French translations: 56 English titles that were translated into… English.

Here the choice was pretty clear. The word "camp" is ok but "x-ray" is just too obscure to keep in English. "Guard" has a French origin and is easily understood. Plus it's set in an American detention facility, so the choice to keep the title in English hints at that.

The likeliness of French audiences understanding the expression "bring it on" was low. Translators chose "American Girls", probably because cheerleading is viewed as being typically American in France.

A "hit" has the same meaning in French as in English. It's used in radio on TV, people hear it all the time in France. "Pitch" is used, but in business, as a synonym of presentation.

Explaining what a "date" is in French is always a bit tricky and the concept of "date night" in married couples is not that common in France (people still do it, they just don't call it "date night"). A crazy night however... well, that's just what the movie is about, isn't it?

The link with "high-rollers" and religion was a hard one to make. However, the French connection was a real network of drug traffickers. They kept their English name even in France. Change "French" for "Jewish" and French audiences will have no trouble understanding the movie's premise.

Here we go. (S)ex list. This is the first of a long list of French titles using "sex" in English. The double meaning of "number" couldn't be translated too well so they went with (S)ex for "Sex" and "ex". Pretty good.

Ever since "Police Academy", the word "academy" has become prevalent in France. It's used to describe any place of training and schooling almost indiscriminately. Here's one of many movie titles that use "Academy" in their French version. I guess it's marginally easier than "school of".

Neither a dance step nor the expression "stepping up" is common in France. Unless you study English, you might not get either meaning. Sexy people dancing though, well, that's something everyone undestands. "Sexy Dance" kind of reminds of "Dirty Dancing", another title that kept its English name in France. Maybe translators thought the English rolled better on the tongue than "Danse sexy". Or maybe it was easier to market. 

Strangely enough, the English word "Gamer" is also used in French. The thing is, it has a strong association with video games and online gaming. Given the plot of the movie (which we won't reveal here, don't worry,) the French localization makes sense. After all, Gerard Butler is not acting as a teenager playing Dota) 

We talked about "Sex" and we talked about "Academy". Well this translation is a twofer. Actually, the negation "not" is often complicated to translate when you have a character limit. Now if you're going to stray from the original title so much, why not translate it too? Maybe the translation team felt it was too direct. Or too cheesy. Sometimes things sound better in English because people are used to it. And again, sex sells. 

French people seem ok with English titles, but not if they are too long. Maybe the localization team thought they would tune out and it would go over their heads. Who knows. Interestingly, the final translation (translation into English, that is) reveals more about the setting than the original one.

If you're an American teenager like in this movie, then a trip to Europe will bring images of wildly different cultures, adventures, and discovery. If you're from France, you're already in Europe. Taking a "Eurotrip" would be just a trip. A "Sex Trip", in this case, so you're not confused about the kind of movie you're about to watch. But still, "trip" is a word often used in French (as in "triper" which means "tripping" or "bad trip"). So you could say there's a pun in this title.

Speaking of tripping, here's another "translation" that uses the double-meaning behind "trip". These guys had a bad trip to Vegas and a bad trip in Vegas. Plus "Very bad trip" is just a lot easier to understand than "hangover" if you're French and have never heard this word.

The same thing happened to these two titles. The translators decided to drop the article. Other than that, not much changes. "Fighter" is sometimes used in English and "Aviator" sounds very similar to the French word "aviateur", so no one would get confused here. A theory might be that the dental sound "th" is challenging for French speakers. Dropping "the" would make it easier to talk about the movies on TV and radio without having people focusing on bad pronunciation (but probably keeping the English for easier marketing).

A trainwreck is a situation that goes downhill fast. Which is what the movie is about. It's also neither easily understood by French audiences, nor easily translated into French. So the translators went for "Crazy Amy". Probably to use Amy Schumer's notoriety, and because everyone understands what "crazy" means. Poor Amy though.

Knight, knife, know, knee... Words starting with a silent "k" can be tricky for French students. On top of that, what's a "knight"? Better replace it with "night". It's a safe bet that people will understand "night and day" better. "Nuit et jour", the French translation, was not taken though.

Sometimes it's okay to disagree with a translat... ahem, with the localization of a title, since it's technically still English. I understand why it was done this way though. "In time" doesn't really speak to everyone who speaks French, and "out" can be understood as "out of time". But to people who speak English (or to anyone playing volleyball, basketball, handball... a lot of people really) a "time out" is not exactly what the movie is about. In fact, if you've seen it, it's quite the opposite.

While the concept of "hustling" and "hustle" is not widely used in France (at least not the English word), bluffing and bluff entered French vocabulary a long time ago. Add to that that part of the movie does take place in a casino, and you've got a good title.

Having two prepositions in a row was not the most user-friendly title for non-speakers. The localization team simplified it. We lost a bit of the double meaning in the original title, but the spirit is still there.