Quote:
Originally Posted by doubleshuffle
Unless, of course, you think the English of the 19th century is so far removed from its 21st century version that it needs translating; then you wouldn't have to inform about every single change but would have to put on the cover "translated from the Victorian English by AlexBell." Not sure if that would have me running for the hills or perversely interested, but at least I'd know what I was letting myself in for if I should decide to give it a try.
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All of this.
Plus, "light-hearted" isn't even necessarily a good translation of 19th-century "gay". It's more of a sort of combination of "high-spirited/vivacious" and "showily/fashionably-dressed" and "likes to make merry/party". There were also connotations of "lewd/immoral" well and truly present by the 19th century, depending on context. So changing that all to a rather sanitised and vapid "light-hearted" really doesn't work, in my opinion.