Questions on specific points regarding translating chinese to another language
11
votes
5answers
233 views
How do we know what characters correspond to Chinese names?
Recently I've asked "How do we choose the correct characters for a westerner name?", and now, I'm facing a similar, yet kind of different problem, which I think applies to any westerner or Chinese ...
10
votes
3answers
204 views
What is the meaning of 当仁不让?
I was browsing the Chinese internet looking for a bank that supports Mac OS when I came across this site. They list a range of different banks under a range of different headings, the first of which ...
8
votes
2answers
86 views
Authoritative source for translators
For translators, is there an authoritative source they go to where they can check translations are accurate?
For example say there was a political conference and someone wasn't sure if the word ...
7
votes
6answers
592 views
How to translate “你给我滚” properly
In a sentence like:
“你给我那一杯水” You would translate it something like: Get me a glass of water.
How is the "给我" in the sentence “你给我滚” supposed to be translated?
Should it just be "Get lost / P*ss ...
7
votes
3answers
154 views
Asking “what's the pinyin/character for X?”
How do we ask someone to "translate" a character or some pinyin into the other one? The expressions I'm referring to are:
What's the pinyin for this/that (character)/... ?
What's the ...
7
votes
4answers
168 views
How to translate/understand “还不” in “还不是因为爱”
Just realized 还不 part in such phrase as "还不是因为爱", "还不都怪你" is quite tricky. How do you translate it into English?
6
votes
3answers
332 views
爱老虎油 - is it slang?
Seen this phrase written by a Chinese person:
爱老虎油
[ài lǎohǔ yóu]
What does it mean? Failed to find it in dictionaries.
Is it some slang or 白话?
6
votes
5answers
223 views
What is the meaning of 真是的
What is a meaning of 真是的. I heard for many times in context something like 你真是的！ And yet I have doubts about proper meaning of this expression.
6
votes
2answers
177 views
How to explain 讲 in 讲礼貌 and 讲卫生
In my understanding 讲礼貌 translates as 'be polite' and 讲卫生 is something like 'be clean', but how should I explain the 讲 to a new speaker? I take this as a set phrase, but is there a way to translate ...
6
votes
2answers
339 views
How will translate “谁让你” into English?
How will translate "谁让你" into English? For example,
我不得不服从你的安排。 谁让你是我的老板呢？
5
votes
3answers
195 views
Writing “Please Recycle” in Mandarin
How can one write "Please Recycle" in the context of an office paper room?
I have tried: 请回收利用 but my friend says this is only for recycling batteries
5
votes
3answers
578 views
What does 民以食为天 mean?
How to translate one of old saying "民以食为天"？ Would that be "Food is the priority of populace"? That doesn't sound right to me, though.
5
votes
3answers
163 views
What's chinese for “layer” in the Photoshop sense of the word?
I want to say "Do not print this layer" in Chinese, as past of a photoshop file. How does one say "Layer" in the photoshop sense of the word in Chinese?
Google translate thinks the translation of "Do ...
5
votes
2answers
158 views
文了 也温了 any ideas?
I'm hoping to work my way through the Chinese tv series 新结婚时代, looking up new vocab, learning it as I go and I'm hoping to understand it all as I work through it.
Already in the first few lines I've ...
5
votes
5answers
127 views
Is there a noun that has the meaning of “offer” in Chinese? How to say “offer” in Chinese?
Such as "offer" in
我有了CUHK的入学许可 = "I got an offer from CUHK."
还没有一个地方要我 = "I still don't have any offers."
I think there is no such noun in Chinese. Is there?
4
votes
5answers
214 views
In this sentence, what is the purpose of 的?
Consider this sentence:
你说的是什么？
I understand that 的 permits creating adjectives, like 我的 would be "my". But here, I can’t see how it works. What is its purpose?
4
votes
2answers
155 views
What is the proper usage of 而已 in Chinese?
I always hear Chinese people making sentences using 而已 - but I've never quite 100% how to use this in sentences myself. What is the correct way to apply it, and what is the English equivalent?
4
votes
4answers
2k views
How to say “hope you'll have a great day”?
I was writing a card to a friend and wanted to finish with "Hope you'll have a great day" but realised what I could think of wasn't quite the same meaning, or just sounded odd/weird.
