Okay, I am in need of the Wisdom of the Crowd.
The translator who’s turning the Uglies series into complex Chinese wrote me to ask for a little help with the terms “bubbly” and “bogus.”
As she puts it, “When these terms show up in different places, according to the context, the meanings are not exactly the same, which means when I translate them into Chinese, they might have several versions for the same English words or terms. I hope I can stick with the same expression when it comes to the same English word, so hopefully I can create the Chinese terms that will meet all your definitions.”
Reading that, I realize once more how tough a translator’s job is. And word-inventing writers like me are probably a thousand times more crazy-making than normal. So us native English speakers should help her out.
What do the words “bubbly” and “bogus” mean to you? And how do their various meanings all relate to each other?
I think that bubbly means cool, sort of. Maybe it just means peppy. New, maybe? Interesting? Is there a Chinese word for cool?
Bogus is easier. Lame, for one. Stupid. Uncool, if there’s a Chinese word for cool. Uninteresting.
I understand I’m not being very helpful. Sorry.
Bubbly to me means ‘thrill-making’. But I don’t know if that’s a term in Chinese. And bogus… Let’s see… either ‘idiotic’ or ‘not cool’
Well i think bogus means something BORING not fun something that is totally not in fashion. And bubbly is something exciting and awesome something that makes you happy and peppy!!!
Oh wow, I’m #3! Or at least I think i am. Anyway, to the crux of the post:
Well bogus is easy- I agree with above poster in that it means “stupid”. “Stupid” and/or “riddiculous”.
As for bubbly… well… ooh! I know! It means “awesome”. ‘Awesome” and, and… “cool”!
Was that helpful?
Also, I have a question for Scott: I’m trying to find an author or someone from a publishing company to be a mentor for my senior project that I have this year. Any ideas on how I should go about this?
-M*star
To me, bubbly is like, peppy and cool. Bogus is lame, fake, or stupid. Bubbly and bogus are exact opposites.
Bubbly is the kind of feeling you get when you are at the top of a rollercoaster. And if they haven’t been on a rollercoaster, then it feels like you are being taken over by littly baby bubbles that wanna make you laugh and enjoy the bubbles.
Bogus is when somthing is so unbelieveable that it turns strange, and then bogus. or when somone does somthing really stupid, you can say that they did somthing bogus.
THat’s what I thought of the two words. Hope it helps!!
Kadie-Wa
Scott, you must be a translators worst nightmare. Here are my definitions.
bubbly- oposite of pretty minded. when you can think for yourself and not worry about the lesions.
bogus- lame, boring, dull
Bubbly means social and popular, but lacking when it comes to brains or common sense.
Bogus is something lame or just plain ‘ew’.
Bubbly always seems like fun or exciting, but not nearly logical.
Bogus always seems annoying or boring.
Hope it helps!
Oh, and I forgot. Bpgus and Bubbly aren’t really related to each other. In my opinion.
Kadie-Wa
When I hear bubbly I think of: exciting, energized, risk-taking just for the thrill of it.
When I hear bogus (love this word) I think of: insane, weird, crazy. And not crazy and insane as in psycho-killer, I mean it as in great or “Wow thats a great idea!” “Wow thats a crazy idea!” That type of thing. Sorry it’s hard to explain my logic, but I swear I have some- it’s just confusing. Hope I could help.
P.S. I wish I could read Chinese…
i can translate it into farsi if you’d like!
jpeykar@yahoo.com
bubbly-feeling,scared,nervous,happy,mad,etc.
bogus-sucky,dull,boring,etc.
I think bubbly means happy or exciting or “in”
and Bogus is out of date or lame.:)
I think bubbly means that you are sort of empty-minded in a way that you have nothing to worry about. Bogus means like how some kids would say “Ahhh this is sooo gay.” They all relate to each other because it’s like the slang on Tally’s time.
I think Bubbly means ‘cool/exciting’ or ‘excited’ depending on the context and Bogus means ‘stupid’.
But Bubble-headed is ‘naive’ or ‘stupid’ or something of that sort ‘childish’ maybe.
I never thought about that. Even for the Midnighters translator and almost any book has one or two made up words that show up a lot.
Bubbly- peppy, fun, exciting
Bogus- Stupid, unfun, boring
Let’s see bubbly can mean: clear-minded/thinking clearly, fun, happy, excited/exciting, cool…bubblehead is what the specials call the pretties meaning pretty heads
Bogus can mean: lame, stupid, boring, etc.
Wow, that must be so hard to translate!
Bogus: Lame, boring, etc. (Basically what a lot of other people have said, really.)
I don’t really know how to describe what I think bubbly means… sorry. >.
bogus – bull crap, strange, uncool
bubbly – uh.. bubbly? i dont know. i kind of relate it to a euphoria type thing, maybe drug or cafine induced. if that even helps…
okay, i’m posting this without reading any of the other comments to not give me ideas, so sorry if i repeat or something.
funny, i was just reading specials like five minutes ago.
