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Modern Warfare 2 Translated

11-Mar-2010 What the bambis, tango, and actuals really mean...

13 Comments

You've heard them all shouted out many, many times.

Every game of Modern Warfare 2 online rings out with an abundance of foreign battle cries, but what do they actually mean?

The answer isn't as clear as you might expect. While the Portuguese banter can be easily converted in English, different dialects of Russian and Arabic are much more challenging. Depending on the nationality of the speaker, there are multiple, often competing ways of saying exactly the same word in Arabic so direct translation can be trouble.

As a result, some of the translations in MW2 are not literal - they often use quite eccentric turns of phrase. We've taken a shot at spelling them phonetically and turned them over to the experts. Native speakers, feel free to chip in with better versions and we'll update it.

OPFOR (Language: Arabic)
OPFOR is an abbreviation of Opposing Force. Its fighters speak using an Arabic dialect that sounds like it comes from the Levant.

Translation: Laurianne Enos, Business Development, talkingheads.gb.com
Samy Wahib, allexperts.com

Sounds like: Bambi!
"Ba'abi" - Reloading

Sounds like: Tango Sucker!
"Tango Saqaat" - Enemy fallen

Sounds like: Romana!
"Romana!" - Grenade! Updated MlkT points out in the comments that the precise terminology is "The enemy has thrown something towards us," or very roughly "He throwed us".

Sounds like: Sagat al had-eef
"Saqaat al hadif" - Downed a target

Sounds like: Baghair maxan!
"Beghayir makhzan" - Without stowage (ammo is empty) Updated MlkT says that this would be better described as "I'm changing chambers".

Sounds like: Imeemy Bambi Maxan!
"Ihmeeni ba'abbi makhzan!" - Protect me - I am filling the chamber/stowage (i.e. reloading)

Sounds like: Tactical had-eer!
This is probably a mistake in the game, as there is no Arabic word that sounds like 'Tactical'. It should be as follows:
"Othrob Hadif" - "Shoot the Target!"

SPETSNAZ (Language: Russian)
The Spetsnaz are Russian Army special forces that are considered to be the best-trained fighting units of the entire federation.
The Russian alphabet uses Cyrillic script so we've included the phonetic English spellings here.

Translation: Gary Goldberg, political/military specialist, proz.com

Sounds like: Brose-you gran-atoo
"Brosayu granatu" - I am throwing a grenade

Sounds like: Vrag oo-knee-chosen
"Vrag unichtozhen" - Enemy destroyed

Sounds like: Sell oo-knee-chosen-a
"Tsel' unichtozhena" - Target destroyed

Sounds like: Brose-you stan gran-atoo
"Brosayu stan granatu" - I am throwing a stun grenade

Sounds like: Brose-you vip-ish-koo
"Brosayu vspyshku" - I am throwing a flare

Sounds like: Vrag oobit or 'Barack-o-Bee' as some people say it.
"Vrag ubit" - Enemy killed

Sounds like: Pree-koy menya! Ya perez-yas-highest
"Prikroy menya! Ya perezaryazhayus" - Cover me! I'm reloading

MILITIA (Language: Portuguese)
This force is made up of Brazilian nationals, whose Portuguese is easily translated. They appear in the Favela, Underpass, Rundown and Quarry multiplayer maps.

Translation:
James Rezende Piton, allexperts.com

Sounds like: Al-vo hating-do
"Alvo atingido" - Target hit

Sounds like: Al-vo neutalize-ado
"Alvo neutralizado!" - Target neutralised

Sounds like: Troc-and-o jar
"Trocando ja" - Changing now (spoken when reloading)

Sounds like: May day cob-wer-erta, es-two rec-arr-e-gan-do
"Me de cobertura, estou recarregando" - Cover me, I'm reloading

Sounds like: Despera-su day repent-a
"Desapareceu de repente!" - Suddenly vanished! (They say this when tossing a flash bang)

English Spoken Here
Just to make sure the English speakers don't feel left out, Infinity Ward also included contemporary military terminology for the UK and US troops. For the sake of completion we translated that, too:

Mike
Either minute or move depending on the context

Oscar Mike
On the move

Solid Copy
Message understood

Actual
Team Leader

Danger Close
A position within close range of the target at risk of being hit by friendly artillery or air support (Not to be confused with the Danger Close perk)

Foot mobiles
A person on-foot

S.S.D.D
Same s***, different day

F.N.G
F***ing new guy

Tango
Target, or enemy

Ben Talbot