New Members unoriginal Posted April 9, 2012 at 12:19 PM New Members Report Share Posted April 9, 2012 at 12:19 PM Hi, I want to have "Freedom" translated to Chinese and get the characters as a tattoo. I know 自由 = Freedom but personally, I think 自由 is uninteresting so I was looking for more elaborate characters to convey the same meaning. My Chinese teachers TA told me 逍遥自在 is popular in China at the moment because apparently 逍遥 is the name of some character in a video game. However, I get the impression that this translates more to "carefree" than "freedom". So if anyone has some suggestions on characters involving more strokes that mean freedom please let me know. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
外国赤佬 Posted April 10, 2012 at 03:55 AM Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 at 03:55 AM Try these two: 無拘無束 無牽無掛 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yialanliu Posted April 10, 2012 at 01:47 PM Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 at 01:47 PM The first one I wouldn't recommend since that freedom is used frequently for carefree, not the type of freedom I'd tattoo. The second one even more so. Although you need to clarify what type of freedom you want. Is it the freedom of speech type of freedom? Or is it freedom from wants/needs? Or is it freedom to vote or something? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdavid Posted April 10, 2012 at 01:56 PM Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 at 01:56 PM I had a colleague who got "Free Bird" 自由小鸟 tattooed on her ankle. She "chose" the translation on her own. Her problem, however, was that she couldn't speak Mandarin very well, and instead of saying "xiao niao" she said "xiao niu," (小牛) which is often a term mothers using (endearingly) for their (young) son's penis. It cracked me up the first time she said, "I just got 'free penis' tattooed on my ankle. Come take a look." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted April 10, 2012 at 02:33 PM Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 at 02:33 PM she said "xiao niu," (小牛) which is often a term mothers using (endearingly) for their (young) son's penis. But this is not that common, is it? I mean it is not used nation-wide, is it? PS - For this meaning, shouldn't it actually be 小鳥 not 小牛? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shelley Posted April 10, 2012 at 04:54 PM Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 at 04:54 PM Having done a bit of research i don't think you wil find anything better than 自由 for the actual meaning you want. In a nice font, well done, it could look quite good. But I understand what you mean, its not very exciting. Maybe something else? choice = 选择 xuǎn zé. Just a thought:) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edelweis Posted April 10, 2012 at 08:24 PM Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 at 08:24 PM Freedom is not exactly a Confucean virtue, is it? I don't find it really surprising that there is no traditional, beautiful, rich in history way to write it... try filial piety or something... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kdavid Posted April 10, 2012 at 10:40 PM Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 at 10:40 PM But this is not that common, is it? I mean it is not used nation-wide, is it? I'm not sure about nation-wide, but I hear mothers say this all the time here in Harbin about their sons under 4 - 5 years old. PS - For this meaning, shouldn't it actually be 小鸟 not 小牛? She wanted to say 自由小鸟 but instead pronounced 自由小牛. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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