WHAT THE FUCK DOES "It can't be helped" EVEN MEAN?

kys faggot

It can't be helped

It means it's impossible to help something or someone in danger, leading to said thing or person dying.

>>382112386

it's the nip version of "oh well" or "too bad". It's a term of expression and it triggers subfags something fierce.

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shouganai

"This thing can't be stopped"
english not your first language, op?

>>382112516
DOESN'T MAKE ANY FUCKING SENSE

How the fuck do you not understand "it can't be helped?" Are you retarded?
You can't do anything about it so there's no point worrying about it

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>>382112386
If you're playing a japanese game it's a common phrase that's come about thanks to their society and attitudes to life. You can google 'Shikata Ga Nai' to read more. Bottom line is, it means something like 'C'est la vie'.

>>382112386
仕方が無いwwwwwwwwww

>>382112386
It means 仕方が無い which is a Japanese idiom that essentially means "such things are unavoidable, so the only choice we have is to grin and bear it so we at least keep our dignity" culturally.

The literal translation is "it can't be helped" so lazy translators just go with that. It's common in a lot of Japanese games because the actual meaning of the phrase differs greatly with tone and context, but of course most people who play Japanese games have no standards so they're accepting of shitty localizations that just translate it as "it can't be helped".

Is this a meme? The meaning of that is perfectly clear

>>382112770
Alright so what would you put instead?

>>382112853
Depends on the context and tone.

>>382112684
>>382112770

lol the japanese are a totally broken and defeated people. its actually pathetic

How is "It can't be helped" not an incredibly common turn of phrase to people? Everyone fucking says it even the US.

>>382112386
C'est la vie

:^)

>>382112873
Yeah it kills me to read about their attitude to work and life in general. But eh, they still make good games so whatever I guess.

>>382112873
Conversely, you could argue that Westerns are entitled assholes who don't know how to put up with anything.

Not saying either one is better, but I do believe Easterners should stick up for themselves more and Westerns should learn to shut up and take the situation as it is more often.

Fags like OP are the reason "I could care less" stopped being sarcastic mockery used in specific instances and become a commonly accepted error.

I never understood why this bothered people. I've heard people say it in English a bunch of times before I ever read it in subtitles or mangoes.

>>382112386
please understand

>>382112386
It was Inevitable

>>382113042
It was never sarcastic mockery. The saying is "I couldn't care less", idiots just say it wrong.

>>382112386
Did I stumble into /a/ somewhere along the way? Oh well it can't be helped I guess

>>382112386
Urusai BAKA!!

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仕方がありませんよ

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>>382113802
That was cute.

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どうしようもないね

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>>382114219
(⌒▽⌒)

But...

This is an english phrase as well.

>>382112386
It (the object or situation in question) can't (opposite of can) be helped (assisted, dealt with, sorted out)

I'd suggest going back to school.

>>382112770
>essentially means "such things are unavoidable, so the only choice we have is to grin and bear it so we at least keep our dignity" culturally
>The literal translation is "it can't be helped"
Never go full retard, anon.

>>382116012
Do you know what a literal translation is?

>>382116012
>>382116107
It's not even the literal translation. The literal translation is "There's nothing that can be done" or "There is no way to do it/fix it"

>>382117176
No, "It can't be helped" is the literal translation of the kanji. It's incorrect, but many literal translations are.

>>382117231
Look up the definition of 'literal translation' dude. Also what the fuck are you talking about?
The kanji are "do" and "way", and the word 仕方 is "way of doing".

In japan if things go wrong you are expected to solve it so no one gets inconvenienced by your failure. It cant be helped means you tried everything you could to solve the problem but nothing worked.

>>382117464
Just shut up.

>>382117517
Absolutely incorrect. You get an F.

>>382117698
Im not an amerifat so I dont care about your retarded grading system fuckboi.

Ei voi mitään

There's two threads about this phrase on the front page right now

https://youtube.com/watch?v=YvNxgHTWIlo

>>382117846
it can't be helped

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>>382112386
it means 仕方ない

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There is literally nothing wrong with 'it can't be helped' as a phrase.
If you say otherwise, English is not your first language.

Why is this a fucking thread on /v/?

I knew the janitors were shit but to this extent? Why does OPs stupidity justify this threads existence?

>>382117698
Bullshit, that second sentence was on the nose, you tried so hard, and got so far, but in the end it doesn't even matter.

