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Lawman
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Karma: 0 |  | Speech && Chinese {Article}
« Thread Started on Mar 30, 2008, 2:58pm » | |
There's a special vocabulary in Firefly, and I'm not just talking about the Chinese.
It ain't hard to come up with the words on your own, like. It's just about knowin' how folk talk on the show, what stress they put on things 'n how they go about stringin' words together. In context.
ne·ol·o·gism (pronunciation[nee-ol-uh-jiz-uhm]) –noun
1. a new word, meaning, usage, or phrase.
2. the introduction or use of new words or new senses of existing words.
3. a new doctrine, esp. a new interpretation of sacred writings.
______________________________________
The movement to leave Earth-that-was stands out as a remarkable event in human history, one in which cross-cultural cooperation helped to achieve what some thought was impossible. In the effort to find a new home for humanity, the primary powers of the era--the United States of America and China--worked together to create the necessary technology, manpower, and logistics for the largest migration of people ever known.
Once the exodus of mankind had begun, the close quarters and difficult survival conditions in space broke down traditional barriers of language and culture. After a full generation had lived and died in the massive convoy of ships slowly trudging from star to star, the average person was at least bi-lingual and had a very multi-cultural outlook. A person's ethnicity became far less importance than competence and character.
Thus many generations later, the children of Earth-That-Was don't think much back to the days of colonization, but continue the legacy by their almost universal fluency in both English and Chinese. Culture and language have both continued to evolve, with economics becoming a primary dividing line. It is easy to distinguish a person from the central planets from one born and raised out on the Rim. Slang and linguistic shortcuts are used on the frontier, though some have filtered back into the refined speech usually found on worlds of the Core.
English and Chinese
Folks in the 'Verse speak English or Chinese, one or the other being the dominant tongues most everywhere. It pays to know at least a little of both if you plan to get very far. Of the central planets, Londinium is primarily English-speaking, while Sihnon stands out as a center of Chinese influence.
Mutt Tongues
Hundreds of languages made the great leap from Earth-That-Was and most of them survive in the pockets and ghettos on most worlds. Only rarely, however, will anyone encounter a community that speaks a non-dominant language exclusively.
Cussin'
Human beings have happily fouled the gift of language with whatever inventive, vindictive, and insulting expressions they can imagine. While the traditional English swear words have survived intact, a few additional crude words have been added to the common man's vocabulary.
The basics include Gorram or Gorramit ("Run! It's the gorram law!"), Rutting or Ruttin' ("It's gettin' too ruttin' hot in here."), and Humped* ("He's got a gun on us. We're humped!"). Cursing in Chinese is considered more imaginative and expressive, and most everyone does it--at least when his mother has left the room.
*This one isn't really used that often. They used it in the pilot about two or three times and then decided to drop it from the dialogue.
Fightin' Words
Some speech isn't cursing by the traditional definition, but it will cause fists and bullets to fly just the same. Religion, politics, social class, and wealth are touchy subjects--as is mention of the Unification War.
Browncoat: Member of the Independent Factions, Independent veteran. Adopted early in the war by the Independent Factions, a brown coat has become indelibly linked to supporters of the Independents' cause. After the war's end, clothiers made good money dying brown coats blue or gray as folks wanted to forget the past and let the past forget them. Those that still "wear the brown" do it on purpose.
Frontier Slang
In English, there are two predominant speech patterns. "Core Speech" is carefully used and grammatically correct. "Frontier Slang" sounds sloppy and quaint to the Core speakers, who judge the speaker as poorly educated and low class. Those born outside the Core are more likely to have at least a little of the Frontier in their speech.
Basic Rim World Speech
* Truncate the "g" for "ing" words. ("Schoolin'")
* Pepper with slang adjectives.
* Double negatives. ("It don't mean nothin' out here.")
* Using odd words and word forms in phrases.
* Use "don't" instead of "doesn't".
* Ain't.
* Odd words: druther, yonder, dang, plumb, right smart.
* Prefixing on "-ing" ("a-runnin'")
* No -ly pn adverbs. ("She described the plan real simple. That job's awful hard to do.")
* Subject and Verb don't match. ("We was goin' there. He got none of that.")
* Malformed verbs. ("He growed up real good. He come by her last night. I seen it with my own eyes. He done run off again.")
A Few Examples
--"Looks like we got us some imminent violence."
--"We got no short of ugly ridin' in on us."
--"I'm just feeling kind of truthsome right now."
--"We're in some peril here."
--"We just need a small crew, them as feel the need to be free."
--"This here's a recipe for unpleasantness."
--"I'm shocked my own self."
--"We'll be there directly."
--"But she does have an oddness to her."
Slang: Frontier Life
* All-fired - completely. (ex. "Where'd she go gettin' all-fired jealous 'bout this?")
* Awful, Dreadful, Mighty, Plumb, Powerful - very, really, or other adjectives for emphasis (ex. "Gettin' awful crowded in my sky.")
* Bang-up - great. (ex. "They did a bang-up job.")
