You get this often in Chinese novels. It's a way of scolding somebody. You say "姓陆的" or "姓陈的" or "姓白的“ or whatever when you want to scold somebody. But it would sound weird in English, right? Like am I supposed to translate it as "You! The one whose surname is Chen!" or "You Chen!"? So I was thinking of just translating it as "You little shit!" or "You bastard!" What do you think?
I personally would rather prefer the literal translation with a editor's note at the bottom explaining the term. Buts thats with me understanding the term.
Honestly, when I'm phoning it in, I just translate it as, "That surnamed [so-and-so]." It's not a good translation, but people usually get it, and I'm a lazy-ass. I've seen people use like "That so-called [so-and-so]" / "That [so-and-so] what's-[his/her]-name" instead too. Or maybe, like you said, adding bastard or little shit but also preserving the surname bits? Ex: "That bastard [so-and-so]!" / "That shitty [so-and-so]!"
I agree with animanaicT number it and put the explanation at the bottom. Most people don't like editor's or translator's notes in the middle of the chapter.
so it culture stuff? yeah kinda make sense~ hmmm maybe something like "oi dickhead" or " "oi dipshit"~ it nice to see but imo isn't it also depend on how the story flow? it will feel weird if someone call fakku out of nowhere no?
If you told me what the insult means, I'm sure I could come up with a suitable insult that matches its structure in English. I consider myself highly proficient when it comes to insulting people.
It's not an insult per se? It's just a rude way of addressing someone. Like in Japanese culture, you shouldn't address a stranger by his/her first name? This phrase literally just refers to someone by his family name. Without honorifics. Like you don't even bother adding a mister or miss. Like, "Hey you there! Person from the Gambino family!" Does my explanation make sense?
In English, it's unusual enough to just refer to someone by just their surname that something like "Hey, Gambino!" would work just about the same as the Chinese version. It's enough to show a bit of disrespect without going too far, and it does compactly.
I think translators got it wrong. Referring to someone by their surname/last name is curt and somewhat rude, but I don't believe it's cursing or swearing by any means. In the military, superior officers refer to their men by their last name. Partly as a method to erase individuality, and partly to enforce subordination. It can vary from anger to respect. In mid-century UK, I believe it was pretty common to refer to last names as well. Sometimes it's a jest between friends, sometimes it's an expression of frustration, sometimes it's a jibe at someone they dislike. In all these cases, the distinction is on intonation. If you think about it, the Chinese typically speak 姓X的 in a haughty/angry/stern voice as a means to express their dissatisfaction with the other person, and not to scold vulgarities. I agree with @ToastedRossi, there's no need to translate the sentence into a different colloquialism. If done properly, the context and delivery of the translation should suffice.