Chinese and English Slang

  by Lisa

   Have you ever pay attetion to the problem that hold you back when talking to a person from another culture? Sometimes it is not about your grammer or pronunciation, it is just because of the slang that people usually use in their daily life which is unfamiliar to you.  Slang is a "specialized dictionary covering the words,phrases, and idioms that reflect the least formal speech of a language. "Much slang belongs to specific groups, as the jargon of a particular class, profession, or age group. Language is not just a mean of communication but also a product of culture. Therefore, if you would like to have a better communication with someone who is different to you, master in their language is just not enough but you also need to learn the slang they use and try to apply them in a proper way. Here I would like to give some examples of slang people often use from both English and Chinese and culture hope it will help you with your smooth conversation.





Have you heard about these items when you are talking to a student from Mainland China? It is very possible that you don‘t know the meaning especially in a certain situation. So learn it and try to use it in your next conversation with your Mainland Buddy!

In addtion, I would also like to share some of the English Slangs I have learned when talking to the Native English Speaker or from movies and hope you will understand others more easily and be able to use it right at the place to make your English sounds greater!

1. Don't pull my leg.
   别开我的玩笑了
2. Don't let the grass grow under your feet.
   别浪费时间了
3. Play it by ear.
   随机应变
4. Walls have ears  隔墙有耳
5. Spend A Penny: to use the restroom
6. pain in the ass: 麻煩事
7. an all-nighter：學習了一整晚
8. bent out of shape：be upset
9.I'm going to blow out of here now: i am going to leave now
10. catch some rays: get some sumshine.

There are still more of them and you can also learn it online. and Please also show something you know to us!
try to use it next time with the exchange student on campus and I am sure they will be impressed by you! Surprise them!


 
  

The knife attack in Hong Kong arouses worldwide concerns by Hui Ching Yi, Maggie

The former Ming Pao Editor Kelvin Lau Chun-to was attacked by two men in Sai Wan Ho. Lau is still in a critical condition because he has three wounds during the attack and takes a long time to recover. General public think it is an ambush rather an attack and it is even related to the freedom of speech in Hong Kong.

According to the House News, it has 11 newspapers in Hong Kong used this news as their headline.

Most of them used the photo to draw attention from the reader. For example, Apple Daily has shown the scene of crime and the photo provided by the police.

Not only was the mass media in Hong Kong, but also the media in foreign countries reported this news. Sinosphere which is the dispatches from China also reported this attack named as“Hong Kong Editor Whose Ouster Stirred Protests Is Slashed” by Gerry Mullany. Also, this article also appeared on the New York Times. Through this article, we can identify the bilingual feature.

The article has several direct quotes to show different stakeholder points of view. The opinion from Mr. Moriarty whose the head of the press freedom commit of the Foreign Correspondents Club of Hong Kong commented on this issue. ‘ This is a serious escalation.’ Also, it has the opinion of the lecturer in journalism at The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Yuen Chan.

Apart from the direct quotes, it has the collaborator in the article. ‘Michael Forsythe and Alan Wong contributed reporting.’ It can show the linguistic and semiotic resources in bilingualism.

Although it is not the local article, it has the comment from different regions such as Hong Kong, New York and Australia.

Another news article from BBC China named as ‘Hong Kong: Ex- Ming Pao editor Kevin Lau attacked’. It also used different direct quotes such as the police spokesman and the Hong Kong Chief Executive CY Leung.

Besides, the BBC News has several hyperlinks which shown the attacked was condemned by the Hong Kong and International Journalists Association.

Both article can share to different social networking like Facebook and Twitter. They hope to increase their influence through different networking. Moreover, their photos are came from the source of Reuters.

English Name of the Chinese (By Cosy Lau)

Recently I read an online article about the Chinese having an English name. It gives some very good points and I want to share some of them with you.

To begin, I think almost all of you have your own English name. Then I want to ask two questions: when did you have it? Why did you decide to have it?

Some of you may say: It is easier for people to remember me; some may also say teachers asked us to have one for the English class since primary school. To me, I think the Chinese get an English name also because they will feel a bit superior, and this fits what we have learnt- name is an example of symbolic capital.

However, the words the Chinese chose to be their English name really affects how the Westerns see the Chinese. Here are the six ways that the Chinese used to choose their own English names:

1.     The words that are not supposed to be names in English.

     Eg. Apple (蘋果), Sunny (陽光普照的), Season (四季) etc..

The Westerns will probably laugh at us if we have these kinds of English names.

2.     The first name of the Westerns.

Eg. Edison (愛迪生), Lincoln (林肯), Miller (米勒) etc..

