Translating Shakespeare takes a knowledge of language, culture, and poetry — both in English and in the target language. There are tradeoffs and pitfalls, but a skilled translator can bring Shakespeare closer to our age, not just to another language. We’re talking with translator Daniel Hahn, author of If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation.
Also, we’re answering listener questions. Send us yours!
Timestamps
00:00 Start
00:21 Intros: Shakespearean insults
07:33 Pronouncing SUDOKU: Why so variable?
15:58 Ingressive speech
20:46 Nonplussed
26:59 Related or Not: Theme from Hugh
28:13 Related or Not: pooch, pouch, pocket, and poach
38:14 Related or Not: caddy and caddie
42:47 Related or Not: hemi-, demi-, and semi-
49:30 Chat with Daniel Hahn: Keeping everything but the words
52:51 Spanish as a language of translation
58:59 Translation closes the distance: Shakespeare in contemporary English
01:07:02 Poetic meter and when to break it
01:11:07 Punctuating the translation
01:16:08 Archaic words and the feel of Shakespeare
01:18:23 Hardest language to translate Skakespeare into?
01:20:43 Staying true to time and culture
01:26:05 Having fun
01:31:12 Monosyllables
01:34:32 The impact of GenAI on translation
01:37:38 Getting people to care about translation
01:40:37 Should multi-line highway word markings start near to us or start far?
01:47:48 Gender and the -ster suffix
01:56:12 Comment from Allyson: Soo-ee!
01:58:03 The Reads
02:02:01 Outtake
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Become a Patron!Show notes
Shakespeare Insult Generator
https://codepo8.github.io/shakespeare-insult-generator/
giglot (adj.) | ShakespearesWords.com
https://www.shakespeareswords.com/public/glossary.aspx?id=17779
Speech: “All the world’s a stage”
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/56966/speech-all-the-worlds-a-stage
The pronunciation of “sudoku” in English
https://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=31539
Bluey: S1 Keepy Uppy : ABC iview
https://iview.abc.net.au/show/bluey/series/1/video/CH1702Q019S00
Ingressive Sounds (Sharp Inhale) in Northern Norway | YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AT2m2dVbWwk
What’s going on with ‘nonplussed’?
https://www.merriam-webster.com/grammar/nonplussed
If This Be Magic: The Unlikely Art of Shakespeare in Translation, by Daniel Hahn
https://www.allenandunwin.com/browse/book/Daniel-Hahn-If-This-Be-Magic-9781805301622
Julius Caesar, Act III, Scene I [O, pardon me, thou bleeding piece of earth]
https://poets.org/poem/julius-caesar-act-iii-scene-i-o-pardon-me-thou-bleeding-piece-earth
The Great Bed of Ware
https://www.vam.ac.uk/articles/great-bed-of-ware
Ahead Stop | XKCD.com
https://xkcd.com/781/
Manual on Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD), 11th Edition of the MUTCD with Revision 1, December 2025
https://mutcd.fhwa.dot.gov/kno_11th_Editionr1.htm
When words split on the road: Recognition costs of across-line destination-name order in pavement markings
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S136984782600197X
Transcript
Coming soon.