How would you translate this expression to English?
云上蓝天万里
Is it correctly written? Does it sound weird for a Chinese speaker?
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What makes you think it's not correctly written? What do you think the translation of the phrase would look like?– Mou某 ♦Mar 11, 2020 at 23:10
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Nothing wrong, but a bit hard on the tongue. Normally the 万里 comes first, like 万里长城. So, perhaps as a matter of taste, I would prefer 万里云天蓝. It rolls off the tongue because it has a neat metrical packet of 2 syllables + 3 syllables which is a common meter for Chinese sayings / idioms. So, you have 万里, 云天蓝 with the last 3 syllables giving a rhythmic finality to the phrase. IMHO, this sounds more Chinese.– Wayne CheahMar 12, 2020 at 3:07
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3 Answers
The literal meaning of 云上蓝天万里 is simple: "Above the (dark) clouds, there are thousands miles of (bright) blue sky"
The figurative meaning needs some comprehension. "Break through the dark clouds above, and you can find a bright blue sky" --> "get pass the darkness and you will find hope"
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I intend to get this as a tattoo and now I can rest assured it's correct. Your interpretation of the literal and figurative meaning are exactly what I was going for! Mar 12, 2020 at 10:50
I think yours is not wrong, but usually I see '蓝天白云 晴空万里' being used to describe clear, beautiful weather(clear blue sky with white clouds). Also '晴空万里无云' (clear blue sky without clouds)
Not weird。
云上蓝天万里
Somewhere, over the rainbow,
skies are blue,
and the dreams that you dare to dream,
really do come true ...
(Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's version is marvellous)
Maybe a tad over-translated though.
More prosaic: There are a million miles of blue sky behind the clouds
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As a intend to get this tattoed, it's very important to me that it won't seem weird for a native speaker. I really like your interpretations, both the dreamy and the prosaic one, that's actually what I hope to trigger on people who read it (different levels of meaning, from the most literal to the more poetic). Mar 12, 2020 at 10:57