A dictionary of the manosphere: Five terms to understand the language of online male supremacists - Phys.org - Dictionary

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Thot. White knight. Red pilled. Cuck. Beta. Soyboy. Unicorn. Chad.

To many people, these words won't mean much. To others, they are a core part of the vocabulary of the "manosphere"—a collection of websites, social media accounts and forums dedicated to men's issues, from health and fitness to dating and men's rights.

Many (though not all) manosphere communities have become spaces where explicit anti-women and anti-feminist sentiment abound. These include incels, men's rights activists, red-pillers, pick-up artists and male separatists.

I'm interested in how men use language, especially in the media and online, and what this tells us about contemporary masculinity and gender relations. In my recent book, I show how the language of the manosphere creates a culture of exclusion, denigration (mainly of women, but also of other men), male power and entitlement.

Understanding what manosphere terms mean can help teachers and parents start conversations with young men who are engaging with manosphere and male supremacist content. Recognizing how language and ideology are connected can help with deradicalization efforts, or ideally prevent radicalization in the first place. And for young men and boys themselves, this awareness can improve their digital literacy and help them resist manipulation.

For police and other authorities, language can be an early warning system to identify men at risk of carrying out male supremacist violence. Tragedies in Isla Vista, Oregon, Toronto, Tallahassee and Plymouth were all prefaced by the perpetrators publishing male supremacist and incel content.

It is difficult to give a comprehensive overview of every instance of manosphere language. It is a constantly evolving collection of terms, sometimes in response to new issues that emerge, or in an attempt to subvert social media moderation efforts (abbreviations and acronyms are good examples of this). Here are some key terms to know.

Red and blue pill

The cyberpunk blockbuster "The Matrix" is the source of a key symbol in the manosphere—the red pill. In the film, protagonist Neo is offered a choice of two pills. If he takes the blue pill, he will continue to exist in the world as he knows it, which is actually a simulation controlled by sentient machines who have enslaved humanity as a power source. If he takes the red pill, he will be released into the "real world," where the curtain is pulled back and the truth is revealed.

In the manosphere, those who have been "red-pilled" see the world as it really is, understanding the so-called "real" nature of women's behavior and dating preferences. As researchers Megan Kelly, Alex DiBranco and Julia DeCook write:

"Red pillers awaken to the 'truth' that socially, economically and sexually, men are at the whims of women's (and feminists') power and desires."

The pill symbolism has also been taken up by the alt-right and cuts across a variety of conspiracy theories, from the claim of feminism controlling the world to shadowy global elites influencing public opinion.

Alphas and betas

The manosphere is obsessed with status, power, prestige and hierarchy. The idea of alphas and betas is central to this. Originally developed by biologist David Mech in his early work on wolf packs, the "alpha" was argued to be the most socially dominant male. Mech has since refuted this account as overly simplistic.

The concept was co-opted by the seduction community, a community organized around sharing tips and guidance for attracting and seducing women, before making its way to other parts of the manosphere.

Becoming an alpha is an aspirational goal for many men who engage with manosphere content. Alphas are in charge, have their pick of sexual partners and have ultimate control, both of themselves and others. Betas are the polar opposite: physically and psychologically weak, sexually unattractive, timid, submissive, meek and generally lacking in the qualities necessary to attain "real" manhood.

Chads and Stacys

The hierarchy of the manosphere, and the claimed primacy of looks over personality, can be clearly seen in the caricatures of Chads and Stacys.

Chads are the "ultimate alpha"—the ultra-masculine, virile, powerful and sexually attractive man to whom Stacys and other women flock. The term "gigachad" refers to the most alpha of alpha males.

Stacys are an idealization of femininity—a hyper-attractive, sexually desirable, promiscuous but vapid woman. She is ultimately unobtainable, especially to men who are not Chads. Simultaneously the objects of disdain and desire, Chads and Stacys highlight a clichéd view of men and women, rooted in stereotypes and pigeonholes rather than in reality.

Cuck

Shortened from cuckold, meaning a man whose wife has been unfaithful (a term first used as early as 1250), cuck is widely used in the manosphere and alt-right spaces.