>>382112386
so much this i literally can't even

>>382117231
>No, "It can't be helped" is the literal translation of the kanji. It's incorrect, but many literal translations are.
The more I think about this the less sense it makes. I mean, in a sense, "literal" translations aren't even possible, because the literal meaning of 仕方が無い is 仕方が無い and something is necessarily lost in the transition to a different language system. But isn't the point of a "literal" translation that it is at least denotatively speaking as close to the source as you can get, if not connotatively? Judging from the criterion of literalness, which is obviously the goal of a literal translation, isn't it the most correct you can be?

>>382118295
The problem with literal translations of Japanese is that the meaning of the language is heavily dependent on the context of the phrase. "It can't be helped" is technically not incorrect, but a majority of the time, it's not accurately conveying the meaning of the phrase.

>>382112770
>"such things are unavoidable, so the only choice we have is to grin and bear it so we at least keep our dignity"
Is... that not what "It can't be helped" means? Like, in English?
People keep talking like it doesn't fit as a translation.

>>382118420
>it's not accurately conveying the meaning of the phrase.
seems fine to me

>>382118453
Nobody in real life actually says "it can't be helped"

>>382118420
>a majority of the time, it's not accurately conveying the meaning of the phrase.
EXPRESSIONS tend to do that. Though I can't entirely agree that 仕方がない doesn't convey its own meaning.

>>382118690
I think I more commonly see "that can't be helped," with a specific referent. e.g.
>If you flip that switch you'll be responsible for the death of the person on the track!
>That can't be helped.

>>382112386
I always thought it's the literal opposite of "not if I can help it!"

>>382118690
I've heard several people say it, and it's never struck me as something weird.

>>382118453
"It can't be helped" could mean that in the right context and tone, but it's awkward and never actually used by any native speakers.
>>382118729
True, but this isn't a case where the meaning of the expression is clearly conveyed by the expression itself, so it's something where keeping the literal translation intact isn't too important.
>>382118826
In that case something like that would still be a terrible translation, unless it was meant to make the switch-flipper sound callous and indifferent.

>>382118690
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/it-can-t-be-helped

the literal translation is "there's no way of doing/way to do" you dumb nerds

>>382118690
It is what it is, dude.

>>382118453
You can say that phrase better in English,and there's a couple meanings of 仕方が無い that "it cannot be helped" doesn't cover. People are hyperboling the problem translation-wise but 仕方が無い does have more than one meaning that is missed sometimes.

>>382119147
Well, you know. Language doesn't always localize cleanly.
Sometimes, it just can't be helped.

>>382118960
>it's something where keeping the literal translation intact isn't too important.
I'm not sure where you got this idea from

>>382119147
Shit happens, I suppose.

>>382112975
>But eh, they still make good games so it can't be helped I guess
ONE FUCKING JOB, ANON

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ANTA BAKA ??????????????

>>382119086
This expression is so much worse. Just distilled apathy.

>>382119647
God I fucking hate Asuka
Rei too but she's less actively annoying
I feel like if you waifu either one it says something about you personally and neither way is good

>>382112386
Method is none

>>382119760
best girl tho

>>382119760
In my headcanon Asuka is a cute girl who gets clingy and deredere after that episode where she asked Shinji to kiss her.

>>382119684
That's life.

>>382112386
please understand

>>382112853
Shits fucked

>>382119860
Not at all
If anything best girl is Misato

>>382112386
I've seen people post this as an example of the bad translation, but here in Bongland, it is a well known saying.

>>382119918
old

>>382119947
It is in America too. OP is just so autistic he's never spoken to another human so he's never heard it before.

>>382119147
I can't really think of a way to say "There is nothing that can be done about it so let's not even try" and "There is nothing that can be done so let us not worry about it" in a short and concise way.

>>382119918
haha what are you a normie?

>>382118690
such is life

>>382112386
It means something is incapable of being aided which usually means nothing can change the outcome.

>>382112386
You're retarded, and that can't be helped.

>>382120019
#yolo

>>382120019
You could say, "It can't be helped" or "There's nothing you could do"

>there's nothing we can do
>what happens happens

Do you have aspergers, OP?
It's a pretty simple phrase.

>>382120142
Forgot to add, in a short and consise way that isn't "it can't be helped", which is what >>382119147 implied there existed.

