Shaw Brothers vocabulary

[character]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shaw_Brothers

I hope to use this topic to discuss/share Mandarin vocabulary used in the Shaw Brothers films.

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I have a question about 乖乖 guāiguāi "little dear (to a child)" in this sentence:

林太守 , 你乖乖的把玉觀音交出來

Governor Lin, give me the Jade Goddess of Mercy

Is 乖乖 used as an insult, or does it have another meaning?

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Vocabulary list for The Swordmates (also posted to Kung Fu Cinema and SPCNET under my 'xianzai' screen name)

swordmates_vocab_200906.txt

Edited June 28, 2009 at 11:13 AM by character

[renzhe]

乖 means obedient, like a good child that does as its parents say.乖乖的 means obedient, something one would say to a child.

So the sentence is more like "Governor Lin, be a good boy and give me the Jade Goddess of Mercy"

乖 itself is not an insult, but if you use it on a governor, then it is obviously used mockingly.

EDIT: and I believe that it should be 乖乖地, as it's an adverb.

Edited May 17, 2009 at 06:08 PM by renzhe

[character]

Thanks for your response.

乖 itself is not an insult, but if you use it on a governor, then it is obviously used mockingly.

Nothing is obvious about Chinese.

EDIT: and I believe that it should be 乖乖地, as it's an adverb.

If it's the case that even the Chinese subtitles aren't right, then I'm really hosed.

I also hit the phrase

狐群狗盜

While 狗盜 gǒudào means robber/thief, the phrase in the dictionary is 狐群狗黨 .

Argh...

Edited May 19, 2009 at 12:27 AM by character

[renzhe]

It could be a poorly typed transcription. My dictionary also only lists 狐群狗黨. But sometimes these phrases have variations, meaning the same thing.

[character]

Another from The Swordmates:

要為國盡忠

This is a state matter

Translation seems a bit off. Is yao4wei4 a word? Given 盡忠 mean "be faithful and loyal unto death" is a better translation "your country needs you" or "you must [do what we were talking about] for the country, even if it kills you" ?

[roddy]

為國盡忠 as a whole can be to sacrifice your life for your country.

[character]

Thanks roddy (and renzhe)! I guess I need to change how I'm creating my vocabulary list so I don't break up a phrase and thus miss it. I should transcribe the whole sentence in Wenlin and then break it up.

[character]

我可摔跟斗

I've lost this time

Is this saying something like "I've fallen down [on the job]?"

[roddy]

Literally it's to somersault, to go head over heels. Figuratively it's 'to fail', perhaps similar to 'come a cropper' in (British?) English.Although actually I know it as 跟头 rather than 跟斗。

[character]

Thanks Roddy,

Why didn't I spot it was a typo for the simplified version of the character in a set of traditional subs?

So far the most annoying character to look up by HW recognition has been 處 of 好處.

[roddy]

Actually Wenlin lists both, although the figurative meaning isn't there for 跟斗. Could just be a difference in usage or . . . meh, I dunno

[character]

Actually Wenlin lists both, although the figurative meaning isn't there for 跟斗. Could just be a difference in usage or . . . meh, I dunno

True, and I think I've shown I don't know what I'm talking about when it comes to Chinese, but Wenlin lists 摔跟頭 as a phrase but not 摔跟斗. I'm sure you're correct that it's a variation.

Given the quality of the English subs, I really didn't expect the Chinese subs would be riddled with these sorts of issues. I'm trying to go through 10 screencaptures a time, and each time it seems something like this comes up. So I really appreciate the help on the ones I can't figure out.

If I, er, we ever make it through the ~700 screencaps, I'd like to post the list of vocab for others' benefit. I take it the list shouldn't include the definitions from Wenlin/ABC?

[calibre2001]

Another from The Swordmates:

要為國盡忠

This is a state matter

Translation seems a bit off. Is yao4wei4 a word? Given 盡忠 mean "be faithful and loyal unto death" is a better translation "your country needs you" or "you must [do what we were talking about] for the country, even if it kills you" ?

Is this from 岳飛傳 where the mother of General 岳飛 tattooed these words on his back?

[character]

生那麼大氣幹麼呀 ?

Why are you so angry?

Is 生那麼大氣 basically 生氣 with 那麼大 qualifying it?

Is 幹麼 a similar construction to 那麼 or 這麼?

Thanks!

Edited May 28, 2009 at 11:36 PM by character

[roddy]

Is 生那麼大氣 生氣 with 那麼大 qualifying it?

Yes, or at least it's qualifying the 气 which is being 生ed。

Is 幹麼 a similar construction to 那麼 or 這麼?

干么 would more normally be 干嘛 - what are you doing, what for. Not sure how common, if at all, 干么 is, don't think I've seen it before, but that doesn't mean much.

So all in, 'what are you getting so angry for?'

[character]

Thanks again! This may actually produce a usefully small list. So far I've gone through 100 screencaps and have ~165 entries. A lot of vocab is starting to repeat.

I find it amusing that a definition of 老子 Lǎo Zǐ is "I (used jocularly or in anger)".

[renzhe]

You can think of 幹麼 / 干么 / 干嘛 as a colloquial form of "干什么". It's only used in spoken language (usually as "干嘛呀?!?"), so the exact transcription might vary.

[character]

Thanks renzhe!

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這次我打算用保暗鏢之計帶三個鏢師去

I'll deliver secretly together with three guards

I admit I find this a bit hard to parse, esp. the 保暗鏢之計 part.

Is 保暗鏢 basically 保鏢 modified by 暗 ? Aside: how the heck do people ever manage to write parsers for Chinese?

[renzhe]

I don't really understand that sentence either. Perhaps it's easier in context?

[character]

Well, he is talking about delivering a jade statue, hence the 帶 (bring) and perhaps 保鏢 (guard for goods in transit).