I saw a simple complaint about the Japanese dub of Laid-Back Camp in a Python learning group, and for a moment, I thought I was in a Japanese learning group (fog). After thinking for a long time, I couldn't help but share my own views:
The dub translates "はい 志摩リン ココア一丁" as "Here, Rin Shima, here’s a cup of cocoa," which indeed has some issues: translating "一丁" as "a cup" seems like a literal translation, but here "一丁" should not mean "1 tofu or one knife," but rather "one serving of food." — more similar to the Chinese "one portion."
However, "一丁" has a more interesting aspect: this counter can actually hint at the speaker's profession to some extent. (As mentioned in M's article, "Here ' 一丁 ' is a very colloquial usage in Japanese, and the voice actor chose to add emphasis here to convey a sense of being a waiter.")
The dialogue in Episode 8 of GBC illustrates this point very well:
973
00:11:59,280 --> 00:12:00,240
並１つ
One medium bowl // Here, Momoka is ordering (customer's perspective)
975
00:12:00,660 --> 00:12:01,780
こんにちは
Hello
977
00:12:02,450 --> 00:12:03,620
並１丁
One medium bowl // Here, Satoshi is notifying the kitchen (waiter's terminology)
Subtitle source: Meow Meng Milk Tea House
Based on my personal observations while eating at Yoshinoya, even when I (or other customers) say "並１つ" while ordering, the waiters usually notify the kitchen with "並１丁" (even if the pronunciation is not standard, it's obvious they are foreigners).
Several times in those family-run shops run by elderly couples, when I said "〇〇１つ，" they would immediately repeat it as "〇〇１丁ですね." However, I haven't encountered a situation where a customer says "１丁" and the waiter responds with "１つ"...
The issues mentioned above aren't too significant (subtitle groups generally wouldn't consider such mistakes), but M's emphasis on "being more colloquial" is indeed something translators should consider. Translator: Wait, what's the price for this order... oh, 100 per thousand characters, then I won't consider it, let's just let it go.
In summary, "Here, Rin Shima, your cocoa is coming!" is indeed a better choice.
Additionally, unlike simple subtitle translation, the dubbing version has a rather troublesome issue: the duration of each line is limited by the original video, and unless re-edited, many times compromises must be made (the translation is truly amazing!!!).
Finally, the dubbing version indeed aligns quite well with my stereotype of how locals speak (big fog).
(Also, hurry up and release Season 4 for me 233)
Corpus Verification#
After work, I checked "NINJAL-LWP for BCCWJ," "NINJAL-LWP for TWC," and "Japanese Spoken Language Corpus CSJ," and found that the frequency of "一丁" in these corpora is too low, and it's also difficult to determine the usage context, so I had to use a less "academic" corpus:
I would like to clarify in advance: I haven't seen the works below, so if I misunderstood anything, I hope those who have seen them can go easy on me. Additionally, I removed examples unrelated to "one serving of food" and kept only the most critical context.
山かけうどん 下さい
（店主）あ… あいよ
山かけうどん 一丁 出来上がり
Demon Slayer - Kimetsu no Yaiba
The first speaker is Tanjiro, and the last speaker is the shop owner serving him the finished dish.
平和がいいよ みるがいいよ
ミル貝 いいよ？ こちら ミル貝 一丁！（店員）
Durarara!!
Laughs, (the clerk) is noted in the subtitles, and here "ミル貝" is pronounced "みるがい，" which is another pun 233.
ね、そんなに盛り上がるほど美味しい？
別に、フンドシ一丁で海を走るほどじゃないよ
また何かのアニメネタか
Lucky Star
I haven't seen it, and I can't determine the context from the screen, but from the later reactions, it seems to be a joke among friends.
やったーやったー ブリ鍋だー
もういっちょ！
ブリが大漁だ わしょーい！
もういっちょ！
Toradora!
I haven't seen it, and I can't determine the context from the screen.
（店員） 店長！ アメリカン ワン ナポリタン入りま～す
（店長） ナポリタン一丁！
Toradora!
The subtitles directly indicate (the manager).
（大河）なっ なんで… （稲毛）よっと
（大河）うっ！ ああ… （稲毛）もう一丁！
Toradora!
Inage is wearing the manager's clothes, but this is not ordering; they are moving things.
替え玉… いただこう
替え玉一丁！ （徹平）へい！
Good Morning Call
The first sentence is still the customer speaking, and the second sentence is the waiter notifying the kitchen "Teppei."
（阿部）師匠と呼んでいいですか？ ラーメンください 師匠！
（一星）ラーメン 一丁！ （徹平）あいよ
（明）それ終わったら 上がっていいよ （上原）はい
Good Morning Call
I haven't seen it, but I checked the information, and the speaker "Ichihoshi" is "the only son of the famous local ramen shop 'Ichiboshi'," and from the screen, the dialogue occurs in a ramen shop, also among staff.
（徹平）はい みそラーメン一丁！ （菜緒）はーい
（一星）吉川 (よしかわ) ここ俺やっとくから あっちのお客さん
Good Morning Call
From the above exchange, "Teppei" is also a staff member at the ramen shop.
（菜緒）みそ一丁 しょうゆ３丁 チャーハン 餃子です
あいよ！
Good Morning Call
The female lead "Nao" is working at a ramen shop, and from the screen, it seems that the customer has finished ordering, and Nao is notifying the kitchen.
まあ、しょうがねぇな。
豆腐の一丁でも食わしてやるか！なっうん。
この間はあんなに怒ってたくせに？
1 Litre of Tears
Laughs, this is finally not an exchange between staff, but a conversation during a family meal. However, the issue is that this place is actually not the same usage as before, because "一丁" is originally used specifically to count tofu.
Role Language#
役割語（やくわりご） refers to a specific way of speaking that evokes a particular image of the speaker (age, gender, occupation, class, era, appearance, demeanor, personality, etc.).
https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%BD%B9%E5%89%B2%E8%AA%9E
From the examples found above, I personally believe that "一丁" has already become a "role language" for "restaurant staff" to some extent.
Generally, non-restaurant staff would not use this counter, just like a normal waiter wouldn't say, "Welcome to Hong Romance, please take your hand card upstairs for three male guests!" What a strange analogy.
Related Information#
How do foreigners complain about Chinese and Chinese characters? Counters are really interesting.