♕♬Amusing song translation♭♮ (Shellon Ng)

Have you ever found hilarious translation on the Internet? I bet you have.

Lately I found some funny translations of song lyrics, song titles, and singers' names on a Youtube channel that I would like to share with you today ☺! 

Do you know who they are? If you are born in the 90s, you should!

Yes, they are Maroon 5, the famous American pop rock band. The word "maroon" has 2 meanings, one as brownish-red color, and the other as escaped slaves. Now, can you guess the Chinese translation of that band's name?

Maroon 5 is called 魔力紅("glamour red" literally) in Chinese! Mind-blown right? What does "maroon" have to do with "glamour"? What is 魔力紅 actually? This translation sounds so silly!

Imagine you are watching a TV show, and the host introduces the band by saying...
而家有請魔力紅唱出佢地既新曲!

I would definitely laugh until my guts hurt.....

FanVEVO粉愛西洋 is a Youtube channel that uploads translated English music videos. From the style and the usage of words, we can easily tell that the translator is a Taiwanese. Therefore, we, as Cantonese speakers, might find the translated texts bizarre because of cultural diversity. We may also be unable to comprehend the translated version as we have no knowledge of Taiwanese slangs. Here is one example,

But I can send you into overdrive ➛ 我的美臀可以讓你凍末條

What exactly is "凍末條"? It sounds like a Taiwanese slang.

Actually, "凍末條" is a Taiwanese Hokkien word, which means "受不住" (cannot resist anymore). It is prominent that the translator did not intend to let non-Taiwanese people to view the video; therefore he did not avoid using Taiwanese slangs. To Taiwanese people, this lyric is an instance of societal bilingualism, whereas it is an example of resistance bilingualism to non-Taiwanese people.

Apart from Taiwanese slang, we can also find transliterations of the singers' names.
Jessie J             -> 潔西J
Ariana Grande -> 愛莉安娜
(此處只用了部分音譯 "Grande"的部分並無作音譯)
Nicki Minaj     -> 妮琪米娜

Another Taiwanese word found is "美眉", which means "pretty girls" in English. However, literally, "美眉" means "pretty eyebrow"...

I know, Taiwanese words are weird sometimes...

Click here to watch the Bang Bang MV

Have you ever heard of Redfoo? You should recognize him with his explosive warhead!

It doesn't matter if you don't know him. You can still check out how the translator translated his song New Thang (short slang for "thing")↓↓↓↓↓

Makes me go cray ➛讓我快瘋了

Obiously, the word "cray" means "crazy". After all, using slangs and abbreviations is very common in the U.S.

Get saxy girl, get saxy  ➛ 再性感一點 女孩

Instead of saying "sexy", the singer deliberately pronounced the word as "saxy".

That kind of saying gives listeners an impression that he is a playboy, or womanizer, and that is the kind of image he wants for that song. In short, that pronunciation is attention-seeking. 

My name ain't Santa ➛ 我不叫作珊塔

Err...excuse me? Who is 珊塔? How could the translator not know that "Santa" is the grandpa who gives children gifts on Christmas? Why didn't the translator just type 聖誕老人? I wonder if Taiwanese people have no idea who Santa is...OMG This translation is terrible!

Click here to watch New Thang MV

There are more translated English music videos in that Youtube channel, go check out the popular videos! Don't forget to share with me the amusing translation you find there! ;-)

FanVEVO 粉愛西洋

Songs under bilingualism (Isaac Ng)

Let's listen to this song!!!

 

Little Something

主唱：林欣彤

作曲：鄧智偉

填詞：鄭櫻綸

編曲：葉澍暉

監製：鄧智偉

歌詞

愛到這世間末日　示愛根本不需大氣氛

悄悄撫心自問　原來平凡都可以動人

仍難忘那微細聲音　難忘微雨下那街燈

(Chorus) Nothing more could ever be the same

You kissed me through the rain

And then whisper something

Little something, all I want to say

Everything could never be the same

I kissed you on that day

I still feel the same way

My sweet nothing, you’ re my everything

偶有些憾事　沒過去今天失掉意思

與你轉身會面　為何猶如相擁了十年

原來人已在我身邊　如何能靠近你

(Chorus)

日夜路上遇十萬途人　你永遠靠近他即將步近

就像沒預料地覓著同行　你我看似不慬被哪一位吸引

路上靜待著是誰人　帶我到跟他相識的月份

若是在路上沒留神　你我也最終可共某一位相襯

(Chorus)

Love is something I first felt with you

Love is something I first felt with you

In this song, Cantonese obviously is the main language. So who are the target audiences? 

