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How do you say "be mature!", as in "grow up!" (a command or suggestion telling the listener to take a more adult, responsible attitude to the issue)

"Don't lie to your boss about being late, just be mature and confess."

"Why are you driving so fast!?! Be mature and drive sensibly!"

"Your mum does all your washing? Can't you me mature and do it yourself?"

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Context please? – Laguna Feb 22 '12 at 3:19
Edited. That's all my friend gave me. – Hiro Feb 22 '12 at 3:40
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Maybe ask separate questions phrased around the specific grammar involved, rather than whole sentence translation requests. – trideceth12 Feb 22 '12 at 8:41
I will do that next time, but the sentence makes more sense like this, "maybe be mature and text him" is a lot more ambiguous than the whole sentence, and I thought it would be easier to translate like this. – Hiro Feb 22 '12 at 14:41
You may want to write a title that describes your question. If not, a lot of questions would be titled "How would you translate the following sentence?" and which one would we pick? – Petruza Feb 22 '12 at 19:35
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2 Answers

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成熟点。

“别跟个小孩子似的，迟到了还撒谎。成熟点，坦率地跟老板讲怎么回事。”

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Can you expand a little bit? As is, your answer is not very informative, to non-native speakers, for example. :P – Alenanno♦ Feb 25 '12 at 0:28
@Alenanno He just translated the first sentence. "成熟点" is how he translated "to be mature," or "mature a little." He also added a sentence at the beginning that says "Don't be/behave like a child, you were late and you are laying about it(?)" – Hiro Feb 25 '12 at 4:17
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'Context' includes things like: Why does this friend want this translated? Is he/she translating a manga? Is he/she planning on texting someone with this? Unless you know the purpose it's kind of meaningless asking 'how to translate this phrase'.

Personally, I would say something like 我等他给我发短信。要不我主动一点，从我这边先给他发。Probably not terribly idiomatic, and in fact, 主动 is quite different in its connotations from 'mature'. It means 'be aggressive' rather than sitting around waiting for the other person to take the first step. 'Be mature' sounds like a young person admitting that they shouldn't be so sulky or resentful (setting emotional traps) and making a move from their own end. Quite a difference. But I really don't know what the Chinese equivalent for 'being mature' in a situation like this is.

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I actually thought of the same word "主动," but as you said it has a different connotation from "mature." Thanks anyways. Regarding what you said about context, I don't see how knowing why my friend wants to translate this is going to help with the translation. – Hiro Feb 22 '12 at 14:34
It ALWAYS helps to have context. If your friend is planning on texting a Chinese person, then there's likely no need to worry about the full connotations of 'mature'. If he/she is translating a manga, the connotations might be more important. The question is always, 'Who is this directed at? Who is going to read it? Is it for use in conversation or a written communication? Etc., etc.' These can all help in trying to figure out exactly what is needed. – Bathrobe Feb 23 '12 at 4:56
If your friend is just asking an idle question like 'I wonder how someone would say this in Chinese?', without any intent to use it or send it to anyone, then the appropriate response might be to tell him/her that it would be hard to express that particular nuance in Chinese, and what situation did he/she have in mind. – Bathrobe Feb 23 '12 at 5:21
A recent example, different but relevant. A friend asked me to look at her English translation of a Chinese-language divorce claim (international marriage). It was in American legal format but the grounds were subjective and likely to be thrown out by an American court. After lots of questioning I found it wasn't for an American court; the divorce was in China but Chinese law required an English translation to submit to the U.S. So, no need for an American format! A direct translation using Chinese format was fine -- and much clearer! To sum up, you absolutely need to know the purpose. – Bathrobe Feb 23 '12 at 5:21
I understand. My friend asked me over QQ and I think she said she was translating the subtitles of a movie. I am guessing just for educational purposes, as in, she was watching a movie to practice listening or something like that, and she didn't understand what this sentence meant. – Hiro Feb 23 '12 at 6:35
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