| Change log entry 2741 | |
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| Processed by: | miles (2008-03-08 10:54:34 UTC) |
| Comment: |
I think "jinx" is probably a mistranslation. "jinxing mouth" is a Chinese attempting to translate "inauspicious talk that causes disaster". Miles << review queue entry 3204 - submitted by 'richwarm' >> These two words are among the first Chinese words I learned. My wife used one to describe our son when he was 3 or 4 years old, while the other was used to reprove me if I spoke of some misfortune that might occur in the future. Each of them describes human behaviour by reference to animals which possess sensitive olfactory capabilities and are regarded as repulsive -- crows and flies. 烏鴉嘴 has much the same superstitious sentiment as expresssions like "knock on wood". There's an interesting discussion of 烏鴉嘴 at http://www.proz.com/kudoz/799200 This webpage offers "jinx" as a translation for 烏鴉嘴 and says, in part: ...中国人向来对乌鸦没有好感，可能是因为其凶猛霸道，满身全黑，叫声凄凉。再加上有吃死食的习性，就更不讨喜了。在中国古代，传说乌鸦有一种特异功能，能闻出即将死去的人身上散发出的一种特殊气味。乌鸦便能凭其特别敏锐的嗅觉，事先闻到他身上的死亡之气，很快飞到他的屋顶上，“哇哇”大叫，欢迎死神早日来临，能尽快取其精华，饱餐一顿。这可能就是人们常把说不吉利话的人称为“乌鸦嘴”的原因。 |
| Diff: |
- 烏鴉嘴 乌鸦嘴 [wu1 ya1 zui3] /foul-mouthed/a person with disgusting speech habits/ + 烏鴉嘴 乌鸦嘴 [wu1 ya1 zui3] /lit. crow's beak; fig. harbinger of doom/Cassandra/boring person constantly cawing about disaster/to tempt fate by mentioning misfortune/inauspicious topic bringing bad luck/jinx/ + 卡桑德拉 卡桑德拉 [Ka3 sang1 de2 la1] /Cassandra (name)/Cassandra, daughter of king Priam in Greek mythology/prophet of doom/ + 禍事 祸事 [huo4 shi4] /disaster/doom/ + 希臘神話 希腊神话 [Xi1 la4 shen2 hua4] /Greek mythology/ + 希神 希神 [Xi1 shen2] /Greek mythology/abbr. for 希臘神話|希腊神话/ - 哪兒 哪儿 [na3 er5] /where?/wherever/anywhere/ + 哪兒 哪儿 [na3 r5] /where?/wherever/anywhere/ # # zi3 already in - 金龜子 金龟子 [jin1 gui1 zi5] /Scarabaeidae/ - 金龜子 金龟子 [jin1 gui1 zi3] /scarab (Scarabeus sacer)/ + 金龜子 金龟子 [jin1 gui1 zi3] /scarab (Scarabeus sacer)/beetle/ + 糞金龜子 粪金龟子 [fen4 jin1 gui1 zi3] /dung beetle/ + 糞金龜 粪金龟 [fen4 jin1 gui1] /dung beetle/ + 跟屁蟲 跟屁虫 [gen1 pi4 chong2] /lit. bum beetle/sb who tags along/to shadow/sycophant/boot-licker/name of computer virus/ + 打屁股 打屁股 [da3 pi4 gu5] /to spank sb's bottom/ + 跟屁股 跟屁股 [gen1 pi4 gu5] /to tag along behind/to follow sb closely/ |