My girfriend is angry or sth because I ignored her, and she sent this message on her facebook.
I had fun investigating it, as there are many translators out there. They popped this:
You thought you are side and Do you think you own side line
Chinese is very complex as you know and some signs can have different meanings. Anyway translation is always a piece of investigation for me, but this one seems to be too hard. Can anyone Chinese translate, or anybody else tell me wtf is she saying?
你以为 = You think/believe 你自己 = Yourself 系 = ??? I'll ask my parents for this one, but I think it means "to be related to; to connect with". 边 = Side 个 = don't see how this fits here. Archaic described it's usual use.
There's lots of Chinese people here so you'll get it soon enough, Archaic is Taiwanese but looks like he's also a tad bit confused but w/e and good luck!
These languages are so complex its unbelieveable And at least its not boring like English Archaic. Asian Languages studies must be much more interesting than others
On December 02 2008 08:59 LemOn wrote: These languages are so complex its unbelieveable And at least its not boring like English Archaic. Asian Languages studies must be much more interesting than others
Honestly, after you have been going to chinese school, and you get yelled at in it, it isn't so exciting anymore, haha. I do have to give the language that their comparisons and adjectives are unmatched. Usually you can decode things words without knowing them, but descriptions are usually compared to something completely random.
i.e. 七上八下 Literally means seven up, eight down. But it means nervous... You could technically kinda understand where it comes from, but I wouldn't guess it.
On December 02 2008 09:01 Raithed wrote: its not cantonese or mandarin or whatever its just 'chinese' cantonese is a dialect.
They are dialects, but Cantonese writing is sometimes different from Mandarin writing. Many characters are used differently among Cantonese speakers in order to represent certain sounds.
Hence why Jimmy is correct, and those who know only Mandarin can't make much sense out of it.
On December 02 2008 08:59 LemOn wrote: These languages are so complex its unbelieveable And at least its not boring like English Archaic. Asian Languages studies must be much more interesting than others
Honestly, after you have been going to chinese school, and you get yelled at in it, it isn't so exciting anymore, haha. I do have to give the language that their comparisons and adjectives are unmatched. Usually you can decode things words without knowing them, but descriptions are usually compared to something completely random.
i.e. 七上八下 Literally means seven up, eight down. But it means nervous... You could technically kinda understand where it comes from, but I wouldn't guess it.
thats why i refuse to go i hate being slapped by a ruler or whatever punishments, mind you these were few years ago, im sure its changed now.
On December 02 2008 08:59 LemOn wrote: These languages are so complex its unbelieveable And at least its not boring like English Archaic. Asian Languages studies must be much more interesting than others
Honestly, after you have been going to chinese school, and you get yelled at in it, it isn't so exciting anymore, haha.
amen i couldnt deal with my commie and nationalist teachers at all. They kept rambling about politics and history so i dropped out cause they never taught anything useful anyways
unless you're chinese, you probably dont/cant go to chinese schools. so people dont know the "horrors" of these places. chinese at a university is very different, with less time spent on discipline (since most ppl who went to chinese school went when they were kids and just wanted to play, not learn)
Okay btw Cantonese and Mandarin both have the same writing this person must have been writing colloquially, but I asked my dad. He said the person must have written something wrong as the sentence doesn't make sense formally (although in colloquial Cantonese it might make sense) he thinks she meant to say "你以为你是谁?!“ or "你以为你是哪个人?!“ Both which translate roughly into: "who the hell do you think you are?"
On December 02 2008 09:32 Superiorwolf wrote: Okay btw Cantonese and Mandarin both have the same writing this person must have been writing colloquially, but I asked my dad. He said the person must have written something wrong as the sentence doesn't make sense formally (although in colloquial Cantonese it might make sense) he thinks she meant to say "你以为你是谁?!“ or "你以为你是哪个人?!“ Both which translate roughly into: "who the hell do you think you are?"
just reply and say "你不三不四“ =O
Gasp... I wouldn't do that! Seriously, you can online dictionary this one.
