Today I want to talk about some Chinese words that are very hard to translate into English.

Translation requires certain skills and knowledge.

Being good at Chinese and English doesn't equal to a good translator.

Translation is an ability developed through a long time of training and experience.

But no matter how experienced you are,

There are just some words in Chinese that are very hard to translate into English.

I think there are two possibilities:

First, the word has too many meanings under different circumstances.

So there isn't an exact corresponding word in English

that has the same variety of meanings.

Second, the concepts of the word might not exist in foreign countries.

Therefore, it is hard to translate the word due to cultural differences.

I've collected some Chinese words that are difficult to translate,

and I'm just going to translate them no matter how bad the translation is.

Well I mean, to "explain", to explain in English.

I also hope to discuss with you guys.

"加油" could mean...good luck,

cheer up,

encourage to do better,

or to do your best...

Way too many meanings!

Oh I know, you can say "fighting"

"Fighting!"

Nope, that's Korean.

If we look at these meanings separately,

you can say "good luck" for "祝好運"

"cheer up" for "安慰人"

"keep it up" for "勉勵人"

"go for it" for "鼓勵人".

Another explanation is that,

you can describe it as "我支持你"

In English, that is "I'm rooting for you".

The word "靠杯" is from Taiwanese.

The usage is really complicated.

It's even hard to explain it in Chinese, you know what I'm saying?

How about you tell me what exactly does "靠杯" mean?

For example, you can tell someone to stop "靠杯".

Or you can describe a person as "靠杯".

They mean different things.

And there are many Facebook pages that belong to "靠杯" series.

"靠杯" girlfriend.

"靠杯" boyfriend.

"靠杯" husband.

"靠杯" wife.

"靠杯" NTHU.

"靠杯" engineers.

"靠杯"...planet!

"靠杯" planet, and 靠杯 planet.

There is really no such a word in English that contains those meanings.

But we can try to break it down.

When "靠杯" is used as a verb, it means "抱怨".

In English it could be "complain", "whine", or "grumble".

Thus if you want to tell a person to stop "靠杯" or "抱怨"

You could say "stop complaining"

"stop whining" or "stop grumbling".

If you want to describe a person as "靠杯",

it should mean he is really "機車",

at the same time,

a bit funny also.

How do you even translate it?

How the hell am I supposed to do with it?

Ok, so if we want to describe a person as "機車",

we can just use the word "annoying".

But there is more to that, which is the meaning "funny".

Alright, annoying and funny at the same time.

Oh, okok, I know how to do this.

I get it.

The best solution is to put "annoying"

and "funny"

together as

"annoyingly funny"

......

Yep, I suck, but whatever.

This one is actually not that hard.

It's just hard to translate into something that is easy to understand.

"孝順" in English is "filial piety".

Let's break it down, filial means son and daughter.

Piety means respect, or even veneration.

Why is it hard to understand? Because even if you translate in this way,

it's still hard for foreigners to get it,

since it's not a common word.

I think it might be that in our culture,

filial piety is highly valued.

It's probably not very common in foreign countries.

In western culture, kids are eager to be independent.

They don't usually live with their parents when they become adults.

They gather with families only on important holidays and festivals.

Yeah, so, I AM a filial son.

I still live with my parents till now.

Alright, this word can also be used in many situations.

But the most common one is to express appreciation.

For example,

I work hard and upload videos on time every week.

There might be people want to say "辛苦了" to me.

I don't know, I mean

there MIGHT be people who want to say that to me

right?

If you want to express "謝謝一個人付出的努力"

you could say "thanks for your hard work".

Another situation is that

when someone achieved something after a demanding process.

In this case, you can say

"Nice work!", "Well done!" or just "You did it!"

I think the word "中二" is also really deep.

It has many meanings. Like what?

For example, self-centered, delusional, childish,

and wants to attract attentions by all kinds of weird acts.

Try describe this kind of people.

I'm not sure whether this word comes from Japan or Korea.

Because in those two languages,

they both have the exact same word.

중2병 & ちゅうにびょう

Alright, so if you want to express

all the characteristics above at once, you can say

You are a self-centered

delusional, childish, attention-seeking brat.

Phew, it feels good right.

Or you can just use a very recent usage.

We Asian cultures do affect English sometimes.

It is called, "Eighth Grade Syndrome".

That is the American version of "中二病".

I'm not bullshiting right here. I'm not.

You can google it, there is actually people using that word.

"默契" is like, having deep understanding of each other,

and work very well together.

This kind of relationship is like plant and

I

plantie, this plant right here, plantie.

So to describe "默契" you can use "mutual understanding",

and "make a great team".

Ok, it sounds bad when saying them separately.

There is another way to say this,

"to have great chemistry with someone".

It means two people get along very well.

But usually, it is used between a boy and a girl.

Therefore, if you happen to be describing

the "默契" between you and your lover,

then it's appropriate to say that.

Alright, today I talked about so many Chinese words that are hard to interpret.

Do you feel like I just randomly came up with the translations?

Oh no, I mean, did I answer you guys' questions?

Although we've talked about today,

I believe that there are still many Chinese words that are hard to translate left.

If you have some examples, please leave the message to tell us.

Maybe we could do an episode 2!

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