# Danish, Swedish, Norwegain: en:debraining fr:décervelage



## monpauvrelieu

God kväll!
From Alfred Jarry, I cannot find out how the title «La chanson du décervelage» / «The debraining song» has been translated to Swedish, and I will anyways have the same problem when I will get the same title in the Danish and Norvegian versions of my personnal website.
In any attempt to get a translation from an oline translator or dictionary, either the server doesn't know the word, either it understands the meaning «Lavage de cerveau», «Brainwashing», «Hjärntvätt». But in the song, the brain is _removed_, not _washed_.
Any suggestion? Or the exact title if any knows?
Thank you.


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## sjiraff

Hi Monpauvrelueu,


When you say the brain is "removed" and not washed I think it's because they are both figurative and neither literally mean brains are being removed or washed, but they both convey the same (or at least as close as possible) to having free-thought removed from one's head.

Maybe in French you don't call it "brainwashing" but "brain removing"? 

Either way "debraining" in English is a made up word you would hear in cartoons, but the closest real word would be "brainwashing" or "hjernevasking" in Norwegian. Maybe if you wanted to translate it literally you'd say "hjernefjerning"?


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## monpauvrelieu

« hjernefjerning » is perfect. In the song, there is a description where the brain is really removed with a machine, I perceive it like a sort of parody of the guillotine executions.
Tak!


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## AutumnOwl

_*Swedish:*_ perhaps _hjärnborttagning or hjärnborttagande, _in the same way as _hårborttagning _means hair removal.


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## monpauvrelieu

thanks, I modified my page.


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## Sepia

"Hjernefjerning" er fint. Hvis nogen er extremt dum, siger man ogsaa, at han er "hjernedoed".


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## monpauvrelieu

«Hjernefjerning», thanks. I will use that for the Danish version. In the song, condemned usurers have their brain litterally cut off, and it is what the family went for to see. It looks to me like a parody of the guillotine, at this time it was also a show for the family, at the same place than a theater piece or a circus. Strange times...


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## bicontinental

Sepia said:


> "Hjernefjerning" er fint. ".



I'd say "fjerning" is Norwegian. The Danish equivalent would be "fjernelse".

Bic


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## Sepia

bicontinental said:


> I'd say "fjerning" is Norwegian. The Danish equivalent would be "fjernelse".
> 
> Bic



That would probably be more correct. "Fjerning" is also used a lot, although dictionaries don't seem to like it - for some reason it is mainly used in compound words like "hårfjerning", "tatto-fjernng". That is probably the reason why I still think it sounds OK in "hjernefjerning".

But I could also go for "hjernefjernelse".


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