Would "mutual acquaintance" in Mandarin be 共同朋友 or 相識朋友?

Question

Which would be the more authentic Mandarin translation for "mutual acquaintance":

1) 共同朋友 2) 相識朋友?

Is it the same for Cantonese?

Answer 1

Chinese denotes the concept("mutual acquaintance") differently. These are the idiomatic sentences in mandarin:

我们两个都认识他 // both of us have an acquaintance with him. Or he is a mutual acquaintance of ours.

张三和李四都和我相识 // both 张三 and 李四 have an acquaintance with me.

张三和李四都认识王五 // both 张三 and 李四 have an acquaintance with 王五.

However, when it comes to the term "mutual friend", you can put 共同的朋友. For example,

张三是我们共同的朋友 // 张三 is a mutual friend of ours.

Answer 2

Chinese don't usually use the term "mutual acquaintance" (共同的相识)

The more common way to describe a mutual acquaintance would be like the example below:

Tony is a [mutual acquaintance] of you and I

托尼是你跟我[都認識的熟人] (Mandarin) Tony is an acquaintance of both you and I

東尼係你同我[都識得嘅熟人] (Cantonese) Tony is an acquaintance of both you and I

Answer 3

According to how mutual acquaintance is often used, it should mean 共同的相识。

Acquaintance is not yet a friend, a friend is 朋友，an acquaintance is 相识的人。

I am not sure how you speak in Cantonese, but they write the same.