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A question about the number 14 Thread poster: Parrot
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Denyce Seow 
Singapore
Local time: 06:16
Chinese to English
Nah, "24" sounds like "die of starvation"!!!
Gosh, I wonder what the client will say when you come to point 44. Scroll down, please!
[Edited at 2006-06-26 23:49]
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ysun
United States
Local time: 17:16
English to Chinese
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This is based on a true story. Some new Chinese students met each other at a welcome party. They decided to exchange their dormitory phone numbers. They only need to tell the last 4 digits since the area code and other 3 digits are the same.
A said, “My number is 7488.”
B said, “Mine is 7499.”
C said, “7451.”
D said, “1494!”
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Parrot
Spain
Local time: 00:16
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
weiwei wrote:
Gosh, I wonder what the client will say when you come to point 44. Scroll down, please!
It only goes up to 29
But then - he had a point 4 and a book 4. So 4 is only avoided by the Japanese?
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Parrot
Spain
Local time: 00:16
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER
Yueyin Sun wrote:
A said, “My number is 7488.”
B said, “Mine is 7499.”
C said, “7451.”
D said, “1494!”
I must be thick, I need some explaining.
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Angus Woo
Local time: 06:16
Chinese to English
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Parrot wrote:
Okay. I guess it's like avoiding 4 in Japanese or the fact that some western buildings don't have a 13th floor...
Thanks!
In Cantonese, 14 sounds like 實死 which means will die for sure; and 24 sounds like 易死 which means could easily die.
But in fact, most Chinese people are not that superstitious. After all, this is the 21 century.
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pkchan
United States
Local time: 18:16
Member (2006)
English to Chinese
+ ...
| 2828 Vs 4848 | Jun 27, 2006 |
2828 = easy to get rich = 易發易發
4848 = surely to become rich = 實發實發 or = is rich 是發是發 or everything is rich 事發事發
So, #4 is not at all too bad in Cantonese. It depends on the combinations.
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daisy0079
Local time: 06:16
English to Chinese
Parrot wrote:
Yueyin Sun wrote:
A said, “My number is 7488.”
B said, “Mine is 7499.”
C said, “7451.”
D said, “1494!”
I must be thick, I need some explaining.
7488 气死爸爸
7499 气死舅舅
7451 气死我也
1494! 你死就死！:D
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ysun
United States
Local time: 17:16
English to Chinese
+ ...
daisy0079 wrote:
Parrot wrote:
Yueyin Sun wrote:
A said, “My number is 7488.”
B said, “Mine is 7499.”
C said, “7451.”
D said, “1494!”
I must be thick, I need some explaining.
7488 气死爸爸
7499 气死舅舅
7451 气死我也
1494! 你死就死！:D
1494! 要死就死！:D
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ysun
United States
Local time: 17:16
English to Chinese
+ ...
| Seriously speaking | Jun 27, 2006 |
Parrot wrote:
Hello everybody,
I was translating a document from Spanish into English to be sent to China (the Chinese version is being translated by a Chinese colleague) when suddenly, after point number 13, I came across an instruction written in red: "Cecilia, please skip number 14 because it's bad luck".
Now I'm curious: what does number 14 mean to the Chinese?
Hi Parrot,
Please tell your client that the instruction is ridiculous and should be ignored. Good luck!
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redred
China
Local time: 06:16
English to Chinese
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| Anti-superstition | Jun 27, 2006 |
Believe science, uphold the truth.
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wherestip
United States
Local time: 17:16
Chinese to English
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| Agree it's nonsense | Jun 27, 2006 |
Yueyin Sun wrote:
Hi Parrot,
Please tell your client that the instruction is ridiculous and should be ignored. Good luck!
It's something to be laughed at, not to be taken seriously.
You might want to double check with your client though. The customer's always right.
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pkchan
United States
Local time: 18:16
Member (2006)
English to Chinese
+ ...
破除迷信很難，因早已入心入肺。廟越建越大，佛像越樹越多，觀音也放到海邊，比過往的毛主席像還多，還大，還宏偉。現時，國內的人比香港人要迷信多了。有報導稱，當局已取消在車牌上的4字，因為無人願要，這是否屬實，待查。
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Han Li
China
Local time: 06:16
English to Chinese
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这样讲也并不是不好的呀。
作为个人，我想很多人已经不在乎这些数字了，至少对我来说如此。但对于公司，我想应该还是很在乎的。
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Parrot
Spain
Local time: 00:16
Spanish to English
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TOPIC STARTER | I'll go with this | Jun 27, 2006 |
wherestip wrote:
The customer's always right.
Not for any other reason except that I realise the company prides itself on cultural sensitivity and respect, for a western company. (I know the boss and he's really sincere about this line of action). Whether they've gone overboard or not is their business, but I trust they won't offend anybody.
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Angus Woo
Local time: 06:16
Chinese to English
+ ...
| It's nice to know someone is paying attention to cultural differences. | Jun 28, 2006 |
Parrot wrote:
wherestip wrote:
The customer's always right.
Not for any other reason except that I realise the company prides itself on cultural sensitivity and respect, for a western company. (I know the boss and he's really sincere about this line of action). Whether they've gone overboard or not is their business , but I trust they won't offend anybody.
Let me give you one interesting example. Motorola, an international brand, here is their website http://www.motorola.com/hk.
You see, in Cantonese, Motorola sounds extremely like 冇得撈啦 (In Mandarin, it means 沒得混啦). The phrase literally means "out of business". So the result is that Motorola is "out of buiness". Funny, isn't it?
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