Puppet

 

玩偶

Puppet

 

詞：王力宏、崔惟楷  曲：王力宏  編：王力宏 

 

1 當司機 搬東西 幫妳開車門

Acting as your driver, moving things, opening the car door for you.

2 傳隨到陪你逛街 希望你認真 

Always there to shop with you, hope you're serious (with me)

3 你跟別人玩耍 叫我在家愣 

You play around with others, leaving me home alone

4 餵著你的哈士奇 還聽牠說我笨 

Feeding your Husky and hearing it call me dumb

5 我不想讀你的腳本 不想讓你動我的嘴巴 

I don't want to read your scripts and let you move my mouth

6 我不想往身上綁線 不想當你的玩偶～玩偶 

I don't want to be tied with strings, don't want to be your puppet～puppet

7 送你禮物鮮花 幫你修電燈 

Giving you gifts and fresh flowers, helping you fix the lights

8 帶你上山陪你烤肉 還解不了悶 

Taking you to the mountains and barbequing with you, but still bored

9 每天每天痴等 是我太遲鈍 

Keeping waiting for you everyday, am I too dull and slow?

10 想做你的情人 可是感覺像光棍 

I Want to be your lover, but would feel like I'm still single

11 我不想照你的規則 在你的指間 No　

I don't want to play by your rules, between your fingers, NO

12不想當你的玩偶

Don't want to be your puppet

How do we say "意思" in English?

I ran across a Chinese dialogue yesterday, which was so funny that I couldn't hold back my laughter. This dialogue is well written and "意思" is used in every sentence they've said. So I added serveral of my own sentences in this dialogue to make it funnier and more meaningful before sharing with your guys.

 

The most important thing is that in every dialogue sentence in the dialogue is commonly used in our daily conversations. And 意思 has almost 10 different meanings in this short dialogue, which looks simple but it is hard for us to translate it without losing all of its original meaning and flavor. I have to say there's much more to in the dialogue than meets the eye. it is not all looks, no without substance:)

 

“科长阿呆上领导家拜年，呈上红包时，

 

领导问：你这是什么意思？

阿呆：没什么意思，只是意思意思！

领导：都在一个单位的，你这样就不够意思了。

阿呆：承蒙您关照，真的是点小意思。

领导：哈哈！你这个人真有意思。

阿呆：其实真没别的意思！

领导：那我就不好意思了。

阿呆：应该的，大家都感觉到您有升迁的意思。

领导：最近看大家的意思，你们都知道上面的意思了。

阿呆：大家的意思是希望您以后多多关照我们。

领导：明白你们的意思。

 

Your informal writing is better. You wrote it with your heart and so the expressions are more natural.  Good work.  You should write more like this.  I shall try my hand at your translation later :)

 

A literal translation would destroyed the conversation. Such preservation is a must.

 

领导问：你这是什么意思？

Leader: Eh? What's the meaning of this?

阿呆：没什么意思，只是意思意思！

Idiot: Nothing, just a little something!

领导：都在一个单位的，你这样就不够意思了。

We both share the same desk, you are way too much :)

阿呆：承蒙您关照，真的是点小意思。

Thanks for looking after us.  Here's a little token of our esteem.

领导：哈哈！你这个人真有意思。

Haha... You are really something.

阿呆：其实真没别的意思！

Actually, there's no such intention!

领导：那我就不好意思了。

Then I really have to thank you for this.

阿呆：应该的，大家都感觉到您有升迁的意思。

It should be.  We felt that you deserve the promotion.

领导：最近看大家的意思，你们都知道上面的意思了。

On seeing the recent support from you guys, I understand your gesture.

阿呆：大家的意思是希望您以后多多关照我们。

We hope that you will take us under your wing.

领导：明白你们的意思。

I DO understand you.

Thoughts Running Wild Without Rhyme Or Reason Unleashed thoughts, giving free rein to itself. Unlocked thoughts, set free in the endless mind, Uncontained thoughts, roaming ceaselessly day and night Uncontrolled thoughts, disappeared soundlessly without a trace -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 无厘头的思想 无拘无束 无牵无挂 无边无际 无穷无尽 无昼无夜 无休无止 无声无息 无踪无影

Pursuit 生活就如一面镜子， Life is like a mirror, 我们从中认出自己。We recognize ourselves in it. 这是第一要务， It is the first priority, 务须努力求索。 to keep striving to pursue excellence. ---尼采Nietzsche

How do we say "You're so fake" in Chinese?

Further to Beth's question regarding "You're so fake" or "you phony". I'd like to write something about "different Chinese translations for the same English sentence", which depends on what contexts they are used in.

 

I'm trying to cover all the bases and every possible context. Hope these example sentences help us get the gist of it.

 

1.When your friend wears so much makeup, 

 

You would say "you're so fake, guys like natural beauty"

We would say "你也太假了，男的都喜欢自然美"

 

You're so fake you make Barbie look real. 

你也太假了，芭比跟你比都是真的。

 

2.When your friend talks dirty jokes when he is with his friends but as soon as someone important comes along he acts all serious and formal.

