Harvey.Multics@HIS-PHOENIX-MULTICS.ARPA (06/27/85)
From: "Ronald B. Harvey" <rbh%pco@CISL-SERVICE-MULTICS.ARPA> A Ford Prefect is (or rather, was?) a model of car marketed by Ford for those people between the Atlantic and the North Sea who drive on the wrong side of the road. What has always bugged me about Ford's name is that Zaphod knew it right off... Of course, this can be explained away be using the excuse that the audience would get confused if Ford had two names. Then again, Tricia MacMillan (sp) had another name... Has anyone noticed any discrepancies between British and American versions of So Long and Thanks? I just received my Pan paper version of SLaTfatF, but I haven't previously read the American version.
john@hp-pcd.UUCP (john) (07/04/85)
<<<<< Ford picked the name of a car because he mistook it for the dominate life form on this planet. Zaphod addressed him in his native language using the name that he knew Ford by. It was the Babel fish that translated all of it into English. John Eaton !hplabs!hp-pcd!john
thoth@tellab3.UUCP (Marcus Hall) (07/06/85)
>What has always bugged me about Ford's name is that Zaphod knew it >right off... Of course, this can be explained away be using the excuse >that the audience would get confused if Ford had two names. Then again, >Tricia MacMillan (sp) had another name... This bothered me as well. I attributed it to the "virtual babel fish" that the audience uses to understand the various characters. Perhaps Zaphod actually uses Ford's real name, but since he probably isn't speaking english anyhow, it just gets translated into Ford's "english" name. >Has anyone noticed any discrepancies between British and American >versions of So Long and Thanks? I just received my Pan paper version >of SLaTfatF, but I haven't previously read the American version. >As a contribution to the discussion on differences between the British and >US versions of SLaTFAtF, I noted that in my SFBC edition, Arthur drove >a VW Rabbit. Unless he had it specifically imported from America, what he >was really driving was a Golf. (Of course, they're now Golfs in the US too..) >What does he drive in the British version? > > Steve Lionel (Multiple VW owner) In the Pan paperback version Arthur does drive an old Golf. There are a few other phrases that probably are translated as well, i.e. wine bar, etc. marcus hall
JAFFE@RUTGERS.ARPA (07/08/85)
From: tellab3!thoth (Marcus Hall) >What has always bugged me about Ford's name is that Zaphod knew it >right off... Of course, this can be explained away be using the excuse >that the audience would get confused if Ford had two names. Then again, >Tricia MacMillan (sp) had another name... This bothered me as well. I attributed it to the "virtual babel fish" that the audience uses to understand the various characters. Perhaps Zaphod actually uses Ford's real name, but since he probably isn't speaking english anyhow, it just gets translated into Ford's "english" name. >Has anyone noticed any discrepancies between British and American >versions of So Long and Thanks? I just received my Pan paper version >of SLaTfatF, but I haven't previously read the American version. >As a contribution to the discussion on differences between the British and >US versions of SLaTFAtF, I noted that in my SFBC edition, Arthur drove >a VW Rabbit. Unless he had it specifically imported from America, what he >was really driving was a Golf. (Of course, they're now Golfs in the US too..) >What does he drive in the British version? > > Steve Lionel (Multiple VW owner) In the Pan paperback version Arthur does drive an old Golf. There are a few other phrases that probably are translated as well, i.e. wine bar, etc. marcus hall
JAFFE@RUTGERS.ARPA (07/09/85)
From: hp-pcd!john (john) <<<<< Ford picked the name of a car because he mistook it for the dominate life form on this planet. Zaphod addressed him in his native language using the name that he knew Ford by. It was the Babel fish that translated all of it into English. John Eaton !hplabs!hp-pcd!john