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Need Help With A Translation


ojgio

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  • 2 weeks later...

I'm assuming this is a troll post, but I'm gonna answer anyway. Profanity warning.

 

Urban dictionary has a few definitions for "jabroni", not sure which one is accurate.

 

Loser: 失败者、屌丝

Poser: 装逼 (vulgar)

Dumbass: 傻逼 (vulgar)

 

One of the definitions also mentions "asshole", which I'm honestly not sure how to translate. I don't think there's any Chinese word that carries the same meaning (a mean/obnoxious person) at the same time as being equally insulting. “混蛋” or “王八蛋” have a similar figurative meaning, but don't contain profanity. The literal translation is “屁眼儿” (vulgar), but I don't know if that can be used to describe people, and if it can, I don't know if it has the same figurative meaning.

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I promise this isn't a troll post, Demonic_Duck. Though, I agree it does seem a little weird. I think "poser" is a good parallel but it doesn't quite do the trick. There might not be a perfect solution.

 

Here's the story:

 

A friend of ours has always said that if we pay for the tattoo, he'll get it with the caveat that he gets to pick the relative size and location. Being that Chinese character tattoos are sometimes not what they are thought to mean (I don't know if this actually happens, might be urban legend), we thought this was a good idea for a joke tattoo to get him. One of his favorite television shows, It's always Sunny In Philadelphia, uses the word sometimes.

 

Context: Jabroni is a derogatory term classically applied to a professional wrestler who's only purpose is to lose to up and coming or established talent.

 

If there is anyone fluent and also an American Wrestling fan, please lend me a hand here.

 

Thanks for everybody's help so far!

 

References:

 

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=jabroni

 

video: https://youtu.be/vUXIdSnof3M

 

video: https://youtu.be/L3FycxyAqR0

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Well, I can guarantee there's no 1-1 match, as it has such a specific cultural meaning. Being a pro wrestling fan won't help, because there's no such thing as pro wrestling in China. You could make up a word of your own using transliteration (“炸不肉腻” or something), but of course, no Chinese person would understand it until you explained it. Or you could try an overly literal translation of “美国职业摔角失败者” (American pro-wrestling loser), but that doesn't have the same feel to it, and it's not obvious what that's supposed to signify anyway.

 

In light of that, I'd recommend “装逼” as your best bet.

 

This thing about helping your friend get a dumb tattoo seems unethical... I like it. Has a certain "Always Sunny in Philadelphia" feel to it. :wink:

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Hah, yes! It certianly does have that feel to it. Thanks Demonic_Duck

 

Ok so after some deliberation, we've decided to go with the more phonetic/american "jab row knee". When I put this into google translate I get a short and sweet "戳排膝盖", which is nice.

 

I know Google Translate isn't the best at times so I wanted to run this by you all. Any suggestions or edits?

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"Jabroni" seems to be mainly (only?) used by The Rock right? There doesn't seem to be an existing translation for it in Chinese.

I found 裝腔作勢  which could do the trick. Demonic Duck's 装逼 is also a good choice. 

 

I also would choose to offer him a t-shirt if I was in the case, by the way, but I assume you're grown-ups and anyway you said your friend agreed to get the tattoo, so just do what you please.

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戳排膝盖 is meaningless twice over. Don't do that, it's a waste of a good tattoo.
装逼, as Demonic Duck suggested, is a much, much better choice. It means something along the lines of 'someone who pretends he's the shit but who actually is a loser', with the added advantage that it's an actual Chinese term. Even better, get it as 装屄.

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Sorry Shelley but I don't think there's any way you can talk us out of this one. I appreciate your voice of reason, though.

 

While I hear the concern against   戳排膝盖  , that it doesn't mean much of anything, all that really matters is that he knows what we want it to mean, which, in fact, gives it meaning and context. We don't really have any friends that are fluent in Chinese so there won't be any confusion. I think that's what we're going with despite your much better judgement.

 

However, I think this conversation needs to shift to adding a specific set of characters for "Jabroni". Let's push to add this to the lexicon. I'll nominate 美国装屄 ... "Pretentious American C***".

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