 

You would say "you're so fake" to your friend,

We would say "你也太能装了"

 

3.In fact we are all fake, we fake smiles, reactions, our appearance everyday, if your friend pointed out someone was fake, 

 

You would say "You phoney" or "you are so hypocritical" to your friend,

We would say "你也太虚伪了"

 

I can't think of any other context in which "you're so fake or you phoney" is used. I think there might be different Chinese equivalents in different contexts

 

Going back to 虚假，acutally it is used to discribe things, it is rarely used alone to discribe someone who is fake or phony, we might say 虚假做作.

 

BTW, I don't think "you're so fake" and "you phony" are interchangeble and mean the same thing, but I am not sure.<img title="Cry" src="http://www.italki.com/Scripts/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-cry.gif" alt="Cry" border="0" /> 

 

Your thoughts and opinions are always welcome!<img title="Smile" src="http://www.italki.com/Scripts/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-smile.gif" alt="Smile" border="0" />

How to use "才"?

Further to Hannah's question regarding the usage of the word "才". I think I have to write something or initiate a "debate" to get to the bottom of it. Some friends didn't agree with me that "才' doesn't necessarily have to do with TIME.

 

I have to say 才 is an adverb of EMOTION rather than that of Time, which means it is used to convey an emotional message instead of telling us someone was late or not, although sometimes those feelings are connected to the time something happens, which is not enough to prove a direct correlation.

 

他才到。Yes, you might tell me that he just came but it doesn't necessarily mean that he was late.

 

Please don't be fooled by its appearance! Sometimes 他才到 has another meaning. You should look into it below the surface, you should see several layers of it to know what lie behind "才". in most cases, 才 carries the implication of somebody or something didn't come up to your expectations, which is exactly what was conveyed.

 

会议5点开始，现在4点钟，他才到。Actually it is just 4 pm now and meeting will start at 5pm, he has only just arrived. It would mean he is late according to "TIME theory" but the fact is he arrived one hour ahead of time.

 

I think you will get the gist of it if this sentence makes sense to you. There is no denying that the various schools of thought have different opinions on this. All opinions are welcomed<img title="Smile" src="http://www.italki.com/Scripts/tinymce/jscripts/tiny_mce/plugins/emotions/img/smiley-smile.gif" alt="Smile" border="0" />

The Silhouette Of My Father “Hi Dad, please go back,” I said. “Stay put and I will buy you some oranges,” he looked out of the train window and said to me. I saw several peddlers waiting for customers outside fences on the platform a short distance away. But one had to get across the railway tracks and jump down and climb up platforms, in order to get onto the platform over there。 My father was very overweight, so he would have more trouble walking over there. I was going to do it, but he stopped me, I had to let him do it for me. He wore a black skullcap, a black mandarin cotton-padded Jacket, complete with a dark blue mandarin robe, I saw him waddling over to the railway lines and stooping his body slowly, those seemed not very difficult for him. However it would be very difficult for him to get across the railway tracks and get onto the platform. He took hold of the platform edge and his legs lifted upward; his fat body tilted slightly to the left with great strength. Tears rolled down my eyes immediately when I was gazing at his silhouette. -------《The silhouette of my father》 by Ziqing Zhu (1898—1948)------- 我说道：“爸爸，你走吧。”他往车外看了看说：“我买几个橘子去。你就在此地，不要走动。”我看那边月台的栅栏外有几个卖东西的等着顾客。走到那边月台，须穿过铁道，须跳下去又爬上去。父亲是一个胖子，走过去自然要费事些。我本来要去的，他不肯，只好让他去。我看见他戴着黑布小帽，穿着黑布大马褂，深青布棉袍，蹒跚地走到铁道边，慢慢探身下去，尚不大难。可是他穿过铁道，要爬上那边月台，就不容易了。他用两手攀着上面，两脚再向上缩；他肥胖的身子向左微倾，显出努力的样子。这时我看见他的背影，我的泪很快地流下来了。 ------《背影》朱自清------

Could you suggest me which one to go for? I made that mistake once too often for my own welfare. I made that mistake once too many for my own welfare. I made that mistake one time too often for my own welfare. I made that mistake one time too many for my own welfare.

A train of thought Hello Jeff, I mentioned that sometimes I am amazed with my good memory in 《A substitude teacher》 and I can remember things clearly from the distance past, the way some people smile, speak, frown still fresh in my mind, playing inside my head just like a motion picture. Likewise, I can still recall where I learned some special words or characters, whom I learned from. I still remember that my father would test my vocabulary to see if I understood those new Chinese characters or phrases when I was a child. I always got praised every time I got tested, because I not only answered all the questions correctly but also tell him even the page and line numbers where those characters could be found in my textbook. You have added value to our life. If you looked into my brain, deep into my brain, you would find that "some words" has been stored properly and marked with a barcode. Only I pass the "barcode scanners" somewhere in my life, "di-di-di" sound will enter my ear, into my mind... Oh, sorry, I lost my train of thought when I heard the pitterpattering of rain outside, hitting the window.