What I wrote in ...
4
votes
2answers
199 views
Errors and Unnatural Language in a Translation Challenge
I was recently challenged to translate the following sentence from English into Chinese:
You should stay away from that bar. A friend of mine went there before, and he ended up in the hospital after ...
4
votes
4answers
108 views
Which expressions should I choose to say “thanks for your help”?
If I want to say "Thanks for your help", which sentence is correct and which one is more commonly used?
谢谢你的帮忙
谢谢你的帮助
It seems that the first one is more uncommon but I'm not really ...
4
votes
4answers
371 views
What is the equivalent of “make sense” in Chinese?
I am trying to explain the phrase "make sense" to my cousin, who is learning English. The dictionary suggests "有意义", but I believe that "有意义" is "meaningful" and that "make sense" should be "讲得通", ...
4
votes
2answers
246 views
What is the best Chinese equivalent for “passion” or “to be passionate about something”?
In English, it is common to say you are "passionate about something" or "something is your passion" (e.g. My passion is rockclimbing).
This use of 'passion' is different to 'passion' as in ...
3
votes
6answers
275 views
Is this correct: “一个游戏有四个季度”
I wanted to find out how to say a sports game has four quarters and the translation I received from Google was: "一个游戏有四个季度"
Certain sports games are split into 4 quarters rather than 2 halves and I ...
3
votes
2answers
145 views
What is the appropriate translation for 'energy'?
There are many times when I want to tell someone that I don't have enough energy to do something. These are close but not exactly what I want:
我太累。 I'm not too tired, I just don't have as much energy ...
3
votes
2answers
120 views
Correct usage of “behind schedule”
What I would like to know is the proper way to say "I am behind schedule" in the general sense similar to "I am running two hours late for the meeting", or "This project is two weeks overdue".
When I ...
3
votes
3answers
242 views
Why is Economic translated to “經濟”?
I know that it's a translation from Japanese, but I do not know why it becomes this. Could someone explain it in detail?
3
votes
4answers
129 views
What is the subject in this sentence part 有时间到我家去
there is this sentence in a dialog: 好 , 我走了 , 有时间到我家去 . 再见 ! (from my beginner text book)
I do understand the translation. Well, I'm going, if you have time, come to my home. Goodbye.
However, ...
3
votes
2answers
119 views
How to say “a beneficial insect”?
I want to be able to say to my son that an insect is beneficial.
I know I can use 害虫 for an insect that is harmful, but is there something I can use to say beneficial other than 好虫 which I assume is ...
3
votes
3answers
206 views
How would you translate the word '面子'?
I want to describe that a certain action gives you '面子', or that people do things to try and maintain or protect their '面子' but I can't think of an appropriate English word for it.
3
votes
3answers
229 views
Translating the idiom “thinking outside the box”
I normally hate overused catchphrases in English, like "paradigm shift" and "out of the box thinking". But I was recently chatting (in Chinese) with a friend about an earlier situation in which ...
3
votes
2answers
152 views
How to translate 'hyper-','super-' and 'ultra-' exactly?
The prefixes hyper-, super-, and ultra- seems all has meaning 'transcend' or 'upper class' and can all be translated to '超'. But they have a bit difference, e.g. hypergiant is larger than supergiant; ...
3
votes
4answers
223 views
That mystical 就 again
Here is a sentence:
厨房壁炉架上的那面镜子就把哈利吓了一跳
Below are my translation variants. Bold letters should be a 'jiu' english analog here.
The mirror on top of the kitchen's fireplace scared Harry the ...
3
votes
2answers
190 views
How to say “meeting” in Chinese?
I would like to create a chat meeting for CL&U and so I thought, why not make the title in Chinese? I was thinking of using the term "meeting" or a similar one.
On my dictionary, for meeting, it ...
3
votes
2answers
55 views
Localization Help
I'm writing a program and need to know how dates, versions, time, and numbers are formatted in the Chinese Language
Example (in English)
Version 1.0.0 (Build 0)
How would that look in Chinese?
3
votes
2answers
353 views
What are the connotations of the word 拳拳?
I chose 拳拳 as my own Chinese name, having the meaning of my name in mind. I got it from an online dictionary, so I would like to know what native speakers "get" from it, as in what are the ...
