Mistranslation of “Madridista” Widely Used in China

Spain football club Read Madrid has numerous fans in China, but few of them dare to call themselves a “Madridista”, which is ridiculously mistranslated here.

According to Wikipedia and online dictionaries like YourDictionary, “Madridista” means “someone who plays for, works for, or supports Real Madrid”.

Maybe because of its root “ista”, “Madridista” is translated into “马德里主义者” in China – words with “ist” would usually be translated into “XX主义者” , such as “nationalist”, “individualist” and “environmentalist”.

The problem is the Chinese word “主义” in these translations means “doctrine” or “concept”, while the source “Madridista” doesn’t involve any “doctrine”, at least not literally. Anyhow, “Madrid” is just a city name, and the term “Madridista” may own some connotations as regarded by some fans, but that’s not indicated in its definition.

Confused by “马德里主义者”, many Chinese have asked on the internet of Chinese: “What’s ‘Madridist’ on earth?”

Some Read Madrid fans would explain that it refers to those who believe in “the spirit of Read Madrid”, and some would even quote an alleged saying from Read Madrid’s former player Guti: “I would rather play only 10 minutes for Read Madrid than play a season for any other clubs.” I’m not sure if Guti did say this as the English version cannot be found anywhere.

Besides, idioms on loyalty would also be used to interpret “Madridista”, such as “至死方休”, which means “not to stop until death”. But how could this be true for all who play, work or support the football club?

Compared to the original meaning of “Madridista”, its Chinese mistranslation “马德里主义者” has obviously caused too many overinterpretations.