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Thread: Language problem, help please!

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[quote=MISHEN                  ,13188]Ok, these are a lot of idioms, which are always hard to translate into any language, but what about simple words with abstract concepts?Here are a couple of examples in Enlgish that I'd appreciate finding good translations of into Chinese.One very simple one - 'cool'. Chinese people use the word 'ku' to describe someone who looks like the stereotype of someone who might be regarded as 'cool' - a handsome guy with sunglasses, sitting on his motorcycle or playing his guitar... In Chinese you can try to look 'ku' and it's a good thing. But the word in English is more of an attitude, something you positively cannot try to be. Anyone who is trying to be 'cool' has missed the point... I've always felt uncomfortable when a Chinese person tries to use the word 'cool' as an enthusiastic compliment to someone, because enthusiasm isn't cool!Another one - 'Cliché'. A phrase that has lost its originality and has been devalued by overuse. As far as I know, there's no such thing in Chinese - the more you say something, the better it gets! It's the subtle things that make us all different - isn't it a good thing that the important things are the same for everyone![/quote]

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