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Chinese translation of "the friendly people"


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Posted

Hello,

I've been wanting to translate the English phrase "the friendly/helpful people" into Mandarin for a science fiction story I'm writing. I'm not sure if "hao4 ke4 ren2" is anything close to linguistically or grammatically accurate, however. I suppose a little context might be helpful: the "friendly people" are a race of benevolent, kind, and helpful aliens that become mentors or patrons in a way for humans, but over time turn out to be a severe threat to man's future.

If there are multiple words for "friendly/helpful/kind/benevolent" with different nuances or meanings[1] that would betray a certain irony or sarcasm given what happens later in my story, I would like to use whichever synonym that best reflects it. As well, if there is a word that's similar to the Mandarin word with a different tone that would be derogatory to humankind's former friends if substituted, that word would be a good candidate for the translation. Either way, a sort of "play on words."

Thank you in advance for any help.

* * * * *.

[1] as an example, the Nazis' foolish ideas of being "the master race" having been ironic given the context of being totally defeated in WW2 and being humiliated by Jesse Owens in the 1936 Olympics.

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