The Tolkien Joke and Meme thread

[Olorgando]

One of the things I love about this forum is that our many international members allow me to learn about aspects of cultures I'd never otherwise meet!

Well … yes … but Cyrillic subtitles?
My last of three visits to Greece - in each case to Crete - is 16 years ago (the first was in 2001, including 9/11),
My very imperfect attempt to learn Greek script is now approaching the sand phase.
About all I remember about its Cyrillic descendant (which has other ancestors, too) is that "MOCBA" means, transliterated, "Moskwa" or Moscow (city and river).
And that that "CCCP" sported on the jerseys of especially the superb Soviet national ice hockey team comes out as "SSSR" in Latin transcription … 🥺

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

And even you should be able to figure out "Spasibo", Mr. O!

 

[Alice]

And "сочувствую" - "I'm sorry"

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Thanks -- I admit that one escaped me, and I just guessed.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Now for that, we'll need translation!

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Thanks -- I'll look for it.

 

[Olorgando]

Москва would be Moscow

Oh yeah, great, make me feel ancient (I have no quarrel with old, at over 60). 😠
It gets worse. I could have sworn that the Soviet ship I was thinking of was one of those huge atomic-powered icebreakers.
Found nothing there in Wikipedia.
Seems the ship class named Moskva were helicopter carriers, named after the lead vessel launched in 1965.
And then there's a class of guided-missle cruisers still known as the Slava-class, whose lead ship (from its 1979 launch) has now confusingly been renamed Moskva.
Mumble … C=S, and B=W; somehow missed the K between them ... ☹

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

That thread would be interesting, Alice, though most of us would need to have them explained -- and as the saying goes, "a joke explained is a joke ruined". This doubles when they hinge on puns, or other wordplay, as they so often do. I once tried this old children's riddle on a Japanese student:

"What's purple and conquered half the world?"

The answer, of course, being "Alexander the Grape". She didn't get it.*

Anyone who's clicked some of my posts on either of our Music threads knows (only too well!) of my love for some of the Kpop groups -- especially -- ahem -- my Mamamoo girls. One mv I don't think I ever posted is this one:

°

Why? Because "AZE Gag" -- which could be translated loosely as "Dad Jokes" -- is filled with bad puns in Korean. I've seen a version which provides subtitles in English, and I have to say I'm no wiser for them.

You'll notice even this version has to give "explanatory" subtitles, for native speakers! What hope do the rest of us have?

* So well known, someone made a brand of candy!

IIRC, I gave my friend a box of them.

But then, she was very cute! 😁

°Watch Wheein casually spinning that pen at 1:37. Nice one, girl!

 

[Olorgando]

Anyone who's clicked some of my posts on either of our Music threads knows (only too well!) of my love for some of the Kpop groups -- especially -- ahem -- my Mamamoo girls. One mv I don't think I ever posted is this one:

Never posted?!?!? Dude, your memory is worse than mine! I'm close to having those lyrics memorized - with my lousy memory! 🤪

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Did I? I thought it was in a PM to you. I'll have to look. 🤔

Still, it serves here as an example of what I was talking about. At least, that's my excuse. 😉

You have the lyrics memorized?! 😱
"You're a better man than I am, Gunga Din".

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

I don't know, was it here or not, but I laughed so hardView attachment 6651

Seems like that should be the other way round! 🧐

Unless, of course, those are "beer goggles".

 

[Alice]

Seems like that should be the other way round! 🧐

Unless, of course, those are "beer goggles".

Ahah. Or maybe it's a person like me when I haven't my glasses on (I have a very poor sight and wear round glasses, like Harry Potter's)

 

[Olorgando]

Did I? I thought it was in a PM to you. I'll have to look. 🤔
...
You have the lyrics memorized?! 😱

Point 1: you may be right. But it certainly stuck in my memory (an odd occurrence ...)
Point 2: the operative terms in my post are "close to". I do use them a bit too loosely - like how close I live to the US east coast … (I almost posted "west coast").

 

[Olorgando]

Seems like that should be the other way round! 🧐

That was my spontaneous reaction, too.

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

https://imgur.com/hj9Vhh8

 

[Olorgando]

View attachment 6653
"So, guys, I'm Suzdal"
Suzdal (city) reminded the Shire to the author of this meme

Now that's very interesting.
In Appendix F, part II "On Translation" (and to be found in all three of my JRRT lexicons), JRRT give the "untranslated", i.e. Westron or Common Speech name of the Shire as "Sûza".

 

[Alice]

Now that's very interesting.
In Appendix F, part II "On Translation" (and to be found in all three of my JRRT lexicons), JRRT give the "untranslated", i.e. Westron or Common Speech name of the Shire as "Sûza".

Wow! I read the appendices, but forgot about that

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

 

[Erestor Arcamen]

 

[Barliman]

View attachment 6654
It's nice he has not indeed

Yeah, he didn't stay dead, but had a new career in the music scene.