* Bughouse - a mental hospital.
* Git - go away.
* Peck - A large amount.
* Preacher - anyone religious.
* Ornery - stubborn, not passive.
* Run afoul - to get into trouble.
* Shindig - a party, usually with dancing.
* Shiny - good or valuable. (can also be used as an exclamation. For example, "That's just shiny!")
* Size someone up - judge how tough they are or what their intentions might be.
* Tetchy - sensitive or complaining.
Slang: Spacefaring
* Atmo - atmosphere, as in to "leave atmo."
* The black - space
* Clean your housing - to give a thorough beating (as in a spaceship's engine housing)
* Feds, Federals - Members of the Alliance, its military, law enforcement, or functionaries.
* Go to blackout - shut down power on the ship to avoid detection.
* On the drift - in space without fuel, unable to travel.
* Reavers - madmen who live on the edges of civilized space, flying dangerous ships and preying on other space vessels.
* The Rim - frontier planets, not the core.
* The 'Verse - inhabited space or the universe.
* Being buzzed - sensors from another ship are actively sweeping you.
Slang: Underworld
* Doxy - prostitute.
* Drops - illegal, addictive, narcotic drugs.
* Second story job - breaking and entering robbery.
* Scratch - valuables.
* The goods - loot.
* Went south - problems appeared, the plan fell apart.
* Tonic - amateur or illegal alcoholic drink.
* Bushwhack - ambush.
* Footpad - pickpocket thief in a town.
* Hornswoggle - to trick someone.
* On the dodge - wanted by the police.
Slang: Technical
* Advocate - a lawyer.
* Cortex - wide-spread information network.
* Genseed - genetically engineered crop seeds used on freshly terraformed worlds.
* Skyplex - orbital city or space station.
* Wave - a communication: text, audio, video, or holographic.
Cortex Lexicon, list of terms
Anglo-Sino Alliance
The government in charge of... pretty much everything.
atmo
Foreshortening of the word "atmosphere".
black, the
Outer space or perhaps deep space, beyond planetary orbit.
Blackout Zones
Originally areas on Core worlds off the Cortex network, today synonymous with regions where illegal activities, crimes or treason are performed.
Blue Sun
A company that sells food products (and certainly more). Blue Sun logos are seen on food cans and advertisements throughout the 'verse. The motto from their commercials: Live life with Blue Sun. [1]
Bowdens Malady
A degenerative affliction of the bone and muscle. Afflicts the settlers of Paradiso in the Georgia System.
Brown Coats
Referring to the "independents" or rebels against the Alliance, likely in reference to their military uniform.
bughouse
Slang for "mental health facility".
byphodine
A drug which can induce a state of reduced metabolic function. Unexamined, a person under the effects of Byphodine is easily mistaken for a cadaver.
carrion house (a.k.a. scrap shop)
Outlaws set these facilities up and capture space ships with a high-powered electric "Net". These arrangements are used to immobilize a ship and kill or stun its crew, then strip parts off the ship or simply steal the whole thing.
central authority
Judicial courts of the Alliance.
Companion
An academy-schooled prostitute practicing legally as part of The Guild, a socially powerful pseudo-religious organization. Companions are highly respected by almost everyone. Their schooling is long and arduous and covers everything from psychology to sword fighting. They can converse with anyone, and make anyone utterly at ease, from a dirt poor farmer to a planetary president. They live by the Guild code and only engage in transactions with customers of their choice.
core
Refers to any major city/planet in the Alliance.
Cortex
The visual/textual Interactive Network of the 26th century.
credit
A type of currency. Alliance-based, with no 'solid' component, and used to the exclusion of all else for legitimate transactions on all core worlds. I.e.: all standard transactions on the Core worlds are electronic in nature -- no one can physically hand you a credit. Per unit, a credit is worth more than any other type of currency (See *platinum*, below.)
cruiser
Type of Alliance military vessel. A very large, vertically-aligned vessel that resembles nothing so much as a small city in space.
cryo
Foreshortening of the word "cryogenic", especially in the context of cryogenic suspension. By the 26th century, cryogenic technology has advanced to the point that suspension can be sustained in a self-contained mobile unit. This makes for an ideal means by which to smuggle living human cargo in a temporary state of suspended metabolic function. Awakening suddenly or prematurely from cryo can result in severe system shock.
dedicated source box
The DSL / Personal File Server of the Firefly setting.
doxy
Slang, a female lover or mistress, or a sexually promiscuous woman. This term is distinct from the word prostitute, which is a profession, and is more similar to courtesan or concubine.
Dermal Mender
A piece of medical equipment used to repair damage to the dermis, skin, and cartilage, and to reattach limbs or smaller appendages. Presumably it uses molecular nanotechnology to reweave the fibers of the dermis at a molecular level. See "weave".
drops
Slang, Drugs. Used in "Heart of Gold."
encyclopedia
A palm-sized reference work. It can display information in hypertext form.
fed squad
A unit of twenty Alliance soldiers.
genseed
A type of genetically engineered crop seed issued to those sent to settle terraformed planets and moons.
gorram
Expletive, a.k.a. "god damn", used to express extreme displeasure, anger, or surprise..
grapple
Slang, vulgar. "To have sex with."
grizwald
A grenade about the size of a battery; responds to pressure.
gurtsler
Type of engine used in space ships, considered to be of somewhat shoddy construction.
hover-plane
A mode of transport.
humped
Expletive (depending on context).
hydrozapam
A particularly valuable pharmaceutical.
