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Change log entry 73238
Processed by: ycandau (2021-07-10 17:26:36 GMT)
Comment: << review queue entry 68915 - submitted by 'richwarm' >>
Can it mean "predict death"?
I didn't see that sense in any of a dozen or so dicts.

I suspect Miles added "to predict death" because one of the top G results is the Wp article for 報喪女妖 (banshee).
A banshee is said to herald the death of a family member.
Wp ~ "a female spirit in Irish folklore who heralds the death of a family member"

Wp quotes one source: "The cry of this spirit is mournful beyond all other sounds on earth, and betokens certain death to some member of the family whenever it is heard in the silence of the night."
"certain death" -- This is really more like early notification (heralding) rather than a "prediction" which may or may not eventuate.

In any case, "to predict death" should only be included if 报丧 has that sense in contexts other than just 報喪女妖.

Similar to the banshee, in Chinese culture, the crow is said to herald a death.
There's an example in NA translated as follows: "According to grandma, crows announce misfortune [报丧], ..."
Of course, "announce" is not the same as "predict".


TP
報喪的烏鴉?
Bearing bad tidings

一家員工規模達到二千人的服務業公司資訊部專員,被指派來聽Y2K演講後大吃一驚,原來千禧蟲如此棘手,而他的公司截至目前還有沒做任何因應動作。然而要不要將聽講內容據實回報呢?「現在提這些,太遲了吧?」他一臉猶疑地說,「我可不敢當報喪的烏鴉,搞不好還會害(資訊部)老闆被炒魷魚!」
A programmer at a 2000-employee company in the service sector was sent by his company to listen to a speech on the Y2K issue, and he was shocked at what he learned. His company had done nothing to address its Y2K problem. He found himself in a dilemma about whether he ought to give an honest report on what he had learned. "It's too late to do anything about it," he thought to himself, "and besides, I don't dare be the one to deliver the bad news, because it might get my boss fired."
Diff:
- 報喪 报丧 [bao4 sang1] /to announce sb's demise/to predict death/
+ 報喪 报丧 [bao4 sang1] /to announce sb's demise/
By MDBG 2024
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