3
votes
2answers
107 views
How can I express the concept “There's nothing of which I'm absolutely sure” in Chinese?
Scientists and philosophers have at various times been quoted as saying:
"There's nothing of which I'm absolutely sure" or "I'm not absolutely sure of anything". (Richard Feynman, for example.)
How ...
3
votes
1answer
123 views
What is a “Babu cream”?
I am working in a Chinese pharmacy & have a product with the English name "Compound Methylsalicylate cataplasma". This is supposed to be a translation from the Chinese "复方水扬酸甲酯巴布膏".
As far as I ...
3
votes
2answers
318 views
How do you say “I'll be a little late”?
I've learned that 来不及 means that I can't make something at a specific time. I've most often seen it used in the sense that "I can't make the appointment at all". How do you indicate to someone that ...
3
votes
2answers
132 views
Translations from TCM (Traditional Chinese medicine)
I have asked Chinese co-workers & checked sites such as Iciba & Google Translate to no avail. I know that this is talking about 2 points used in TCM, but I have no idea how to translate these ...
3
votes
4answers
77 views
Can 偷工减料 be used to describe the intentional and open purchasing of somewhat inferior product?
I know that 偷工减料 is frequently used to describe intentionally (and perhaps secret) shoddy construction. When I translate it, I usually say "Cut corners". However, I think 偷工减料 has a very negative ...
3
votes
1answer
141 views
What is the exact meaning and etymology of 拜年？
Since Chinese New Year is on the way (and thanks to Xiaohouzi's great suggestion), I've been thinking all about the new year. One term the sticks out is 拜年.
I'm very curious to know the exact ...
2
votes
6answers
317 views
How can we translate 不是……胜似 into English?
I just saw a friend's profile saying: Not a geek, but like a geek.
Somehow I immediately translated it as 不是geek胜似geek. But it seems not right since
I feel that 不是geek胜似geek is much semantically ...
2
votes
7answers
315 views
Can I use 我的腿累了 for “My legs are tired”?
I play soccer with a bunch of Chinese friends regularly and I want to say "my legs are tired".
I already know 我跑不动了 and 我的腿很酸, but I'm not sure what is the best fit for the Chinese equivelant of "my ...
2
votes
4answers
115 views
What is the meaning of 捅破 in this text?
The following text is taken from the serial of 寒夜:
一直到有一天 一个偶然的机会
我的心事 或者说是我们的心事
被我们的学生捅破
感情是不能被捅破的
一旦捅破 就如同大坝破堤
汹涌而出
He's talking about his love for the heroine of the series, then ...
2
votes
1answer
160 views
How to ask someone to take a photo?
Recently on vacation I wanted to ask a Chinese tourist if they would mind taking a photo of my wife and I - but I didn't know how, so just asked 你可以吗? (nǐ kěyǐ ma?) while pointing to my camera.
How ...
2
votes
2answers
118 views
Can someone verify the meanings and age of these ancient Chinese characters?
I came across this interesting article which attempts to support the Christian Genesis story by showing the meanings in some ancient Chinese characters. I would like to verify the meaning of these ...
2
votes
3answers
114 views
Is there a word for “kosher”?
I'm looking for a translation of the word kosher in it's most strict sense: a food that is apt according to the jewish law.
Google translates kosher as 犹太, but if I'm not mistaken, that just means ...
2
votes
2answers
122 views
What is the most appropriate translation for this law article?
In this Skeptics answer, a user provided a rough translation of a Chinese law article — from this source — about vehicles and pedestrians using Google Translate. So I thought, why don't we provide a ...
2
votes
2answers
127 views
Is there a Chinese equivalent of the German “Mut zur Lücke”?
In German, we have the expression "Mut zur Lücke", in English something like "courage to have a gap" - a knowledge gap. It is used between students, when they skip to learn something for an exam.
...
2
votes
2answers
108 views
In “我只喜歡你一個” what does the “一個” do?
If I were to translate "I only like you" I'd say
我只喜歡你
Wǒ zhǐ xǐ huan nǐ
However I have seen the following
我只喜歡你一個
Wǒ zhǐ xǐ huan nǐ yī ge
Translated as
I like you alone
...
