Tag: translation

Beware your shoes!

By Simon

Here are a few more signs I spotted recently that have ‘interesting’ English versions.

Sign on escalator

I saw this sign on an escalator in the local college campus. If you want to use this escalator, you have to hold the child and the pet, and if you haven’t got them, just borrow or hire them.

The use of handcarts is banned. Handcart is a translation of 手推车 (shǒutuīchē), which, based on the picture, refers to pushchairs, baby buggies, strollers, or whatever you call them. It can also mean trolley, cart, barrow, handcart or wheelbarrow, and literally means “hand push vehicle”. Other translations of pushchair / stroller include 推车 (tuīchē) and 童车 (tóngchē).

You have to watch your sreps to keep safe while waking in the mall, and you must keep your children from plating or running.

Here’s another sign from a different escalator.

Sign on escalator

Here you must hold the child’s hand, carry he pet in your arms, hold the handrail and beware your shoes. The use of carts is banned, the bulky item is forbidden in, and you should not play, slapstick, climb or look at the phone. Most people seem to look at their phones all the time, so the last one is asking a bit much, perhaps.

Rather than slapstick, 打闹 (dǎnào) could also be translated as to quarrel, squabble, be rowdy, play boisterously, or engage in horseplay. So no rowdy or boisterous playing, squabbling or quarrelling with horses on the escalator.

Sign on escalator

This sign, in Chinese, English, Japanese and Korean, forbids you from striding. A better translation might be “No Climbing on/over the fence”. Are the Japanese and Korean versions well-translated?

Here’s a sign I spotted on a litter bin / trash can:

Sign on litter bin

If you have any disposable tableware, old pottery (who carries old pottery around with them?), pericarp skins or the dust, you can dispose of it/them here. I’ve no idea where ‘pericarp’ came from – a better translation of 果皮 (guǒ​pí) would be ‘fruit peel’, and 瓜壳 (guāké) would be better translated as ‘melon rind’.

Merry Christmas, by the way, if that’s something you celebrate.

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling




Godfathering

By Simon

When I explain to people I meet here that I’m the godfather of my friend’s children, they don’t seem to understand, even though I do so in Chinese.


Me, my friend Malcolm, his mother-in-law and the little monsters (his daughters / my god-daughters)

One person asked me if I was Catholic or Protestant, and seemed to know that being a godfather has something to do with Christianity. I had trouble trying to explain it in Chinese, as I wasn’t entirely sure what being a godparent involved.

The Chinese translation of godfather I’ve been using is 教父 (jiào​fù), however, few people seem familiar with this term. 教父 (jiào​fù) is made up of 教 (jiào​), which means to teach or class, and 父 (fù), which means father. I think 教 in this context might be an abbreviation of 教堂 (jiào​táng – church, chapel) [source]

Another Chinese translation for godfather is 代父 (dàifù) or ‘substitute father’.

According to TheFreeDictionary, a godfather is:

  • A man who sponsors a person at baptism.
  • One that has a relationship to another person or to something that is the equivalent of being a baptismal sponsor.
  • The leader of an organized crime family.

According to Wikipedia:

Within Christianity, a godparent or sponsor is someone who bears witness to a child’s baptism (christening) and later is willing to help in their catechesis, as well as their lifelong spiritual formation. In both religious and civil views, a godparent tends to be an individual chosen by the parents to take an interest in the child’s upbringing and personal development, and to offer mentorship.

Apparently you can only be a godparent to one child, and as my god-daughters haven’t been baptised, I’m not, in a religious sense, their godfather yet.

When I was young I went to our local (Church of England) church with my parents, and was christened and confirmed there, and went to church-aided schools from 5-16. So technically, I am an Anglican Christian. However, I stopped going to church at the age of 16, and these days, only go to occasional weddings, funerals and Christmas services.

There is apparently a Chinese tradition of matching a child with a relative or family friend, who becomes the 义母/义父 (yì​mǔ/yì​fù) or ‘voluntary mother/father’, or the 干妈/干爹 (gān​mā/gān​diē) or ‘dry mother/father’. These terms also mean adoptive mother or father, in the sense of traditional adoption, i.e. without legal ramifications. This is a non-religious tradition, usually involving a childless friend or relative, and helps strengthen ties between families.

