[Trombone-l] Flight of the Foo Birds

[Todd Jonz]

> I was asked to translate the title "Flight of the Foo Birds"
> into Spanish....The band wasn't digging it- they obviously
> though I wasn't hip enough to really know what it meant.

Punny jokes like Sam's version of the foo bird story (which I remember
fondly from my youth) don't usually survive translation very well.  I
remember the first punny joke I heard in my high school Spanish days:

Q: Cuanto estrellas hay en el cielo?
A: Cinquenta!

In English:

Q: How many stars are there in the sky?
A: Fifty!

Not very funny, right?  Problem is, the joke is in the word play;
"cinquenta", Spanish for "fifty", is pronounced the same as "sin
cuenta", literally "without count", or more familiarly, "countless." 
Perhaps this example will help to explain to your Spanish speaking
comrades why a meaningful translation of "Flight of the Foo Birds" is
essentially impossible.

Now, since one good spoonerism deserves another...

A priest, a minister, and a rabbi are walking together in the forest
when a trid jumps onto the path in front of them.  When the priest
nonchalantly kicks it out of the way, the rabbi, who has never seen a
trid before, is somewhat perplexed by the priest's actions, but he says
nothing.  A few minutes later a second trid appears in the path, and
this time it is the minister who kicks it silently out of the way. 
Once again the rabbi is puzzled, but says nothing.  A short while later
a troll appears in the path.  Wishing to blend in with his travelling
companions, the rabbi kicks the troll aside and is greeted by
astonished stares from both the priest and the minister.  The rabbi
asks, "Did I do something wrong?"  The priest replies, "Silly rabbi --
kicks are for trids!"


--
Todd Jonz
tjonz42 at yahoo.com


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