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Arts & Culture

The Translation Challenges of Rendering Wordplay in Shakespeare's Comedies

Quick fact

Shakespeare's plays contain over 100 puns each, and many rely on Elizabethan pronunciation that differs from modern English, making them difficult even for native speakers today.

Why this is interesting

You might think a joke is the same in any language, but Shakespeare's comedies contain verbal puzzles that can leave translators scratching their heads. How can a pun be funny if it only works in English?