Today I want to talk about some Chinese words that are very hard to translate into English.

今天要來跟大家聊聊很難翻譯成英文的中文

Translation requires certain skills and knowledge.

翻譯真的是一門學問

Being good at Chinese and English doesn't equal to a good translator.

不是你中文好、英文好就等於你會翻譯

Translation is an ability developed through a long time of training and experience.

他是一個長時間訓練跟培養的經驗跟能力

But no matter how experienced you are,

不過不管你累積多少經驗

There are just some words in Chinese that are very hard to translate into English.

中文當中有一些單字就是非常非常難翻譯成英文的

I think there are two possibilities:

那我自己覺得有兩種可能：

First, the word has too many meanings under different circumstances.

第一是它涵蓋的意思太多層面了

So there isn't an exact corresponding word in English

沒有辦法直接對照到一個英文單字

that has the same variety of meanings.

同樣有這麼多豐富的意思

Second, the concepts of the word might not exist in foreign countries.

第二是因為可能國外沒有存在這些概念

Therefore, it is hard to translate the word due to cultural differences.

所以因為文化差異很難把這些中文翻譯成英文

I've collected some Chinese words that are difficult to translate,

今天我整理了幾個我個人覺得很難翻譯的中文

and I'm just going to translate them no matter how bad the translation is.

我也會嘗試著把他們硬翻

Well I mean, to "explain", to explain in English.

不是硬翻，「解釋」，解釋成英文

I also hope to discuss with you guys.

那希望也可以跟大家討論一下

"加油" could mean...good luck,

加油可能是...祝你好運

cheer up,

安慰你不要難過

encourage to do better,

勉勵你可以做的更好

or to do your best...

或者是鼓勵你全力以赴...

Way too many meanings!

意思太多了吧！

Oh I know, you can say "fighting"

阿我知道了可以說 "fighting"

"Fighting!"

"Fighting!"

Nope, that's Korean.

欸不對那是韓文

If we look at these meanings separately,

如果我們把這一些意思分開來看得話

you can say "good luck" for "祝好運"

祝好運可以說 "good luck"

"cheer up" for "安慰人"

安慰人可以說 "cheer up"

"keep it up" for "勉勵人"

勉勵人可以說 "keep it up"

"go for it" for "鼓勵人".

那鼓勵人的話可以說 "go for it"

Another explanation is that,

另外一種看法

you can describe it as "我支持你"

加油你也可以把他視為「我支持你」

In English, that is "I'm rooting for you".

所以英文的話可以說 "I’m rooting for you"

The word "靠杯" is from Taiwanese.

靠杯這一詞應該是來自台語

The usage is really complicated.

他的用法真的很複雜

It's even hard to explain it in Chinese, you know what I'm saying?

就是你用中文解釋也很難解釋，你知道嗎？

How about you tell me what exactly does "靠杯" mean?

你解釋看看，就是靠杯是什麼意思？

For example, you can tell someone to stop "靠杯".

比如說你可以叫一個人不要靠杯

Or you can describe a person as "靠杯".

或者是直接形容某一個人很靠杯嘛

They mean different things.

這好像是不同的意思

And there are many Facebook pages that belong to "靠杯" series.

還有很多的團隊都是靠杯系列的有沒有？

"靠杯" girlfriend.

靠杯女友

"靠杯" boyfriend.

靠杯男友

"靠杯" husband.

靠杯老公

"靠杯" wife.

靠杯老婆

"靠杯" NTHU.

靠杯清大

"靠杯" engineers.

靠杯工程師

"靠杯"...planet!

靠杯．．．星球！

"靠杯" planet, and 靠杯 planet.

靠杯星球，還有靠杯星球～

There is really no such a word in English that contains those meanings.

英文真的沒有一個字可以涵蓋這麼多範圍

But we can try to break it down.

不過我們試試看分開來解釋

When "靠杯" is used as a verb, it means "抱怨".