I.A.V.
Interstellar Alliance Vessel -- standard prefix on all Alliance military craft. (As seen on the IAV Dortmunder in the Serenity Pilot, as well as several others.)
ident card
Alliance identification card carrying personal information in electronic format -- useful for scanning purposes.
Independents
Political/military party opposed to the Alliance. See also: Brown Coats and the Unification War.
isoprobyline
A pharmaceutical used to boost the immune system.
kick
Slang. To die. (As in "kick the bucket".)
medvault
A secure area for the storage of pharmaceuticals.
mei mei
Little sister. Used for sister in blood or sister in spirit.
mule
Four-wheeled all-terrain vehicle used to transport goods and crew. Seats a maximum of two people. Top speed approximately 40 to 50 k/m.
non-progressional evolutionary theory
Creationism. One of the things River finds strange in the Bible. Possibly a (future) expansion of the Darwinian model of natural selection, possibly a neologism invented by River Tam.
Oh-two
Oxygen.
Operative
High-level agent of the Alliance government.
pasceline-d
A type of medicine used to treat the degenerative affliction Bowdens Malady. Pasceline is valuable on the black market. The word Pasceline has its origins in Dutch, a language native to Earth-that-was.
pipeline
A communications channel.
platinum
A type of hard currency, typically used on border worlds and for most clandestine dealings. For the purposes of conversion, a credit (see above) converts to platinum on approximately a 4:1 ratio, and a platinum coin converts to paper scrip (1 "dollar") at approximately 10:1. (1 credit = 4 platinum = 40 bills).
propoxin
A pharmaceutical.
purple belly
An Alliance soldier or officer. (Used in reference to an Alliance Captain in Bushwhacked.) The Alliance's official colors include purple and are used on the abdomen (belly) of Alliance troop body armor.
reader
Short for mind reader.
Reavers
Space pirates with a twist -- the twist being they're insane, torture and rape their captives, and practice cannibalism and self-mutilation.
roller
A weapon used in the war, presumably a tank or some other conveyance moving on treads.
rutting
Expletive. Mating or 'to mate'.
seeker
A small heat seeking missile used by the Alliance, that gives off a whining sound when acquiring a heat source, which makes the missile detectable. More likely used to take out infantry than anything else due to the size and the explosive yield of the missile.
shepherd
Term for a religious minister, preacher, or priest.
shiny
Slang. "Good", "great", "neat", "wonderful", etc.
shuffle
Slang. To die. ("Shuffle off this mortal coil...")
sly
Male and homosexually inclined. (May also apply to women who fancy women.)
Sky Plex
A space station that has optimized a large portion of it's habitable space for client services such as shopping, entertainment, and so forth.
Tele Fonix
Name of a telecommunications system, like AT&T or MCI.
terraforming
Means of bestowing a planet or moon with conditions essential to sustain human and nonhuman life.
triplex
A slang term for a planet side shopping and entertainment megaplex.
U-Day
Short for "Unification Day"; the holiday celebrating the Alliance's defeat of the Independents.
'verse
Slang, short for "universe".
vitals
Short for vital signs.
wave
Audio-visual transmission sent over the Cortex. Full waves (audio and visual) are generally only available within major Alliance systems. Once a ship has left a major system (or is traveling in a system too unimportant to have a Cortex beacon), the sender must resort to more primitive means of communication.
weave
Medical term, presumably referring to a skin weave. A skin weave is a highly advanced medical procedure that uses nanotechnology in re-knitting the dermal fibers at a molecular level. Such a procedure is to stitches as stitches are to a bandage.
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Lawman
_brainpan
squish!
member is offline
come fly with me
Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5
Karma: 0 | | Chinese
« Reply #1 on Mar 30, 2008, 3:04pm » | |
Chinese
When using Chinese in your posts, immediately note the translation in italics. Example: Dong ma? Understand?
Chinese-to-English translations from the show and movie can be found at Whedonverse or the Chinese Pinyinary. (I'd suggest the Pinyinary since it's more complete.) There is too much information on that site to simply copy it over. Most of the phrases listed there are also listed here, but in a reverse order. The tonal guide will help you figure out what the numbers mean. The following is a short list of what can be found there.
bao
stuffed bun (hanyupinyin: bao)
ching-wah TSAO duh liou mahng
frog-humping sonofabitch (hanyupinyin: qing wa cao de liu mang)
da-shiong bao-jah-shr duh la doo-tze
the explosive diarrhea of an elephant (hanyupinyin: da xiang bao za shi de la du zi)
DONG-luh-MAH?
