25 Hilarious Chinese Movie Title Translations

Movie titles aren’t always translated directly. Many times this is done to appeal to the local audience since translating a title literally may not make sense in the local language. If you have ever studied foreign tongues you will know that translation is part science, part art. Expressions and even vocabulary can be completely different because some languages have more words, some have less. So not only do translators have to make do with an entirely different set of vocabulary, the marketing department often wants the title to “roll off the tongue” so to speak. If we literally translated Chinese movie titles into English it wouldn’t make much sense either and certainly wouldn’t sound appealing. This is why when you back-translate a title from Chinese into English it is quite nonsensical. In Chinese, however, it probably sounds like a movie people would remember and want to see. Unfortunately, American wit and idioms are lost during this process because they just don’t make sense in other languages. Either way, the translations make for some pretty interesting and amusing movie titles. So, if you’re like us and have no idea what the movie title would sound like to native Chinese ears, then these 25 hilarious Chinese movie title translations will probably make you laugh!

Btw, Chinese movie title translations are not the only things you might find funny in China, check out these 25 crazy things you’ll only find in Chinese Walmarts.