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Seeking help with translations

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Aerjen
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Joined: 08/28/2008
Recurring Dreams - English (original)
Recurring Dreams - French (translation)

Hi,

I'm looking for some alternative translations for a couple of cards from my game Pleasant Dreams. The game is translated into French, Italian, Spanish, German Dutch and Brazilian-Protuguese. The translations are for the Print and Play. Due to different word length I needed to shrink the font from 12 to 9 pts to accommodate for the new text in some cases. If you click to enlarge the images at the top, you can see what I'm talking about.

I'm looking for alternative suggestions for the cards below. The new translations can be max 15 characters long (incl spaces). Every single suggestion helps, so don't worry about translating everything and feel free to come up with alternatives that are more original than mine ;)

Dutch
Original: Jack in the Box = Duvel uit een Doosje
Alternative1: Surprise
Alt2: Verrassing

Original: Recurring Dreams = Wederkerende Dromen
Alt1: Droom na Droom

German
Original: The Rocking Horse = Das Schaukelpferd
Alt1: Schaukelpferd
Alt2: Das Pferd

Original: The sleeping cat = Die Schlafende Katze
Alt1: Die Katze

Original: Wakefulness = Schlaflosigkeit
Alt1: Insomnie

Original: Recurring Dreams = Wiederkehrende Träume
Alt1: Traum nach Traum

Spanish
Original: The Rocking Horse - El Caballito de Madera
Alt1: El Caballo

Original: The Sleeping Cat - El Gato Durmiente
Alt1: El Gato
Alt2: Gato Durmiente

Original: Dream Compass - La Brújula de los sueños
Alt 1: La Brújula

Original: Recurring Dreams - Sueños Recurrentes
Alt1: ???

Original: The Deep Sleep - El sueño Profundo
Alt1: Sueño Profundo

French
Original: Jack in the Box = Le Diable dans la Boîte
Alt 1: La Boîte
Alt 2: Surprise

Original: The Music Box = La Boîte à Musique
Alt1: La Musique
Alt2: Boîte à Musique

Original: The Night Light = La Lumière Nocturne
Alt1: La Lumière
Alt2: Lumière Nocturne

Original: The Rocking Horse = Le Cheval à Bascule
Alt1: Le Cheval

Original: Dream Compass = La Boussole des Rêves
Alt1: La Boussole

Italian
Original: Jack in the Box = La Scatola a Molla
Alt1: La Scatola
Alt2: Scatola a Molla

Original: The Rocking Horse = Il Cavallo a Dondolo
Alt1: Il Cavallo

Original: The Sleeping Cat = Il Gatto Addormentato
Alt1: Il Gatto

Original: Dream Compass = La Bussola dei Sogni
Alt1: La Bussola
Alt2: Bussola dei Sogni

Brazilian Portuguese
Original: The Rocking Horse = O Cavalo de Balanço
Alt1: O Cavalo

Original: The Sleeping Cat = O Gato Adormecido
Alt1: O Gato
Alt2: Gato Adormecido

Original: Dream Compass = Bússola dos Sonhos
Alt1: A Bússola

Original: Recurring Dreams = Sonhos Recorrentes
Alt1: ???

Note: in case you're wondering about why I have "The" at the beginning of so many cards, that's because I was going for a Tarot like feel with the game.

X3M
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Joined: 10/28/2013
Dutch

Quote:

Dutch
Original: Jack in the Box = Duvel uit een Doosje
Alternative1: Surprise
Alt2: Verrassing

Original: Recurring Dreams = Wederkerende Dromen
Alt1: Droom na Droom

Your first choice is the best one for both.
Alt2: Verrassing however is still a good one too, if you don't want to use the original.
I can't help you with Recurring Dreams. But Alt1: Droom na Droom is a bad one. It doesn't imply that it is the same dream over and over, while the word wederkerende does. It is also the shortest in Dutch that you can choose. Sorry.

If Recurring Dreams means that they are nightmares. You could however translate into Nachtmerrie or Nachtmerries.

Aerjen
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Joined: 08/28/2008
Dutch

Thanks for the feedback. Yeah, I prefer the original ones as well, but those are (unfortunately) too long. The recurring dreams card let's you put nightmares back into the dream so "Nachtmerries" might work. How about "Déjà Vu" or "Al Gezien"

X3M
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Joined: 10/28/2013
"Déjà Vu" Is the better one

"Déjà Vu" Is the better one of those 2.
Al gezien: you know you have seen it.
With "Déjà Vu" you are not so sure, which is more befitting the dream world.
However, "Déjà Vu" is a soft variant of Nightmares/Nachtmerries.
If you are aiming for a soft variant that replaces recurring dreams. "Déjà Vu" is your best choice.

Aerjen
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Joined: 08/28/2008
Thanks for the input. It's

Thanks for the input. It's mostly because this is an action card that let's a player influence the dream and it feels a bit like "Nachtmerries" would sound to negative for a card that helps you out. I'll keep pondering though :)

JuKarasawa
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Joined: 09/18/2014
Brazilian Portuguese

Original: The Rocking Horse = O Cavalo de Balanço
Alt1: O Cavalo

Original: The Sleeping Cat = O Gato Adormecido
Alt1: O Gato
Alt2: Gato Adormecido
Suggestion 1: O Gato Dormindo (went more literal with this one)
Suggestion 2: O Gato a dormir (I don't like this one much because it sounds too much like European Portuguese)

Original: Dream Compass = Bússola dos Sonhos
Alt1: A Bússola

Original: Recurring Dreams = Sonhos Recorrentes
Suggestion: Sonho contumaz (I'm cutting the plural so you save 2 characters and using a shorter - and rather obscure - synonym)

This was the best I could come up with considering the space restriction :(

Aerjen
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Joined: 08/28/2008
Brazilian Portuguese

Thanks JuKarasawa,

Sonho Contumaz sounds good and I'll have a look whether that one fits on the card. Hmmm, would Déjà Vu also work?

Yeah the space restriction is making this quite challenging.

JuKarasawa
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Joined: 09/18/2014
Change in meaning?

I think that Déjà Vu would work if you don't mind the change in connotation.
Here Déjà Vu has the meaning of that nagging feeling of "I've seen this before" or "I've been here before", etc., something that happens when you're awake (as opposed to what I inferred from the card's names since they appear to have a dream theme)

Aerjen
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Joined: 08/28/2008
Distinctions

Gotcha. It is about having the nagging feeling of having seen something before, but it is in the dream not when you're awake.

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