| Change log entry 69079 | |
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| Processed by: | richwarm (2020-02-05 21:19:08 GMT) |
| Comment: |
<< review queue entry 65646 - submitted by 'becky82' >> Hi, my first attempt here: apologies if I'm doing anything wrong. We discussed 话不投机 on: https://chinese.stackexchange.com/questions/36706/does-the-chengyu-%e8%af%9d%e4%b8%8d%e6%8a%95%e6%9c%ba-hu%c3%a0-b%c3%b9-t%c3%b3u-j%c4%ab-mean-uncongenial-speech The first change (话不投机半句多): (a) I feel "get sour" is ungrammatical; it should be "go sour". (b) I add a figurative definition. The second change (话不投机): this is my best phrasing based on feedback at Chinese Stack Exchange. I also include "when words go sour" to match the longer phrase, but I don't feel it's precise ["when" implies the concept of time, which is not part of the chengyu]. ------------------------------ Editor: Hi Becky, and welcome! I see from your stackexchange profile (math genealogy link) that you did a PhD in maths at Monash University. It so happens that I also did a degree in pure maths at Monash! 1) I think it's tricky to find the best English wording for 话不投机半句多, and agree our current phrasing is perhaps not the best. 2) Regarding "fig. in an unagreeable conversation, half a sentence is too much" ... that's actually more of a *literal* definition rather than a figurative one. 3) "unagreeable" is not a word that is commonly used, compared to "disagreeable". "unagreeable" is not in any of the following dictionaries: Merriam-Webster Oxford Dictionaries Online American Heritage but "disagreeable" is in all of them. 4) 话不投机 isn't a noun phrase, so a noun phrase translation like "unenjoyable talk" isn't appropriate as a definition. It's more sentence-like: "the conversation is unenjoyable" or some such. 5) Here's an example of 话不投机 from a magazine, along with the magazine's English translation: 2006年，張錫透過一位香港朋友介紹，認識周星馳，這位朋友當時提醒張錫，私底下的周星馳話很少，若話不投機，不到3分鐘，他馬上轉頭走人；結果沒想到兩人一見如故，興趣相投，話匣子一開就是3小時。 In 2006 a Hong Kong friend of Chang’s introduced him to Chow. The friend warned Chang that the private Chow was taciturn by inclination and would leave within three minutes if he didn’t find the conversation to his liking. Yet finding that they shared the same interests, the two hit it off right away, chatting like old friends for three hours. |
| Diff: |
- 話不投機半句多 话不投机半句多 [hua4 bu4 tou2 ji1 ban4 ju4 duo1] /when words get sour, adding words is useless (idiom)/ # + 話不投機半句多 话不投机半句多 [hua4 bu4 tou2 ji1 ban4 ju4 duo1] /when words go sour, adding words is useless (idiom)/fig. in an unagreeable conversation, half a sentence is too much/ # + 話不投機 话不投机 [hua4 bu4 tou2 ji1] /unagreeable or unenjoyable talk (idiom)/when words go sour/ # # Editor: + 話不投機半句多 话不投机半句多 [hua4 bu4 tou2 ji1 ban4 ju4 duo1] /when views are irreconcilable, it's a waste of breath to continue discussion (idiom)/ + 話不投機 话不投机 [hua4 bu4 tou2 ji1] /the conversation is disagreeable (idiom)/ |