The term is strongly associated with a subgenre of "humiliation pornography," in which a man derives sexual pleasure from watching his female partner have sex with another man. Cuck is often used as an insult, especially since the idea of allowing one's partner to have consensual sex with other men goes against heteronormative notions of male sexuality, control and ownership.

In some cases, such pornography also has an interracial dimension, contributing to racist stereotypes of Black men's hypersexuality and hyperphysicality. Linguist Maureen Kosse has written about how cuck is used to "spread covertly racist online discourse by cloaking medieval sexual logic and racial anger in misogynistic humor."

(N)awalt

(N)awalt means "(not) all women are like that." The more common form "Awalt" is typically used to ascribe negative stereotypes to women. Denying their individuality, Awalt is used to suggest women are all vapid, insincere, sexually promiscuous, driven by emotions rather than rationality, motivated by financial gain and more. Awalt is also deployed to emphasize the claim that men are everything women are not—moral, rational, intelligent, loyal, honorable and individualistic.

It is clear that manosphere language is contributing to an increasingly politicized and fractious form of gender relations. By understanding this language, we can better counter it.

Provided by The Conversation

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.

Citation: A dictionary of the manosphere: Five terms to understand the language of online male supremacists (2023, April 6) retrieved 8 April 2023 from https://ift.tt/WctZPUK

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

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Fragment of a 1,750-year-old New Testament translation discovered - Phys.org - Translation

The fragment of the Syriac translation of the New Testament under UV light Credit: Vatican Library

About 1,300 years ago a scribe in Palestine took a book of the Gospels inscribed with a Syriac text and erased it. Parchment was scarce in the desert in the Middle Ages, so manuscripts were often erased and reused.

A medievalist from the Austrian Academy of Sciences (OeAW) has now been able to make legible the lost words on this layered manuscript, a so-called palimpsest: Grigory Kessel discovered one of the earliest translations of the Gospels, made in the 3rd century and copied in the 6th century, on individual surviving pages of this manuscript. The findings are published in the journal New Testament Studies.

One of the oldest fragments that testifies ancient Syrian version

"The tradition of Syriac Christianity knows several translations of the Old and New Testaments," says medievalist Grigory Kessel. "Until recently, only two manuscripts were known to contain the Old Syriac translation of the gospels." While one of these is now kept in the British Library in London, another was discovered as a palimpsest in St. Catherine's Monastery at Mount Sinai. The fragments from the third manuscript were recently identified in the course of the "Sinai Palimpsests Project."

The small manuscript fragment, which can now be considered as the fourth textual witness, was identified by Grigory Kessel using ultraviolet photography as the third layer of text, i.e., double palimpsest, in the Vatican Library manuscript. The fragment is so far the only known remnant of the fourth manuscript that attests to the Old Syriac version—and offers a unique gateway to the very early phase in the history of the textual transmission of the Gospels.

For example, while the original Greek of Matthew chapter 12, verse 1 says, "At that time Jesus went through the grainfields on the Sabbath; and his disciples became hungry and began to pick the heads of grain and eat," the Syriac translation says, "[...] began to pick the heads of grain, rub them in their hands, and eat them."

Claudia Rapp, director of the Institute for Medieval Research at the OeAW, says, "Grigory Kessel has made a great discovery thanks to his profound knowledge of old Syriac texts and script characteristics." The Syriac translation was written at least a century before the oldest Greek manuscripts that have survived, including the Codex Sinaiticus. The earliest surviving manuscripts with this Syriac translation date from the 6th century and are preserved in the erased layers, so-called palimpsests, of newly written parchment leaves.

"This discovery proves how productive and important the interplay between modern digital technologies and basic research can be when dealing with medieval manuscripts," Claudia Rapp says.

More information: Grigory Kessel, A New (Double Palimpsest) Witness to the Old Syriac Gospels (Vat. iber. 4, ff. 1 & 5), New Testament Studies (2023). DOI: 10.1017/S0028688522000182

Provided by Österreichische Akademie der Wissenschaften

Citation: Fragment of a 1,750-year-old New Testament translation discovered (2023, April 6) retrieved 7 April 2023 from https://ift.tt/6T8xHIZ

This document is subject to copyright. Apart from any fair dealing for the purpose of private study or research, no part may be reproduced without the written permission. The content is provided for information purposes only.

