Author Topic: The meaning of 'so as to not become butter'  (Read 4433 times)

melusine

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The meaning of 'so as to not become butter'
« on: April 24, 2022, 01:02:39 pm »
I saw KWhazit's note about Spekkio's line "バターにならないよう、気をつける" -- translated to "I'll pay attention so you can't cheat." -- was actually "Be careful not to become butter" in the original Japanese, but was unsure of the origin of the phrase.

That's because it dates back to 1899 and a story that isn't seen much nowadays: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Little_Black_Sambo
(I heard as a kid by my mom, who'd heard it from her mom. It was told to me as the story of a brave little boy who outsmarted four tigers AND got an awesome pancake breakfast! None of the controversial elements were included.)

It refers to the four tigers in the story that chase each other around the tree so many times that they turn to butter! Spekkio is teasing the party with a similar fate :D
« Last Edit: April 24, 2022, 01:17:03 pm by melusine »

Vehek

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Re: The meaning of 'so as to not become butter'
« Reply #1 on: April 24, 2022, 01:23:26 pm »
kWhazit has his own site where he hosts his translations, which unlike the full retranslation document here, get updated from time-to-time.

https://kwhazit.ucoz.net/trans/ct/endtime.html
Quote from: kWhazit
It comes from a children's book called The Story of Little Black Sambo, which includes a part where tigers chase each other around and around a tree until they melt into butter.
His update history for 2018 points out this line specifically as the main revision for that update to his text.
« Last Edit: April 24, 2022, 01:24:26 pm by Vehek »

melusine

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Re: The meaning of 'so as to not become butter'
« Reply #2 on: April 24, 2022, 02:00:47 pm »
Thanks, I hadn't realized there was an update :D

(The pitiful part is that I'd been to that site before for the SoM translation work, but hadn't noticed the differences for the CT one.)