Definitely are the Hong Kongers and those who understand Cantonese. 

However, did you notice that in chorus English is used? 

Now, let’s look more deeply. When we focus into the Cantonese part, the main message is about love. And we shift our focus to the English part, we can see that it is about love too.

Let's step backwards. Have you ever thought of the reason why English lyrics are included in the song? It's because it allows different nations to understand the message of the song easily. English is a dominant language, which is lingua franca in many countries. Therefore, even though people in foreign countries do not understand Cantonese, they can still understand English lyrics and get the message.


Now!!! Let listen to another song, see if you can find similar concepts which mentioned above.

[All] 겁이 나서 시작조차 안 해 봤다면 그댄 투덜대지 마라 좀! (GG!)
[All] 如果因為害怕 就什麼都還沒有開始的話 那你就不要發牢騷! (GG!)

[All] 주저하면 기회는 모두 너를 비켜가 가슴 펴고 나와 봐라 좀! (T.R.X)
[All] 猶豫的話 機會都會離你而遠去 鼓起胸膛 站出來吧! (T.R.X)

[All] Bring the boys out. 

[All] Bring the boys out. (We bring the boys out We bring the boys out yeah)

[All] Bring the boys out.

[태연] 순리에 맞춰 사는 것, 넌 길들여져 버렸니? 괜찮니? (Get Up)
[太妍] 合乎邏輯的活著 你已經被習慣了嗎? 沒關係吧? (Get Up)

[윤아] 암담한 세상이 그댈 주눅 들게 만드니? 괜찮니? (That’ funny)
[潤娥] 暗淡的世界讓妳不能提起精神了嗎? 沒關係吧? (That’ funny)

[써니] 그냥 볼 수가 없어 난, 부딪히고 깨져도 몇 번이고 일어나
[Sunny] 我不能就這樣看著 就算碰撞或破碎幾次 也都要站起來

[서현] 날카롭게, 멋지게 일을 내고야 말던 네 야성을 보여줘 My boy
[徐玄] 請展現出尖銳帥氣作出事情才會罷休的你的野性 My Boy

[All] Bring the boys out.

[All] Girls’ generation make you feel the heat! [유리] 전 세계가 너를 주목해
[All] Girls’ generation make you feel the heat! [Yuri] 全世界都在注目你

[All] (Bring the boys out)

[수영] 위풍도 당당하지. 뼛속부터 넌 원래 멋졌어. [All] You know the girls?
[秀英] 威風凜凜的你 從裡到外都是帥氣的 [All] You know the girls?

[All] (Bring the boys out)

[제시카] 흔들리지 말고 그댄 자릴 지켜. 원래 전쟁 같은 삶을 사는 인간인걸.
[Jessica] 不要動搖 好好守住你的位置. 本來就是活著像戰爭一樣的人生的人.

[제시카] 너는 왜? 벌써 왜? 포기해. Oh, 넌 멀었잖아.
[Jessica] 你為什麼? 為什麼這麼快? 就拋棄. Oh. 你還差遠的呢.

[서현] 너의 집념을 보여줘. 지구를 좀 흔들어줘. 모두가 널 볼 수 있게.
[徐玄] 請展現出你的執念. 請搖動一下地球. 讓大家都看到你.

[태연] 역사는 새롭게 쓰여 지게 될 걸? 주인공은 바로 너! 바로 너!
[太妍] 歷史將會會被重寫? 主角就是你! 就是你!

[All] Bring the boys out.

[All] Girls’ generation make you feel the heat! [티파니] 전 세계가 너를 주목해
[All] Girls’ generation make you feel the heat! [Tiffany] 全世界都在注目你

[All] (Bring the boys out)

[효연] 위풍도 당당하지. 뼛속부터 넌 원래 멋졌어. [All] You know the girls?
[孝淵] 威風凜凜的你. 從裡到外都是帥氣的. [All] You know the girls?