The Westerns would not use the first name to be their English name, but as a short form of their whole name.

3.     Make a new word.

Eg. Eason instead of Ethan; Kady instead of Katie.

The Westerns may find them strange.

4.     Name that do not fit with people’s age.

Eg. Brian, Stanley, Gill, Doris etc..

These are names that the British used in the older generations.

5.     Name that is low-class.

Eg. Candy, Cherry, Brandy etc..

In most of the English-speaking countries, these are the names of prostitutes.

6.     Name that is not oriented from English-speaking countries/ God’s name from the Greek or Roman.

Eg. Zeus (宙斯), Hermann (赫曼／德國人名), Mario (馬利歐／意大利人名)

People will think these names are a bit arrogant.

Are you surprised by the views of the Westerns? I think here comes an interesting point that the Chinese want to get their English names because they may feel a bit superior; the Westerns, however, may have a totally different feelings about these “English names”. But on the other hand, these “English names” can also be categorized as the unique culture of Hong Kong. Do you have any new ideas about the English names of Chinese people? Just feel free to leave comments!

Last but not least, I would like to show you an interesting video. Enjoy!

Reference:
http://www.ettoday.net/news/20120604/52748.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S3U5u3D2L9Q

"I Am a Ukrainian" - Kimberley Wong

"I Am a Ukrainian" - in English

Since the start of the Ukraine crisis, it has been three months and there have been countless related videos uploaded to the Internet, but none of those has gained more publicity and exposure than "I am a Ukrainian", which has already been viewed over 7 million times on Youtube since it posted two weeks ago. "I am a Ukrainian" is a plea for help from a young female protester and her justification for the current grassroots revolt against the government. In the video, she addresses her desire in English. Since the video enjoys a high publicity and exposure, it has been translated into different languages and become more accessible to the other languages speaking groups. This multilingualism strategy helps it to gain even more visibility on the Internet. 

"I Am a Ukrainian 我是烏克蘭人（中文字幕）" - with Chinese subtitle 

"I am an Ukrainian, và chúng tôi muốn có Tự Do! (VietSub)"  - with Vietnamese subtitle

"I am a Ukrainian - Ben Bir Ukraynalıyım (Türkçe Altyazılı)" - with Turkish subtitle

"I Am Ukrainian - "Io sono Ucraina, per favore fai girare questo video"" - with Italian subtitle

According to BBC News, some of the comments on the video are critical, calling it one-sided "propaganda" which focuses on violence by the police - and mentions nothing of violence by protesters themselves. The woman in the video is a student called Yulia, who has been involved with the protests from the start. Her message is simple, but the production is slick. It was edited and uploaded by an award-winning US filmmaker, Ben Moses, who met Yulia in Ukraine as part of a documentary he is making about protest movements around the world. (Source: BBC News - #BBCtrending: 'I am a Ukrainian' protest video goes viral)

Many criticize that the pretty girl is a US-backed Ukrainian,  were it not for an unspeakable political purpose and without the intervention of the U.S government, the clip would not be professionally done. Undoubtedly, the clip is a bias one. Regardless,  the linguistic diversity in this matter successfully bring our attention to the ongoing violence in the Ukrainian and urge us to know more about the issue. Thanks to the multilingualism and interactional processes occurred in the media discourse and cyber world, abundant information resources and wide range of opinions are exposed to us, to enable us to know in-depth of the matter and be one step closer to be a global citizen. 

Have you watched it yet? What do you know about the current Ukraine crisis?

外星人病毒 By Tsang Yuen Yee, Yoey

相信大家都聽過韓國電視劇<<來自星星的你>>吧。<<來自星星的你>>成為最近最受歡迎的韓國電視劇，也是城中的熱門話題。乘車時會不時看到乘客在追看這部電視劇﹔使用臉書時亦會不時看到朋友讚好和分享有關這劇集的改圖。不知道大家有沒有看過來自星星的你呢?

來自星星的你(별에서 온 그대)是講述從朝鮮時代便來到地球生活的外星人，在四百年後(現代)遇見著名女演員，並墜入愛河的故事。

此劇中由金秀賢(김수현)飾演的外星人都敏俊(도민준)打破一般大眾對於外星人刻板的看法，他不是傳統那種長得像怪物﹑恐怖的外星人，而是專一﹑富有﹑帥，並且擁有超能力和能保護你的完美情人。富有魅力的都敏俊迷倒不少少女，更讓大家陷入外星人的熱潮，像是中了外星人病毒。