Are we clear here? (hanyupinyin: dong le ma?)
go-se
crap, worthless thing; from gou-shi, dog excrement (hanyupinyin: gou shi)
HOE-tze duh PEE-goo
monkey's butt (hanyupinyin: hou zi de pi gu)
hwoon dahn
jerk, bastard, scoundrel; literally, "bastard egg" (hanyupinyin: hun dan)
luh-suh
garbage (Taiwanese) (hanyupinyin: le se)
mei-mei
little sister (hanyupinyin: mei mei)
Ni cho lyen, yo may yo?
Do you have a worried face? (hanyupinyin: ni chou lian, you mei you?)
RUNtse de SHANG-DEE, ching DAIwuhtzo
Merciful God, please take me away. (hanyupinyin: ren ci de shang di, qing dai wo zou)
shee-niou
cow-sucking (hanyupinyin: xi niu)
shiong-mung duh kwong-run
violent lunatic (hanyupinyin: xiong meng de kung ren)
suo-SHEE
petty, small and tedious; trivial; trifling (hanyupinyin: suo xi)
wei
hey; hello (hanyupinyin: wei)
Wuh de tyen ah
Dear God in heaven
wuh duh ma huh ta duh fung-kwong duh wai-shung doh
holy mother of god and all her wacky nephews (hanyupinyin: wo de ma he ta de fong kung de wai sheng dou)
WUOshang mayer, maysheen, BYEN shr-to
I will close my ears and my heart and I will be a stone. (hanyupinyin: wo xiang mei er, mei xin, bian shi tou)
___________________________
The following phrases can be tossed into whatever situation seems most appropriate--or not. These just scratch the surface of Chinese cursing possibilities. While even educated, refined folk swear every now and then, you're more likely to hear most of these phrases out of a free-boosting fringe rat.
A
A knot of self-indulgent lunacy: Fang zong feng kuang de jie
A real bastard!: Ge zhen de hun dan!
A switch to those girls' backsides is just good enough: Bian da ta men de bei jiu gou le
Abracadabra-alakazam: Tian-ling-ling, di-ling-ling
Accusing someone of lying, a ridiculous notion, or talking out of the posterior: Fang pi, literally "to break wind"
Act blindly: Bi se yan jing zhuo ma que, literally "try to catch sparrows with one's eyes blindfolded"
Agitate someone out of hiding: Da chow jing ser, literally, "beating the grass to startle the snake"
Aah!: Ai ya!
Alas: Zao gao, literally "spoiled cake"
All talk: Da chong wu dan, literally "big gun, no bullet"
All that is proper: Suo you de dou shi dang
All the planets in space shoved up my butt: Tai kong suo you de xing qiu sai jin wo de pi gu
Alliance: Tong meng
An absolute genius: Zhen de shi tian cai
Are we clear?: Dong le ma, dong ma
As far as the eye can see: Yi wang wu ji, literally "look afar no bound"
Ass-kicking killer: Xiong can sha shou
Attributing an unfortunate longshot occurrence: Yeh lu jwo duo luh jwohn whei jian gui, literally "do enough nighttime travels and one will eventually see a ghost"; also a warning of future retribution.
Awesome: Gao gan, literally "high pole"
AWOL: Kai xiao chai
B
Baboon's arse: Fei fei pi gu
Baboon's ass crack: Fei fei de pi yan
Bastard: Hun dan, literally "rotten egg"
Big Boss or operator of a business: Lao ban; Lao ban ni'un for a female boss or proprietor's wife. Also informal appellation for acquaintances.
Big Brother, Older Brother: Ge or Ge-Ge, the former is more intimate and connotes a blood relation.
Big stupid pile of stinking meat: Yi dwei da buen chuo roh
Big Sister, Older Sister: Jie or Jei-Jei
Blessing on you: Zhu fu ni
Blindside or conspire against someone secretly: Fahn leong jian, literally "shoot a cold arrow"
Bon Appetit!: Nin chi hao
Boss: Lao ban. Also informal appellation for acquaintances.
Boss (Female): Lao ban ni'un. Also informal appellation for acquaintances.
Bottoms up: Gan bei, literally "dry cup"
Brilliant: Jing cai
Browncoat: Zong yi
C
Cheap floozy: Jian huo
Check it out, inspect: Jian cha
Check at once: Ma shang jian cha
Cheering or urging someone on: Jia you, literally "add fuel", equivalent of "go (name)!" in English.