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Resident Evil 4 remake updates its Spanish — but not everyone will see it - The Verge - Translation

The game takes strides toward a more authentic Spanish experience but is let down by subtitles that don’t translate everything.

Image: Capcom

“Busco a un policía, vino aquí?” says Leon S. Kennedy to the first villager he meets in the Resident Evil 4 remake. This marks a subtle yet meaningful change compared to the original from 2005. Even without perfect pronunciation or a more natural way to phrase the question, the protagonist makes an effort to speak the local language. A sentiment that the game itself tries — and almost succeeds — to echo during the story.

Resident Evil 4 has always been unapologetic about putting Spanish front and center. While the location in which Leon’s rescue search for Ashley Graham is fictitious, its inhabitants — aside from a few key characters — stick to their linguistic roots. The original didn’t go down in history as an exemplary use of the language, featuring lines with vocal or grammatical mistakes and voice actors speaking Latin American Spanish instead. Yet, unless you already knew the language beforehand enough to understand, you were as clueless as Leon himself.

As a native speaker, I was constantly surprised by the embellishments around the use of Spanish in the remake. For both key characters and the villagers that you stylishly kick and shoot at, the language is expanded with interesting voice lines, proper grammar, and even literary references that didn’t exist in the original. The remake didn’t just involve expanding the game and painting it with modern strokes. It also improved the Spanish foundation from the original. But the uneven use of captions seems unwilling to tell the player the whole story.

The opening sequence starts off with the right ideas. Leon’s question to the villager, in which he asks if he had seen a policeman come through the house, is translated to English in the captions, prefixed by “(In Spanish)” at the beginning of the sentence. The pronunciation is clearly one of a non-native speaker who didn’t get to practice much beforehand. But it gets the point across for a simple and direct question.

Minutes before you enter the house, there is another dialogue exchange between the police officers who give Leon a lift to the village. They stick to English during the ride, but once one of them hops out of the car to take a leak, he promptly complains about how cold it is outside. His partner then mocks him and asks if he drank the whole bar. This is all done in Spanish with the right captions.

Image: Capcom

Much like the darker ambiance of the village or the subtle differences around Leon’s first of many uninvited house entries, it doesn’t take long for the remake to showcase that Spanish will also have an even more prominent presence. At the same time, it’s a natural representation of what two native speakers would usually do in the presence of a foreigner: make themselves understood when speaking directly and then switch back to their own language for conversations with each other or to themselves.

From that moment on, the sense of going through a bilingual experience is recaptured, but the captions do an odd job of selecting what to translate. The same officer who tells the joke in the car isn’t translated when he asks Leon for help later on, as he asks for someone to answer the radio call because he needs support. Even if it’s a short line that doesn’t affect the story much, it’s more than just an isolated scream.

Other phrases are more relevant. Luis Serra, a mysterious character who helps Leon in the original and becomes more of an intermittent sidekick in the remake, refers to Ashley as “señorita” when asking Leon what he’s looking for. The translation here is positively natural, as he responds with “a little girl?” to confirm that his hours spent with Duolingo on his flight to Spain weren’t in vain. In general, however, Luis’ ongoing quips and cusses don’t get the same treatment, with captions showcasing “mierda” and “amigo” as is, as opposed to “shit” and “friend,” or similar variations.

This is a shame, as the character is far more akin to a Spanish person in the remake. Similarly to the officers, he speaks in English most of the time to Leon but is unafraid to take some liberties, such as calling him “Sancho” as a reference to Miguel de Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote. Ashley is nicknamed “Princess Dulcinea” in a similar vein, and Luis commits to the recurring joke throughout his ventures with you. Once more, Leon repays it with recognition, calling Luis a “fine knight” and, ultimately, “Don Quixote” to bring the joke full circle.

There are multiple examples like these in the RE4 remake. But there is a certain care for cutscenes that is amiss outside of them. As you’re confronting enemies, captions don’t provide translations for either the new dialogue or the lines that have been rerecorded from the original. Sure, it’s pleasant to finally hear accents more akin to Spanish folks than Latin American ones, but there was a missed opportunity here to actually translate them for non-Spanish players.