傳統的外星人











韓國的外星人



其實，我們可以在臉書找到不少有關這部電視劇(外星人)的圖片。

這張客觀道出了殘酷的現實，在女生眼中完美的外星人都敏俊，在地球人中是不存在的。

臉書上其實有不少像這類有趣的圖。這圖除了是將拿筷子比喻成嫁人，同時也說明了外星人的魅力大到讓女生都想要嫁給他。

當然，外星人也會帶來負面的影響。在重慶，有一對情侶因而分手。女生為模仿來自星星的你的劇情，凌晨要求男友買炸雞和啤酒，結果遭男友拒絕後提出分手。

總括而言，我認為我們的生活不知不覺地受到韓國文化影響，不但是音樂﹑衣服，甚至以一部電視劇就能改變我們對事情的看法。以有別傳統﹑完美的外星人一改我們對外星人根深柢固的看法，不再是惡怖的生物，而是完美的男人。外星人的影響力就像病毒一樣，在一點一滴地影響着我們。

參考資料:

http://zh.wikipedia.org/zhhk/%E4%BE%86%E8%87%AA%E6%98%9F%E6%98%9F%E7%9A%84%E4%BD%A0

http://hk.crntt.com/doc/1030/2/5/1/103025195.htmlcoluid=209&kindid=9572&docid=103025195&mdate=0215173139

Let it go 25 種語言 ﹣ Dollars Ho

全球著名的迪士尼公司最新出了一部新電影“Frozen” 它的主題曲充分的展現了全球化！迪士尼動畫中最大的特點就是音樂！Frozen的主題曲“Let it go"竟然被譯成了25種語言。當中包括英文，法语，德语，荷兰语，中文，瑞典语，日语，拉丁美洲西班牙语，波兰语，匈牙利语，卡斯蒂利亚语（西班牙语），加泰罗尼亚语，意大利语，韩语，塞尔维亚语，广东话，葡萄牙语，马来语，俄语，丹麦语，保加利亚语，挪威语，泰语，魁北克法语，佛兰芒语。把25種語言合起來成為一首歌，非常使人激動！

 The snow glows white on the mountain tonight, not a footprint to be seen
 Un royaume de solitude, ma place est là pour toujours
 Der Wind, er heult so wie der Sturm ganz tief in mir
 Het werd mij te veel, hoe ik mijn best ook deed
 别让他们进来看见，做好女孩，就像妳的从前
 Visa ingenting, vad du än gör, allt är förstört!
 ありのままの姿見せるのよ
 Libre soy, libre soy, ¡libertad sin vuelta atrás!
 Wszystkim wbrew na ten gest mnie stać
 Jöjjön száz orkán, és közben a szívemen ül a jég
 Desde la distancia, ¡qué pequeño todo es!
 I les pors que em dominaven per sempre han fugit
 Non è un difetto, è una virtù e non la fermerò mai più
 내맘대로 자유롭게 살래!
 Сад је крај, сад је крај На крилима ветра сам
 誰亦要 全心講 忘掉就天比高
 Estou aqui, e vou ficar! Venha a tempestade!
 Kuasaku buat hidup bercelaru
 Подвластны мне мороз и лёд, ну что за дивный дар
 Og som krystaller står en tanke ganske klar
 Ще спра да бъда аз на миналото плен
 La den gå, la den gå, jeg skal stige lik solen nå
 ปล่อยออกมา เลิกซ่อนเร้น เด็กดี ไม่เห็นมีค่า
 Je suis là, comme je l'ai rêvé
 En de storm raast door... De vrieskou, daar zat ik toch al niet mee

當我作為香港人在迪士尼公司的歌中聽到廣東話時，心情非常激動， 即使只有一句，即使聽不到歌詞內容，發音不準，還是很開心，因為知道當中包含了自己的母語。感覺香港被重視香港在世界也佔一席位的感覺。我想我這個感覺正正就是大公司使用雙語，什至多語的其中一個目的吧！讓世界不同地方的人都感覺被重視， 而且有我在其中的感覺， 令距離感減短。

另一方面，可以有如此大的人力物力資源，讓一部動畫在世界各個國家上上映，連音樂也有那麼多的語言，一定不是普通的公司。迪士尼透過這次的製作炫耀了它背後雄厚的財力勢力！不但如此，還有它在世界的知名度和受人愛戴的程度，正正因為它在世界有一定的知名度，才令一部動畫，一首主題曲被譯成那麼多的語言， 光是汉语已經有四個版本。分別是姚贝娜的《随它吧》、胡维纳的《随它吧》、台湾人林芯儀的《放開手，讓它走 和白珍寶的《冰心鎖》。

我個人認為迪士尼把它的產品推向世界做得是非常成功的！ 而要把產品推向世界第一步要做的就是翻译。

Minion language (by Michelle Chan)