>>382119947
>>382119981
What weaboos do you guys talk to regularly that you hear this instead of "Shit happens" ,"It is what it is" , or "That's life".

>>382118690
Ah, a bait thread. Should have said so earlier

>>382120478
you have to go back

Asuka is just a hurt person, like everyone else in the show

She's comes off as very abrasive because she's never really felt loved, and she resents that

But all she really wants is to be loved. But she's also afraid to let that happen, because she's afraid it will be false love, or that she'll be left alone again, like by her mother, and end up feeling that pain again.

This is why, towards the end of the series, she slowly gets nicer and more comfortable with Shinji. She wants to love him, but sometimes her abrasive instincts come back up and she lashes out at him. And this just makes her ever more frustrated and confused and hurt.

But this is also why Asuka is best girl. Because she's salvageable, unlike the other characters. She just needs love, care, attention, and patience. In the best case scenario, she could grow into a fun springy adult, with quite the energetic attitude.

Childhood is adoring Rei. Teenage is adoring Misato. Adulthood is realizing Asuka really is the best choice.

>>382120478
Have you considered that maybe this became the standard translation because it's a closely corresponding phrase which already existed in English?

>>382112386
i means
"i guess we cant do anything about it"

>>382120478
>it is what it is

Southerner detected

>>382120478
At work,

>>382112386
It cantto be herpuru

>>382118690
I don't know what it is about this phrase that people think is so far-fetched. I probably said it at least once before I noticed my animes were saying it over and over again.

The other part of the cultural meaning that gets lost in translation is that speaker/one being spoken to isn't at fault for the problem.

The Japanese are fatalistic as fuck and hate taking responsibility for their messes.

>>382121248
Isn't that implied, though?

>>382121248
>The Japanese are fatalistic as fuck and hate taking responsibility for their messes
It's the exact opposite though.

>>382121248
What on earth makes you believe this?

>>382112853

"I bet the Jews did this"

>>382112853
that's life

>>382121523
I second this.

>>382112386
You can't change the situation

>>382118295
Literal translation is translating something word-for-word, literally, and it's extremely common that a literal translation means something completely different, especially for idioms. Even in countries with a similar culture and the same language root, literal translations can fuck things up.

I'm a polishfag, and even though it's Europe and all, idioms and common phrases do not translate well literally, for example the common phrase "walić konia". This phrase literally means "to hit the horse", and has no vulgar words in it, yet it is considered vulgar, as it's popular slang for masturbation. Then again, literally translating english euphemisms for that same thing into polish won't make any sense either, and thus you would rather translate the context rather than the words themselves.

>>382121784
>Literal translation is translating something word-for-word, literally, and it's extremely common that a literal translation means something completely different, especially for idioms.
Well, I mean. Not literally.

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>>382112853
Allah Akbar
God Wills It
'Tis Fated
The only way is forward
For Pandaria!
Steel Ahead~
Shit happens/Shit happened
Bombodadilla Life


>>382121248
Their cultural attitude is fatalistic. Their social norms and personal personality generally is not even fatalistic the slightest.

>>382121784
So "way of doing doesn't exist" then.

>>382112386
>WHAT THE FUCK DOES "It can't be helped" EVEN MEAN?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shikata_ga_nai

Basically, it's a phrase which doesn't translate fully into English. "It can't be helped" is a literal translation (and so frequently used by fansubs, which are either too lazy or too uninformed to use something similar) but the term also conveys a sense of inevitability, and so it "can't be helped" because there was no way to change what happened or what was going to happen. Needless to say, this doesn't translate very will with just "it can't be helped" but, as I noted, fansubbers tend to be lazy and have a somewhat poor understanding of a lot of Japanese phrases, and so they just go with a literal dictionary translation.

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>>382112386

>>382122843
>"It can't be helped" is a literal translation
Fuck off with this already. It's not.

>>382118690
Exhibit A, at around 2:46
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b4uFmg-pLDY

For all the folk in here, just stop claiming it's literal so the other bunch of autists can have their way.

「仕方が無い」translates literally into "A way does not exist"/"There is no solution"/...
It can't be helped is already an idiom trying to explain the meaning of it.

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it's the way it is and there's no sense in complaining about it

>>382112386
It means something like "there's nothing we can do about it".

It's a shitty turn of phrase but it's kind of become a meme in the fansub community so you see it literally everywhere.

>>382112386
Nothing we can do about this

Seriously though I heard this all the time before anime.