[All] (Bring the boys out)

[All] Girls bring the boys out!

[유리] I wanna dance right now! 내가 이끌어 줄게 come out.
[Yuri] I wanna dance right now! 我來帶領你 come cut.

[윤아] 세상 남자들이여 난, No.1 지혜를 주는 Athena. Check this out!
[潤娥] 世界上的男人們 我是 No.1 給予智慧的雅典娜. Check this out!

[효연] 즐겨봐라, 도전의 설레임 이미 모두 가진 세상의 남자.
[孝淵] 想受挑戰的心動吧 已經得到世界上一切的男人

[수영] 그대로 쭉 가는 거야, keep up! Girls’ generation, We don’t stop!
[秀英] 就這樣一直下去吧, keep up! Girls’ generation, We don’t stop!

[All] (Bring the boys out)

[제시카] 막혀버렸던 미래가 안보였던 미래가 네 눈앞에 펼쳐져
[Jessica] 被擋住的未來 看不見的未來 現在就展現在你眼前

[태연] 점점 더 완벽한 네 모습에 마치 난 빨려들 것 같아 My heart
[太妍] 你的樣子漸漸的完美 我彷彿就要淪陷了 My heart

[All] 겁이 나서 시작조차 안 해 봤다면 그댄 투덜대지 마라 좀! (Bring the boys out)
[All] 如果因為害怕 就什麼都還沒有開始的話 那你就不要發牢騷! (Bring the boys out)

[All] 주저하면 기회는 모두 너를 비켜가 가슴 펴고 나와 봐라 좀! (Bring the boys out)
[All] 猶豫的話 機會都會離你而遠去 鼓起胸膛 站出來吧! (Bring the boys out)

[Jessica] ’cause the girls bring the boys out.
[Jessica] Gilrs bring the boys out Gilrs bring the boys out Girls bring the boys out.

[All] Girls’ generation make’em feel the heat! [써니] 전 세계가 우릴 주목해.
[All] Girls’ generation make’em feel the heat! [Sunny] 全世界都在注目你.

[All] (Bring the boys out)

[티파니] 세상을 이끌 남자, 멋진 여자들. 여기 모여라 [All] You know the girls?
[Tiffany] 要指引世界上的男人. 帥氣的女人們都聚集在這裡吧 [All] You know the girls?

[All] (Bring the boys out)

C'est la vie - This is life

I think it is very common to add some words or phrases of other lanuages in English songs, and also adding English in Chinese songs. But there is a special song I like very much that it's in Madarin with a famous French expression "C'est la vie".

And C'est la vie is also the name of the song, which means "this is life"

Ne laisse pas le temps, te décevoir…
….Il ne peut être conquis…
Dans la tristesse,
dans la douleur…
Aujourd'hui,
demain…
Au fil du temps…
Le temps …
C'est la vie…


也許我會再遇見你
像戀人般重逢美麗
看你滿臉鬍渣的笑意 爽朗一如往昔
C'est La Vie
C'est La Vie
C'est La Vie

走一個城市的陌生 走到了
曙光無知無覺的黎明
一路微笑的滿天繁星 消失在日出裡
C'est La Vie
C'est La Vie
C'est La Vie
With a boy at the beginning speaking French, just make the song even more lovely. It doesn't even matter if what he says makes sense lol
Hope you guys enjoy the song, especially girls:) also enjoy the beautiful French language!

Chopsticks, C'est moi

Since I was born, I've long been skinny. But I've never found it a problem cuz I live in Hong Kong where in a place people prefer "small size" girls. lol
But this year, I met some western students. Since then, I've got a new name - Chopsticks

And obviously, it is because I look like chopsticks. Like people think I'm too skinny that I'm just like chopsticks. At first, my closed freinds and I may found it offensive. But then, I started to found it kind of actually funny. And chopstaicks can be my own unique discription. I see no problem of being chopsticks anyway:P as long as I eat as much as I want:)

 

And also since I knew all these western freinds, and also I'm going to France soon, I'm so used to using some common expression in French. C'est moi means it's me.

