How would you translate this sentence from one of this week's episodes of 非你莫屬?

[Milkybar_Kid]

Hello,

 

Did anyone catch this week’s episode of 非你莫屬 on Monday evening?

 

The first applicant was a graduating student who had obtained a degree in English during her undergrad studies. During the first segment of the show the host asked her to translate what he called "a simple sentence" from Chinese into English.

 

The sentence was as follows:

 

“女人靠的是直覺和嗅覺，男人以為她們不知不覺；等到女人傷心欲絕，男人們才感覺自己後知後覺。“

 

The clip and the applicant’s translation can be seen here:

 

https://youtu.be/NBrcoSBlTI4?t=447

 

I personally feel that this was a difficult sentence to translate on the spot. Here is my attempt after some consideration:

 

"Women rely on their intuition and sense of smell, however men believe that women are completely clueless. Only when women are heartbroken do men finally realise that they knew all along."

 

Can anyone help me to check this? I am almost certain that the last part is wrong.

 

Thanks

Hello,

 

Did anyone catch this week’s episode of 非你莫屬 on Monday evening?

 

The first applicant was a graduating student who had obtained a degree in English during her undergrad studies. During the first segment of the show the host asked her to translate what he called "a simple sentence" from Chinese into English.

 

The sentence was as follows:

 

“女人靠的是直覺和嗅覺，男人以為她們不知不覺；等到女人傷心欲絕，男人們才感覺自己後知後覺。“

 

The clip and the applicant’s translation can be seen here:

 

https://youtu.be/NBrcoSBlTI4?t=447

 

I personally feel that this was a difficult sentence to translate on the spot. Here is my attempt after some consideration:

 

"Women rely on their intuition and sense of smell, however men believe that women are completely clueless. Only when women are heartbroken do men finally realise that they knew all along."

 

Can anyone help me to check this? I am almost certain that the last part is wrong.

 

Thanks

 

[陳德聰]

Ugh. After I heard the comments, I was a bit annoyed. Yeah it seems like she said her major is English, but your major being English and you being able to interpret Chinese to English are totally different things.

 

I think her first two phrases were fine. 直觉和嗅觉 can be translated as "intuition and sense of smell", but it doesn't make any sense to say that about women in English. We don't say they follow their noses, we say they follow their hearts or go with their gut. I don't have a better version for you, because I am stuck on 后知后觉 and I want it to all rhyme but I know it won't.

[semantic nuance]

 

 

Only when women are heartbroken do men finally realise that they knew all along.

 

男人們才感覺自己後知後覺--指的是男人們自己遲鈍。但是，在你翻譯的句子裡，指的是女人老早就知道，並沒有把中文的原句譯出。Women  have a  sixth sense  and they rely on it while  men think  women don't feel anything that goes wrong around them. but  it turns out that it's  men  who are slow  on the uptake.  The above is not a translation, just  an explanation.

[L-F-J]

Women rely on intuition and instinct. Men think they are oblivious. By the time women are inconsolably heartbroken, men finally realize they themselves are late to catch on.

 

嗅觉 has a 抽象含义 where it is kind of a synonym of 直觉, somewhat like intuition and instinct (as a natural intuitive power) in English.