two sentences from Chinese into English

[Kenny同志]

Here they’re:

想当年，我一封情书洋洋洒洒写了五万字，她看了之后，感动得不行，哭成了个泪人儿。

你看他看完信都哭成个啥样了！

Could you tell me how would you say these in spoken English?

Thanks.

Kenny

[SiMaKe]

想当年，我一封情书洋洋洒洒写了五万字，她看了之后，感动得不行，哭成了个泪人儿。

Looking back at those times, I had written many long and beautiful love letters. These so move her that after reading them she was bathed in tears.

你看他看完信都哭成个啥样

You see, when he finished reading all the letters, he saw what crying had done to them.

Comments welcome.

[jbradfor]

"感动得不行" threw me. I read the "不行" as "not moved", so "感动得不行" was "emotions were NOT moved". Could someone explain this grammar to me?

[SiMaKe]

"感动得不行" threw me. I read the "不行" as "not moved", so "感动得不行" was "emotions were NOT moved". Could someone explain this grammar to me?

I wasn't familiar with this usage either but "not moved" seemed contrary to the rest of the sentence. Exploring further, I found this on nciku:

4. (used as a complement after 得) awfully; extremely

大街上热闹得不行。

The streets are awfully busy.

我可困得不行了。

I'm terribly sleepy.

[jbradfor]

Thanks! That makes more sense.

[Guoke]

想当年，我一封情书洋洋洒洒写了五万字，她看了之后，感动得不行，哭成了个泪人儿。

Looking back at those times, I had written many long and beautiful love letters. These so move her that after reading them she was bathed in tears.

But 'I' wrote only one letter：

“我一封情书...”

These so move her -> It so moved her

"Looking back at those times, ..."

I think “当年” here refers to one occasion in the past.

[SiMaKe]

@Guoke

I agree with you on all three points. Nice catch. The "50,000 characters" must have distorted my sense of number.:rolleyes:

[Kenny同志]

Thanks everybody for your replies. The number of the words of the love letter is far exaggerated (the speaker was 吹牛ing) just in an effort to be amusing or humourous. I made up the two sentences to see what are the equivalents in English for “泪人儿” and “哭成个啥样了”. I think I’ve find the answers. Thank you very much, SiMaKe.

By the way, what do you say 吹牛 in English? My dictionary lists “to brag”, “to boast”, “to talk big” as its equivalents, however, it seems what you brag/boast./talk big about are based on what has actually happened while the thing you 吹牛about does not necessarily do. So when what you are 吹牛ing about is something that has not yet happened, how would you say it?

[jbradfor]

If the person did write a love letter, but no where near 50,000 characters, then I would translate "吹牛" as "exaggerate". "Poetic license" is a more positive spin.

Just to confirm. When you write "while the thing you 吹牛about does not necessarily have happened.", you can use 吹牛 if you said you wrote 50,000 character but actually wrote, say, 5,000, right? But you wouldn't use 吹牛 is you said you wrote 50,000 character but actually didn't write a letter at all, right?

[Kenny同志]

In my way of thinking, you can 吹牛 about a thing whether it has happened or not. I asked two of my classmates about this.Both agreed with me on this point.

PS: People usually 吹牛 to attract attention or to be impressive or simply to amuse or entertain others. When you 吹牛, you talk in a proud way; you either exaggerate the truth that is not so impressive or that is not to be so proud of, or make up something that looks impressive but of which the infactuality can usually be easily detected. Can I brag/boast/talk big to amuse others?

[SiMaKe]

@kenny,

[edit: Didn't see your latest post while writing. This response refers to the previous question]

Not quite sure about your question.

"...what you brag/boast./talk big about are based on what has actually happened while the thing you 吹牛about does not necessarily have happened. So when what you are 吹牛ing about is something that has not yet happened..."

Bragging/boasting/... is, at root, exaggerated speech with a view to self-commendation (sometimes justified, sometimes not; sometimes serious, sometimes not)

As such, one can "brag" about some specific accomplishment that occurred in the past "he bragged for days about hitting the ball over the right field fence last Tuesday".

But one can also "brag" about something that has not yet happened "he's just bragging when he says he will hit the ball over the right field fence". This "bragging" may be based on demonstrated past performance either in this specific situation (this guy is the only person who routinely hits the ball over this fence) or in similar situations (he has the highest number of out-of-the-park hits of anyone in the league).

Not sure if this answers the question or not.

[gato]

Try googling 唐骏 吹牛.

[SiMaKe]

In my way of thinking, you can 吹牛 about a thing whether it has happened or not.

Clearly I agree

PS: People usually 吹牛 to attract attention or to be impressive or simply to amuse or entertain others. When you 吹牛, you talk in a proud way; you either exaggerate the truth that is not so impressive or that is not to be so proud of, or make up something that looks impressive but of which the infactuality can usually be easily detected. Can I brag/boast/talk big to amuse others?

One can brag/boast/talk big to amuse others. It's a matter of context and intent.

Here is a differentiation between brag and boast that you might find interesting.

Boast, brag imply vocal self-praise or claims to superiority over others. Boast usually refers to a particular ability, possession, etc., that may be one of such kind as to justify a good deal of pride: He boasts of his ability as a singer. Brag, a more colloquial term, usually suggests a more ostentatious and exaggerated boasting but less well-founded: He brags loudly of his marksmanship.

[Kenny同志]

You’re really appreciated, SiMaKe. Your explanation has cleared up many things. The last question, can I boast/brag/talk big about something that I make up, e.g. 胡锦涛主席是我亲戚?

PS:

But one can also "brag" about something that has not yet happened "he's just bragging when he says he will hit the ball over the right field fence". This "bragging" may be based on demonstrated past performance either in this specific situation (this guy is the only person who routinely hits the ball over this fence) or in similar situations (he has the highest number of out-of-the-park hits of anyone in the league).

It's the same with 吹牛 in this regard.

[SiMaKe]

... can I boast/brag/talk big about something that I make up, e.g. 胡锦涛主席是我亲戚?

I don't see anything inherently wrong with doing that. Consider:

Since I've known him he has bragged about being President Hu's relative. Now come to find out, that's a lie.

or

He boasts about the time he spent in the major leagues but everyone knows he can't even catch a baseball.

[Kenny同志]

So 吹牛 is equivalent to the three expressions. Hooray!