Puns Lost in Translation. Contrasting English Puns and Their German Translations in the Television Show "How I Met Your Mother"

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Translating a text into another language is often associated with literature, but it is also crucial in filmmaking. Since the 1930s, screen translation—encompassing subtitling, dubbing, and voice-over—has become a staple in Europe, particularly in Germany, where dubbing is the primary method for overcoming language barriers in film and television. However, many believe that dubbed films and TV shows lack certain qualities compared to their originals. This sentiment is prevalent in Germany, not just among linguists or multilingual individuals. For instance, German audiences frequently encounter incomprehensible scenes in dubbed American sitcoms, often accompanied by laugh tracks that highlight lost humor. The reasons behind these ineffective adaptations could range from culture-specific terms in the original jokes to the translators’ oversight. Research in media, humor, and translation studies indicates that wordplays, especially puns, are largely considered untranslatable. This paper argues that German dubbed versions of American sitcoms often lose significant humor due to the poor translation of language jokes. Many translations consist of literal translations or direct English word copies that fail to resonate in German. Notably, there has been no prior research on English puns and their German counterparts. To address this gap, I will analyze the adaptation of English puns in the German translations of the popular sitcom Ho