User Comments - Grambers
Grambers
Posted on: The Secret Cash Stash
February 13, 2012 at 9:14 AMThanks podster - 有道理！
Posted on: The Secret Cash Stash
February 10, 2012 at 11:48 AMI'm having a very hard time trying to understand how 找出个千八百的 translates as 'find 800 to 1,000 yuan'. Jenny dealt with the 'ge' briefly in the dialogue (though only to say that she wasn't sure why it was there - which is fair enough) but I'm confused as to how 千八百 becomes 800 to 1,000? I guess 八百千 has the potential to be confused for a completely different (and much bigger) number, but why not ’八百一千‘ - this would seem to fit with the normal rules of ordering numbers in Chinese.
Posted on: The Secret Cash Stash
February 9, 2012 at 10:44 PMWow. That's some serious sleuthing. I salute you, Sir! Thank you. Your archival work has me feeling sufficiently smug that my inner communist claptrap-detector was working....I was pointed in the right general direction:)
Posted on: The Secret Cash Stash
February 8, 2012 at 2:48 PMThanks for the softly-softly-catchee-monkee approach to moderation. It sure beats deleting the whole thing. Apologies for the profanity!:)
Posted on: The Secret Cash Stash
February 7, 2012 at 2:33 PMThis all reminds me of 'The Streets' seminal 2004 concept album, 'A Grand Don't Come For Free' where Mike loses £1,000 in Track 1, eventually to find it again on the last track of the album hidden inside his TV. Better in the computer desk (or the TV) than in the bank where it's only gonna get gambled away by some *gentleman* with a smart suit and a PhD in particle physics, no?
Posted on: The Secret Cash Stash
February 7, 2012 at 2:25 PM坦白从宽，抗拒从严
This phrase sounds like it may well have originated during the good ol' 文化大革命. Any clues on etymology?
Posted on: 海归女对掐主持人
February 3, 2012 at 1:11 PMI can confirm the above - Tudou video not working in the UK. Tvan's Dropbox link works, but - and perhaps I am being very stupid here - there doesn't appear to be any sound. Just me?
Posted on: 坑“妈”的防辐射服
February 2, 2012 at 4:51 PMThanks Greg - very helpful. Yes, the agency issue is one I've not really thought specifically about before. Thanks for spelling out the significant difference between Mandarin and English on this point (maybe even worth a thought for a possible Qing Wen...though, on second thoughts, it's possibly a bit too much of an arcane grammatical point for mass comsumption!?!)
Posted on: 坑“妈”的防辐射服
January 31, 2012 at 10:18 AMA quick repost, as I'm really keen to get some comment on this (if anyone's out there?). Was keen to get some clarity on the following sentence (my own attempt at translation is below)
"当太多的所谓“防辐射服”以科学为华丽外衣去为自己包装的时候，有没有科学家站出来"
"When many so-called "radiation-proof clothes" are taking 'science' as a resplendent cloak in which to wrap themselves, why aren't [real] scientists standing up [to object]?"
...If my sentence is correct, it looks and sounds really awkward on two counts: one, it appears to give 'clothing' agency (ie. the clothes themselves 'use' science, rather than the manufacturer of the clothes); and two, the writer appears to be using a clothing metaphor to describe an item of clothing - which feels very confusing. What I mean is, a 'person' may be 'wrapped up' in cotton wool, or a 'policy' may be wrapped up in 'misunderstandings' etc.etc., but an 'item of clothing' being 'wrapped up' in 'science' sounds very akward - in English, at least.
What gives here?
Posted on: Discussing Old Jobs
February 25, 2012 at 12:39 PM'As for me', would be my preferred way of translating this. I think it sounds a little more natural than 'Regarding me', or 'Me now' (though this could just be my preferred way of speaking!).