Queensland versus NSW

Not really ... :) The fewer characters the better.

I just wandered accidentally onto a Rugby League site where dare I say it boofheads are discussing introducing League to China. 再:)

What interested me is that there is quite a bit of park-Union played here already, mainly by expats of course - and with the Hong Kong 7s as you mentioned earlier, this is probably one reason why Chinese people know about 橄榄球。It already has a bit of exposure.

要不“澳式英式橄榄球”吗？

Just clarifying my point about 澳式 - it is not that Aussie Rules should not have some reference to Australia in its Chinese equivalent, it should. It is that 澳式 does not serve this purpose. 澳式 means Australian style .. [something] - in this case Rugby Union. It is a set phrase: 澳式 [xxxxxxx].

Actually, did I ever mention that there is an espresso bar in Shanghai that calls flat whites 澳式咖啡?

The problem is one of communication - the only familiar term in Chinese we have to hang our hats on is 橄榄球 - I challenge you to find a native speaker who knows any other term for the oval-shaped ball games (without hunting up a dictionary). 橄榄球 is indisputably Rugby Union; as you say it is a 'world' game, or at least more 'world' than League.

Now no-one in the 'Chinese' world really knows anything about Rugby League (a few exceptions no doubt exist but if they are Australian they probably use the English word anyway, my earlier point.) If you want to communicate with a native speaker about Rugby League, someone unfamiliar with the game, I say 澳式橄榄球 because it describes an 'Australian' style of Rugby; a derivative if you like. To the untrained eye the games are very similar. Rugby League deserves this title I think - the NRL is the pre-eminent league in the Rugby League world. But more to the point it gives the native speaker some idea of what the game is like.

Australian Rules on the other hand is an entirely different kettle of fish - it is nothing like the Rugby Codes. It really does it a disservice to liken it to Rugby Union - it deserves better. [As an aside - you need to understand and appreciate the significance of the term 澳式 。。 英式 。。etc., the term has a special role in Chinese. It is a very useful pref-fix in lots of situations. Applying it to a label for Aussie Rules does not conform to the usual role for 澳式.]

I know some dictionaries are starting to equate Aussie Rules with 澳式橄榄球 but how this came about is anyone's guess. It is not a helpful expression - it is just confusing. I believe that this equation has only recently been drawn, probably by someone, some committee, with no real knowledge of the different codes. I'm afraid I will have to just have to dispute the dictionaries on this point, like I ignore a few other words I find in Chinese-English dictionaries (on the advice of native speakers).

This word that some dictionaries give to Rugby League - what can I say .. tell 'em they're dreamin'. They are just translating literally. But no-one is listening. It would be more useful to go into a blow by blow description of how the game is played (which is what a good dictionary should do) than use that expression. In fact, that is exactly what my dictionary does - it gives a several hundred character description of the game and its history. And to clarify, it actually calls Rugby Union 英式橄榄球: the 英式 is there to clarify which version of the oval-ball codes we are talking about。 This is how 澳式 and 英式 should be used.

Unfortunately my dictionary also refers to the 13 a side game as 联盟橄榄球 - but only in reference to Union. They don't give League a separate entry. Maybe I should write one for them? :)

Well I'd have to disagree with you in part and agree with you in part mate. I'd agree with the better part of 5 lines:

The truth is that there are not enough Chinese speakers interested for it to matter! I think that in Australia, Chinese speakers who are interested would probably slip in the English anyway. And in China the differences between the codes is too subtle for most people. 橄榄球 would cover any oval ball code.

..which is the more important part. But just for the sake of discussion,I'd disagree with the first bit before that. 澳式橄榄球 does seem to specifically refer to Aussie rules which is the footy game specific to Australia..invented here and has Aussie in its title in both English and Chinese. Rugby Union was invented in the town of Rugby in England [when William Webb Ellis picked up the soccer ball and ran with it as the famous story goes]. Sure Rugby League started in Sydney at the start of the 20th century but really it was just a modification of the rules [heck, I spy a debate coming on here....reminds me of the language/dialect debate...valid points can be made either way]. Ok, Rugby with Aussie characteristics,hehe. But it is less clearly Australian I think than Aussie Rules and doesn't have Aussie in its title. Interestingly mdbg did not have the answer on this one and in such cases I always turn to nciku which I think is more comprehensive and for Rugby League it gave me 联盟橄榄球...which to me is more like "union football" which this would have seemed more suited to Rugby Union [though of course linguistically a union and a league are 差不多]. Turning now to wikipedia to see what they have they confirm 联盟橄榄球 for Rugby League and interestingly just have 橄榄球 for rugby union [ I note supporting your main point rather nicely ;) ] . I find this mildly surprising that they would gave a more specific name for League than Union given that Union has a greater world participation /audience..greater number of countries [sorry go_manly ;) ]. Also there is Unions Hong Kong 7's.

I call 澳式橄榄球 Rugby League and have been using that term for years because it makes more sense. The truth is that there are not enough Chinese speakers interested for it to matter! I think that in Australia, Chinese speakers who are interested would probably slip in the English anyway. And in China the differences between the codes is too subtle for most people. 橄榄球 would cover any oval ball code.

I did think of Canberra Raiders but they're Rugby League n'est pas? [as most of our conversation has been about] and you seemed to have moved on to AFL as your Chinese was 澳式橄榄球 which I think is Aussie Rules. As far as I could tell Rugby League is 联盟橄榄球

Ha ha, no .. much more down to earth. The Canberra Raiders.

是爱尔兰人队，对吧

对。。。and we just lost a few days ago to you guys too haha...

澳大利亚橄榄球队的取名‘丛林松鼠’(Wallabies)， 我觉得Wallabies也很好听。 所以全黑队和丛林松鼠比赛，都是提橄榄球。

关于澳式橄榄球，澳大利亚澳式橄榄球队的取名‘袋鼠’(Kangaroos)， 新西兰澳式橄榄球队的取名‘几维鸟‘(Kiwis).

新西兰足球队叫‘全白队’，对吧？

Hi bodawei

谢谢你的回帖。我最喜欢的名字还是“蟑螂队”，呵呵。我刚才想起来老婆以前对我说过，新西兰有一个橄榄球队叫“全黑队” (All Blacks)，我觉得很好听。 看起来新西兰橄榄球队的取名模式跟澳大利亚有所不同，对不对？

几个澳大利亚板球队的名字:

昆士兰州 - 公牛 (Bulls)

新南威尔士州 - 蓝色 (Blues)

维多利亚 - 丛林居民 (Bushrangers)

塔斯马尼亚州 - 公虎 (Tigers)

南澳大利亚州 - 蜘蛛 (Redbacks - a type of spider)

西澳大利亚州 - 勇士 (Warriors)

国有的队没有名。。

南澳大利亚人取名“乌鸦吃者”

而且，现在时间来为了其他的自己生造词： ”砂摸索“

顺便，没有蜈蚣，不过西澳大利亚人被称为“sandgropers":

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandgroper_%28insect%29

呵呵，没有蜈蚣队

不用谢

Oh dear...it's a pity I seem to have lost my ability to read English...thanks Baba!

呵呵，我认为了你感觉这样对食物链笑话

'The names (and the relative positions on the food chain) have stuck.'

Good one.. hehe. (Although it is many years since I lived in Brissie, at State of Origin time I can't help barracking for the maroons.)

http://www.couriermail.com.au/extras/oq/book7cockies.html

Bodawei 的帖子是关于联盟橄榄球 【不是关于板球】