Cheers: Gan bei, literally "dry cup"
Chinese/Mandarin language: Jwohn Guo Hua
Cool: Ku
Come in, enter: Qing jin
Commit blunder of great magnitude: Bie wu long
Complete disarray or sheer pandemonium: Tian fuhn di fu, literally "sky tumbles while earth turns over"
Completely useless: Tian di wu yong
Congratulations: Gong xi
Conniving or scheming person: Gui tou gui nao, literally "ghost head ghost brain"
Consistently useless: Jing-chang mei yong de
Cow Dung: Niu shi
Cow Poop: Niu fen
Cow sucking: Xi niu
Crap: Gou shi
Crap: Zao gao, literally "spoiled cake"
Crazy dog in love with its own feces: Ai chr jze se duh fohn diang gou
Cursing: Ma jung hwa, literally "chastise with dirty words"
Cute: Ke ai
D
Damn, my god: Ai ya
Damn it: Zao gao, literally "spoiled cake"
Danger/Dangerous: Wei xian
Dangerous person or animal: Wei xian dong wu
Darling: Bao bei
Daydream or wishful thinking: Bai ri meng
Deserving of bad consequence or fate: Hwo gai
Despicable: Kuh wu
Do something for nothing in return, or wasted endeavor without a payoff: Yee yan, literally "a charity show"
Done for: Wan dan, literally "finished (cooked) egg"
Don't worry: Fang xin
Dumbass: Chun, descriptive literally "retarded"
E
Earthshaking: Jing tian dwohn di, literally "startle the sky and shake the earth"
Empty Threat: Da chong wu dan, literally "big gun, no bullet"
Engage a monkey in a feces-hurling contest: Gen hou zi bi diu shi
Enough of this nonsense: Gou huang tang
Everyone shut up!: Ni men dou bi zui!
Everything under the sky: Tian shia, can be used to allude to the world or the universe
Excrement: Mi tian gong
Explosive diarrhea of an elephant: Da xiang bao zha shi de la du zi
Extraordinarily clever: Gao gan, literally "high pole"
Extraordinarily impatient Buddha: Zhen mei nai xing de Fo zu
F
Fear nothing but (fill in the blank): Tian bu pa, di bu pa, tze pa...
Fellow: Ja hwo
Female companion or girlfriend: Ma tze, a somewhat derogatory slang; add Dow in front for "looking for a girlfriend"
Filthy fornicators of livestock: He chu-sheng za-jiao de zang-huo!
Fire!: Kai huo (as in shooting), fen huo (as in starting)
Fire at will or terminate with extreme prejudice: Da kai sa jeh, meaning "breaking the Buddhist vow against killing"
Flat-chested: Hur bao dan, slang, literally "eggs cooked sunny-side up"
Foiled or ruined at the last moment: Soh ya fei tian, expression, literally "a cooked duck flies away"
Fool: Sha gua, literally "stupid melonhead", or ben dan, literally "stupid egg"
Friend, pal, buddy: Peng you
Frog-humping son of a bitch: Qing wa kao de liu mang
Fuck: Ta ma de! (vulgar term)
G
Gang, crew, or confederate of diehards: Se duhng
Gang or faction leader: Da gher ga for male, da jeh da for female, slang
Garbage: Le se
Get bold or audacious: Fang dan, literally "release courage"
Get lost: Kwai jio kai
Go all out, hold nothing back: Ping ming, literally "fight for one's life"
Go away: Kuai qu hen yuan de di fang, literally "go far away very fast"
Go die: Chui se
Go to hell: Chui se, literally "go die"
God knows what / name of all that's sacred: Tian xiao de
Goddamn monsters: Tian sha de e mo
Good: Hao
Good-for-nothing: Bu lang bu you
Good journey or bon voyage: Yi lu shun feng, or yi lu ping an
Good luck: Ju hao yun
Great: Da bian hua, literally "big change"
Greetings: Nihao
H
Handsome: Shuai
Happy development or fortuitous turn of event: How shi sung chung, literally "a good show's about to start", can be used sarcastically
Have desires above one's social/financial position, or beyond one's ability to realize: Lai huh ma shi yong tze tian e zoh, literally "for a toad to think of eating a swan"
Hell: Gui, literally "ghost"
Hell, underworld: Di yu
Hello: Nihao
Hey!: Wei
Holy testicle (exclamation): Shen sheng de gao wan
Home wrecking tramp: Hu li jing, literally "fox spirit"
Horrible old tyrant: Ke-wu de lao bao jun
Hurry or make haste: Gan mang
I
I don't believe my eyes!: Wo bu shin wo dah yan jing
I neither see nor hear you: Wo dui ni bu wen bu jian
I'm sorry: Dui bu qi
Idiot: Ben dan, literally "stupid egg", or chun zhu, literally "retarded pig"
Imminent Doom: Wan dan, literally "finished (cooked) egg"
Impossible: Bu ke neng
Impressive display or visage but no substance: Da chong wu dan, literally "big gun, no bullet"
In the doghouse: Leng gong, literally "a cold palace," which is where an emperor confines those concubines who have fallen out of favor
In that case, nevermind: Na mei guan xi
J
Jerk: Hun dan, literally "rotten egg"
Junk: Fei wu
Just our luck: Zhen dao mei
K
Kick me in the butt: Ti wo de pi gu
L
Leader of a criminal operation: She tou, literally "snakehead", derogatory.
