Help me drive my boyfriend insane. (Rachel Lucas)

Help me drive my boyfriend insane.

One day, after we'd been dating a few weeks, "Rupert" and I were discussing the hell that is working full-time and going to school simultaneously. (He's two-thirds of the way through a killer MBA program and spends about 30 hours a week on that, on top of his engineer job.) Those of you that used to read the first incarnation of my blog about five years ago will remember my misery while I was finishing my bachelor's degree and working too much. GOD, IT SUCKED.

Anyway, so I said to Rupert, "You know how I got through it? Eye of the tiger, baby. Eye. Of. The. Tiger."

I have never seen such a look of stark horror on a man's face. He stared at me, frozen in shock that I would say something so fantastically cheesy. He was literally rendered speechless for a full 20 seconds or so, thinking what have I done, falling in love with such a DORK?

Finally, he shook his head in disbelief. "Did you actually just say that?"

"Yes, yes I did. And now I will sing it." And I sang it. Risin' up, back on the street, did my time, took my cha-ances. Went the distance, now I'm back on my feet, just a man and his will to survive! And so on. I'm pretty sure Rupert decided to break up with me for a few moments there. But then I giggled and sat on his lap and promised to never commit such an offense of lameness again. He forgave and we moved on.

But I lied. I can't stop saying it now, every chance I get. I like to hear his groan of disappointment and angst.

So here's what I want from you. Do you know a foreign language? If so, I beg of you, tell me how to say "eye of the tiger" in that language. I'm pretty sure in Spanish it's "el ojo del tigre" but if that's wrong, correct me please. I'd like to have it in French, German, and whatever other crazy foreign tongues any of you might have in your awesome brains. Then, I can psychologically abuse Rupert multiculturally. Gracias, mis amigos!

UPDATE, six hours later: You people are blowing my mind; Rupert is not even going to know how to deal with me anymore. Behold the power of the blog! So far, we have:

French
Japanese
German
Italian
Ukrainian
Arabic
Latin
Danish
Russian
Hawaiian
Greek
Esperanto
Dutch
Welsh
Chinese
Portuguese
American Sign Language

Not to mention Klingon, pig Latin, Swedish chef, Marklar, and Mooj ("Durka durka, mohammed jihad...tiger.").

More? Are there more? I'm like a crackhead for this now. Do I have a ton of bilingual readers or do you guys have some super-awesome translator websites that I don't know about? Either way, doesn't matter, I'm in love with all y'all. (Yeah, I just said "all y'all". I own it.)

UPDATE, 24 hours later: Oh my god. Now we have it in:

Hungarian
Latvian (via email)
Hindi and Urdu

As well as (you guys are cracking me UP):

Elvish
Morse code
Huttese, as in Jabba
Double-talk
Jibivibiribish
Dagboaen
Canadian
NY/NJ
Nautical flags
Semaphore flags (very cool by the way)
Mime
Whale
JavaScript

BEST. COMMENT. SECTION. EVER.

P.S. Rupert came over last night and informed me that I, along with all of you, are totally NUTS. Just kidding. He mostly just shook his head and stared at me in pain and confusion. Just kidding again. He actually thinks it's funny and quite amazing, which it unequivocally is. Consider my world totally rocked. I want to have all of your babies (sounds painful; maybe not).

Posted on August 2, 2007 8:14 AM | Permalink

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Comments (130)

Sparrow

In French it's "L'oeil du tigre" (pronounced loy doo teegreh). Go get him.

Posted by Sparrow | August 2, 2007 8:48 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 08:48

Kacie

In Japanese it's 'tora no hitomi.'

Hope that helps.

Posted by Kacie | August 2, 2007 8:49 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 08:49

WayneB

Sorry, no translation from me, but what was wrong with that in the first place? I thought it was an interesting and mildly humorous statement.

Of course, my brain may be off this morning, having just watched (finally) Monty Python's "The Life of Brian" for the first time last night.

Posted by WayneB | August 2, 2007 8:56 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 08:56

Birdman

In German, it's "Das Auge des Tigers, Baby. Das.Auge.des.Tigers."

Posted by Birdman | August 2, 2007 9:03 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 09:03

Fuzz Martin

Auge des Tigers

(that'd be German, yo!)

Posted by Fuzz Martin | August 2, 2007 9:03 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 09:03

Fuzz Martin

Damn! Foiled! (and I forgot to say Das) Fooey!

Posted by Fuzz Martin | August 2, 2007 9:06 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 09:06

Birdman

Starvin' Marvin says, "Click click derk, Baby"

Posted by Birdman | August 2, 2007 9:08 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 09:08

langtry

Nihongo ga wakarimaska, Rupert?