 

Talking back about "moi", being called chopsticks is funny but actually also a kind of  weird thing, cuz in Chinese society, we usually use 排骨(rib) or 竹(bamboo) to discript skinny girls. But chopsticks? It's actually cute lol C'est moi:) 

Short Summary of Cyber buzzwords relate to Englsih(per 3 weeks by Andy)

    I have introduced the origin and evolution of Chinese cyber buzzwords. I think it is a good time to give you a short summary of Chinese cyber buzzwords relate to Englsih. So that you can know more about Chinese cyber buzzwords.


1、no zuo no die

　　不作死就不會死

　　This phrase is of Chinglish origin. Means if you don't do stupid things, they won't come back and bite you in the ass. (But if you do, they most certainly will。) Zuo /zwo/ is a Chinese character meaning 'act silly or daring (for attention)'

　　這個短語的含義是：如果你不做蠢事，就不會有壞事發生。(如果你做了，壞事很可能找上門。)“作”在“作死”這個漢語中的意思是“(為引起別人註意)做蠢事/做魯莽的事”。

　　【例句】

　　A: Some dude baked cookies shaped like iPhone, held it by the mouth when driving, tried to mess with traffic cops。

　　A：有個位老兄做了一些像iPhone的餅幹，一邊開車一邊叼在嘴裏，以引起交警的註意。

　　B: Did he pull it off?

　　B：他成功了嗎？

　　A: Cop was pissed and ran his name through the system. Turns out he's got speed tickets unpaid!

　　A：警察被惹怒了，在系統中查詢了他的名字，然後他就拿到了超速的罰單。

　　B: No zuo no die。

　　B：不作死就不會死。

　　
2、you can you up

　　你行你上啊

　　Translated from Chinglish. If you can do it then you should go up and do it. It's used against people who criticize others' work, especially when the criticizer is not that much better. Often followed by "no can no BB", which means "if you can't do it then don't even criticize it"。

　　中式英語翻譯而來。如果你行，你就應該去去做這件事。這句話用來諷刺那些挑剔別人工作的人，尤其是那些自己本身也做不好的人。通常這句話後會跟著“不行別BB”，意思是“如果你做不了，就不要挑別人的刺”。

　　【例句】

　　"That person does not deserve the award."

　　“那個人不應該得獎的。”

　　"You can you up."

　　“你行你上啊！”

　　3、tuhao

　　土豪

　　Chinese nouveau riche. New money, mostly not well spent。

　　專指中國的暴發戶，新的富人階層，通常會胡亂花錢以炫耀。

　　The tuhao have become a punching bag on China’s blogosphere for being the symbol of wasteful wealth and unrefined taste。

　　“土豪”一詞在中國的微博及博客上非常流行，用來代表那些浪費金錢又沒品的人。

　　4、gelivable

　　給力

　　adj. A Chinglish word, be able to excite, make someone feel cheerful. ge- in Chinese means give, li- means power, strength or energy。

　　中式英語單詞。含義是人激動的，令人興高采烈的。漢語中的“給”意思是提供，“力”意思是能力、力量或能量。

　　【例句】

　　1. Wow, China overtakes Japan as world's second-biggest economy, it is so gelivable!

　　哇，中國超越日本成為世界第二大經濟體，真給力！

　　2. It is gelivable that Spain won 2010 FIFA's World Cup, Spain FTW。

　　西班牙隊奪得了2010年世界杯冠軍，真給力！西班牙必勝！

　　5、people mountain people sea

　　人山人海

　　It means there are a lot of people in some place, very crowded. usually describe a big event, a scene。

　　很久以前的流行用語，漢語直譯，形容某地有很多人，非常擁擠。通常用來描述一個大型的活動或者一种景象。

　　The word comes from Chinese idiom. It is a Chinese English word, just like "long time no see"。

　　這個詞語來自中國成語，和“long time no see”一樣屬於中式英語單詞。

　　【例句】

　　The parade is great, there is people mountain people sea。

　　閱兵式非常壯觀，人山人海。

　　6、zhuangbility
　　裝逼

　　It's Chinese English. In Chinese, 'Zhuang' means 'play'. 'Bi' is 'pussy' in English. Literally 'zhuangbility' means 'to play pussy' or 'state or action of playing pussy'。

