translations of 撒娇, 肉麻, 武侠小说, 江湖.

[39degN]

how do you guys translate these words?

撒娇 your GF hit you with her hand in a smile, and said"you are so bad!" we say

她在撒娇

how do you say it in english?

肉麻 someone kisses others ass we said he or his words are really 肉麻(muscle-paralytic)

somebody flirting a girl with flattery, we say

那人真肉麻！or

他的话好肉麻!

武侠小说kung fu fiction

江湖 the society in kungfu fiction

are there any fixed or natural terms to say these in english?

thank you in advance!

[39degN]

the question is asked by a friend on another forum, it confuses me too.

does anyone would give me a hand? help!

[39degN]

--sigh--

seems nobody would help. ok, let it be...

[trooper]

1) 撒娇

I've come across this word before. There's no English equivalent. It's a positive word. I think it means "childishly tease/sweetalk", right?

If so, my best translation would be "tease". But this isn't a perfect translation. So, in your example,

她在撒娇 = she's teasing me

2) 肉麻 = obsequious

But this is a bit formal. In casual speech, I would translate your phrases like this:

那人真肉麻 = That guy's a real creep

他的话好肉麻! = He's acting like a real creep OR he's being a real creep

3) 武侠小说 = martial arts novel

4) 江湖

It doesn't sound right to translate this exactly either! So I would say either

i) adventurers (if the people are warriors, or people on a quest, or looking to win honour, money, etc)

or ii) wandering XXX (if they are just ordinary people travelling and working, where XXX are their jobs or roles)

e.g. wandering musicians, wandering actors, etc.

[39degN]

wow, it's great! thank you so much,trooper!

but i'm still a little bit confused about the 江湖

4) 江湖

It doesn't sound right to translate this exactly either! So I would say either

i) adventurers (if the people are warriors, or people on a quest, or looking to win honour, money, etc)

or ii) wandering XXX (if they are just ordinary people travelling and working, where XXX are their jobs or roles)

e.g. wandering musicians, wandering actors, etc.

i think i didnt make myself clear enough,actually 江湖 are not the people, but the environment or the background of the kongfu fiction, so according to your interpretation, can i say wandering world?

[trooper]

Sorry. I thought this word described people, because I found the examples 江湖艺人 (travelling entertainer) and 跑江湖 (make a living as a travelling...whatever).

Wandering world doesn't sound right. The XXX has to describe the people doing the wandering.

I think then, 江湖 on it's own is doesn't have a good translation into an English noun. You'll have to translate the whole sentence or phrase that uses this word.

[39degN]

Sorry. I thought this word described people, because I found the examples 江湖艺人 (travelling entertainer) and 跑江湖 (make a living as a travelling...whatever).

Wandering world doesn't sound right. The XXX has to describe the people doing the wandering.

I think then, 江湖 on it's own is doesn't have a good translation into an English noun. You'll have to translate the whole sentence or phrase that uses this word.

wow, so sad!

yeah, atually 江湖艺人=流浪艺人=在江湖上跑的艺人 跑江湖=在江湖上跑（闯荡）=闯江湖

seems we need to create a new word.

how about Junhoo, kidding!

[tooironic]

My translations of this old thread:

撒娇: to chuck a tantrum

肉麻: corny; cheesy. Have no idea why trooper translated the word as "obsequious" and "tease". These words do not mean 肉麻.

武侠小说: kung-fu novels

江湖: no equivalent in English. I suppose you could just say "society".

[Pingfa]

I recently saw a bit in 屌丝男士 that perfectly illustrates what 撒娇 is. Skip to 6:20 : http://tv.sohu.com/20130605/n378034524.shtml

Just think of the average schoolgirl in a Japanese anime. That's 撒娇。

江湖 is an extremely broad term.

In 武侠 it generally refers to the various martial arts sects and the relationship between them.

So in the context of 武侠 you could translate 江湖 as the martial arts world or martial arts circle.

It can be used to refer to special circles and societies in general. In Hong Kong it is often used to refer to triad society.

In much broader terms, I think it is also a metaphor for life experience.

有人的地方，就是江湖.

So the translation differs depending on the context.