In Romaji (phonetic Japanese) that says "Do you understand Japanese?" "Eye of The Tiger" *roughly* translates as ...

Hitomi no Tora

Posted by langtry | August 2, 2007 9:13 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 09:13

jbc315

In Italian,

"L'occhio della tigre"

Posted by jbc315 | August 2, 2007 9:19 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 09:19

langtry

Kacie and I are on the same page, but I wonder which of ours says "Tiger's Eye" and which says "Eye of the Tiger"?

Posted by langtry | August 2, 2007 9:20 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 09:20

Otto Gass

In Ukrainian, oko tihra. Or, tihroho oko.

Posted by Otto Gass | August 2, 2007 9:32 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 09:32

k2aggie07

In mooj talk its:

Durka durka, mohammed jihad...tiger

But you have to blow yourself up after saying that in order to get the right effect.

Posted by k2aggie07 | August 2, 2007 9:36 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 09:36

deathbyscience

In arabic it is roughly

at-Tarf al-nimr.

Posted by deathbyscience | August 2, 2007 10:05 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 10:05

Sparrow

In Latin I think it's oculus tigris, or maybe oculus tigridis (dang those declensions!) but I'm checking on that with my friend the Latin professor. Use either one, Rupert's not going to be correcting your Latin grammer anytime soon, is he?

Posted by Sparrow | August 2, 2007 10:21 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 10:21

Rachel Lucas

OH! MY! GOD! Is it physically possible for people to rule more than you guys?

So I have it in French, German, Spanish, Ukrainian, Arabic, Italian, Japanese, Latin, and mooj (k2aggie07 you made me laugh out loud). So far! More more more please, if possible, thank you!

Poor Rupert.

Posted by Rachel Lucas | August 2, 2007 10:21 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 10:21

Patrick

By definition, if he's your boyfriend, he's already insane, mkay?

Posted by Patrick | August 2, 2007 10:36 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 10:36

Sparrow

Don't forget Pig Latin:

Eye-ay of-ay e-thay Iger-tay.

Posted by Sparrow | August 2, 2007 10:41 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 10:41

Rickbert

Starvin' Marvin says, "Click click derk, Baby"

Also, in the Marklar language, "Eye of the Tiger" would translate roughly, "Marklar of the Marklar."

Posted by Rickbert | August 2, 2007 10:50 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 10:50

Darth Misha I

Danish: "Tigerens øje" (Hard to explain how to properly pronounce it, but "tee-yohns oy-eh" ought to do the trick).

Russian: "Glaz tigra." ("a" isn't "flat", it's open as in British-English "are", and "i" is pronounced "ee" as in "eek")

Everybody else has already covered any other language I might be passingly familiar with.

Posted by Darth Misha I | August 2, 2007 10:51 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 10:51

Sloan

My son says this all the time. For example, right before one of our martial arts demonstrations: "Go get 'em, Daddy! Eye of the Tiger!" Delightfully cheesy.

I'd love to be able to tell you what it is in Irish, Rachel, but I don't know enough of it to say.

Posted by Sloan | August 2, 2007 10:54 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 10:54

Sparrow

And Hawaiian:

Maka o ka Kika is "eye of the tiger," though I like "eye of the big cat" better:

Maka o ka nui popoki

Posted by Sparrow | August 2, 2007 10:54 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 10:54

Sparrow

And phonetically in Greek (I have a lot of bi-lingual friends!):

MAH-ti tou TEE-ghri

Posted by Sparrow | August 2, 2007 11:15 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 11:15

Rupert

You're a total retaad... :-P

Love you, Baby.

Posted by Rupert | August 2, 2007 11:26 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 11:26

G Fresh

Klingon- mIn vo' targ ghu

There is actually no Klingon word for "tiger" so I substituted "targ" which is a large fearsome Klingon beast and oh lord I don't think I'm gonna get laid anytime soon. :o)

Posted by G Fresh | August 2, 2007 11:55 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 11:55

Pat Berry

Since you mention the previous incarnation of your blog, Rachel . . . are you still planning to add those posts to your archives?

Posted by Pat Berry | August 2, 2007 11:58 AM

Posted on August 2, 2007 11:58

UltraWineSaver

Ho-rlang-e-eh nun. (that's korean for literally, "the tiger's eye". 호랑이의 눈.

Posted by UltraWineSaver | August 2, 2007 12:03 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 12:03

Pat Berry

In Esperanto, it's "okulo de la tigro".

