The Vietnamese phrase from "The Savage"

[mirrorimageegamirorrim]

I've always wondered what the Vietnamese phrase meant that Crockett told Trudy to say to the guy who turned out to be The Savage.  Anybody have any idea?

[codemaster94]

4 hours ago, mirrorimageegamirorrim said:

I've always wondered what the Vietnamese phrase meant that Crockett told Trudy to say to the guy who turned out to be The Savage.  Anybody have any idea?

That's been haunting me for years, and people I asked didn't know what it meant back then either.

[ivoryjones]

To me, it always sounded like "Van Dap". Surprisingly enough, that exists in Vietnamese (with some special characters), according to Google Translate. But GT has translated that to English as "Questions and Answers"!!!! That just doesn't make sense!!!

Then, I've tried that same expression on Google Books, and I ran into a book with a couple of poem titles that had "Van Dap" as part of them. The book would always translate "Van Dap ..." as "Dialogues about...". Well, if a hooker approaches a possible client and says "Dialogues?", with a little imagination maybe the client (and we) can get the picture, right? Maybe something like "Let's have a little chat?" (more or less what Szarbo says to "sweet pea" on another Castillo ep, which is "Golden Triangle").

[mirrorimageegamirorrim]

1 hour ago, ivoryjones said:

To me, it always sounded like "Van Dap". Surprisingly enough, that exists in Vietnamese (with some special characters), according to Google Translate. But GT has translated that to English as "Questions and Answers"!!!! That just doesn't make sense!!!

Then, I've tried that same expression on Google Books, and I ran into a book with a couple of poem titles that had "Van Dap" as part of them. The book would always translate "Van Dap ..." as "Dialogues about...". Well, if a hooker approaches a possible client and says "Dialogues?", with a little imagination maybe the client (and we) can get the picture, right? Maybe something like "Let's have a little chat?" (more or less what Szarbo says to "sweet pea" on another Castillo ep, which is "Golden Triangle").

Thanks, Ivory.  Short of a native speaker of Vietnamese joining the site, or somebody here consulting a native speaker,  I think your theory is as good as we can do.  I noticed that Trudy pronounces the phrase differently than Crockett.  Which version were you using?   

[James]

I just watched this episode last night and was wondering the same thing haha. 

It may be worth a try to get a translator app and hold it against the TV and see if it picks it up?

[miamijimf]

I suggest a Vietnamese restaurant or a Vietnamese social group, lots of major cities have one or both.  Many refugees living in America.   I heard lots of Vietnamese phrases but never that one.  To me it sounds like Bao Đẹp.  Google translator says this is "Beautiful" in English.

Edited March 25, 2017 by miamijimf

[Ferrariman]

I always thought it was "fom dap"      Tried using several Vietnamese to English translating sites but they just kick back the same words.

[timm525]

I always thought it was a pretty straight forward question that needed absolutely no translation especially if Gina was saying it to me.

"Von Dep?" = "Wanna f***?"   

Of course she could say "good morning" and I'd think the same thing!

[Sonny-Burnett]

41 minutes ago, timm525 said:

I always thought it was a pretty straight forward question that needed absolutely no translation especially if Gina was saying it to me.

"Von Dep?" = "Wanna f***?"   

Of course she could say "good morning" and I'd think the same thing!

That's what I heard as well, and I looked this up some time ago without success. 'Dep' (with some additional characters) seems to mean "nice" though I agree that Gina was likely propositioning him because his M.O. was killing prostitutes, he was walking in an apparently known red light area, and she was dressed as a street walker.

Edited March 25, 2017 by Sonny-Burnett

[ivoryjones]

14 hours ago, mirrorimageegamirorrim said:

Thanks, Ivory.  Short of a native speaker of Vietnamese joining the site, or somebody here consulting a native speaker,  I think your theory is as good as we can do.  I noticed that Trudy pronounces the phrase differently than Crockett.  Which version were you using?   

I believe Crockett pronounces the phrase 3 times, whereas Gina does it 2 times. At least to my ears, the first time Crockett pronounces it is completely different than the other 4 later times both he or Gina says it. Those 4 times to me are not that different if compared to each other, so I've tried to search using more or less what I could hear from them. I've always took that Crockett's first pronunciation was a goof, as Gina hears it directly from him and promptly repeats it differently (!?), then Crockett himself repeats it more or less following her own way to do it. I infer both would have some coach pronouncing the phrase to them before filming, and maybe the first time DJ spoke it, it just went wrong.

[summer84]

I tried all of the subtitles available on my disc and it all spells the word "voun dep," which translated in Vietnamese (using google translate) means "beautiful garden." And that doesn't make sense at all.  

Actually, when I type in "voun" google "corrects" it to "vườn" as a separate word that means garden. And "đẹp" means "beautiful."

I don't have english subtitles on my S3 disc set to check, but maybe it's spelled the same way. 

If it's typed in van dep or dap, that comes out as "still beautiful" (dep) or "questions and answers" (dap).

  Crockett gets a feeling about a man, and has Gina proposition him in Vietnamese. From wikia

Don't know if/how that can be connected to the words above. 

