33026
I am vainly trying to understand the paragraph below but I am running into
some difficulties. In particular, I have a lot of difficulties to figure out
exactly what is meant by ダークホース here (there is a comics publisher whose name
is Dark Horse but I think it is irrelevant here). The other point is `予測した私は`
where I am not sure about `who estimates what`.

The extract:

> この小説について  
>  とあるご縁でお会いしたガガガ編集部の面々は、たいへん濃い方々でした。  
>  彼らが求める小説は、きっととんがった内容ばかりになるじゃろう。  
>  **と広島弁で予測した私は、あえてひとりだけの作風でダークホースしようとして…**  
>  軽く失敗して横道スピンしてできたのがこの小説です。

My attempt at translating it:

> About this novel.  
>  A certain acquaintance introduced me to the publishing house GAGAGA, they
> were so much enthusiastic people. They wanted a story polished to
> perfection. **With a distinct accent from Hiroshima, I explained that I
> tried at best to write in a unique and pleasant style and sought I might
> success even if at the beginning anybody has any hopes about my work.** I
> slightly failed and sometimes wandered away from the path but here is the
> novel I wrote.

Here I translated ダークホース by a periphrase explaining that a “dark horse” may
well be a horse that has been overlooked in a horse race but will win anyway.
The image hinted by the dark horse may be reused by 横道スピン but I did not
include it in the translation.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-21T04:40:19.550
33021
2016-03-21T08:18:59.663
2016-03-21T05:03:50.680
4216
4216
question
translation
What does ダークホース mean here?
[ダークホース](http://dictionary.goo.ne.jp/jn/132239/meaning/m0u/) itself is a well-
known horse racing term, but ダークホースする is not common. Anyway, I guess this
ダークホースする means exactly what you suggest ("to succeed although there was no
expectation from others").

I think you have gotten some phrases wrong:

  * 濃い here is a slang term meaning "unique", "eccentric", "having strong character", etc.
  * とんがった is another casual expression which refers to the opposite of what you think. It's "very unique (although it may be rough around the edges)", "individualistic", "avant-garde", etc.
  * 予測 is "to anticipate", you have to stick to the literal translation.
  * 軽く here is "so easily" with maybe a bit sarcastic nuance. It implies "as a natural consequence", "as everyone could easily expect", etc.
  * 横道スピン is a car racing term, so I don't think it's a reference to ダークホース.

So the author tried to write a novel with a very unique style, thinking that's
what the editors were expecting. But he admits he simply failed, and the
result was not a unique masterpiece but something only strange.
CC BY-SA 3.0
2016-03-21T07:26:15.410
33026
2016-03-21T08:18:59.663
2016-03-21T08:18:59.663
5010
5010
33021
answer