| Change log entry 71551 | |
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| Processed by: | richwarm (2021-02-16 01:59:33 GMT) |
| Comment: |
<< review queue entry 64389 - submitted by 'sl89' >> cf. 耐心; 不耐烦 Although I see it often translated as "patient" it doesn't mean exactly the same thing. Compare the Chinese definitions for 耐心 (不急躁，不厌烦) with the definitions for 耐烦, below. 耐心 mostly corresponds to the English word "patient" but 耐烦 is trickier to translate. My feeling is that 耐心, patient, is generally related to time, to waiting, while 耐烦 is about being able to endure something, no matter how short a time it takes. (耐烦 is almost always used in the negative, and "impatient" does seem a better translation for 不耐烦 than "patient" is for 耐烦. I wonder why that is, or if I'm even right about that.) * Possibly related to the aside above: there's an entry for 不耐烦, is it necessary when most dictionaries already note 耐烦 is usually used in the negative? (Currently we have "耐烦: patient" and "不耐烦: impatient".) Also, defining an adjective with "not its opposite" in brackets looks a bit silly. 【Wenlin】 s[tative].v.[erb] ① patient | 他不耐烦地说… | He said impatiently ... ② able to bear; endure 【Pleco】 ADJECTIVE [usu. in the negative] patient | 显出不耐烦的样子 | show signs of impatience VERB be patient enough to bear | 谁耐烦你的絮叨？ | Who can bear your endless chatter? 【LAC】 忍耐性强，不怕烦。 | 别不～ | 教育孩子要～。 【MoE】 能耐烦琐，忍耐。 |《红楼梦．第一九回》：「我今儿听得我妈和哥哥商议，教我再耐烦一年，明年他们上来就赎我出去的呢。」 也作「奈烦」。 【规范词典】 形 忍耐性强, 不怕烦(多用于否定) | 伺候病人要十分耐心, 可不要不耐烦。 【Wenlin：不耐烦】 s[tative].v[erb]. impatient | 你为什么总是对我不耐烦? | Why are you always impatient with me? 【Pleco：不耐烦】 impatient 【MoE：不耐烦】 急躁、没有耐心。 | 《喻世明言．卷三六．宋四公大闹禁魂张》：「众人不奈烦，入去他房里看时，只见缚着一个老儿。」 也作「不耐烦」。 收版权税又半年六月没消息，‘远水救不得近火’，谁耐烦。” Besides, I haven't heard anything from Shanghai for half a year now. Distant water won't put out a nearby fire. Who's got time to sit around and wait for them anyway?”. (Lyell) And for half a year I've had no word about royalties. Distant water can't put out a nearby fire. Just have to lump it.” (Yangs) Anyway, I haven't heard anything from them for six months now. Distant water won't put out nearby fire. I can't wait for ever.” (Lovells) 鲁迅，《端午节》 柳妈不耐烦的看着她的脸，说。 said Mother Liu, looking at her impatiently. (Lyell) Amah Liu glanced with irritation at her face. (Yangs) Mrs Liu glanced impatiently at her. (Lovell) 鲁迅,《祝福》 我愈不耐烦了，努着嘴走远。 Now I was really out of patience. I curled my lips in contempt and walked away. (Lyell) My patience exhausted, I scowled and made off. (Yangs) I walked off, scowling. (Lovell) 鲁迅，《孔乙己》 我暗想我和掌柜的等级还很远呢，而且我们掌柜也从不将茴香豆上账；又好笑，又不耐烦，懒懒的答他道，“谁要你教，不是草头底下一个来回的回字么？” It seemed to me I was a long way from ever becoming manager. Besides, my boss never wrote "fennel-flavored beans" on the checks anyway. I was amused, but running out of patience too. I answered in an offhand way meant to show that I didn't really care one way or the other. "Who needs you to teach me? Isn't it a grass radical on top with the character 'back,' like in the phrase 'back and forth,' on the bottom?" (Lyell) It seemed to me I was still very far from owning a shop; besides, our employer never entered hui-xiang peas in the account book. Amused yet exasperated, I answered listlessly: Who wants you as a teacher? "Isn't it the character hui with the grass radical?" (Yangs) Personally, I thought I was a long way off becoming a manager; and anyway, the present incumbent never included aniseed beans in the accounts. The whole thing was ridiculous. 'Keep your characters to yourself,' I retorted sulkily. 'Anyway, it's just ? hui, the hui for "return", with the grass radical on top, isn't it?” ' 鲁迅，《孔乙己》 他说话声音很细小，好似不大耐烦 和小学生们说话。 老舍，《牛天赐传》 ---------------------------------------------- Editor: 1) <quote> "impatient" does seem a better translation for 不耐烦 than "patient" is for 耐烦. I wonder why that is, or if I'm even right about that. <unquote> Here's my take on that: I think - 耐心 means "patient" in the sense "prepared to spend plenty of time to achieve something" (or the noun "preparedness to ...") e.g. 「做有機沒有捷徑，必須耐心用時間換取土地健康。」“There are no shortcuts when you farm organically. You’ve got to gradually nurse the soil back to health,” - 耐煩 means "patient" in a sense more like "able to put up with something aggravating". And "impatient" is usually opposite to the 2nd of the above two types of patience. <quote> There's an entry for 不耐烦, is it necessary? <unquote> Yes, I think so, because, as discussed above, 不耐烦 can be glossed as "impatient", but "patient" has shades of meaning that need to be differentiated. As you yourself say, 耐烦 "doesn't mean exactly the same thing" as "patient". 2) There are only two examples in the submission where 耐烦 is not preceded by 不. Here are a few more: - 台灣應該對中共耐煩些 - 員工必需心臟超強、耐操耐煩才行。 - 谁耐烦和一家子谈恋爱！ - 一个石膏人头，一朵假花，要一回又一回地描画，谁耐烦？ - 而且，关心这种评价的人也不会很多，有谁耐烦来听一个中学生的胡说八道呢？ 3) <quote> defining an adjective with "not its opposite" in brackets looks a bit silly. <quote> Yes. The editor did that because "patient" on its own could be a noun, and he wanted to make it clear it was meant as an adjective. Your solution ("to be patient") is better, but I'm dropping that gloss since "put up with" conveys the meaning more precisely for affirmative usage, and the entry for 不耐烦 covers negative usage. 4) There's an interesting discussion of "patience" in Chinese here: https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-Chinese-word-for-patience/answer/Robert-Matthews-%E9%A6%AC%E5%AD%B8%E9%80%B2 5) I don't think 不耐烦 is a noun ("impatience") as indicated in our entry, so I'll remove that gloss from the definition. |
| Diff: |
- 耐煩 耐烦 [nai4 fan2] /patient (not impatient)/ # + 耐煩 耐烦 [nai4 fan2] /(often used in the negative) to be able to bear/to be able to endure/to be patient/ # + 耐煩 耐烦 [nai4 fan2] /to put up with (sth disagreeable)/ - 不耐煩 不耐烦 [bu4 nai4 fan2] /impatience/impatient/ + 不耐煩 不耐烦 [bu4 nai4 fan2] /impatient/to lose patience/ |