靠杯，當動詞就是抱怨的意思

In English it could be "complain", "whine", or "grumble".

那英文的話可以說 complain, whine, 或者是 grumble

Thus if you want to tell a person to stop "靠杯" or "抱怨"

所以如果你要叫一個人不要靠杯、不要抱怨

You could say "stop complaining"

你可以跟他說，"stop complaining"

"stop whining" or "stop grumbling".

"stop whining" 或者是 "stop grumbling"

If you want to describe a person as "靠杯",

那如果你是形容一個人很靠杯的話

it should mean he is really "機車",

意思應該是，他很機車

at the same time,

不過

a bit funny also.

又有一點好笑

How do you even translate it?

嘖，就這要怎麼翻譯

How the hell am I supposed to do with it?

這到底要怎麼翻譯？！

Ok, so if we want to describe a person as "機車",

好如果我們說一個人機車的話

we can just use the word "annoying".

可以就直接用形容詞 "annoying"

But there is more to that, which is the meaning "funny".

不過不能只有機車，要好笑

Alright, annoying and funny at the same time.

好，又機車又好笑

Oh, okok, I know how to do this.

好，OKOK，我知道怎麼翻了

I get it.

好我想到了

The best solution is to put "annoying"

最好的解決方式就是把討人厭 "annoying"

and "funny"

跟搞笑 "funny"

together as

加在一起變成是

"annoyingly funny"

"annoyingly funny"

......

.....

Yep, I suck, but whatever.

對，我就是要翻得這麼爛

This one is actually not that hard.

這個其實不難翻譯

It's just hard to translate into something that is easy to understand.

只是很難翻譯得讓人聽得懂

"孝順" in English is "filial piety".

孝順的英文翻譯是 filial piety

Let's break it down, filial means son and daughter.

拆開來看 filial 是兒女的

Piety means respect, or even veneration.

那 piety 是尊重，甚至到有一種敬畏的感覺

Why is it hard to understand? Because even if you translate in this way,

為什麼很難懂呢，是因為就算這樣子翻譯了

it's still hard for foreigners to get it,

外國人還是很難聽得懂

since it's not a common word.

因為這個不是一個常見的單字

I think it might be that in our culture,

我覺得可能是因為在我們的文化裡面

filial piety is highly valued.

還蠻重視盡孝道，就是孝順這個觀念

It's probably not very common in foreign countries.

這個可能是在國外沒有的狀況

In western culture, kids are eager to be independent.

在國外小孩子都很渴望獨立

They don't usually live with their parents when they become adults.

可能是一成年就會搬出家自己住

They gather with families only on important holidays and festivals.

只有在重大節日的時候才會跟家人聚在一起

Yeah, so, I AM a filial son.

額對所以，我很孝順

I still live with my parents till now.

我到現在都還是跟爸媽一起住

Alright, this word can also be used in many situations.

好這個也適用(於)很多狀況

But the most common one is to express appreciation.

不過最常見的用法應該就是在感謝某人

For example,

比如說你看

I work hard and upload videos on time every week.

阿滴每個禮拜都這麼努力準時的上傳影片

There might be people want to say "辛苦了" to me.

可能就會有人想要跟我說辛苦了

I don't know, I mean

不知道啦，不是我是在說

there MIGHT be people who want to say that to me

可能會有人會想要這樣子說嘛

right?

對不對

If you want to express "謝謝一個人付出的努力"

那如果是謝謝一個人付出的努力的話

you could say "thanks for your hard work".

可以說 thanks for your hard work

Another situation is that

那還有另外一個狀況可能是

when someone achieved something after a demanding process.

在經過一番辛苦之後，成就了某件事情

In this case, you can say

那這時候呢，你可以跟他說

"Nice work!", "Well done!" or just "You did it!"

Nice work!, Well done! 或是簡單的 You did it!

I think the word "中二" is also really deep.

我覺得中二這個形容詞也是很有層次

It has many meanings. Like what?