Edited March 25, 2017 by summer84

[mirrorimageegamirorrim]

2 hours ago, timm525 said:

I always thought it was a pretty straight forward question that needed absolutely no translation especially if Gina was saying it to me.

"Von Dep?" = "Wanna f***?"   

Of course she could say "good morning" and I'd think the same thing!

You made me laugh out loud with this.  Sorry to everybody for saying it was Trudy.  It has been literally years since I watched this episode. 

Strange how my memory inserted Trudy for Gina.  Maybe it's because I've always felt like Trudy seemed to get prettier as the show went on while Gina just seemed to get older, no offense though.  I think a proposition from either would be hard for a john to turn down! 

[James]

It probably makes sense in Vietnamese. It could be that it was the only Vietnamese Crockett knew (or the writers knew), and the general idea of the scene was that The Savage reacts to the language being spoken, rather than what was said. 

[pahonu]

I talked to a friend of mine at work who speaks Vietnamese and she said she would have to hear it spoken to know what it means and the proper spelling.  I got a lesson.  All the diacritical marks change the pronunciation and meaning of the words.  Vietnamese is a tonal language so those marks indicate if the word should be pronounced flat, starting mid and falling or rising, or starting low or high and rising or falling.  I think she said there are six different tonal types.  This is not present in European languages and to our ears and eyes, it means the exact same letters with different diacritical marks can sound only slightly different but more importantly, mean entirely different things.  I didn't even attempt to pronounce it as I haven't seen the episode lately.  Sorry.

By the way, the largest Vietnamese population in North America is in the next town over from me here in Long Beach, CA.  It's called Westminster and my wife and I go there to eat frequently.  It's a fantastic cuisine!  Long Beach has the largest Cambodian population in North America.  Both populations arrived in the mid to late 70's after the US involvement in Southeast Asia.  Also good food, though I'm less familiar.

[James]

Another possibility:

I think it's actually "ban dep". It sounds right and the translation makes sense.

[Matt5]

13 hours ago, James said:

Another possibility:

I think it's actually "ban dep". It sounds right and the translation makes sense.

Very interesting - well done Vice !

[Lancer]

phòm dáp = bang

As a question, maybe that makes sense in this context.

I listened closely to Gina say it the last time, which is very clear, then experimented extensively in google translate to get a similar sound. 

[Tom]

vor 2 Stunden schrieb Lancer:

phòm dáp = bang

As a question, maybe that makes sense in this context.

I listened closely to Gina say it the last time, which is very clear, then experimented extensively in google translate to get a similar sound. 

That´s the best match phonetically so far, but its meaning match is as secure or unsecure as the others. Unfortunately, they used two different pronounciations for the first word as far as I recall (Crockett said it, Gina repeated differently, then he said it again, she said it again, ....). One time it sounded like "Chom dep" or "Chom dap", then more like "Ban dep".

Logically, Crockett who spoke little Vietnamese from the war, would have chosen something for Gina to say that provoked the Savage and for sure would trigger a clear reaction Crockett would see PLUS something he could be sure that the Savage who was American too would understand it. Thus "you are beautiful" would be logical (Crockett had learned that the Savage was emasculated by a dark haired Vietnamese prostitute and hated all similar women accordingly), as this sentence would have triggered him immediately by bringing back an old trauma and would be a sentence he could know from his prior prostitute visits.

"Bang" would not be a good trigger by meaning at all for the same reason, except that it is Vietnamese (but the Savage would know Vietnamese also only a little, like Crockett).

[Dadrian]

There’s a Vietnamese restaurant that my wife and I frequent (much to our children’s dismay), and I keep telling myself I’m gonna remember to show that clip to the owner there via the NBC app on my phone. 

If it ever actually happens, I will report here...

[Tom]

vor 11 Minuten schrieb Dadrian:

There’s a Vietnamese restaurant that my wife and I frequent (much to our children’s dismay), and I keep telling myself I’m gonna remember to show that clip to the owner there via the NBC app on my phone. 

If it ever actually happens, I will report here...

Hopefully you will be able to report back after that! If that’s a nasty phrase Crockett selected you won’t 

[Dadrian]

1 minute ago, Tom said:

Hopefully you will be able to report back after that! If that’s a nasty phrase Crockett selected you won’t 

I will tell him you sent me.  

[Tom]

vor 30 Minuten schrieb Dadrian:

I will tell him you sent me.  

I don’t see how that would help you on site if it’s a nasty phrase. 

[Dadrian]

29 minutes ago, Tom said:

I don’t see how that would help you on site if it’s a nasty phrase. 

I’ll start by asking if his pee pee has been cut off my a hooker. 

[Tom]

vor 37 Minuten schrieb Dadrian:

I’ll start by asking if his pee pee has been cut off my a hooker. 

That´s a good start. Bring a helmet or an incompetency confirmation, just in case! 

[Cassagrande.M]

I searched for this when I purchased the German koch Blu-ray collection.

the collection comes with English subtitles so I watched the scene to gain a better understanding with help from the subtitles.

Unfortunately Koch didn’t add any subtitles when Sonny said “Von Dap”. I figured they might translate lol.