Leave one to his own fate: Tze sh'un tze mieh
Let me repeat myself: Wuo jai jeong yi chi
Let's take a deep breath: Yi qi shen hu xi
Life support failure: Shuhn ming shi t'wohn gu jong
Like hell/In your dreams: Jian ta de gui, literally "see his ghost", or jian gui which likely means "seeing ghosts"
Little Brother: Di or Di-Di
Little Sister: Mei or Mei-Mei
Long time no see: Hao joh bu jian
Loopy in the head: Feng le, literally "insane"
M
Male companion or boyfriend: Kai tze, also a somewhat derogatory slang
Make a big mistake: Bie wu long
Make an example of someone: Sha ji gei hou kan, literally "kill a chicken in front of a monkey"
Merciful Buddha protect us: Ren ci de Fo zu qing bao you wo men
Merciful God, please take me away: Ren ci de shang di, qing dai wo zou
Merciless Bastard: Leng xue za zhong, literally "cold-blooded mixed-breed"
Merciless Hell: Ai ya tian a!
Mind your own business: Guan ni ziji de shi
Miss: xiao jie, literally "little lady." Follows a name when addressing a known person, so River Tam would be addressed as Tam River xiao jie, or simply Tam xiao jie.
Mister: xian sheng, literally "born before me." Follows a name when addressing a known person, so Simon Tam would be addressed as Tam Simon xian sheng, or simply Tam xian sheng.
Monkey raping: Qiang bao hou-zi de
Monkey's butt: Hou-zi de pi-gu
Moron: Ben dan, literally "stupid egg", or chun zhu, literally "retarded pig"
Mother of God: Wo de ma
Mother of God and all her crazy nephews: Wo de ma he ta de fen kuang de wai sheng dou
Motherless goat of all motherless goats: Gao yang zhong de gu yang
Muddled, Mixed-up, Confused: Wu tou wu nao, literally "without a head or a brain"
N
No problem: Mei wen ti
No way: Cai bu shi
(a) Nobody: Wu ming shao zu, literally "nameless little footsoldier"
Nonsense, rubbish, superfluous words: Fei hua
Not advised: Quan gao bu yi
Not enough: Bu gou, or Hai bu gou for "not enough yet"
Not good: Zao gao, literally "spoiled cake"
Not keeping a rendezvous: Fang ge zi, literally "release a pigeon" but insinuating not picking up the bird at the destination.
Not much of a choice between the two: Ban jin ba liang
Nothing ventured, nothing gained: Bu ru hu xue yan de hu zi, literally "how can you catch tiger cubs without entering the tiger's lair"
Now, immediately: Ma shang
Nuts: Shiang Jing Ping, or just Shiang Jing; Fah Shiang Jing for "going nuts"
Nuts: Kuang zhe de, literally "crazy"
O
Oddball or Goof: Chai Neow
Of course: Dang ran
Oh, this is a happy development: O, zhe zhen shi ge kuai le de jin zhan
Oh God, no: Lao tian, bu
Oh my God: Wo de tian a
Okay: Hao
Old: Lao
Old friend: Lao peng you
Old man / husband: Lao gong
Old lady / wife: Lao po
One must be ruthless to be great: Wu du bu zhong fu, literally "a person without poison is not a great man"
Out of touch with reality: Bi mu se ting, literally "shut one's eyes and stop up one's ears"
Outdo someone or doing one better: Dao-gao-yee-chi moh-gao-yee-juhn, expression, literally "the solution advances a yard, the problem advances a mile"
Over my dead body: Chu fei wo si le
P
Pal: Lao xiong, "old chap", between male friends
Panda urine: Xiong mao niao
Paranoid, extremely suspicious: Bei gong she ying, literally "mistaking the reflection of a bow in the cup for a snake"
Pathetic wretch: Bei bi xiao ren, literally "shameless little dirty person"
Peon: Wu ming shao zu, literally "nameless little footsoldier"
Petty: Suo xi
Prehistoric: Lao Diu Ya, literally "so old as to lose all teeth"
Pig's Sty: Zhu fuen chse
Pile of sun-baked dog poo: Ri shao gou shi bing
Plain, bland, bare: Yong chwen mien, slang taken from the namesake generic, flavorless noodle dish.
Please be quiet: Qing an jing yi dien
Pool of Excrement: F'n Zse
Pool of pig droppings: Zhu fuen chse
Posterior, bottom, butt: Pi gu
Precious: Bao bei
R
Real man, manly man: Nan zi han
Really Dangerous: Wei xian, more poetic, wo hu chung long, which is "crouching tiger, hidden dragon" and expression for something dangerous.
Remorseless harridan: Bu hui hen de po fu
Retreat, run away: Jio weh sung chiuh, phrase summarizing the last of the Chinese "36 Stratagems", which extols the virtue of fleeing to fight another day.
Ridiculously strange, illogical or nonsensical: Mo ming qi miao, literally "not understanding the peculiarity"
Ruined, finished: Wan dan le
Ruthless or savage beast of a person: Ching soh
S
Scoundrel: Huai dan, literally "bad egg"
Screw him/her running: Gun ta jwo lu
Screw you: Qu ni de
Shameless Hussy: Meh lian duh jyah ji, literally "faceless bastard prostitute"
Shiny, awesome, fantastic: Jahn!
