idiom 成语

[Outofin]

I'm actually a English learner, not a Chinese learner. But the topic is useful either way.

I found it's a little hard to understand "Tomorrow never dies" and "Tomorrow never knows (tells)". But now I seem to have found their perfect counterparts in Chinese.

Tomorrow never dies 来日方长

Tomorrow never knows 世事难料

Am I right?

Chinese 成语 is a more strict form than the idioms in English. They will expand your vocabulary dramatically. Using them makes you more like an authentic Chinese speaker. Meanwhile, it might be the most formidable barrier to you, next to poetries.

[wushijiao]

A good resource is www.oneaday.org

[zhwj]

I found it's a little hard to understand "Tomorrow never dies"

As a native English speaker, I have no idea what "tomorrow never dies" means, beyond its superficial Bond-ish style.

[xiaoxiajenny]

来日方长-We have plenty of time

世事难料-Everything is unpredictable

Am I right?

--Jenny

[gato]

"Idiom" isn't a really a good translation for "成语." Idioms in English are almost all colloquial phrases used often in everyday speech but much less used in formal writing. 成语 are just the opposite. They are phrases inherited from Chinese classical literature, more commonly used in formal writing than in everyday speech.

I've also seen "成语" translated as "set phrase," which is a literal translation. I prefer this translation even though it sounds somewhat awkward and most English speakers wouldn't know what a "set phrase" is. Translating "成语" as "idiom" is misleading. Since "成语" is peculiar to the Chinese literary tradition, there's no close equivalent in English,

[tradinup]

Oneaday is cool!

骑虎难下

(qi2 hu3 nan2 xia4)

When riding a tiger is difficult to step down;

difficult to get out from a dangerous or embarassing situation

[Chinapage]

Tomorrow never dies 来日方长

Chinese 成语 .

Translation of 成语 is very hard to do. In the case' date=' there is a good

translation, based on the the song sung by Doris Day.

Que Sera Sera

Typically, one need to know the background story - not just the words -

to appreciate the true meaning of a 成语. These 3 little words stand

for the whole song. See [url']http://www.webfitz.com/lyrics/Lyrics/1956/211956.html[/url]

Ming

[Outofin]

I guess translators probably always feel desperate. That must be a hopeless job.

Sometimes I do come up with some good ideas, which I think are better than the professional translations. Use 2 movies as examples:

Snatch: a brat pitt's funny movie about some london's gansters. 巧取豪夺.

Blach Hawk Down: If you admire Americans, go 黑鹰陨落. Otherwise, go 黑鹰栽了.

Do you like them?

The problem of the translators is not that they're not good at English, they are not good at Chinese.

[in_lab]

I think the problem with Chinese movie titles is that they are too uncreative. They use the same phrases over and over. If it's a Jim Carrey movie, it's got 王牌 in the title, if it's got Leonardo DiCaprio, it's got 神鬼 in it, etc. (Even if it doesn't have him, there's a good chance that the movie has 神鬼 in the title.)