Throughout the years, the community has provided translations for the original, and it was quick to jump into the remake to keep up with tradition, drawing comparisons between the two to see if mispronunciations and accents had been tweaked. As it stands, history is bound to repeat itself, with players forced to search for meaning behind what they constantly hear in the game from outside sources.

Image: Capcom

Little details such as enemies rightfully switching callouts from singular to plural when Leon is accompanied by a character are gentle but show that there wasn’t a lack of attention in terms of writing and recordings. The iconic “detrás de ti, imbécil” (behind you, imbecile) line turns to “detrás de vosotros, imbéciles” (behind all of you, imbeciles) in the remake. Other lines are surprisingly thorough, a long cultist-style chant around the castle area of the game being a personal standout. Yet, it was disappointing to see additions like this silenced with a dismissive “[ominous mumbling in Spanish]” caption.

In the original, you could make the argument that the game was purposefully portraying Leon’s own lack of knowledge of the language itself. In the remake, however, he’s quick to showcase his broad understanding of Spanish, as well as a basic sense of local literary references. If you’re in the same position, the experience will be much richer as a result, increasing the tension of already frantic combat sequences by hearing enemies alerting others of your presence, setting up traps, or pinpointing that you’re hurt after being attacked. If not, aside from a few exceptions, it will be largely the same experience as the original 18 years ago.

As cheesy and campy as the dialogue in Resident Evil 4 has always been, the commitment to Spanish sets an interesting prospect for native speakers. We don’t have to be knowledgeable of a foreign language in order to understand what is often lost in translation. Considering English’s hegemony over video games, it makes for an enticing change of pace, turning the tables in a way that not many other stories set in predominantly Spanish regions often do. Yet, it falls into the same problem by not translating itself to a wider audience.

As a result, the Resident Evil 4 remake is an ironic showcase of language barriers that Spanish speakers often find in video games. I was optimistic when I saw Leon recognizing the missed opportunities of almost two decades ago in the opening sequence, making an effort to do things differently this time around. It’s unfortunate that the rest of the world won’t be able to understand the valiant endeavors that follow afterward.

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FEATURE: Azuki Showcases Manga Translation as the Art Form It Truly Is - Crunchyroll News - Translation

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Resident Evil 4 remake updates its Spanish — but not everyone will see it - The Verge - Translation

The game takes strides toward a more authentic Spanish experience but is let down by subtitles that don’t translate everything.

Image: Capcom

“Busco a un policía, vino aquí?” says Leon S. Kennedy to the first villager he meets in the Resident Evil 4 remake. This marks a subtle yet meaningful change compared to the original from 2005. Even without perfect pronunciation or a more natural way to phrase the question, the protagonist makes an effort to speak the local language. A sentiment that the game itself tries — and almost succeeds — to echo during the story.

Resident Evil 4 has always been unapologetic about putting Spanish front and center. While the location in which Leon’s rescue search for Ashley Graham is fictitious, its inhabitants — aside from a few key characters — stick to their linguistic roots. The original didn’t go down in history as an exemplary use of the language, featuring lines with vocal or grammatical mistakes and voice actors speaking Latin American Spanish instead. Yet, unless you already knew the language beforehand enough to understand, you were as clueless as Leon himself.

As a native speaker, I was constantly surprised by the embellishments around the use of Spanish in the remake. For both key characters and the villagers that you stylishly kick and shoot at, the language is expanded with interesting voice lines, proper grammar, and even literary references that didn’t exist in the original. The remake didn’t just involve expanding the game and painting it with modern strokes. It also improved the Spanish foundation from the original. But the uneven use of captions seems unwilling to tell the player the whole story.

The opening sequence starts off with the right ideas. Leon’s question to the villager, in which he asks if he had seen a policeman come through the house, is translated to English in the captions, prefixed by “(In Spanish)” at the beginning of the sentence. The pronunciation is clearly one of a non-native speaker who didn’t get to practice much beforehand. But it gets the point across for a simple and direct question.

Minutes before you enter the house, there is another dialogue exchange between the police officers who give Leon a lift to the village. They stick to English during the ride, but once one of them hops out of the car to take a leak, he promptly complains about how cold it is outside. His partner then mocks him and asks if he drank the whole bar. This is all done in Spanish with the right captions.

