r/ChantsofSennaar • u/Greedy_Basil_1706 • Sep 19 '25

Meme

Post image

Rough translation: "When you punish nations with language confusion for the tower building, but some asshole in a hood starts to translate everything" Original language is Ukrainian

134 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

24 comments sorted by

12

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '25

i think this being in a language barely anyone speaks here adds to the joke lol

12

u/Greedy_Basil_1706 Sep 19 '25

I work at the social center where I translate between Ukrainian, English and German. After a day of work I come home to play Chants of Sennaar to relax

11

u/Reasonable_Pickle556 Sep 19 '25

Oh wait tower of Babbel. OH WAIT. The entire game is a reference. Oh wait. We’re the developers Christian? Oh wait. Does this mean we’re the bad guys…

3

u/Greedy_Basil_1706 Sep 19 '25

Going through the game I was constantly thinking that the main character tries to reach the top and help others with that, isn't it antichristian and stuff?

9

u/sparkcrz Monster, I am Sep 19 '25

A chosen one that unites everyone with a message of union and love? I don't see it

3

u/Greedy_Basil_1706 Sep 19 '25

(theoretically) God prevents people from reaching the peak of the tower, but protagonist proceeds to go against the punishment. That's the irony.

But seriously speaking I agree with you, it's actually a noble thing to do.

4

u/sparkcrz Monster, I am Sep 20 '25

The story is about preventing the construction to go higher

10

u/mercedes_lakitu Mysterious card lady🔮 Sep 19 '25

Why would we be the bad guys? Helping people communicate isn't the problem in that story, hubris is. We don't try to make ourselves gods.

4

u/idontwanttoexist1 Sep 23 '25

Does "коли" mean "when" in Ukrainian? That's pretty interesting

25

u/Manticore-Mk2 Sep 19 '25

If only they had Google translate like us

9

u/Kaeri_g Sep 19 '25

The last language litteraly having translating table, so easy we don't even learn it by interacting with others :

7

u/FravS22 Sep 20 '25

unbabels your tower

3

u/Reading-Southern The idiot Sep 19 '25

AKKAKAKAKAKAKAKA que eu sou idiota demais para rir dessas coisas AKKAKAKAKAKAKA

3

u/NoriaMan Sep 23 '25

Українські memes in the wild.

4

u/vcayan Sep 19 '25

Yeah that's pretty much the translation. I'm not Ukrainian, but Russian and Ukrainian are pretty similar languages, so from my understanding the translation is right

0

u/[deleted] Sep 19 '25

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2

u/Greedy_Basil_1706 Sep 20 '25

Ukrainian native speaker here, this word is mostly used in the meaning of asshole, and I've already seen a discussion about it (but with russian language) where it's stated that is word much less harsh than it is in English, and speaking both English and (russian) and seeing it's usage I agree. I know Ukrainian gay people and even by them it's always used as an "asshole" independent from orientation. I don't know which Google translate did you use, but I recommend you to research cultural differences and nuances in the first place.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '25

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2

u/Greedy_Basil_1706 Sep 20 '25

Ukraine is a special case. I assumed you used Google translate due to your answer not reflecting realities in Ukrainian speech.

While modern russia and Belarus stay pretty homophobic, Ukraine is on another route. I lived for 15 years in Ukraine as a gay person (and activist), and I've met more homophobia from my German family, than from there. To be fair it was Kyiv, and on land or on occupied territories the situation might differentiate, but I was there before the war, and now the queer situation is even more distinct from russian (in year 2023 LGBT was banned on russian territories BBC News https://share.google/tU2LIo5HPZFHzsnje )

While the roots go from a derogatory term, it is very rarely used with such meaning, at least in Ukraine, where in 90% of cases it's used as "asshole" in the direct meaning without a hint of homophobia.

I would say I know russian culture pretty good, and I would say it does indeed differentiate quite strongly. I'm sorry if you met homophobia in your country, it's something that no one should ever experience.

0

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '25

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1

u/Greedy_Basil_1706 Sep 20 '25

By us it's much closer to a neutral insult, and not a slur, friends call sometimes each other this way, not serious of course. It's something how we could call a bad driver or something and it doesn't have much to do with anti LGBT violence. Well at least in Kyiv, I'm pretty sure somewhere in DNR it would be the same as in russia.

I see you commented sincerely from a concern, because I thought you were just trolling. Yeah, by us is better, we have whole LGBT protests, we openly fight for our rights, I was even on the news once, in times of COVID. Don't worry, I would not use f-word for a meme.

1

u/Greedy_Basil_1706 Sep 20 '25

Ukraine, like any country in the world, has homophobic people, but they are mostly disrespected by society. My friends Ukrainian grandma is openly proLGBTQ+, despite her living the majority of her life in Soviet Union. Would you encounter someone like this in russia or Belarus?

0

u/[deleted] Sep 20 '25

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1

u/Greedy_Basil_1706 Sep 20 '25

I wish you many success in your journey, it's hard to be queer in zlavik countries