Mike Posted October 19, 2005 at 08:03 PM Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 at 08:03 PM In England we usually say 'coke' for coca-cola, like "Can I have a coke please". So what do I say in China? Will this get me a coke > 请给我一白可口可乐，谢谢。- qing3 ji3 wo3 yi1 bai2 ke3 kou3 ke3 le4, xi4 xie. Is there a shorter version of 可口可乐, a word in Chinese like 'coke' in English? In China, is ke3 le4 any kind of cola? Finally, please help me out of this quandary, is 可口可乐 simply the sound of the American name Coca Cola and has nothing to do with the meaning of 可, 口 and 乐? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spencer4554 Posted October 19, 2005 at 09:21 PM Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 at 09:21 PM I have the distinct feeling that coca-cola tried to make a good sounding translation of coca-cola that sounded appetizing. Im sure if 可口可乐 translated to "this tastes like dog poop" they might have considered other characters. Paul Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Azastorr Posted October 19, 2005 at 10:23 PM Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 at 10:23 PM 可口可乐 is a nice translation I think. They used the sound, yes. But 可口 also means tasty and if you say (口)渴 (kou3ke3) which is an homonym it means "thirsty". By the way, 乐means "happyness" which make sense here. To make it quicker, you can say 可乐. Have a nice drink ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted October 19, 2005 at 11:35 PM Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 at 11:35 PM Will this get me a coke > 请给我一白可口可乐，谢谢。- qing3 ji3 wo3 yi1 bai2 ke3 kou3 ke3 le4, xi4 xie. What is 一白? Did you mean 一杯 (a glass/cup of; yi1 bei1)? You can also say a can (一罐; yi1 guan4) or a bottle (一瓶; yi1 ping2). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted October 19, 2005 at 11:45 PM Report Share Posted October 19, 2005 at 11:45 PM Another excellent translation of brand name is Revlon -> 露華濃 (lu4 hua2 nong2). It is from a famous poem written by the great Tang Dynasty poet Li Bai (李白). 《清平調》(一) 雲想衣裳花想容，春風拂檻露華濃。若非群玉山頭見，會向瑤臺月下逢。 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gougou Posted October 20, 2005 at 01:38 AM Report Share Posted October 20, 2005 at 01:38 AM In China, is ke3 le4 any kind of cola?Yeah, even though Coca-Cola invented it, it has become pretty much what cola is in English, a generic. Pepsi Cola, for example, is 百事可乐. I heard it is even used for other soft drinks, but haven't noticed that myself yet.Here is some more info about Coke's name in China. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ferno Posted October 21, 2005 at 11:20 PM Report Share Posted October 21, 2005 at 11:20 PM ugh i dont like this character-meaning association when transliterataing English pronounciations into Chinese... there should be just a selection of characters used for showing the rough pronounciations of foreign words, without any meanings attached to them. ie what if someone thinks that coca cola tastes like piss, but every time he refers to it he still has to say the "tasy" (可口) part? Note that the English pronounciation comes from the word "cocaine" which was added in early versions of the drink, this is also confused with the tarnsliteration. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
geraldc Posted October 22, 2005 at 12:10 AM Report Share Posted October 22, 2005 at 12:10 AM I was always told that coke entered the market through Hong Kong so it was named in Cantonese first ho how hor lot (dodgy transliteration again), so it was just a happy accident that it actually came out sounding something like Coca Cola when read out in Mandarin. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted October 22, 2005 at 09:39 AM Report Share Posted October 22, 2005 at 09:39 AM ho how hor lot Hor how hor lok? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike Posted October 23, 2005 at 02:47 PM Author Report Share Posted October 23, 2005 at 02:47 PM Will this get me a coke > 请给我一白可口可乐，谢谢。- qing3 ji3 wo3 yi1 bai2 ke3 kou3 ke3 le4' date=' xi4 xie.[/quote'] What is 一白? Did you mean 一杯 (a glass/cup of; yi1 bei1)? You can also say a can (一罐; yi1 guan4) or a bottle (一瓶; yi1 ping2). Exactly! I was looking at another post and picked bai2 instead of bei1 but, in any case, "yi1 guan4 ke3 le4" and "yi1 ping2 ke3 le4" are much better - Thanks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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