translating a saying

[natalie]

Hello everybody,

Can you explain me the meaning of:

打死会拳的 淹死会水的

?

Many thanks!

[trien27]

It doesn't make sense in CHINESE:

打死会拳的 淹死会水的

打死 = to beat someone to death or being beaten to death

as a verb 会 could mean either: able to or to meet up with.

拳 = fist

拳的 = related to the fist

淹死 = to drown someone to death or being drowned to death

会: see explanations above

水 = water

水的 = related to water

[skylee]

Look at the saying this way - 會拳的（也會被）打死　會水的（也會被）淹死

Which translates to those who know how to fight could be killed in a fight; those who know how to swim could be drowned to death.

I think it means that nothing should be taken too light-heartedly. Even if you are good at boxing / fighting there might be a chance that you would be killed in a fight. Even if you are good at swimming there is still a chance that you are drowned. That is, if you are not well prepared or too confiident.

[LaVandez]

if you gave a little more context then the people who are on this forum could give you better help.

[imron]

if you gave a little more context then the people who are on this forum could give you better help.

Really? I thought Skylee explained it quite well already.

[racky]

yes, both the skylee's translation and explain were very exact.

[magudo]

Look at the saying this way - 會拳的（也會被）打死　會水的（也會被）淹死

不完全对

淹死会水的

淹死的都是会游泳的。因为会游泳的人常常下水游泳。而不会游泳的人下水的机会很少，而且在水边也会很小心”

打死会拳的

被打死的都是会打架的。因为不会打架的人如果冲突往往会避免打架的情况发生。而会参与打架的人一定都是知道自己会打架才会去打”

those sentence are too long, dont know how to translate

hope you can read

[Macro2Jam]

you could understand the saying as follows:

People who died on a battle field are mostly warriors, because folks will escape from a battle.

And people who drowned are mostly swimmers, because people who can not swim will never jump into the river.

This saying is also very difficult for the natives. At least 50% of chinese people do not know the meaning of this saying.

[SWWLiu]

Can you explain me the meaning of:

打死会拳的 淹死会水的

Natalie' date='

Although I have never encountered this "saying" previously, by the parallel construction its meaning is unambiguous: "会" ("can do") is used in the sense of "being skilled or expert in"; so, 会拳的 means a "martial arts expert" and 会水的 means a "seasoned swimmer". This is a cautionary saying that even the experts can be badly hurt by their overconfidence (the former can be beaten to death and the latter can drown). [in the same vein, 会吃的 signifies a "gourmet".']

SWWLiu

[LaVandez]

No the first part wasn't particularly clear not because it couldn't be understood but I was really wondering about the context of the statement. It's not unambiguous as was pointed out but I was still wondering where this phrase came from. Was it for example prompted by a speech or from a telecast. I appreciate understanding the context in which statements are made but in no way was I trying to infer that this couldn't be understood. I was just a little curious.