请问:Translation help
bababardwan
January 16, 2009, 11:27 PM posted in General DiscussionMy better half made me this tie for Xmas and I'm wondering if anyone will be kind enough to help translate it for me.I can see it doesn't accuse the wearer of being a 呆子 or 你脑子坏了 ,but am hoping it doesn't say anything similar.哈哈
bababardwan
January 20, 2009, 01:27 AMYes,it was cut from a red cloth that already had Chinese characters on it.She had no idea what it said,but knew that as it was Chinese that I'd love it no matter what it said.At least if it had said something derogatory,it's not as bad as the 外国人 who get hanzi tattoos that unwittingly have something disparaging written.They're semi-permanent.But I can laugh at myself so it really wouldn't have worried me.Also,it's the thought that counts.hehe
urbandweller
January 17, 2009, 01:19 AMhmmmm...i'm wondering why your better half couldnt translate it for you!!
changye
January 17, 2009, 01:31 AMHi bababardwan,
It's also possible that 和 means "harmony" in this case. Don't worry, in any case, your wife is not accusing you, perhaps!
bababardwan
January 17, 2009, 01:38 AMurbandweller,
...because she doesn't know any Chinese at all.My last comment was somewhat tongue in cheek.
changye,
Thanks again.和 had been the only character I had been sure of,but I see it can mean harmony also as you say.
urbandweller
January 17, 2009, 02:09 AMsorry about that BBBDWan....for some reason i assumed she was chinese.
BTW. that is a great lookin tie! she made that??
bababardwan
January 17, 2009, 02:16 AMNo worries at all mate.Thanks;as you can imagine,I greatly treasured it for both being close to my heart being Chinese and also a personally made gift [yeah,she made it as a nice surprise for Xmas] always means that bit more.I can't wait to wear it at the upcoming Chinese New Year.
microsofttcl
January 17, 2009, 07:43 AM这种东西我都弄不明白，哈哈 ~~
bababardwan
January 17, 2009, 07:56 AMhehe;yeah,I think it would have been very funny and apt if it had said something like that even though the joke would be on me.I would have liked the irony of it.Similar to the 白人看不懂 on the t-shirt in the video in this discussion here.
jimoya
January 19, 2009, 01:51 AMbababardwan,
She made it without knowing any Chinese at all?! that's even more praiseworthy! you must be so happy of having her by your side ;)
bababardwan
January 17, 2009, 01:11 AMchangye,
You're a champion ! Thankyou so much.I'm sure this is the sentiment that my better half was trying to express hehe.谢谢
lovveu
January 19, 2009, 07:28 AM可能是佛教用语。
我觉得正确的顺序可能是“知息幸，自意和”
我猜意思大概是“知道何时该停止则会比较幸运，了解自己则可以与人和睦相处”
lovveu
January 19, 2009, 07:33 AMknow when you should stop, you will be luky. Know yourself, you will live with others peacefully.
changye
January 19, 2009, 08:20 AMHi lovveu,
Your interpretation is very plausible. More importantly, the text on the tie begins with the character "知", which I overlooked completely!
I've just found the text "子曰，知息也，何咎之有" on the Internet. Maybe the "知息" also means "know when to stop", as you interepreted above.
"自意和" is still rather tricky for me. An online dictionary defines "自意" as "自料，自认为". Or does "自" mean "naturally"? Or, is 自意 a counterpart of 佛意？
P/S. bababardwan, don't be worried. In any case, your wife is not accusing you, haha.
bababardwan
January 19, 2009, 09:35 AMChangye,
hehe.Thanks for your concern.哈哈。
Re:
"the text on the tie begins with the character "知" "
While you guys are no doubt right in your discussion above,I don't think the tie itself gave the clue as to where the text began.For a start the tie is doubled over in order to fit into the photo,so the top of the photo is actually half way down the tie.Also I think it is just a repeating pattern from a much larger piece of material so it would depend on where you make your cuts as to what is going to end up being on top.But hey,thankyou and lovveu and everyone else for all your imput and help.Very much appreciated.非常谢谢
changye
January 19, 2009, 10:50 AMHi bababardwan,
If so, it seems that you instinctively folded the tie at the right place without knowing its content. Good job! I've just closely checked the upper end of the tie to find the lower part of "和" with a magnifier. Am I right? This is not a joke, the liquid crystal display of my PC is not bright enough, and I have bad sight.
bababardwan
January 19, 2009, 11:15 AMchangye,
哈哈。Yeah,I planned that.No,seriously,you're giving me way to much credit here.
Yes,you are right.It is the lower part of 和 at the top of the pic.You can also see it is a repeating pattern.However it looks like some different characters next to it which I should try and photo some time.
changye
January 19, 2009, 12:14 PMHi lovveu,
Do you think 水花美照全寺 makes sense in Chinese? If it makes sense, how about 和知息幸自意？ Haha, it's just like breaking a code!
水花(lotus flowers)美(beautiful)照(shine,reflect)全寺(whole temple)
= Beautiful lotus flowers shine the whole temple （？）.
和水
知花
息美
幸昭 （= 照）
自全
意寺
和水
知花
息美
幸昭
自全
意寺
和水
知花
P/S. 康熙字典 says 昭 is sometimes used in place of 照.
cassielin
January 19, 2009, 01:36 PMummm, i don't understand. I guess it was cut from a red cloth that have something written on.
bababardwan,
I think your better half did not mean to use the chinese sentence or characters, she just used the cloth.:-)
bababardwan
January 19, 2009, 02:15 AMmonica5,
Thanks for your kind comments.Yes and no.Yes she made it herself but no,she didn't do the Hanzi.She bought the material with the Hanzi already on it.
changye
January 17, 2009, 12:57 AM息 peace of mind
幸 happiness
自 come from
意 will
和 and
知 wisdom