Shit on my head! (or another expletive): Ai ya, huai le!
Shut up: Bi zui
Shut up (as in, 'Get out' or 'yeah right'): Hu che
Shut up, all of you!: Ni men dou bi zui!
Shut up and make us wealthy: Bi zui, rong wo men fa cai
Shut up, you inconsiderate schoolboys!: Bi zui, nin hen bu ti tie de nan sheng!
Sir: Da yeh. When used as a nobility, Nuhn Jwei, following the name.
Small fry: Wu ming shao zu, literally "nameless little footsoldier"
Smelled a fart: Wen guo pi
So guilty as to deserve a thousand deaths: Jwei gai wang se
SOB: Wang ba dan, or gou neong yung de for a more literal and vicious translation.
Speak now and quickly: Yo hua kuai so
Speaking without a clue: Xia hua, literally "blind talk"
Splendid: Jing cai
Stop talking: Ju kou
Stubborn disciplinarian: Pian zhi de jie cha yuan
Stupid: Yu ben de
Stupid son of a drooling whore and monkey: Liu kou shui de biao zi he hou zi de ben er zi
Stupid inbred sack of meat: Ben tian sheng de yi dui rou
Sweetheart: Bao bei
Swindle: Guai
Suicidal idea: Zu sha zhu yi
Surrender, give up: Tou xiang
T
Take care, stay healthy: Bao zhong, literally "maintain weight"
Talk nonsense: Shia suo
Teacher: Lao shi
Thanks: Xie xie
There's nothing in this plan that isn't horrific: Zhe ge ji hua zhen ke pa
Things never go smooth: Hao yun bu lai, huai yun bu jwo, literally "good luck don't come, bad luck don't leave"
Time out!: Yi qi shen hu xi, literally "Let's take a deep breath"
To throw in a monkey wrench: Gwai ma jiao, literally "twist a horse's legs (while it's galloping)"
Too bad: Zao gao, literally "spoiled cake"
Trouble, problem, complication: Ma fan
Troublemaker: Wan nao
Tyrant, iron-fisted ruler: Ba wang
U
Ugly or perverted person: Zhu Bajie, insult taken from the name of the hoggish, lecherous character in the popular Chinese folktale, "Journey to the West"
Understand: Dong, dong ma for "understand?" dong le ma for "are we clear here?"
Unnecessarily complicating something, or overdoing it: Hua she tian zu, literally "draw a snake and add feet to it"
Urine-soaked demons (or something to the effect): Niao shi de du-gui
V
Very: Fei chang
Violent lunatic: Xiong meng de kuang ren
Vixen: Hu li jing, literally "fox spirit"
W
Wah!: Wa, an exclamation, meaning the sound of vomiting.
Wait/hold on a second: Deng yi miao
Warning someone against doing things 'the hard way': Jing zhou bu chi chi fa zhou, literally "choosing to sip the wine of penalty over that of respect"
Watch your back: Zhen ta ma yao ming. Zhu yi. Literally "this is pretty damned dangerous. Pay attention"
Water: Shui
We will enjoy your silence now: Bai tuo, an jing yi dian
We're in big trouble: Ai ya wo men wan le
Weak-ass sauce: Lan dan jiang, literally "rotten egg sauce"
What?: Shen me
What is that?: Na shi shen me?
What is this?: Zhe shi shen me?
What a mess: Zao gao, literally "spoiled cake"
What is this garbage?: Zhe shi shen me lan dong xi?
Whores in hell!: Ta shi suo you di yu de diao zi de ma!, literally "she is the mother of all prostitutes in hell"
Whores of SOBs: Wang ba dan de biao zi
Wonderful!: Pai an jiao jue, literally "slap the table and shout with praise"
Y
Yes, affirmative: Shi a
You don't deserve it: Ni bu ying de zhe ge, or Ni bu gou ge
You fink/wretch/etc: Ni hun qiu
You want a bullet right in your throat?: Ni yao wo kai qiang
You wanna die?: Ni zhao si ma?
You're all idiots: Ni men dou shi sha gua, literally "all of you are foolish"
Young one: Nian qing de, or ying chi, slang for underaged, literally "infant teeth"
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Lawman
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Joined: Mar 2008
Posts: 5
Karma: 0 | | Re: Speech && Chinese {Article}
« Reply #2 on Mar 30, 2008, 3:16pm » | |
And then there was shiny... Shiny is something you use to describe something, anything, that you like or want to put a positive connotation to. It's used like 'cool', 'hip', and 'dude' are now.
shiny; (slang) "Good", "great", "neat", "wonderful", etc.
The Shiny Slang of 'Firefly' - In Context
Words of exclamation have been around ever since humanity learned to speak. In this modern age, in particular, there is a wide array of words available to us should we wish to express surprise—surely at some point on the street you must have heard some teen on the street utter, “Word!” or “Cool!” or even “Oh, man!”. Or, if you happened to hear one of the more unorthodox speakers, they might even have said “Sick!”, and as an exclamation you can bet that they meant it in a good way.
