Questions tagged [word-requests]
For seeking a Chinese word or phrase that fits a meaning. Please be specific about the intended use of the word, including context.
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How to translate "没主见" or "没想法" to English?
How to accurately translate "没主见" or "没想法" to English? These two usually has a bad connation, as they are usually used to speak ill of someone.
Example for "没主见":
中文 ...
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So... what the heck was petunse / pih-tun-tsze / pai-tun-tsze / petuntse / patootie?
Good china is made with kaolin, clay with an ample amount of kaolinite. Wiki's pretty clear that “kaolin” derives—via 18th-century French Jesuit mangling of gāolǐngtǔ (高嶺土)—from the village of Gaoling ...
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How to use 'awkward' as an adjective in Chinese
I was just wondering how the word 'awkward' would translate to Chinese in the context of a photo. How could you say 'I look awkward in this photo', meaning a bit unsure of how to look in the photo; ...
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How to translate "frame challenge"?
In this site, it is quite common to see the word "frame challenge" in answers of questions. How to translate "frame challenge"?
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Term for words with transposed character order?
Some pairs of Chinese words have the same characters, but in a different order. In English, I would describe such a pair as anagrams . What is the equivalent Chinese term for such pairs of words?
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Differentiating the translation of "Bilingual Education" and "Dual Language Education" into Chinese?
While I know, "Bilingual Education" can be translated as "双语教学" or "双语教育".
（Note that "教育" and "教学" can be used interchangeable. With the former ...
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What are some better suggestion for translating "edible" to Chinese？
Like when you are trying to describe if a certain food is still eatable.
An example would be during an science experience, where the teacher want us to soak eggs in vinegar. I then asked if the egg is ...
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What is the Chinese equivalent of "a few loose screws"?
Directly translated into Chinese would be “松了几颗螺丝”。
However, I am wondering if there's a better equivalent to it. Referring to someone who is a bit out of his mind (crazy). As it sounds odd when ...
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How do you say "para" (paraprofessional) in Chinese?
I am trying to figure out a translation for paraprofessional in Chinese, Google translate gave me "辅助专业人员”. While the NYC Public School website gave something like “助教” or “专业辅助”. However, I am ...
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Translation: möglichst rasch und schnell
To pin down one of my positions, I got inspired by a fictional interview with Jean Dubuffet, which contains a question for advice for young artists.
The autobiographical text is called "Bâtons ...
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Translation of Rothko's: We are for the large shape because it has the impact of the unequivocal
In response to a harsh critique of the Syrian Bull by a journalist, Adolph Gottlieb and Mark Rothko wrote a letter which contains the sentence:
We are for the large shape because it has the impact of ...
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Word request: Mensatüte
I would like to know the Chinese translation of the German word "Mensatüte".
Explanation:
German people who a bit older will remember the so-called "Wundertüte" from their ...
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Translation: the aesthetics of dawn, die Ästhetik des Morgengrauens
What is the correct Chinese translation of:
English: the aesthetics of dawn
German: die Ästhetik des Morgengrauens
Explanation:
The aesthetics of dawn is one evoked on a philosophical level in the ...
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Bronze script on Chinese Ge (Characters identified: 之戈)
Ancient Spring and Autumn/Warring States Period Chinese Ge (pole weapon) said to have been unearthed at an ancient community burial area along the present day Thai/Cambodia border near Aranyaprathet, ...
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Word request in Chinese: musical illustration
What is the correct Chinese translation of:
English: musical illustration
German: Musikillustration
I’ve already asked this question to a Chinese-German translator, but I didn’t receive a definite ...
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Word request in Chinese: media transfer, media transformation
What is the correct Chinese translation of
English: media transfer, media transformation
German: Medientransfer, Medientransformation
Explanation:
By medium (plural: media) in this context, I mean ...
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Translation: Not ambiguity, but versatility!
I'm looking for a Chinese translation of this 格言:
English: Not ambiguity, but versatility!
German: Nicht Vieldeutigkeit, sondern Vielseitigkeit!
What is meant with this to give context for a ...
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Translation: Soft abstraction is not an ideal, it's a reconciliation!
I'm looking for a Chinese translation of this 格言:
English: Soft abstraction is not an ideal, it's a reconciliation!
German: Weiche Abstraktion ist kein Ideal, sondern eine Versöhnung!
What is meant ...
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More logical expressions of "爸爸把你生下来"
I get stuck by the "生" in expressions like these two:
闺女，爸爸把你生下来，却有很多的无奈
世界上有爸爸生孩子的吗？还真有！
More examples like the first one can be found here:
为何大多数爸爸想生儿子
准爸爸怎么样可以生男孩
Can a father 生 a ...
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How to translate "population" into Chinese?
Several dictionary says population means "人口".
However, I learnt that 人口 exclusively means the population of human.
In research, we often use population of rabbit or similar things. Can I ...
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Would you recommend an alternative for 文档 as a file-extension?
Suppose that someone was creating a file browser application intended for people in China.
This particular file-browser is designed to translate English abbreviations into 现代标准汉语.
Example
INPUT
...
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How do you actually translate 发票?
I'm honestly surprised nobody has ever asked this. I'm a native-level speaker of Mandarin Chinese and English and yet I don't know.
In case you don't know what 发票 is, here's a short explanation:
In ...
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What is Chinese word for nostil flaring?
Straightforward question. I want to say that I can do a nostril flaring or I can nostril-flare. Googling this pointed to the flare that caused by a disease or kind of that but here I can do it ...
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Database of organism names (plants, animals, bugs, fish, etc.) in Chinese with literal meaning?
I just found this Chinese bird name website, which lists the Chinese name, pinyin, and literal English "gloss" (literal English meaning), like this for the "Ducks" section:
...
