天才与蠢才， 只差一个字。 How would you translate the above? 1. The genius and the fool, a word of difference. The first phrase is probably closer to 天才与傻瓜. 2. Brain vs brawn, a letter makes the difference. 3. The brainy and brainless, only the end differ. The third one is my favourite […]
Yearly Archives: 2017
This is yet another challenging Chinese phrase, often used in the Internet to describe a person’s style or persona. This is how Baidu Zhidao interpret this phrase(http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/222462624.html), that it is actually of two parts. The first half is “邪魅(xié mèi)”, which can be used to 1. describe someone who is […]
邪魅狷狂
“带你装逼带你飞(Dài nǐ zhuāng bī dài nǐ fēi)” is another interesting phrase I came across recently. It originates from the Internet. Its alternate version is “带你装B带你飞”. If you googled this phrase, you can see some interesting images. Of all the references I have checked, this one from baidu.com offers a clearer […]
带你装逼带你飞
I was wondering why did the hospital suddenly unceremoniously send me an SMS to postpone my follow-up in the eye clinic from October to November, they never gave me a reason why. Nor did they even bother to call to check if the patient, i.e. me, is alright. Such is […]
Customer Service in Hospital
Working on translation of any living languages that continuously evolve like English and Chinese often offers interesting, sometimes challenging, phrases. One of these is “当红炸子鸡(Dānghóng zhà zǐjī)“. If you googled this phrase, you will receive many results on a popular dish otherwise known as “fried chicken”. Only a few results […]
当红炸子鸡 Fried Chicken?
I did this Chinese to English translation sample as a test and was told that the reviewers did not like what I did. I found another translated version where the translator adopted an entirely different approach from mine (Alternative translation). Here is my proposed translation with some amendments from what I […]
Marketing a Car
Experienced translators often work as proofreaders. The idea behind proofreading is to check that the translated document did present the source ideas well and accurately, within the confines of structural norms of different languages, and that the document is grammatically sound while the text and sentences read naturally. As it […]
Proofreading is not translation nor copy-writing
I just realized that there are ONLY THREE words in the whole English language (whether the US or the UK variant or any variant) that ends in “ceed”. These are: proceed succeed exceed Wow. Of so many thousands of words, only three.
Words ending in “ceed”
There are many words in the English dictionary today that was once just someone’s names. Boycott Meaning: to avoid dealing with or to prevent dealing with as a protest Origin: Captain Charles Cunningham Boycott who was boycotted by his own tenants in the late 19th century. Quisling Meaning: Traitor, particularly […]
From names to words
Like wine of a premium vintage, as the days turn to weeks, weeks to months and months to years, you exude a charm that is increasingly sophisticated, sensuous and seductive..