Yousign: eSignature quiz transcreation
Yousign is a SaaS company offering eSignature solutions for small and medium enterprises. I regularly work with them on email campaigns, landing pages, and other short-form content. But this specific translation was one of my favorites: translating a quiz on eSignatures that had some nice transcreation challenges! ⏬
My favorite one? A play on words with the EU regulation eIDAS.
The French original read: Comment s’appelle la règlementation en charge de régir les fondements légaux de la signature électronique ? (What's the name of the regulation on electronic signatures?)
A: eIDAS
B: RGPD (French for GDPR)
C: Midas
⏩ With midas being a chain of automotive service centers from the US that also operates in France – but not in Germany.
That meant I needed another brand name that sounded like the EU regulation eIDAS but was known to a German audience. I quickly came up with two options: adidas (globally known) and duschdas (a German shampoo brand). 😃
As the wordplay came up a few more times in the quiz, I needed to choose the option that gave me the best transcreation possibilities for the rest of the quiz. 🤔 After some time, I settled on duschdas and here's the translation I came up with:
FR: Le Règlement Général sur la Protection des Données encadre le traitement des données personnelles sur le territoire européen, et Midas est un roi de Phrygie dans la mythologie grecque. Il parait que c’est aussi une marque connue de garage, mais honnêtement on connait mieux la mythologie grecque.
EN (literal translation from FR): GDPR regulates the treatment of personal data in Europe and Midas is a king of Phrygia in Greek mythology. It seems like it's also a brand known for car servicing but, honestly, we are more knowledgeable in Greek mythology.
DE: Die Datenschutz-Grundverordnung regelt die Verarbeitung personenbezogener Daten in der EU und „Dusch das“ sagt Ihr:e Partner:in, wenn Sie mal wieder zu viele Tage im Homeoffice verbracht haben. Scheinbar ist duschdas auch eine bekannte Duschgelmarke, aber wir kennen uns ehrlich gesagt besser mit Hygieneproblemen in Paarbeziehungen aus, sorry.
EN (literal translation from the DE transcreation): GDPR regulates the treatment of personal data in Europe and "Dusch das" (shower that) is what your partner says when you have spent too many days working from home. It seems like duschdas is also a shampoo brand but, honestly, we are more knowledgeable about personal hygiene in relationships, sorry.
If you'd like to read the whole quiz (it's a funny one!), you can click here 😊