angel Posted October 12, 2006 at 03:34 PM Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 at 03:34 PM Hello everyone, A friend has a t-shirt top with two Chinese characters printed on it. She wears it to teach yoga and is interested in finding out what they mean. The characters are printed written one above the other. I found a character that's almost exactly like the top one. It's the character for "love" (see attachment) -- but there is no cross on the left side. As for the bottom one, I haven't been able to find a character like it at all but I think I would recognize it if anyone has a suggestion. I thought it might be the first half of a two-part word or expression. Can anyone help? Thanks! angel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EEfree Posted October 12, 2006 at 06:16 PM Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 at 06:16 PM 爱情、爱心、热爱、恋爱、爱国、爱好、爱神、爱惜、爱人... These words are all positive. :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulao Posted October 12, 2006 at 06:33 PM Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 at 06:33 PM By your description of the first character, I take it you mean this: 受. If that's the case, you may have to describe it a bit better than that. There are a lot of characters that can follow 受. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjcma Posted October 12, 2006 at 07:24 PM Report Share Posted October 12, 2006 at 07:24 PM 受罪 ? 受洗 ? 受氣 ? 受寵 ? 受傷 ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bugaboo Posted October 13, 2006 at 02:29 AM Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 at 02:29 AM Distinguish "爱" from “受”(Looks similar? ) The former means "love" , and the latter means "endure" or "bear" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nibble Posted October 13, 2006 at 02:55 AM Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 at 02:55 AM Can you take a photo of the shirt? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
studentyoung Posted October 13, 2006 at 08:29 AM Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 at 08:29 AM As for the bottom one, Well, as for the bottom one, I think it looks like “is” (not a Chinese character at all). In my opinion, they look like “爱 is / love is”. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted October 13, 2006 at 11:11 AM Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 at 11:11 AM studentyoung, that's not what's on the shirt, I don't think. The js is probably an initial. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angel Posted October 13, 2006 at 01:35 PM Author Report Share Posted October 13, 2006 at 01:35 PM Many thanks to you all for your helpful replies! As bugaboo says, it is the one meaning endure or bear. The two characters are a repeat pattern on the shirt, so the character meaning "endure" could be the second one rather than the first: ___________ endure. Any further suggestions of what the other character might mean would be most welcome. (Could you post it as large as possible?) I'll keep looking for an example of the other character, too! p.s. I'm afraid I'm not able to take a picture of the shirt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjcma Posted October 14, 2006 at 01:43 AM Report Share Posted October 14, 2006 at 01:43 AM Oh Oh Oh, me me me.... 忍受 Am I right? Do I win a prize? If not, how about just drawing it out on the Windows's Paint program and posting it on here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angel Posted October 23, 2006 at 09:22 PM Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2006 at 09:22 PM Thanks, sjcma! As you'll see from the attachment, it's a little different. That was a great idea to use MS Paint. It took me a while to find a computer with the program on it, but here it is--ta da! I know it's clumsy , but I hope someone will manage to recognize it... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sjcma Posted October 24, 2006 at 02:51 AM Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 at 02:51 AM Hi angel, the character is 施, with one possible meaning being "to give". One possible meaning of 受 is "to receive". My guess is that 施受 is an attempt to say "give, take" or "bestow, receive". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mugi Posted October 24, 2006 at 03:08 AM Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 at 03:08 AM i.e. an attempt at translating "give and take"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gulao Posted October 24, 2006 at 02:05 PM Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 at 02:05 PM Well, it's not a word you'll see in dictionaries, but if you want a precise definition, the form of the word (two antonymous characters) indicates that it expresses a concept or something that is neither one character or the other. So the best definition I can think of would probably be "gift." Although that's assuming someone who knew a fair deal about Chinese etymology made the shirt. It's more likely someone was trying to translate "give and take." Like I said, it's not a widely recognized word that I know of. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted October 24, 2006 at 02:17 PM Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 at 02:17 PM 施 and 受 remind me of what the bible says - It is more blessed to give than to receive. (Acts 20:35) 施比受更為有福。(使徒行傳 20:35) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
angel Posted October 24, 2006 at 09:57 PM Author Report Share Posted October 24, 2006 at 09:57 PM This is great! Many, many thanks to you all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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