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Oh my gosh, have you seen Dating Queen yet? It's hilarious. No? Never heard of it? How about Crazy Amy? Still nothing? Wait, we got it. What about Trainwreck?
There you go. You see, the title of Amy Schumer's summer box-office hit just doesn't have a direct, ready-made translation in many foreign languages, hence a handful of alternative titles for the overseas market that can be fascinating (and amusing!) linguistic puzzles. Sometimes, the titles even remain in English. Case in point: In Germany, Trainwreck is called Dating Queen, a cinematic event brought to the country by Judd Apatow, the producer of Brautalarm — or, as we know it, Bridesmaids.
Brautalarm, as it happens, literally translates to "Bride Alarm." In Portugal, the beloved Kristen Wiig-Maya Rudolph comedy underwent a more optimistic (and literal) transformation: A Melhor Despedida de Solteira ("The Best Bachelorette Party"). In Argentina, Mexico, and Uruguay, however, Bridesmaids became Damas en Guerra ("Ladies at War").
Here are some other fun ones: 27 Dresses, known as "Always the Bridesmaid, Never the Bride" in Slovenia and Croatia, is simply "Will You Marry Me?" in Turkey. The Heat is "Armed and Dangerous Girls" in several Spanish-speaking countries. And who could forget that other Sandra Bullock vehicle, Miss FBI/Agent Catwalk/Dangerous Beauty/Miss Detective? You know it better as Miss Congeniality. Of course, the translation magic isn't exclusive to female-fronted films — in the Czech Republic, Magic Mike is known as Bez Kalhot, or "Without Pants" — but it certainly is a recurring theme.
Click through to see some of our favourite alternate international film titles. If anyone needs us, we'll be watching "Without Pants" for the 300th time.
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