Taken literally, those people are talking about linguistics, temperature and a male member of the human race—and possibly an illness--but of course they are so widely-used by now that most anyone would understand the neologistic meaning upon hearing them—new meanings have been applied to the same words. Bearing that in mind, let's take a look at the word “shiny”. It means 'glossy', right? 'Reflecting light, typically because [the surface is] very clean or polished', even?
Well...yes. But as with 'word' and 'cool' and 'man' above, 'shiny' can mean something different--something that, I assure you, has absolutely nothing to do with light reflections. The word 'shiny' is an adjective. It is used descriptively in sentences, be they spoken or in writing, and is usually followed immediately by the item that it describes, e.g. “The tray was placed carefully onto the shiny tabletop.”
The word 'shiny' of course has its roots in 'shine', which according to the Arcade Dictionary of Word Origins is Old English in origin, and is derived from a prehistoric word called 'skinan'. This was derived from 'ski-', a base which also produced the English words 'shimmer' and 'sheen'. Anyway, in its context as a neologism 'shiny' can be used as an exclamation, and thus could be uttered by itself, e.g. “Shiny!”. It can also be used to mean something interesting, e.g. “That's so shiny, doctor!”
It is mostly only used in this context by a particular group of people, but amongst them anyone would understand that you meant the same thing as 'cool', 'neat' or 'awesome'. The users of 'shiny' as an exclamation are the fans of the science-fiction television series Firefly, which has developed a cult following since its debut in 2002. These fans call themselves 'Browncoats', a reference to a particular underdog military faction in the story—those fighting for America to remain independent rather than the actual outcome of the war, merging with China--whose uniforms had brown jackets.
Any Firefly website's narration will commonly use 'shiny' in the context of something interesting and 'cool'; they assume that visitors will know exactly what they mean by using it in this way, and indeed, most visitors do, or if they don't then they discover the meaning shortly. Fans might also use 'shiny' in their blogs and emails — places further-removed from Firefly, but in which the meaning is still clear. In this way, the use of 'shiny' is spreading with the help of cyberspace, fan banter, and word-of-mouth. And while 'shiny' in its neologistic sense is not yet listed in any printed dictionary that I am aware of, those Firefly fans have come up with their own online dictionary for the language used in the series, the 'Cortex Lexicon', which has this to say of the word's usage:
shiny; (slang) "Good", "great", "neat", "wonderful", etc.
When I asked my Firefly-loving friend Jonithan why Browncoats use this term, he said, “Because the people in the show do.” I asked him to elaborate, and he explained that the main characters in Firefly often use 'shiny' where anybody might really use 'cool' or 'awesome'. “I mean, it's like Star Trek: The Next Generation fans saying 'make it so',” he joked, “Only anybody can say it, not just the captain. It's like an inside joke that everybody who's ever seen the show gets right away.”
Because its usage in this context is fictional, of course the best place to look for examples of 'shiny' in a sentence is in the script of Firefly itself. The characters speak a blend of Chinese and English, with modified words sprinkled throughout to portray slang as it has evolved into a new age. 'Shiny' is unchanged in pronunciation, unlike some other words such as ''verse' (slang for 'universe'), and instead has a modified meaning. In other words, it has become a neologism! Here are several quotes from the series that use it as an expression or in place of the words 'good', 'great', 'fine', etc:
“Everything's shiny, Cap'n. Not to fret.” - Kaylee
“Shiny! Let's be bad guys.” - Jayne
“Came downstairs for the shiny presents...” - River
As you can observe in the above quotes, 'shiny' is used as an exclamation, but can be used interchangeably with positive adjectives such as 'good', 'nice', 'pretty', 'neat' and 'cool' as well. At least, by the characters in the show it is. Let's take a look at some quotes by real people who use 'shiny', and see how closely they emulate the same usage:
“Terrific job I must say, very shiny.” - 'Pocki'
“You are about to be re-directed to our shiny new blog-friendly news site.” - FireflyMovie.com
“...Makes a shiny addition to your page or blog!” - 'VerseRoamer'
The fans adhere to the phrasing very nicely. All of the above quotes were said in general conversation or page announcements, and yet the meaning comes through clearly to anyone who reads them: calling something 'shiny' is a positive thing. The word 'shiny' makes more sense than, say, 'sick' for a positive exclamation, since shininess of usually associated with something new and in good condition or something expensive and/or made of some precious material, whereas sickness of the mind or body is almost always a bad thing.
Because Firefly was created by Joss Whedon, the use of 'shiny' as a positive exclamation can be credited to him. Why he decided on 'shiny' instead of some other word is unknown, but it somehow seems to make sense, and his many fans are happy to adopt it into their slang vocabularies--even now, after the Firefly series was canceled and taken off of the air, the Browncoats continue to use the shiny slang of the characters in everyday life. How someone came up with the idea to shout 'Dude!' if they thought something was neat is another story altogether.
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