I think many of you are familiar with these cute yellow creatures in the video and like them a lot. They are the Minions from the movies "Despicable Me" and "Despicable Me 2", who were the henchmen of Gru, the main character in the movie. They rose to fame particularly after the release of "Despicable Me 2" in summer, 2013, in which their appeared much more often than they were in the first movie. Suddenly the Minions got a lot of fans, and many people are interested in their language. What they said seemed nonsense yet a bit familiar. Below are some of the translations of Minion language:

Minion language is in fact an example of language mixing. Unlike Chinglish and Spanglish, which include only two languages, Minion language consists of various human languages. Some words are imitated from English, while other words are in foreign languages like French, Spanish and Italian. So the Minions are not talking nonsense. They in fact know a lot of languages!

Human language	Words	Meaning
English	Bello Papple Tank yu	Hello Apple Thank you
Spanish	Para tu La boda	For you Marriage
Italian	Gelato Ti amo	Ice cream I love you
Japanese	Kampai	Cheers
Korean	Hana, Dul, Sae	One, two, three

Minion language is also an example of fictional language. Fictional language is a virtual language that is created as part of a fictional setting like books and movies. Examples include the Middle-earth language in J.R.R. Tolkien's book "The Hobbits", the Na'vi language in the movie "Avatar", and the Simlish in the video game "The Sims". Most of these fictional languages are created by linguists hired by the developers, and were normally imitations of different human languages. As for the Minion language, some press reports said that the directors of the movie created the language themselves.

It was announced that Universal pictures will release a movie all about Minions in 2015. It's really not easy to create a fictional language. I wonder how we can understand the movie if it is all in Minion language. Is it by adding subtitles? Why do you think fictional languages are created? What are the effects of creatures speaking fictional language instead of human language? Feel free to leave comments if you have any ideas!

Translation for Reading and Listening = 聽和讀的翻譯 ？？ By Irene Lam

『1、2、3，笑!』^_^

What do you say when you are taking photos?

This is a capture from Korean TV drama A Gentleman's Dignity （신사의 품격）（紳士的品格）

If you were a Korean, you’ll probably say “Kimchi!”（김치）(泡菜)

Japanese say “Yes, cheese” (はい、チーズ , Hai, chīzu), which is adapted from the US,

but it’s funny that the Japanese pronunciation of “cheese” actually sound more similar with 『妻子』(qīzǐ) in Putonghua than the real “cheese” in English.

How about Mainland Chinese and Taiwanese?

『茄子』（qiézǐ），which means eggplant，seems to be very common.

There are more ways to “say cheese” in Mandarin :

1.『西瓜甜不甜？』  『甜！』（tián）

2. 西瓜（xīguā）

3. 田七（tiánqī）

4. 一數到七（qī）

5. 錢（qián）

6.  ……

Hong Kong?

我認識的人之中有人會說『芝士』，但感覺不大普遍。

Many of the Hong Konger just simply count 1 to 3 (or backwards).

No matter how many different way are there, they are all used to make a smiling face “automatically” by saying those words. Then how about the translation?

Undoubtedly, the Korean actress should be saying “Kimchi” in the TV drama,  but the subtitle was “eggplant” in Chinese. Obviously, they are two very different things. Coincidentally, both of them are food. Culturally, they mean the same when you are taking photo. So, do you think that this is a good translation?

The translation of “qiézǐ” is a kind of domestication and cultural transfer. If you just want to know what’s going on in the drama and ignore all the sound around you, then “eggplant” is the simplest (and even the more appropriate) way. But if you want to learn Korean by matching the dialogue with the subtitles, then it can be misleading. Just imagine buying a spicy Korean dish when you actually want a purple-coloured vegetable. Therefore, in my opinion, 『茄子』(eggplant) is a better translation for reading. For a “listening translation”, I’ve seen people making remark after the translation to explain the literal meaning and the meaning in that typical scene.

A Gentleman's Dignity （신사의 품격）with English subtitles and remark of Kimchi.

신사의 품격  Cantonese version of subtitles and dub

In the Cantonese version,

配音為『笑下啦！』，難以言喻的怪異。

It was translated as “Smile!”, not only that the pronunciation doesn’t really make people smile, I wonder if anybody would say this when they are taking photo for themselves. Doesn’t it sound a little bit psychic?

Sources:

Cantonese version: http://www.56.com/u36/v_ODgyODUwNTc.html

Mandarin version: http://www.funshion.com/vplay/m-100246.e-20

English version: http://www.dramago.com/korean-drama/a-gentlemans-dignity-episode-20/2-3