Bubbly–well, in the beginning it means like, cool, awesome, trendy, the kind of stuff the pretties like.
later, when zane and tally talk about being bubbly, they’re talking about staying with reality, an adrenile rush sort of thing, thinking clearly.
sort of a lower form of icy in specials. also, they talk about the pretties as being bubbleheads too.
a bit of random analyzing, but i see a connection with how they were always also talking about the pretties drinking champagne, like the firework metaphors.
so like, champagne has bubbles, so yeah.
bogus–lame, geeky, not as cool as you expected. this one’s not really as deep, cuz they really only talk about it in pretty-speak. i get this image of stuff u thought would be cool, but turned out to be a big blowout.
yeah…so there’s my way-too-long analysis. hope it helps, complex chinese folk.
bubbly, hmm well bubbly means to me fun, cool, awesome, “in”
and bogus means stupid, weird, lame, you know, wrong, sort of.
to me, bubbly would be ugly thinking, and bogus would be lame.
What’s bogus is my volleyball team lost!
i am a person that has already posted. try to guess who i am, and the first person to guess correctly wins an early copy of extras, ok not really. you win… the pride that you know who i am!
p.s. my name gives you a hint. i didnt like zane that much, and you can click on my name, all you have to do is find out who has the same website as me! good luck!
Bubbly: thrilling
Bogus: banal, upsetting
The feelings that always came up for me when I read bubbly in your books was exhilarating and effervescent, sometimes combined with the cultural underpinnings of cool.
I also liked the champagne reference, which I also felt underlying the term – surely there’s a Chinese word for that sort of phenomenon that doesn’t translate to “fermented” or whatnot.(ewww)
As for bogus, I think lame and un-cool about sum it up.
Hope the Chinese language is up to handling your special brand of genius. 😀
I think Bogues means something along the lines of False, or wrong, but if u look at it as slang then probably something like lame, or uncool.
Bubbly is a little harder…lemme think about it.
Bubbly is like, focused due to adrenaline? so i guess focused, or clear or something similar. Bogus is lame, uncool, stupid, etc…
i think these are those kind of words you say o ya i know what those words mean you can use them correctly saying wow what you just did was so bogus or that your new flash tattoo is bubbly… but when someone wants a offical defintion you go o um uhh… etc…
bubbly- cool, exciting, thrilling, jumping out of a air balloon with only a hoverboard 😛
bogus- lame, stupid, Aya rank in the beginning of extras 😉 (had to put that in)
I agree with kheidi-la that like many words you know the def but its just not in words… so here goes
bubbly: cool, good(in the pretty mind), happy making, fun, enjoyable, etc
bogus: non existance, non important, not cool, not good, etc
bubbly and bogus could easily bedscribed as antonyms but to me they seem like more. in the way that bubbly is used when the pretties feel well pretty and bogus is giving them a miniscule taste of ugly. Obviously they hate that
Hearing the words “bubbly” and “bogus” sound like contradicting words to me. Bubbly means tons (exzagerating) of different meanings. Words that suddenly come to mind are: happy, excited, fluttery, enthusiastic, just to list a few. Then, Bogus could mean: boring, dull, exasperating, the same thing. So really when you put it into perspective they contradict each other. In ways that they could possibly be the same is the same way as take for example the word(s), “shut up!” That doesn’t always have to mean, be quite, zip the trap. Same thing goes for “bogus.” Instead of always associating bogus with boring and dull, use it for enthusiasm. “That was totally bogus!” Let’s just say that some skater said that. There is how you can associate bogus with bubbly. All you need to do is to just think a little outside of the box, or maybe a little further away from the box, depending on how far your imagination and word knowledge lets you go.
Bubbly…exactly that. bubbles in your stomach. butterflies in your stomach. clarity in your head. excitement, nervousness, anxious, frightened. all different. bubbly could mean a thousand different things…but one thing ive noticed, whenever your bubbly, your heart beats off the charts. flash tattoos sent swirling, palms sweating, the flow of adrenaline and the need to DO something. THATS what bubbly is.
Bogus…i have nothing to add. stupid, ridiculous, nonsense, uncool, standing out, not the way its supposed to be. you guys already covered it.
-Lizzy-wa OUT! 😛
a lot of people seem to keep saying bubbly as “peppy” or “cool”, but i think (in your books anyway) that it means high like on a drug or something. it might just be me but like all the time when zane in pretties says Stay bubbly, he might be meaning stay high do not go back to being a bubblehead, you know? and as for bogus, lame fits it all…
hey Amy-la! *cough cough* i mean David+Tally forever! love the lookup…i won. that was two easy
its funny how some people gave the definition for bubble-headed instead of bubbly…basically the exact opposites of each other, even though they said it was the definition for bubbly. kind of funny. yepyepyep.