　　中式英語詞匯。在漢語中，“裝”的意思是“偽裝”，“逼”是指英語中的“下體”。從字面上來看，“裝逼”的意思是“偽裝下體”，意為“裝成很厲害的樣子”。

　　Zhuangbility means 'to boast' or somewhat in English。

　　“裝逼”在英語中的意思是無緣無故地自誇。

　　7、niubility

　　牛逼

　It's a Chinglish. In Chinese Niu means cow,which also means that someone is very capable. Bi (pronunciation Bee)， which is used to refer a person rudely, means pussy or fomally genital。

　　中式英語詞匯。在漢語中，“Niu”的意思是牛，也含有某人很厲害很有能力的意思。“Bi”(發Bee音)是對人的粗魯稱呼，意思是“下體”，或者正式點說是生殖器。

　　8、shability

　　傻逼

　　'Sha' means 'silly' in Chinese. 'Bi' means 'pussy' in Chinese. 'A silly pussy' means 'a fool' or 'a person that makes everything worse'。

　　“傻”在漢語中的意思是“愚蠢”，“逼”在漢語中的意思是“下體”。“傻逼”的意思是“傻瓜”或“總是把一切搞得一團糟的人”。

    Though using cyber buzzword is thing just like joking, you need to use it carefully. Like the word shability, someone might just think you are joking, but others might get angry. So be careful.


參考資料：
Urban Dictionary
http://zh.urbandictionary.com/
http://bonnie0616.blog.hexun.com.tw/93749684_d.html

Abroad Friends

Abroad Friends 

Justine Shank

        Something that no one tells you before going abroad is that your friends become your family. People tell you that you will miss your family, but no one informs you of the latter. During my abroad experience in Hong Kong my close friends have been my shoulder to cry on, support system, and source of a good time. My experience in Hong Kong would be dramatically different if I did not have friends as good as the ones I have now.

        With the help of modern day technology it is quite easy to talk to my family back in the states (minus the inconvenience of a 13 hour time difference), however it is hard to get there opinion and support about my life across the globe because they do not know anyone I am friends with and they have never been to Asia. This is where my new friends shine. My exchange student friends are great to talk with because we are all going through similar experiences. My local friends are great because they help me assimilate into the city, and show me things that google and MapQuest cannot help me find.  

 

When I was in the Philippines last weekdend for an Ultimate Frisbee tournament I sprained my ankle on the morning of our very first day! It was so hot out and we couldnt find crutches anywhere. I was in pain and grumpy because I was not going to be able to play in the tournament I came to play in. My friend Michael was there to comfort me and LITERALLY carried me around all day on his back in the hot Philippino sun.

 

Before getting injured I was suppose to play with a local Manila team. They seemed really cool and fun, but when they put me in the team Facebook group I realized they were really hard to understand. What ever language they speak is not even translatable with google translate!

 

Examples:

 

 

 

Yesterday at 7:06am

CGY ! Thank you kaayo sa opportunity na inyu gi hatag nako to play in your team. Wala jud ko ga mahay !!
Daghan kay ko nakat.unan sa karon nga spirits. Kahibaw ko kamo sad. Gamiton ni nato to grow as a player and ultimately, as a team.
Layo pa kaayu mo ug ma abtan CGY. Just keep training and pushing each other to do better. Know your weakness and make them your strength.
...

Daghang salamat kaninyong tanan ! See you soon ninjas !

 

November 24 at 2:26pm

Thank you CGY NINJAS for giving me the chance to learn new things with the team. Mas na encourage ko nga mu improve and hopefully if God permits maka dula pako next year utro sa spirits...

 

 

November 20 at 10:35am

Ms. Mariel,
Nako. Nde na po kayo lahat eligible for early reg dahil ang last day for early reg ay oct 31. yung total payment nio samin P27,300 divided by 2500 ay 11 players plus ting so 12 lang sainyo nagqqualify for early reg. the rest regular reg na. Kaya ko tinatanong sino nagbayad ng maaga sainyo.
reply sakong email. gi kapoy nakog pasabot nga gi consider ta ni sir peng. mu insist gyud sya. atay. kamo explain beh

