Help, I'm clueless

[shalzuth]

So I'm trying to figure out what this means.

And I had to transcribe it in paint onto the computer, so it looks really bad/maybe incorrect.

[leeyah]

Where have you got this from?

The first character is in traditional script 協 and reads xié = 协. It means 和谐 harmony, coordination.

The other two look like 示 + 求. In some contexts 示求 means to pray for, ask for, as in pray for longevity >> 示求寿 i.e. in more contemporary context it can be used to indicate something which is needed, needs to be done: 除了要你努力学习之外，我对你一无所示求 = I ask nothing from you but that you should study hard.

Now, I'll leave it to you to figure out the meaning of your writing.

(Or perhaps somebody else will come up with a nice explanation)

[renzhe]

Good work, leeyah.

I was a bit stumped by the last two, but it looks so easy in hindsight.

If I'm not mistaken, 協 can also mean "assist" or "help". It looks like a request for help to me.

[gougou]

I think the last character looks more like (traditional) 来.

[renzhe]

That was my initial thought, but it's missing too many strokes.

[Guoke]

The last character is more likely to be 求 rather than 来. From the first character 拹, it's clear that these are written in tradition Chinese characters, and the fanti character for 来 is 來.

I've never heard of '示求寿' and '一无所示求'. '示求‘ doesn't make sense in Chinese.

[muyongshi]

I've never heard of '示求寿' and '一无所示求'. '示求‘ doesn't make sense in Chinese.

My thoughts exactly when I saw that.

You know guoke at least in your last 2 posts that I've seen, I've agreed with you 100% So you're percentage is going up.

[leeyah]

Here's another nice example >> 急示求出口到非洲的空压机！！！！

Edited September 25, 2009 at 06:24 AM by leeyah

[vampire]

Here's another nice example >> 急示求出口到非洲的空压机！！！！

maybe it's supposed to be read in this way?

急示

求出口到非洲的空压机!!!

[roddy]

I'd be much more inclined to parse it along the lines of the title here.

OP hasn't been back in since posting - doubt we'll get much satisfaction without knowing what the context was.

[leeyah]

I don't remember I ever claimed 急示 does not exist as a word.

Anyway I'm not giving away my sources this time & so everyone is free to make their own choice. Happy?

BTW1, come to think of it, the writing above doesn't really make much sense in that word order...with 协 in front of 动词 ...

BTW2, how come there's no smiley for when you scratch your head thinking hard?!

[leeyah]

Well, even without the smiley the scratching helped and yes, after re-reading the title you're both right, it's 急示+求+出口... so it wasn't such a good illustration after all. Sorry.

Nevertheless, I still stand firmly behind the examples I gave in #2.

OP hasn't been back in since posting - doubt we'll get much satisfaction without knowing what the context was.

Oh? It's not fair! Asking such a deeeep question , then disappearing...

[roddy]

Are you sure you haven't just read the entry for 禱 and taken 示求壽 as some kind of word or parsed it as 示求 - 壽 rather than 示 - 求壽.

[Guoke]

急示=紧急告示

求=寻求

急示求出口到非洲的空压机 = 紧急告示： 寻求 出口到非洲的 空压机

Leeyah， I'm not trying to irritate you, but I think the '一无所示求' in your dictionary is most likely a misprint and it should be '一无所求’。

Edited September 24, 2009 at 12:29 PM by Guoke

[leeyah]

Guoke, this sounds logical enough, as I haven't been able to find the word anywhere else. Thanks.

Any clue on OP's writing? I'm really curious...

[Guoke]

Why get so serious about it? The OP probably just copied some characters from a Chinese article which might look something like this:

..........................................在

协助警方办案..................出

示身份证..........警方正在寻

求现场目击证人的协助......

I have fertile imagination, don't I?

[HashiriKata]

Very interesting thread. I must say thanks to all, including the OP

[leeyah]

OP probably just copied some characters from a Chinese article

For a tattoo perhaps?

[leeyah]

I'm a really curious cat (yeah, I know the proverb ), so I found this and naturally, I'm (very much) intrigued.

What does it look like to you all? Do you see 示 as a part of 求, or a separate verb? or a typo?

or perhaps it's just a random prefix without any meaning? or an abbreviation of some kind? ...

PS: I'll get my answer in class tomorrow () , but with all the expertise/talent in this forum I was just wondering what you guys think. Perhaps someone could even provide a nice translation of 示 & 求 in the context?

Thank you.

Edited September 25, 2009 at 06:26 AM by leeyah

[Guoke]

Curiosity killed the cat.

示求租 = 告示 求租

告 is probably omitted to leave more space.

Try google '告示求租‘ and you'll get what I mean.