The Netflix series ‘Squid Game’ is trending on Twitter after users pointed out inaccurate translations in the auto-generated English subtitles. The show has garnered a massive audience since its release in September and is making history as the first Korean show to top the charts on Netflix. Set in South Korea, the series follows a group of desperate, cash-strapped contestants through deadly kids games.
Some viewers have noticed significant differences in the Korean-to-English translations. Depending on your Netflix settings, your English subtitles might lose something in the translation, to the point of being downright “bad” and changing the show’s meaning, according to one viewer.
A viral thread on Twitter dove into how the closed-captions translation went as far as changing the meaning of the show.
not to sound snobby but i’m fluent in korean and i watched squid game with english subtitles and if you don’t understand korean you didn’t really watch the same show. translation was so bad. the dialogue was written so well and zero of it was preserved
If you want “substantially better” English subtitles, use the setting, “English.” The other English language option is “English [CC],” which many have pointed out doesn’t provide a nuanced translation. English Closed Captions subtitles are specifically intended for those who are deaf and hard of hearing.
“Captions not only display words as the textual equivalent of spoken dialogue or narration, but they also include speaker identification, sound effects, and music description,” according to the National Association of the Deaf.
Mayer presented a scene breakdown on TikTok to illustrate some of the lost meanings.
ok i made this really fast so it’s not very good but these are the small examples i could find in ten mins pic.twitter.com/5kIsrlWDjq
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