On December 02 2008 09:32 Superiorwolf wrote: Okay btw Cantonese and Mandarin both have the same writing this person must have been writing colloquially, but I asked my dad. He said the person must have written something wrong as the sentence doesn't make sense formally (although in colloquial Cantonese it might make sense) he thinks she meant to say "你以为你是谁?!“ or "你以为你是哪个人?!“ Both which translate roughly into: "who the hell do you think you are?"
just reply and say "你不三不四“ =O
haha yes
'written' canto and mando mostly use the same grammar, and mostly the same characters for most entities, but generally spoken canto is completely different from what is written, whereas mando, more or less, is spoken as written. For example canto people never speak the words 是, 哪, 谁, 不 in a everyday context. these words aren't even articulated often when making formal speeches.
On December 02 2008 09:32 Superiorwolf wrote: Okay btw Cantonese and Mandarin both have the same writing this person must have been writing colloquially, but I asked my dad. He said the person must have written something wrong as the sentence doesn't make sense formally (although in colloquial Cantonese it might make sense) he thinks she meant to say "你以为你是谁?!“ or "你以为你是哪个人?!“ Both which translate roughly into: "who the hell do you think you are?"
just reply and say "你不三不四“ =O
haha the relationship will become worse from that line
but isn't "不三不四" mean indecisive? which doesn't really apply in this case (unless the context was the OP asking for XXX or something) ^^
It means lots of different things. Some people relate it to prostitutes or idiocy, but I think the official definitions are: "1. dubious; indecent 2. nondescript; neither fish, flesh nor fowl"
I think your only real option is to learn Cantonese and argue with her(in Cantonese). Here are some tips:
1. Continually raise voice throughout the arguement. 2. If you are leaving, take steps away slowly while continuing to argue. 3. If you are eating at a restaurant and she tries to pay punch her in the face and pin her while you hand your card to the waiter. 4. If you are really desperate tell her she isn't part of your family anymore. I dunno, my grandpa does this all the time when he's mad even if they aren't part of his family already lol. 5. You probably don't even need a reason to argue in cantonese.
On December 02 2008 12:54 Fontong wrote: I think your only real option is to learn Cantonese and argue with her(in Cantonese). Here are some tips:
1. Continually raise voice throughout the arguement. 2. If you are leaving, take steps away slowly while continuing to argue. 3. If you are eating at a restaurant and she tries to pay punch her in the face and pin her while you hand your card to the waiter. 4. If you are really desperate tell her she isn't part of your family anymore. I dunno, my grandpa does this all the time when he's mad even if they aren't part of his family already lol. 5. You probably don't even need a reason to argue in cantonese.
6. Never, ever concede - you are correct and your adversary MUST be made to understand this, LOL
On December 02 2008 21:36 Elric_ wrote: HAHAHAHA jgad
I am so happy I could understand that. Yet so sad I can speak, write and read retarded Cantonese Chinese.
Anyway, that guy was a complete faggot. In all my years going to HK, I've never seen anything like that in public except in films. Probably triad
Search youtube for "hk bus uncle" - there's practically a life story on there. Essentially, yeah, it's not an everyday thing....except in the movies, haha.
On December 02 2008 21:36 Elric_ wrote: HAHAHAHA jgad
I am so happy I could understand that. Yet so sad I can speak, write and read retarded Cantonese Chinese.
Anyway, that guy was a complete faggot. In all my years going to HK, I've never seen anything like that in public except in films. Probably triad
I've seen some pretty funny things. Such as a woman arguing over 10 metres with a mini-bus driver. Actually I think my family can be very aggressive too haha, my dad would yell at those people who pester you on the street trying to sell you stuff. I also remember my uncle shouting at an impatient driver and of course there's occasional arguing with taxi drivers.
Most people tend to leave me alone though, and look surprised when I speak cantonese. For some reason hong kong people say I look like a halfie.