Alternatively, a family friend might be known as 叔叔 (shū​shu) – uncle, or 阿姨 (ā​yí) – aunt. Other words for uncle and aunt are available in Chinese [source].

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling

To me, being a godparent means that you’re a good friend of the family, and get on well with their children. I spend quite a bit of time with my god-daughters and their parents, particularly recently as I’m currently staying with them. The little ones can be monsters at times, and angels at others, but I love them anyway.




No Fierce Action

By Simon

One of the joys of being in foreign parts for a language nerd like me is spotting badly or interestingly translated signs, notices and other texts. I haven’t seen very many yet, but here’s a notice from the lift in the building where I’m staying:

Lift notice

You have to avoid taking your pets in the lift during the rush hour, whenever that is. Most of the flats in this building are empty, so there isn’t really a rush hour. Maybe there will be when most or all of them are occupied.

You also have to make sure that you don’t push the button with any hard stuff or tine. A better translation might be “Do not use any hard or sharp objects to press the buttons”

In an emergency, you shouldn’t “try to and grill the door”, whatever that means. A better translation might be “Do not force the doors or try to exit through the shaft”.

And finally, fierce action in the lift must be avoided at all times. Or maybe they mean “No strenuous exercise in the lift”. Light or moderate exercise is probably okay, but nothing too strenuous.

I saw this sign at a local KFC and thought it might be a bit of questionable English translation, but it seems to be a genuine KFC slogan. Do they use this in other countries?

Everyone has a place at my bucket

This certainly wouldn’t entice me into a restaurant.

Guangdong Business and Technology University library

This is one of the places we visited this week – Guangdong Business and Technology University (广东工商职业技术大学) – which has some rather elaborate architecture. The building pictured above is the library, which is even more impressive inside (see below). You can see my goddaughters and their parents in the foreground. I just noticed that the sign saying library is in traditional characters rather than simplified characters. The sign over their main gate is the same. I’ll look out for other uses of traditional characters.

Guangdong Business and Technology University library

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling




Better Safe than Sorry

By Simon

In the past week or so I’ve had a number of vaccinations to prepare for my trip to China, and have more to come. As they say, better safe than sorry, but what do they say in other languages?

The Big Spill

The phrase better safe than sorry means it is preferable to be cautious in one’s choices and actions than to act recklessly and suffer afterwards.

Phrases with similar meanings in English include:

  • err on the side of caution
  • measure twice, cut once
  • play it safe
  • prevention is better than cure
  • an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure

Equivalent phrases in other languages include:

  • Azerbaijani – htiyat igidin yaraşığıdır
    (“prudence is the adornment of a brave man”)
  • Bulgarian – който сам се пази и Бог го пази (koĭto sam se pazi i Bog go pazi) – (“He who protects himself and God protects him”)
  • Chinese (Mandarin) – 小心驶得万年船 [小心駛得萬年船]
    (xiǎoxīn shǐ dé wànnián chuán) – (“If you are careful, you can steer your ship safely for a myriad of years”)
  • French – mieux vaut prévenir que guérir
    (“prevention is better than cure”)
  • German – Vorsicht ist besser als Nachsicht
    (“caution is better than clemency”)
  • Greek – κάλλιο γαϊδουρόδενε παρά γαϊδουρογύρευε (kállio gaïdouródene pará gaïdourogýreve) – (“Better to tie a donkey than to ride a donkey.”)
  • Irish – is fearr glas ná amhras
    (“better a lock than a doubt”)
  • Japanese – 転ばぬ先の杖 (korobanu saki no tsue) – (“a walking stick before stumbling”)
  • Korean – 돌다리도 두들겨 보고 건너라 (doldalido dudeulgyeo bogo geonneola) – (“even if you cross a stone bridge, test it first.”)
  • Polish – żeby kózka nie skakała, toby nóżki nie złamała
    (“if the goat had not been jumping, it would not have broken its leg”)
  • Welsh – gwell diogel nac edifar
    (“better safe than sorry”)

Source: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/better_safe_than_sorry

How about in other languages?

Language skills in just 10 minutes a day with Ling