarly there must surely be a Chinese word for Galaxy. Google Translate suggests for me “Shǒuhù zhě Yínhé” ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [October 8, 2014, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/interplanetary-unusual-attack-team-bites-the-wax-tadpole/700636/12 "2014-10-08T23:21:17Z")
> [@DeptfordX](#): > > Assuming it’s not a hoax. > > I don’t understand the logic here. I mean there must be a Chinese word for Guardian. Whether it be the Chinese equivalent of that is Sentry, Defender, Warden etc. The concept of ‘Someone that protects something’ must surely exist in Chinese. Similarly there must surely be a Chinese word for Galaxy. > > Google Translate suggests for me “Shǒuhù zhě Yínhé” Some possibilities: 1. Chinese doesn’t have singular and plural forms of words. So while there may be words for “guardian”, it may be that that term is almost always used as a singular so people would interpret “Guardian of the Galaxy” as being about an individual rather than a team. 2. All of the common terms for a team of guardians are specific to the entity being guarded. “Emperor-Safety-Team” or something. In English, words are largely just arbitrary sounds, but in Chinese words are explicitly built up from smaller concepts, so it’s easy to end up with words that are very specific. 3. Potentially, the Chinese don’t have any emphasis on defense as a positive or respectable thing. Naming something “guardians” might be like naming something “Space Hippies”. There may be some appeal to a minority of the market, but not to the larger part of the market.