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Small-Scale Question Sunday for April 12, 2026

Do you have a dumb question that you're kind of embarrassed to ask in the main thread? Is there something you're just not sure about?

This is your opportunity to ask questions. No question too simple or too silly.

Culture war topics are accepted, and proposals for a better intro post are appreciated.

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Sounds like you're talking about translation issues, not editing for length.

¿Por que no los dos?

I’m saying that you can lose as much through translation than you do by omitting passages or chapters. Both are dependent on the editor’s understanding of the original intent. In the same way that you can have good and bad translations, then, it should be possible to find good and bad abridgements.

According to the Wikipedia article (citing a 1978 bibliography of Dumas's works), the misspelling "Monte Christo" was used as the title of several non-translated French editions.