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

英語中的外來語(來自中文) - Cherbi Wong

 來自中文的英文字(在大英文字典擁有的歷史悠久的英文字)有大約三十個，其中少於十個常用。大部分是18世紀之後來自普通話，通常非現代系統化的羅馬化中文或拼音。

　　來自普通話

　　Bonsai 盆栽(花卉的一種)

　　chow mein 炒麵

　　Cheong-sam 長衫。原特指女性節慶時穿的紅色旗袍，後泛指袍裝。

　　Confucius 孔子。顯然是從“孔夫子”音譯而來。

　　coolie(koolie) 苦力(做工的苦力，源自美國西部修鐵路時期對中國和亞洲人的稱呼)

　　Fengshui 風水。現在看風水在美國已是很時髦的事了，各種相關書籍充斥市場。

　　Ginseng 人參。主要指北美一帶出產的“花旗參”，又稱“西洋參”。

　　Gung-ho 熱情高漲，極感興趣。這個詞在美語裡用的頻率特高，人們常掛在嘴邊，比如：At first everyone is gung-ho about this idea.But now no-body even talks about it.(剛開始大家對這個想法都抱有極大的興趣和熱情。而現在誰也不提它了)。但對於這個詞的原意卻說法不一。有人認為是從“幹活”這個詞派生而來，也有人認為是從公共合作社的縮寫“公合”而來，還有人認為是從“更好”這個詞轉化來的。筆者傾向于此詞派生於“幹活” 的說法。

　　IChing (《易經》)

　　Kowtow (極其卑順的態度)(1804年來自“叩頭”)

　　Kungfu (中國武術)(來自“功夫”)

　　Lao-tzu (老子)

　　Lychee或litche (1588年來自“荔枝”)

　　Gung ho或gung-ho(熱心) (1939年來自“共和”)

　　Kaolin (1727年來自“高嶺”)

　　Kylin (1857年來自“麒麟”)

　　Longan (1732年來自“龍眼”)

　　Mahjong或Mah-jong (1920年來自“麻將”)

　　Pe-tsai (1795年來自“白菜”)

　　Petuntse (1727年來自“白墩子”)

　　Sampan (指單帆或需用槳劃的小船。)(1620年來自“舢板”)

　　Silk (絲綢。)(源于中文的“絲”。)

　　Suan-pan (1736年來自“算盤”)

　　Tao (1736年來自“道”)

　　TaoTeChing 《道德經》。

　　Tai chi (1736年來自“太極”)

　　Taipan(大商行的總經理) (1834年來自“大班”)

　　Tofu (1880年來自“豆腐”)

　　Toumingdu(透明度) (來自1980年代中英談判期間用語“透明度”)

　　Tong 秘密組織，幫會。從漢語“堂”派生而來。

　　Tuchun (1917年來自“督軍”)

　　Tung(油桐屬) (1788年來自“桐”)

　　Wampee(一種果) (1830年來自“黃皮”)

　　Whangee(一種竹) (1790年來自“黃藜”)

　　Yin yang (1671年來自“陰陽”)

　　Yamen (1747年來自“衙門”)

　　來自粵語

　　Typhoon (1771年來自“颱風”)

　　Dim sum (1948年來自“點心”)

　　Yum cha (大概15年前來自“飲茶”[2004])

　　Wok (1952年來自“鑊(炒鍋)”)

　　Bok choy (1938年來自“白菜”，比Pe-tsai常用)

　　Chop-suey (1888年來自“雜碎”)

　　Won ton (1948年來自“雲吞”)

　　Paktong(一種錢幣) (1775年來自“白銅”)

　　Sycee(一種錢幣) (1711年來自“絲”)

　　Souchong(一種茶) (1760年來自“小種”)

　　來自廈門話

　　Cumshaw(賞錢) (1839年來自“感謝”)

We always say there are lots of borrowing words from Egnlish, like bus巴士, miniskirt 迷你裙, hot dog熱狗 etc. Actually, since China has more interaction with the world and thanks to the development of cyber culture, people from all around the world can know more about Chinese culture.

Chinese slang, idiom, or even food name are very difficult to be translated. Therefore, the solution is always transliteration-Pinyin. For examples, Tai chi 太極, Yin yang 陰陽 etc.

The movie Kungfu Panda 功夫熊貓 is very famous in Western countries and it is produced by USA. This is a successful case showing that the Western countries accept many lexical items of Chinese as English and they can understand the meaning. This again show the media discourse drives the development of spread of Chinese.