Can anyone tell me the english word for 强求 ?

[nguyenzone]

Hi,

Can anyone please help to tell me the english word of "强求" in the phrase "快乐不必强求", "万事不可强求"

I googled and found many results such as "force" or "demand" or similar words, but that's not i want to have. For example, with the aforementioned cases, i think they mean: We dont have to try to look for happiness and we can not require everything to be ...

I remember see the appropriate word elsewhere in a chinese-english maganize but i unfortunately forgot it . All helps are appreciated

[HashiriKata]

Very rough translation from me to give you an idea:

"快乐不必强求" = You can't force happiness/ You can't pursue pleasure at all cost.

"万事不可强求" = Take things easy/ You can't have everything your way.

强求 = to insist that something has to be in a certain way.

[nguyenzone]

i like your precise translation but i still prefer a closer term

Thank you anyway

[zhu551]

It should go naturely instead of forcing to do something in the chinese traditional culture.You will definitely get what belongs to you but you will not get what does not belong to you whatever you do.But there is a premise that you should do something for it.As for the result, it is another thing.You should enjoy the process instead of focusing on the result.It is,of course,good to get the result,but it need no complaint for fail due to some reason(God decides) which you cant change.

[nguyenzone]

Thank you,

In fact, i know exactly what it means because there is the exact term for 强求 in my language (in Vietnamese we say "cưỡng cầu"). There is a special similarity between chinese and vietnamese which makes me believe that i know what it really means. However, i can not find the corresponding english term for the word. I appreciate all the helps

[renzhe]

It might be that there simply is no word in English which covers all the meanings of the word exactly. Sometimes, you have to translate the same word as several different words, depending on the context.

I can't judge the finer points of the translation, but both "force" and "demand" look like they express exactly what the saying means. Despite hard thinking, I can think of no English words which would fit better.

[Mugi]

Are you thinking of "insist" or "compel"? Or perhaps "crave", "yearn for" or "long for"? None of these necessarily matches your examples, but are valid translations of 强求 in certain contexts. You could try looking up the closest translation so far in a thesaurus.