個性的でした

English translation: You were pretty creative

22:15 Aug 19, 2021
Japanese to English translations [Non-PRO]
Art/Literary - Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
Japanese term or phrase: 個性的でした
Dear ProZ members,

I have a doubt on how to interpret the following sentence. In a cartoon, some students are trying to convince their friend to join them reading stories to children, but he strongly refuses due to a previous experience where he played a princess with awful results.

One of his friends says:
お姫様役のときは個性的でしたが王子様のときは素晴らしかったですわ

I have a translation that says: "Your portrayal of a princess was very unique, but as a prince, you were wonderful!"

However, I feel the meaning could be: "When you played the princess it was personal (as a boy, you didn't feel good portraying a girl and thus it went bad), but when you did the prince you were wonderful!".

What do you think?

Thank you so much!
Riccardo91
Italy
English translation:You were pretty creative
Explanation:
I tend to agree with you. I think 個性的 is used in a sarcastic way. His princess was too unique to be a good portrayal of a princess.
Selected response from:

Yuki Okada
Canada
Local time: 08:20
Grading comment
Thank you so much!
3 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4You were pretty creative
Yuki Okada
3 +1You were a bit different
Port City


  

Answers


57 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
You were pretty creative


Explanation:
I tend to agree with you. I think 個性的 is used in a sarcastic way. His princess was too unique to be a good portrayal of a princess.

Yuki Okada
Canada
Local time: 08:20
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese
PRO pts in category: 12
Grading comment
Thank you so much!
Login to enter a peer comment (or grade)

3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
You were a bit different


Explanation:
There is a contrast between 個性的 and 素晴らしかった. By saying 個性的, the speaker indirectly means "you were a bit different" (not up to standard).

Port City
New Zealand
Native speaker of: Native in JapaneseJapanese
PRO pts in category: 6

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Misae Lucasey
19 hrs
  -> ありがとうございます。
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