Chinese-English Vocabulary Builder: Chinese Idioms

1. 躊躇滿志 (chóu chú mǎn zhì)-To be immensely proud of one’s success; to be content.  躊躇: indecisive. 滿: satisfied. 志: will. 。
   例句: 小女畢業典禮當天，父母臉上泛溢著躊躇滿志的笑容。
   Example: On their daughter’s graduation day, her parents smiled from ear to ear with pride.
2. 白璧微瑕(bái bì wēi xiá)-A slight blemish on a piece of white jade. Used to describe a small mistake . 白: white. 璧: a piece of jade with hole in it. 微: slight. 瑕: defect, flaw.
   例句: 就算是公司裡最年長的員工也會出錯，然而這小錯只是白璧微瑕而已無傷大雅。
   Example: Even the most senior staff in the company makes mistakes, but this one is just a small mishap that won’t hurt the company’s image.
3. 突如其來 (tū rú qí lái)-An unexpected or sudden occurrence. 突: suddenly, abruptly, unexpectedly. 如: as if. 來: come.
   例句: 突如其來的雨把他淋成落湯雞。
   Example: She was drenched by the sudden rain.
4. 無可匹敵 (wú kě pǐ dí)-Unparallelled; unique in kind or quality. 無: none. 可: able. 匹敵: to rival or equal.
   例句: 自國中他的英語能力便無可匹敵，所以他的托福考了滿分我們一點也不訝異。
   Example: His English language skills have been unparalleled to his peers since middle school, so we were not at all surprised when he got a perfect score on his TOEFL exam.
5. 鍥而不捨 (qiè’ ér bù shě)-To persevere; to chisel away at something. 鍥: carve. 而: and. 不: not. 捨: give up.
   例句: 他鍥而不捨的精神促使他抵達終點，跑完馬拉鬆。
   Example: His perseverance pushed him to reach the finish line, completing the marathon.
6. 冒冒失失 (mào mào shī shī)-Lacking care, acting in haste. 冒: risk. 失: to lose, to make a mistake, to neglect.
   例句: 他冒冒失失的態度讓老闆無法給予全權的信任。
   Example: Bob’s lack of attention to detail has made it difficult for Bob’s boss to extend his full trust.
7. 一不做，二不休 (yī bù zuò, ‘èr bù xiū)-Either give up, or follow through from beginning to end. 不: no. 做: act, do. 休: to rest, to end.
   例句: 一不做，二不休，做事要持著有始有終的態度。
   Example: We should always finish what we’ve started. If you’re not going to follow through, don’t even start.

 

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References:
Merriam-Webster’s 11th Collegiate Dictionary.
MDBG Chinese-English Dictionary http://www.mdbg.net
Yahoo 奇摩字典 http://tw.dictionary.yahoo.com

Dirty Mouth: Let’s Talk Cursing (and Interpreting)

The default role of an interpreter is a conduit. Merriam Webster defines conduit as a natural or artificial channel through which something is conveyed. If we think of the channel as a telephone wire, the conduit transmits anything and everything that is received from one end to another. In other words, an interpreter relays all information that is spoken, without any omission, additions, or distortions of the message.

In medical and legal interpreting, there are times when we have to give bad news. And in times like this, the client may become upset and use curse words to express his feelings. In my medical interpreting training, someone raised a question of whether interpreters still need to relay everything in such cases, particularly if an interpreter has qualms about cursing. Despite what an interpreter’s personal feelings are toward swearing, interpreters must stay true to the original message, even if it means cursing or using words they wouldn’t necessarily use in their daily lives. Such is what’s implied in the code of ethics for interpreters.

Regardless of the cultural or social implications of cursing, if it happens that you must curse on the job, then you need to do it as part of your professionalism. I don’t curse, and haven’t really thought about how English curse words correspond with Chinese curse words, but as a responsible interpreter, I’ve put together a short list (you know, for my work, of course). Cursing is an interesting thing. You’ll notice below that the common curse words we use in English relate  to sex and excretion and mothers. Even though sex and excretion are unavoidable parts of natural human conditions, and we all love our mothers, these words are considered indecent and taboo in both the American and Chinese cultures.

1. Bastard-王八蛋 (wáng bā dàn)、 龜孫子(guī sūn zi)
2. Fuck [angry fuck]- 幹 (gàn)、肏 (cào)
3. Fuck, Fuck me, Fuckin’ awesome, Holy shit [excitement]-我靠 (wǒ kào)
4. Fuck you, Go to hell- 去你的 (qù nǐ de)、 我鳥你 (wǒ niǎo nǐ)
5. Fuck him, Screw him-鳥他的 (niǎo tā de)、去他的 (qù tā de)
6. Bullshit–屁 (pì)、屁話 (pì huà)、鳥話 (niǎo huà)、你個狗屁 (nǐ ge gǒu pì)
   Example: What the fuck are you talking about-你在講什麼鳥話 (nǐ zài jiǎng shén me niǎo huà)
7. What the fuck is this?-這是什麼鬼? (zhè shì shén me guǐ)
8. What the fuck are you doing?-你搞什麼鬼? (nǐ  gǎo shén me guǐ))
9. Damnit- 他媽的 (tāmāde)
10. Son of a bitch- 狗崽子 (gǒu zǎi zǐ)

These are just some common English curse words and their cursory Chinese equivalents. If you’re interested in learning about Chinese curse words, their detailed explanations, and how they relate to English, the Transparent Language blog has a good post about it that you should check out.

Happy cursing! (Just kidding. Cursing is bad.)