Posted by Pat Berry | August 2, 2007 12:11 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 12:11

Lucy

In Dutch:

Het oog van de tijger

Posted by Lucy | August 2, 2007 12:12 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 12:12

Alexander

When you run out of languages, you can work hard and try to perfect Derek Zoolander's patented Le Tigra look.

Useful for many instances where speech isn't possible but you still want to convey the meaning.

Posted by Alexander | August 2, 2007 12:29 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 12:29

mightysamurai

God only knows how any of these are pronounced, but here goes:

Welsh (I think this is right):

llygada chan 'r ddywalgi

I really hope these next three come out right:

Chinese:

老虎的眼睛

Greek:

μάτι της τίγρης

Arabic:

عين من النمر

Posted by mightysamurai | August 2, 2007 12:35 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 12:35

Pat Berry

In Swedish Chef speech, it's "eye-a ooff zee teeger".

Posted by Pat Berry | August 2, 2007 12:41 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 12:41

Alexander

I'm assuming (perhaps wrongly) that Welsh, Irish and Gaelic are all the same language?

I swear, I've never seen so many double consonants and seemingly random placement of spaces in any language.

I love the sound of it spoken, but when it comes to phonetics, I'd have better luck pronouncing a hieroglyph than a Gaelic word.

Posted by Alexander | August 2, 2007 12:47 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 12:47

Birdman

Don't forget sign language: http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/E/W1180.htm [of the] http://commtechlab.msu.edu/sites/aslweb/T/W4157.htm

Posted by Birdman | August 2, 2007 12:55 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 12:55

retrocop

How about Portuguese: "olho do tigre" or did somebody already do that one?

Posted by retrocop | August 2, 2007 12:56 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 12:56

retrocop

I know Russian has been done phonetically but it's spelled "глаз тигра" in Cyrillic.

Posted by retrocop | August 2, 2007 1:00 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 13:00

retrocop

I know Russian has been done phonetically but it's spelled "глаз тигра" in Cyrillic.

Posted by retrocop | August 2, 2007 1:01 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 13:01

retrocop

Darn it, double post!

Posted by retrocop | August 2, 2007 1:10 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 13:10

CastoCreations

Oh GFresh....never give up hope. :) Yours made me laugh out loud and make my dogs look at me funny.

Posted by CastoCreations | August 2, 2007 1:12 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 13:12

gmsc

How about video?

The original: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uELMzJQSKmU

The Starbucks ad (24 years later): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14qeu7JRwt0

You could also do other things to sneak it in. For example, leave a golf magazine open to a picture of Tiger Woods, and comment on his eyes.

This could be like those old ads that you thought were for one product or service, but ended, "...but I saved a bunch of money on my car insurance by switching to Geico."

Posted by gmsc | August 2, 2007 1:17 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 13:17

Berge45

I can't just just sit by and read anymore. You people are amazing. The sign language put me over the top. I can just picture Rachel signing "eye of the tiger" across the room to Rupert.

Posted by Berge45 | August 2, 2007 1:25 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 13:25

Rachel Lucas

Holy mother of the sun!! I did not expect this AT ALL. Like Berge45 said, you people are amazing.

I'm going to put all these together and print out a tiny little card that I can reference, and use whichever one feels most appropriate on any given occasion. Rupert is going to find some way to get back at me for this. I hope it involves buying me dinner first. Or after.

Posted by Rachel Lucas | August 2, 2007 1:32 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 13:32

Pat Berry

I'm not sure "amazing" is the right term, Rachel. Unless you mean "It's amazing that so many people have so much free time on their hands."

Posted by Pat Berry | August 2, 2007 1:36 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 13:36

k2aggie07

Who has free time? I'm working!

Posted by k2aggie07 | August 2, 2007 1:49 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 13:49

R.L. Hunter

Oh my, aren't we the sadistic one.
But what's really funny is one of the Google ads that came up was for a "Eye of the Tiger" ringtone.
You wouldn't have access to his cellphone would you?

Posted by R.L. Hunter | August 2, 2007 2:02 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 14:02

mightysamurai

I'm working!

Sure you are. :)

Posted by mightysamurai | August 2, 2007 2:11 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 14:11

DL From Heidelberg

Birdman and Fuzz Martin are of course correct; but for the language impaired, the phonetic pronounciation for the German is:
Das ow (like ouch) ga des tee grrrs.

