Unlocking the Hidden Wordplays and Nuances in Sherlock You Missed

Here are eight brilliant examples of wordplays and expressions in the Sherlock series that lose their impact in Russian dubbing due to linguistic differences.

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On the night of January 15-16, the final episode of the iconic British series Sherlock's fourth season premiered. In Russia, it aired fully dubbed on Channel One. While the translators, voice actors, and localization team did a commendable job overall, several challenges arose due to language nuances.

Let's analyze the trickiest translation moments in the series. These 'translation quirks' are often caused by untranslatable puns or grammatical differences between English and Russian.

Warning! Spoilers ahead. We recommend reading only if you've seen all released episodes. If not, catch up first and then return.

I am SHERlocked

Season 2, Episode 1

Recall this episode where Irene Adler appears with a smartphone containing highly sensitive information about a member of the royal family. The phone is secured by a four-digit passcode, which Sherlock tries repeatedly to crack. The locked screen reads: 'I am **** locked'. Sherlock guesses '221B' (Baker Street's address) and other combinations but fails. Eventually, he realizes Irene's feelings for him and deduces the password is 'SHER', completing the phrase 'I am SHERlocked'—a clever pun meaning both 'I am locked' and 'I am Sherlock-locked'. This witty wordplay is untranslatable into Russian, so localizers retained the original text to preserve its cleverness.

HAT-man and Robin

Season 2, Episode 1

Sherlock gains fame through John Watson's blog. To conceal his face from journalists waiting outside, he grabs a random cap and wears it awkwardly. Despite this, the press snaps a photo and headlines the article 'HAT-man and Robin'—a playful nod to 'Batman and Robin'. This pun was left untranslated to keep its cultural reference intact.

IOU

Season 2, Episode 3

Moriarty leaves Sherlock a clue with the three-letter acronym 'IOU' on an apple and later on a building. 'IOU' abbreviates 'I owe you' in English, a phrase with no three-letter equivalent in Russian, making this pun impossible to replicate precisely.

John is quite a Guy!

Season 3, Episode 1

The UK annually commemorates Guy Fawkes Night, marking the failed 1605 Gunpowder Plot to blow up Westminster Palace. Traditionally, effigies of Guy Fawkes are burned, and fireworks are set off. In the episode, John Watson nearly becomes the effigy when kidnapped and placed on a bonfire. Sherlock receives a text: 'John is quite a Guy.' This phrase cleverly plays on 'guy' meaning both 'a man' and referencing Guy Fawkes himself. Translators opted for the Guy Fawkes interpretation, hinted by the capitalized 'Guy' in the message.

The other one

Season 3, Episode 3

After Sherlock shoots Magnussen, Mycroft is tasked with sending Sherlock on a perilous mission. When advised not to be lenient just because Sherlock is his brother, Mycroft says, 'You know what happened to the other one.' Viewers assumed this meant a third brother, and translators rendered it as 'the other brother.' However, season four reveals that Mycroft and Sherlock have a sister, not another brother. In English, 'the other one' is gender-neutral, but Russian requires gender-specific terms, leading to this subtle mistranslation.

#221BringIT!

Season 4, Episode 1

Sherlock receives a message: '#221BringIT!'—an energetic call to action cleverly incorporating '221B' (his address) with the word 'bring'. The letter 'B' ties both. In Russian, the localization replaced 'B' with the digit '3' (looking similar to the Cyrillic letter 'З'), losing the pun's clever connection.

Lying detective

Season 4, Episode 2

The episode title 'The Lying Detective' is a double entendre meaning both 'the detective who lies down' and 'the detective who lies.' Sherlock is under the influence of drugs and in poor health, yet also deceives Watson to catch a serial killer. The Russian translation plainly titles the episode 'Sherlock Near Death,' missing the layered pun present in the original.

A cereal killer

Season 4, Episode 2

Sherlock tweets a photo of Culverton Smith captioned 'He’s a serial killer.' Smith quips back, referencing a commercial where he eats cereal. The pun hinges on 'serial' sounding like 'cereal' in English. This witty wordplay is impossible to replicate in Russian, making it challenging to convey the humor fully.

Despite the high quality of Russian dubbing and translation on Channel One, we recommend watching Sherlock in its original English with Russian subtitles to fully appreciate its linguistic nuances and clever wordplays.

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