-Lizzy-wa OUT! 😛
Bubbly = Er well.. it means like they’re high, but they’re happy or something like that the word always makes me think of someone head over heels in love.. like when you can’t speak or all you can do is think about that specific thing xD
Bogus means totally fake or ‘as ifffff mate’ or something like that, or it’s not as believable as a flying piggeh.
Later Gater.
Bubbly for me has always meant a confident, happy-go-lucky, bright-eyed with exitment, bursring with enthusiasm person. Bogus is harder…Stupid, lame, fake kind-of.
haha. yep, i agree with everyone up there.
i reckon its pretty easy to “translate” bubbly and bogus into regular english. they’re basically just the in words for cool/lame, exciting, kickin/baad idea.
mm.
I forgot to say how bubbly and bogus are related, for me they are opposites, but they are related when the word ‘bubble-head’ pops up. Bubble-head means the same thing as bogus, referring to a person, that is.
I’m bubble-headed this morning, it’s so early.
“Bubbly” puts me in mind of the champagne they’re always drinking in New Pretty Town. Champagne is kind bubbly and is a drink that people have at celebrations. So “bubbly” puts me in mind of parties, maybe flamboyance. Basically, someone who is bubbly is happy (though usually they are superficially so, and their happiness dissolves the minute the hangover hits). “Bubbly” also makes me think of clearheadedness, oddly enough, b/c of the way Zane uses it. “Stay bubbly,” meaning, don’t descend into the airheadedness of prettyheads.
So I guess you could say it depends on who uses it and how it’s used. It has been a while since I read the books, so I’m just drawing from memory. But when pretties use “bubbly” it usually is akin to “cool,” or “stylish,” or….I guess you could say “popular-making.” And then when a non-prettyhead, or someone like Zane who knows better, uses “bubbly,” it’s closer to the way the specials use “icy.”
And bogus goes kinda the same way. To me, it’s like uncool or annoying or bad or bs.
I think both the words are versatile, like most slang, and can mean slightly different things depending on the context.
well im not good at defintions but ill give synomns
Bogus- bad stupid lame
Bubbly-exciting energetic
=) good luck
bubbly is like happy or thats exciting or great,amazing just generly as rosie put it excitingly energetic.in new pretty town there always drinking champaine and isn’t champain bubbly? any way those are my ideas.
bogas is like if someone says thats bogas or thats stupid.bad lame, completly ridiculuse( sorry can’t spell.)
HIH
I think the meaning of both words change depending on what book you’re in. In Uglies, the words have a bit less meaning than Pretties. I guess it’s sort of the “outside looking in” mentality. A cage means something different to a lion as it does to a human.
Bogus: boring, crap (well, okay, that one won’t help you at all!), lame, stupid, uncool… ya get the picture!
Bubbly: super happy in a kind of ditzy way, like when my friend gets hyper… but one word??? hmmm…
When I read the books Bubbly seems to mean “clarity of mind with sharpened senses due to excess adrenaline.” Any time Pretties are “bubbly,” they’re doing something that gives them a physical adrenaline rush, like bungee jumping or hoverboarding or the like. So other words/concepts like “sharp,” “clear,” “rush,” or “emerging from a mental fog,” would all be accurate substitutes for Bubbly in each respective context.
Contextually, Bogus has a political or systematic tinge to it. It’s often used to describe something beyond “out of fashion,” or “not very pretty-making.” Any time an adult or other authority figure tries to lie to an uglie, pretty, or special, Tally usually tags it as Bogus. The pretties tend to throw it around more casually than others, but it still means something is “not cool” in the collective understanding of the group.
Bubby to me, I think of excited but I know that’s not the best descriptive word. I agree with Rebecca (no not because we have the same name) she has a point with the champane thing but thats not the only way they stay bubbly. I think every pretty needs other pretties to stay bubbly, so maybe a need? I don’t know maybe Scott you can use this idea to think of something to tell them!!lyl 12 DAYS!!!!
–
Lizzy-wa won!
that contest was too easy!
now a new one.
answer this question:
What am I eating right now?
i dont know if this will help at all but i’ve always seen bubbly as being a ‘pretty’ word and i cant imagine it being multiple words…it doesnt seem right…i think they are both kind of ‘different’ words that just pretties use. i agree with whoever said that bogus is kind of like uncool for the pretties and bubbly is just…just a pretty word…do the pretties even know what it really means?
bubbly is like..happy or excited. its just a form of that depending on the sentence. and then bogus is uncool, upset..not happy.
Yeah, bubbly is like being excited but clear headed about it, where bogus means fake…I think. Or just really lame.
Hmmm…. lets see… Bubbly at the beginning of Pretties is like cool, or just good. But when they start with the cure it means more like… thrilling, adrenaline rush-ing, focusing, exciting. Bogus is like not cool, dumb, no fun, retarded.
ok, im gonna answer my own question.
i was eating ice