# Norwegian: overskudd



## Kajeetah

Hi!
I'm adapting the Norwegian series _Unge lovende_ into French, for the dubbed version. I don't speak Norwegian, I just have an English translation of the script to help me.
I have trouble with a bit of dialogue because my English translation seems to be incomplete.

Here's the context: Alex is back from the USA where she failed to make a career as an actress. She meets her best two friends (who didn't know she was coming back) and says, while giving each of them identical key rings with the Statue of Liberty:

"Gratulerer på etterskudd. Eller *overskudd*. Det heter etterskudd?"

I guess she's talking only to Nenne, who's book is a success. Apparently she never contacted her friends while she was in the USA. My translation just says: 
"So, belated congratulations. Can you say that?"

What does she say exactly in Norwegian?
Thanks in advance for your help!


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## Bokfinken

_Gratulerer på etterskudd_ does indeed mean _belated congratulations_ (_féliciations tardives_). 

Alex is hesitating for a moment there, wondering if she's using the expression correctly: should it be _overskudd_ (_surplus, excess, profits_) instead of _etterskudd?_ The words sound similar, but _overskudd_ makes no sense in this context. 

So the literal translation would be something like "My congratulations are belated. Or in surplus? You do say belated?" 

I can see why the English translator used a workaround!


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## Kajeetah

Thank you! Unfortunately for me, I can't just ignore a part of the sentence as it's for the dubbing version. I have to put words in her mouth when she's talking.  I will have to find a workaround too but without understanding the overskudd thing I don't know which way to go. I was hoping it would make sense here... the only thing I can think of for the "surplus" bit is that she was anxious to meet her friends because they achieved success while she herself failed in the USA. As if congratulations from her weren't even needed. I'll find something. Thanks for your eplanation!


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## raumar

Don't worry about the exact meaning of "overskudd"! I think the main point here is that she confuses two words that look similar (both ending with "-skudd"), but mean completely different things. 

All you have to do is to find a word that is somehow similar to the French word for "belated", but has a completely different meaning.


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## Bokfinken

Raumar is right, the meaning of "overskudd" has no importance. Alex only considers it for a second because it sounds similar.

In French, I'd try something like this: "Félicitations tardives ! Ou retardées ? On dit bien tardives ?"


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## Kajeetah

Thank you! In the meantime I wrote something similar to the English translation - only longer.


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## myšlenka

raumar said:


> Don't worry about the exact meaning of "overskudd"! I think the main point here is that she confuses two words that look similar (both ending with "-skudd"), but mean completely different things.
> 
> All you have to do is to find a word that is somehow similar to the French word for "belated", but has a completely different meaning.


I haven't seen the tv-series so I don't know how valid my perspective is on this. They mean different things of course, but the mix-up of the two words is an interesting one. I mean, the semantics of the prefix _over- _is generally that something has been exceeded. Just think about what _overtid_ means. With this in mind, it is possible to see the mix-up as a play with words and meanings and not just a mere mistake.


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## raumar

That's a good point, myšlenka. The sentence could actually work with "_overtid_". "_Gratulerer på overtid_" would fit the context, so it could be a mix-up of two words (_etterskudd/overtid_) that each make sense, while the combination (_overskudd_) doesn't. 

On the other hand, "_overskudd_" is such an ordinary word, and everybody knows what it means. So the scriptwriters may have chosen this word just to emphasise how silly Alex' mistake is. 

I haven't seen the series either, so I don't know what's most plausible.


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## Kajeetah

Thanks for your replies. I chose to have her say "félicitations en retard", (belated congratulations), because that's what we say when we miss someone's birthday ("bon anniversaire en retard") The problem is you can't mistake a word for another here. Her character is often confused plus she's jetlagged, I'll find another way than in the original version to convey that.


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## littlepond

Maybe something like "Félicitations plus tard. Oups, en retard. C’est bien en retard, non?" works? In this though, the correct version is the second choice. Of course, no native French would make such a mistake probably, but maybe a jetlagged, tired mind might?


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## Kajeetah

Thanks littlepond, but I'm afraid it doesn't work here. The closest to the original version I could find is:

"Félicitations... tardives. Enfin, en retard, quoi. Ca peut se dire, "tardives"?"

Sorry for non-French speakers. Both mean "belated" but the first one is of a higher standard.


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