Translation Notes Are Good Except…
…. when the translators are too bashful to tell you what they’re supposed to be translating.
Such was the case when I was reading Del Rey’s newest Negima release today. In one of the chapters, Negi gets into a pretty heated argument with Asuna. The argument ends when Negi “crosses the line” by saying to Asuna:
“Oh yeah? Well you have teddy bear undies, and you’ve got a paipan! Hah! Didn’t think I knew what I paipan was, huh? Well, I do!”
Well, I most certainly do not know what a “paipan” is, and considering that him saying this is the turning point of the whole volume, it must be very important! Fortunately for me Del Rey always puts translation notes towards the end of each of their books, so I just flipped over and found their little write up on the “paipan.”
Paipan- A term that has appeared more then once in the Negima! series, it certainly isn’t the kind of word that one would expect a well-brought-up young lad like Negi to be using. Most recently appearing on page 130 of this volume, the closest translation might be “shorn”… as in what one might do to one’s nether regions, were one so inclined. (It can also refer to those prepubescent who’ve yet to develop… um, certain secondary sexual characteristics.) Naughty Negi!
o_O?
What the-? Could they possibly be more ambiguous then that?!?
I spent a good 10 minutes re-reading over that description and looking back at the comic to try to make sense of it all. “… as in what one might do to one’s nether regions…”? Well, there are so many things that can be done to one’s nether regions, and as I went through all the dirty possibilities in my head, neither one of them seemed to match up to a thing that Asuna could have. Plus the way it was worded can also imply that one person is doing something to someone else’s nether regions. Again, that made more possibilities that didn’t fit.
And then there’s the “prepubescent” line that also throws you off. As a guy, what’s the first thing that comes to mind about what girl “develops” through adolescence? Why, boobs, of course! But what would Asuna growing breasts have anything to do with the whole thing? And so I pondered, and pondered, and pondered.
Then it finally hit me, and I thought to myself, “Now why the hell couldn’t they have just said that in the first place!” I mean, the book does have a 16+ rating and is shrink-wrapped on store shelves. Why couldn’t Del Rey just tell us instead of being so coy with this nonsense?
In fact, if any of you did understand what they were talking about from that description, then you understand the meaning of the word, “shorn”, which was their best translation of the word. But “shorn” is not a common word in English, and I couldn’t remember what it meant until I figured out what a “paipan” was. There is a very common sh-verb in the past tense that would have been the perfect translation. All they would have had to do was boldface it or put it in quotes to imply the innuendo.
The reason why I’m not saying what it means is because I want to see just how many of you can figure it out by yourselves from their description. If you really are fickled, just leave a comment and I’ll clue you in. Now no cheating, people, think long and hard about this. Besides, you might not like what you see if you go searching “paipan” on Google. 
