# Cutter



## eno2

Hi

The English original:
<So you are not a kleptomaniac, maniac depressive  anorexic* cutter*?>

Cutter stands for person who self-harms by cutting = άτομο που χαράζεται, άτομο που κόβεται, άτομο που αυτοτραυματίζεται περίφρ

The Greek subtitle:
<Ώστε δεν είσαι ο κλεπτομανής, μανιοκαταθλιπτικός , ανορεξικός *τύπος,>*

So to see there's no Greek word for it and the translator didn't bother to go for a periphrasis ...


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## sotos

It could be αυτοκτονικός, although is more serious case than "cutter". Αυτοτραυματιζόμενος would be another choise, not commonly used though. The translator was reasonable.


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## eno2

Thanks for the two suggestions,


sotos said:


> The translator was reasonable.


  mmmmm...
He was evading (the difficulty)  by omission....
Both your suggestions would have  been better than evading by omission.
But OK, though it's professional subtitling,  these  are  'only' subtitles, and it's not 'crucial' information, one gets the idea by context.


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## Helleno File

I'm not surprised there isn't a Greek word (yet!).  Cutter in English meaning someone who deliberately cuts themself has only been around for ?? 20 years. The phenomenon has become much more common and may possibly be less so in Greece (hopefully). In English cutter in this sense often has a negative connotation as in eno2's example - regrettably in my view as people who cut themselves already feel very shameful.


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## dmtrs

eno2 said:


> <So you are not a kleptomaniac, maniac depressive anorexic* cutter*?>



The translation could be possible (as usually happens) if content was put before form; my suggestion:
Ώστε δεν εμφανίζεις συμπτώματα/συμπεριφορές κλεπτομανίας, μανιοκατάθλιψης, ανορεξίας ή αυτοτραυματισμού;


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## Perseas

Θυμήθηκα και το «κόβω φλέβες»: κόβω τις φλέβες μου - SLANG.gr


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## ireney

The previous answers cover me completely. Do remember that, with subtitles, there's a limit on characters. There's a good chance therefore that, even with the best of translators, the subtitles may be somewhat lacking in accuracy.


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## eno2

Limit? I didn't know that. Sometimes two entire sentences appear. Must be ~120 characters. Just like (comparing)  book translations,  subtitles are not to be trusted for (exact) vocabulary . I check all new vocabulary.  They are a  great help for constructing   phrases and discovering the more idiomatic and surprising  Greek ways to say things. 



Perseas said:


> Θυμήθηκα και το «κόβω φλέβες»: κόβω τις φλέβες μου - SLANG.gr


That would require to say it with a verbal turn.


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## ireney

It's a practical thing with guidelines often given by the companies, having to do with things such as how many characters the average person can read per second, the overall length of the subtitles (you don't want half your screen to be subtitles or really tiny font) and synchronicity between subtitles and when a person speaks (so for instance, if there's a dialogue you want your second person's subtitles to start when he starts speaking). It's a particular problem if the language of the subtitles is more into long words that the spoken language. So, say, English vs Greek, Greek as subtitles suffers.
And ending this now before I have to moderate myself.


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