Posted by DL From Heidelberg | August 2, 2007 2:18 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 14:18

mightysamurai

Do I have a ton of bilingual readers or do you guys have some super-awesome translator websites that I don't know about?

http://www1.worldlingo.com/en/products_services/worldlingo_translator.html

Posted by mightysamurai | August 2, 2007 2:39 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 14:39

Instinct

and Elvish (so I'm a geek, sue me) :)

hehn ehn meoi

Posted by Instinct | August 2, 2007 2:39 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 14:39

G Fresh

Morse code: . -.-- . | --- ..-. | - .... . | - .. --. . .-. | -... .- -... -.--

Posted by G Fresh | August 2, 2007 2:44 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 14:44

Instinct

use the morse code one at night with a flashlight :D

That was good G Fresh

Posted by Instinct | August 2, 2007 2:50 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 14:50

Ethne

as a total and complete geek - Jabba-ese

Wonka waassa wil Wonka... ho ho ho

Posted by Ethne | August 2, 2007 2:55 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 14:55

Birdman

Morse Code -- that kills me! You could blink the sequence with your eyes across the dinner table.
Anybody know semaphore flags?

Posted by Birdman | August 2, 2007 3:11 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 15:11

j gerleman

For those maritime moments, you can always spell it out in nautical flags.

Posted by j gerleman | August 2, 2007 3:22 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 15:22

k2aggie07

I'm pretty sure this is the best post ever. Don't quote me on that though.

Posted by k2aggie07 | August 2, 2007 3:29 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 15:29

mightysamurai

as a total and complete geek - Jabba-ese

I think you mean "Huttese".

...

What?

Posted by mightysamurai | August 2, 2007 3:39 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 15:39

Sparrow

Just to clarify, "working" and "at work" are not necessarily the same thing.

Posted by Sparrow | August 2, 2007 4:02 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 16:02

CountrClockWise

A tigris ora

Pronounced (in Hungarian)

Ah TEEgreesh ohrrrrah

Posted by CountrClockWise | August 2, 2007 4:10 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 16:10

Pat Berry

Instinct:

What do you mean, Elvish? If you want to be taken seriously as a geek, you're going to have to do better than that. Sindarin or Quenya?

Posted by Pat Berry | August 2, 2007 4:42 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 16:42

fargus

This is it in mime:

Wanna see it again?

Posted by fargus | August 2, 2007 4:57 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 16:57

Pat Berry

Well, Rachel, we finally found a way to get Hillary's face out of your ads. Now all the ads are for "Eye of the Tiger" ringtones and song downloads! And foreign language training, which makes sense.

Oh, and the waterless toilet is back. I've given up trying to understand why.

Posted by Pat Berry | August 2, 2007 4:57 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 16:57

King

As long as we're all geeking out, here's "Eye of the Tiger" in binary (capital 'E' and capital 'T'):

Each 8-digit group represent a single number referencing a single character of the ASCII chart.

01000101 01111001 01100101 "Eye"
00100000 (space)
01101111 01100110 "of"
00100000 (space)
01110100 01101000 01100101 "the"
00100000 (space)
01010100 01101001 01100111 01100101 01110010 "Tiger"

The same thing in hexadecimal (two digits per character instead of 8):

45 79 65 "Eye"
20 (space)
6F 66 "of"
20 (space)
74 68 65 "the"
20 (space)
54 69 67 65 72 "Tiger"

Posted by King | August 2, 2007 5:13 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 17:13

MrJimm

Eye of the Tiger nothing. Here's what got me though my MBA program-at-night:

Salary at graduation (1998) $58,000
Salary one year later (1999): $77,500
Salary today: $125,000

BTW Tuition & books? $15,500 (minus tax-free employer-paid portion: $12,000 = $3500 out-of-pocket)

Hours spent: Yeah, it was a bitch for me, too.

Return on investment (ROI)? Sorry, my calculator doesn't have that many digits.

Posted by MrJimm | August 2, 2007 5:34 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 17:34

HurricaneMikey

Rachel's comment section-- You'll never find a more wretched hive of geekness and nerdism.

The mime comment, however, made me laugh out loud. Silently, in my invisible box.

Posted by HurricaneMikey | August 2, 2007 5:38 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 17:38

wendella

Dear Rachel,

Sometimes I like to sing pop songs in an operatic voice. I know it twists my husbands pickle, but I just can't help it.

Here is how to say "eye of the tiger" in double talk. (my father spoke double talk with the other sailors, so officers couldn't understand them. The trick is to speak quickly.)

Eelfye oelff thelfe telfigelfer

Posted by wendella | August 2, 2007 6:43 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 18:43

A Recovering Liberal

*clapping with delight*

Y'all provided a fantastic break from another sucky 12-hour workday (it's not over yet). Mahalo nui loa!

Posted by A Recovering Liberal | August 2, 2007 7:06 PM

Posted on August 2, 2007 19:06

mightysamurai