Quick translation required

[SouthSky]

Hello there,

I really don't know any Chinese, but a good Chinese friend of mine sent me an email containing just this symbol before leaving for some travels but she refused to translate it.

想

Can anyone help me interpret what she was saying to me?

Thank you

[SouthSky]

I did try finding the answer on line but the symbol could be used in too many contexts for it to be clear to me.

[chrix]

And therein lies the problem - without a context no-one here will be able to tell you more than whatever you looked up online...

[HashiriKata]

In the context, it should mean that she'd be "thinking of you" (or "missing you" is also a likely interpretation.)

PS: Just saw Chrix's post: Of course, there is the context, clearly!

[renzhe]

"Missing you" would be my guess too, but it's just a guess.

[jbradfor]

Maybe she's saying "Think!". As in "think about what you just said!" What did you say to her right before she left?

[chrix]

"Missing you" is my guess too, but I don't think it's grammatical, usually I think you'd add a pronoun. So that's why I said we need more context. There are several other possibilities...

(Trying to ask a native speaker about this resulted in a lot of confusion, but I think I can tentatively conclude that it would be "uncommon". Adding a pronoun was accepted much more readily.)

[trien27]

想

= want; need; miss [someone], etc... With other characters, it might have other meanings.

Usually a character with a 心 radical signifies some type of "emotion". She might be playing a riddle: 想 = 相* [one another; each other] + 心 [ = heart: signifying "love"; = mind: signifying the "thinking part"]:

*http://www.nciku.com has these definitions for 相:

1. each other; one another; mutually

2. indicating an action performed by one person toward another

I believe it's more towards number 2.

More like 互相用心想着对方: "Thinking of each other at the same time."

The reason I suggested it was a riddle was: The first day of Chinese New Year is on February 14, 2010, which happens to fall on Valentine's Day! On Chinese New Year's, people visit friends & relatives and usually turn it into some sort of dinner party where they play card games or they guess at riddles, either those made by Chinese poets from the past or those made by almost anyone who's learning or speaking Chinese by somehow dissecting the characters into pieces of meaningful data in this day & age.

[HashiriKata]

I don't think it's grammatical, usually I think you'd add a pronoun.

It's a kind of game. You don't think of it in terms of grammar and would spoil the whole thing if you add a pronoun to it

[chrix]

Yes, that may all very well be, but I for one lack the ability to read that woman's mind....

[SouthSky]

Thank you so much for the help,

HashiriKata - I think you are correct about it being a kind of game, that would be very like her.

[Daan]

but I for one lack the ability to read that woman's mind....

Don't we all sometimes wish we could read others' minds?

[jbradfor]

Well, some times I'm glad people can't read my mind. So maybe it goes both ways

[Flover]

one of the possibilities is that "missing you".....