Image: Capcom

Much like the darker ambiance of the village or the subtle differences around Leon’s first of many uninvited house entries, it doesn’t take long for the remake to showcase that Spanish will also have an even more prominent presence. At the same time, it’s a natural representation of what two native speakers would usually do in the presence of a foreigner: make themselves understood when speaking directly and then switch back to their own language for conversations with each other or to themselves.

From that moment on, the sense of going through a bilingual experience is recaptured, but the captions do an odd job of selecting what to translate. The same officer who tells the joke in the car isn’t translated when he asks Leon for help later on, as he asks for someone to answer the radio call because he needs support. Even if it’s a short line that doesn’t affect the story much, it’s more than just an isolated scream.

Other phrases are more relevant. Luis Serra, a mysterious character who helps Leon in the original and becomes more of an intermittent sidekick in the remake, refers to Ashley as “señorita” when asking Leon what he’s looking for. The translation here is positively natural, as he responds with “a little girl?” to confirm that his hours spent with Duolingo on his flight to Spain weren’t in vain. In general, however, Luis’ ongoing quips and cusses don’t get the same treatment, with captions showcasing “mierda” and “amigo” as is, as opposed to “shit” and “friend,” or similar variations.

This is a shame, as the character is far more akin to a Spanish person in the remake. Similarly to the officers, he speaks in English most of the time to Leon but is unafraid to take some liberties, such as calling him “Sancho” as a reference to Miguel de Cervantes’ novel Don Quixote. Ashley is nicknamed “Princess Dulcinea” in a similar vein, and Luis commits to the recurring joke throughout his ventures with you. Once more, Leon repays it with recognition, calling Luis a “fine knight” and, ultimately, “Don Quixote” to bring the joke full circle.

There are multiple examples like these in the RE4 remake. But there is a certain care for cutscenes that is amiss outside of them. As you’re confronting enemies, captions don’t provide translations for either the new dialogue or the lines that have been rerecorded from the original. Sure, it’s pleasant to finally hear accents more akin to Spanish folks than Latin American ones, but there was a missed opportunity here to actually translate them for non-Spanish players.

Throughout the years, the community has provided translations for the original, and it was quick to jump into the remake to keep up with tradition, drawing comparisons between the two to see if mispronunciations and accents had been tweaked. As it stands, history is bound to repeat itself, with players forced to search for meaning behind what they constantly hear in the game from outside sources.

Image: Capcom

Little details such as enemies rightfully switching callouts from singular to plural when Leon is accompanied by a character are gentle but show that there wasn’t a lack of attention in terms of writing and recordings. The iconic “detrás de ti, imbécil” (behind you, imbecile) line turns to “detrás de vosotros, imbéciles” (behind all of you, imbeciles) in the remake. Other lines are surprisingly thorough, a long cultist-style chant around the castle area of the game being a personal standout. Yet, it was disappointing to see additions like this silenced with a dismissive “[ominous mumbling in Spanish]” caption.

In the original, you could make the argument that the game was purposefully portraying Leon’s own lack of knowledge of the language itself. In the remake, however, he’s quick to showcase his broad understanding of Spanish, as well as a basic sense of local literary references. If you’re in the same position, the experience will be much richer as a result, increasing the tension of already frantic combat sequences by hearing enemies alerting others of your presence, setting up traps, or pinpointing that you’re hurt after being attacked. If not, aside from a few exceptions, it will be largely the same experience as the original 18 years ago.

As cheesy and campy as the dialogue in Resident Evil 4 has always been, the commitment to Spanish sets an interesting prospect for native speakers. We don’t have to be knowledgeable of a foreign language in order to understand what is often lost in translation. Considering English’s hegemony over video games, it makes for an enticing change of pace, turning the tables in a way that not many other stories set in predominantly Spanish regions often do. Yet, it falls into the same problem by not translating itself to a wider audience.

As a result, the Resident Evil 4 remake is an ironic showcase of language barriers that Spanish speakers often find in video games. I was optimistic when I saw Leon recognizing the missed opportunities of almost two decades ago in the opening sequence, making an effort to do things differently this time around. It’s unfortunate that the rest of the world won’t be able to understand the valiant endeavors that follow afterward.

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