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How would one say "uses up time" in chinese? e.g. "Studying uses up time that could be utilised for leisure activities."
Google translate gave me 使用时间, but I've learnt not to take it at its word, more often than not.
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formal Chinese for Chinese relatives
If my nephew(姪兒) and I dine with a relative, she is my mother's younger brother's daughter, what should my nephew call her in formal Chinese?
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What is a word for a person who pretends to work but is really just waiting for others to give them their share when the work is done?
Similar to moocher and shirker in english, but with their meanings combined and with an element of trying to be sly. Looking for something that would work in a basic sentence, to identify/label a ...
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What's a chengyu with meaning similar to the Japanese 七転八起 (fall down seven times, get up eight)?
Japanese has the idiom 七转八起:
Basically if you fail 7 times, you should recover from those events and be prepared to rise an 8th time. This is also applies if it is the world or circumstances that ...
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Please help me find out what these letters mean [duplicate]
What do these letters mean, and are they from a store or market?
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
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What is the translation of "objet trouvé" into Chinese?
What is the standard translation of "objet trouvé" or "found object" into Chinese? I am looking for an authoritative translation based on some Chinese reference work in art history ...
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How to translate "meme" in social media in Chinese?
According to Wikipedia,
A meme is an idea, behavior, or style that spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular ...
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What are the characters for "qiu qiu", which means: "check this out"
Regulars of this community might recognize me as the guy who asks for random phrases that I remember from my childhood, and this is another one that I can't find on Google Translate
The phrase is &...
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Is there a word or phrase in Chinese referring to the physical office of Chinese authority?
In other countries, when referring to government offices, they use interesting words:
US: White House, Capitol Hill, Oval Office, Pentagon
UK: No.10 Downing Street. Scotland Yard,Buckingham Palace, ...
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How to say "and" to include two ideas (expressed by two verbs with possibly different subjects) in one sentence?
Is there a Chinese linking word which could be used the same way as English "and" which connects two ideas or actions or introduces one after the other within one sentence? There doesn't ...
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Is there a Chinese phrase equivalent to "difficult to eat"?
I wonder if there is a Chinese word or phrase equivalent to "difficult to eat" or "hard to eat".
For example, someone said that pomegranates and artichokes are among the 19 most ...
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What is the character missing in 「好吃jing」?
My grandma always referred to me as a "好吃jin(g?)" i.e. a glutton. However I'm not sure which character goes in the third one. This might be regional (Anhui) dialect, I am not sure, because I ...
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what is the Two-Block Haicut called in Chinese(Mandarin)?
does anyone know what is the Chinese name for the Two-Block Haircut? I heard it can also be called the Dandy Two-Block haircut.
It is the one that is popularized by Korea and is shown in many Korean ...
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How do you say "allowance" in mandarin?
Google Translate says it is 津贴, but my mom says it is 零用钱. Apparently 津贴 doesn't mean allowance, so what does each character mean? My book and google translate say 零用钱 is pocket money. How does that ...
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How to translate "blouse" to Chinese?
I'm researching names for many different clothes in Chinese, and when I reached the word blouse, seems like I've reached a dead end and, consequently, a need of an explanation. Just to make myself ...
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Chinese names for zeptoseconds and yoctoseconds
While compiling a list of names for fractions of seconds which are in the International System of Units, I stumbled upon two curious fractions of seconds whose names I'm unable to locate anywhere, and ...
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How do I use 乱?
For the sentence, 你别乱闹.
I think it means "do not randomly complain," but that doesn't sound right.
I can't pinpoint what 乱 means.
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How to ask the flight attendant for more airplane meals if there are still leftovers?
Can anyone help me? I want to emphasize the word "leftover" so I do not sound so greedy. I also felt that it would be a waste since most of the meals needed to be thrown away if it is not ...
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What are other words worth learning that follow this pattern with 象?
Today I realised that:
象 means "elephant" which is the biggest land-dwelling animal,
亻+ 象 = 像 means "statue" which is the biggest person (I mean, a statue is the biggest ...
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What is 心血 in English?
What is 心血 in English may I ask? The full Chinese sentence is 我花了许多心血在房间的摆设上。整间房子里面，随处都可以发现我的心血。 I try to think about some alternatives, but haven't find out a perfect translation. One alternative is ...
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How to say 孝 in English?
How to say 孝 in English? It is be nice and somewhat comply to parent. But how to say it in English? Former discussion mentions about filial piety, but I am not sure. It looks like a rare and unpopular ...
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How to say 公德心 in English?
How to say 公德心 in English? I am not looking for explanation. I am looking for translation.
Similar words for 没有公德心 is selfish, thoughtless, disregard, and don't care about other people. But none of ...
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Is there a word for Chinese songs that rhyme like Jay Chou's 迷迭香 and JJ Lin's 伟大的渺小?
Every single line in Jay Chou's song "Rosemary" ends with the "ao" sound:
ni de zui jiao
wei wei shang qiao
xing gan de wu ke jiu yao
xiang xiang bu dao
ru ci xin tiao
ni de ...
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Does the distinction between speak and say have any equivalent in Mandarin?
In English "to speak" and "to say" typically cannot be used interchangeably. You can speak a language but you cannot say a language. Similarly, you can speak with someone but you ...
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How can I say "grade on a curve"?
The Future for Chinese/English Dictionaries mentioned that MDBG doesn't have "grading on a curve", and it seems that it's still rather hard to find a translation for this. A rather literal ...
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Cant find the characters to a phrase I heard growing up, "Gen Men", used as "totally" or "definitely"
like let's say you're full, you could say
"gen men 没办法吃饭“
I think similarly gen men would be used as 完全
"完全没办法吃饭"
But I can't find the characters for "Gen Men". I think I have ...
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