他包含很多的意思，有什麼呢？

For example, self-centered, delusional, childish,

比如說自我中心、自以為是、幼稚

and wants to attract attentions by all kinds of weird acts.

然後想要用各式各樣奇怪的方式引起你注意的

Try describe this kind of people.

形容這樣子的人

I'm not sure whether this word comes from Japan or Korea.

不知道這個詞是不是從日本或是韓國來的

Because in those two languages,

因為在這兩個語言裡面

they both have the exact same word.

都有一模一樣的翻譯

중2병 & ちゅうにびょう

중2병 & ちゅうにびょう

Alright, so if you want to express

好如果你想要把以上特質

all the characteristics above at once, you can say

一次全部爽快地罵出來的話你可說

You are a self-centered

You are a self-centered

delusional, childish, attention-seeking brat.

delusional, childish, attention-seeking brat

Phew, it feels good right.

呼，有沒有很爽快

Or you can just use a very recent usage.

或者是你可以直接使用一個最新穎的翻譯用法

We Asian cultures do affect English sometimes.

我們這些亞洲文化還是會影響英文

It is called, "Eighth Grade Syndrome".

他叫做，Eighth Grade Syndrome

That is the American version of "中二病".

也就是八年級病，就是美國版的中二病

I'm not bullshiting right here. I'm not.

不是我要嘴，真的不是我要嘴

You can google it, there is actually people using that word.

你去 Google 一下，真的有人在這樣子用

"默契" is like, having deep understanding of each other,

所謂的默契就是，有彼此深入的了解

and work very well together.

以及可以合作無間的搭配

This kind of relationship is like plant and

這個關係就是像是我跟

I

plantie

plantie, this plant right here, plantie.

plantie 這個植物，plantie

So to describe "默契" you can use "mutual understanding",

彼此的了解可以說 mutual understanding

and "make a great team".

合作無間可以說 make a great team

Ok, it sounds bad when saying them separately.

好，分開來說馬上就弱掉了

There is another way to say this,

是有另外一個說法

"to have great chemistry with someone".

to have great chemistry with someone

It means two people get along very well.

來形容兩個人很合得來

But usually, it is used between a boy and a girl.

不過通常來說，大部分，他是在形容男女之間的

Therefore, if you happen to be describing

所以如果你要形容的剛好是

the "默契" between you and your lover,

你跟你的閃之間的默契的話

then it's appropriate to say that.

欸你就可以用這個

Alright, today I talked about so many Chinese words that are hard to interpret.

好今天討論了這麼多難翻譯的中文

Do you feel like I just randomly came up with the translations?

有沒有覺得我都在硬掰呢？

Oh no, I mean, did I answer you guys' questions?

阿沒有不是，有沒有讓大家解惑了呢？

Although we've talked about today,

那今天討論這麼多

I believe that there are still many Chinese words that are hard to translate left.

應該還是有很多其他很難以翻譯的中文

If you have some examples, please leave the message to tell us.

如果有的話，可以留在下面的留言區

Maybe we could do an episode 2!

說不定我們可以做第二集喔！

If you like this video, press like!

如果你喜歡這個影片，請幫我按個讚！

If you want to watch more videos

如果想要看到更多影片

you can click the button right here to subscribe to our YouTube channel!

可以點這一邊的按鈕訂閱我們的 YouTube 頻道！

We have new video come out every Monday and Thursday, at 9 o'clock!

我們每個禮拜一跟四的晚上9點都會有新影片！

We also have Instagram and Facebook fanpage.

我們在 Instagram 跟 Facebook 也都有帳號

Just type in "阿滴英文" or "Ray Du English" to find us!

可以用 阿滴英文 或者是 Ray Du English 來搜尋到我們！

And that’s a wrap, thank you guys for watching, as always

And that’s a wrap, thank you guys for watching, as always

and I’ll catch you guys next time! See ya!

and I’ll catch you guys next time! See ya!