>It can't be helped
How would you have translate this phrase to sound natural?
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>It can't be helped
>It can't be helped
How would you have translate this phrase to sound natural?
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It can't be helped
it is what it is
nailed it
しかた が ない (shikata ga nai)
TL Note: It can't be helped.
This way it protects the respectful bushido heritage of the Japanese language.
That's how it is on this son of a b***h earth
I think it already sounds natural. What's unnatural about the phrase "It can't be helped."? Seriously I don't get it, it sounds fine to me and I've been speaking English my entire life. There's nothing about this phrase that comes across as awkward or unnatural in speech.
It seems awkward because it is not a phrase used by english speakers even if it is grammatically correct.
"It is what it is" is a perfect translation because people actually say that and it means the same thing.
>It seems awkward because it is not a phrase used by english speakers
yes it is. what the frick are you talking about?
Is there any modern western media that you know that use the phrase frequently? i'm genuinely curious until then there is no way i would believe you
"It is what it is" sounds like the chorus of a late 80s rap cover.
I WANT TO KNOW WHAT LOVE IS
AND I WANT YOU TO SHOW ME!
I WANT YOU TO SHOVEL ME
>it is not a phrase used by english speakers even if it is grammatically correct.
its just not used anymore. Except "I cant help it" thats still used a lot.
literally not used in everyday conversation.
It's not the phrase; it's the application. Usually, characters say this whenever solving their problem would mean initiating a faux-pas or just being a bit too sensible for the author's tastes.
Same
It's not that the phrase itself is unnatural, but the frequency of its usage combined with how it's a very dry, literal, dictionary-ass translation.
It's ubiquitous as a phrase that can very easily be written a million different ways while retaining its meaning, but which nevertheless appears exactly this way because that's what MTL or Jisho or whatever spits out as the first definition.
there's literally nothing wrong with it, it's just autistic morons wanting to whine about Japanese games
>I think it already sounds natural.
I thought so too, but I said this one time in real life and the person I said it to didn't understand what I said at all and legit looked at me like I was crazy.
Made me realize I'm too far gone.
No se puede hacer nada.
>Nothing we can do about it.
>What can ya do?
>Nothing more to say.
>It is what it is.
My 65 year old father in law who hasn't touched a videogame in his entire life says "it can't be helped" all the time
It's not a mistranslation, zoomer
The only reason why it sounds unnatural is because the Japanese people use passive voice as much as possible for cultural reasons, while native English speakers especially Americans use active voice whenever possible. Just translate it to "I/We can't help it."
>Just translate it to "I/We can't help it."
That means something totally and entirely different.
Wrong
NTA but you're fricking moronic
>anon why can't you stop being a homosexual?
>"I can't helped it" vs "It can't be helped"
No hay con que darle
That's the way she goes.
There's no way around it.
dat's da way da cookie crumble
That's how the cookie crumbles.
it's over
It's just as you'd expect.
that is the way the events have resolved themselves this particular time
It can't be helped
"There's nothing I can do."
It can't be frickin' helped. Shit.
It's SNAFU.
The "it can't be helped" shit is what I always use a litmus test to tell if people actually know what they are talking about
In japanese there's like 15 variations of it with different subtext and up to 30 if you include the old keigo ones which are often used on games like fire emblem or isekai and fantasy LNs because the characters are supposed to be old fashioned.
This subtext is the implication of how they see it, which can go anywhere from "it can't be helped" outright, to "it's not my problem", "it is what it is, isn't it? what will you do?", and even "so that's how it's gonna be huh...".
I legitimately don't know why the frick does this trip up even "professional translators" working on "real literature".
So many morons think it's just some over used single phrase because translators are trash at their job and pretend that's it's true that it's just a single over used phrase
And fun fact, that's one of the ways you can find out if the translator is an N6 using literal MTL or not, because deepTL can't catch complex conjugations which is exactly what causes everything to be on a deadpan monotone.
Which by the way, is also the source of the "japanese is too dry" propaganda meme, though that also ties back to dictionary sabotage intentionally flattening definitions.