Lu Posted June 24, 2014 at 08:57 AM Report Share Posted June 24, 2014 at 08:57 AM In the book I'm currently translating, there is a bunker (or pillbox) near an apartment building that children like to play in. One of the games they play is 过家家, 'play house'. In Dutch, this can be translated as 'vadertje en moedertje spelen' ('play mommy and daddy'), but in this particular case that translation is a bit unfortunate: If children play 'you be the daddy who comes home from work and I be the mommy who feeds our kid the teddy bear', that's 'playing mommy and daddy', but if children play the kind of games where 'daddy' lies on top of 'mommy', that's also 'play mommy and daddy'. Which would in itself not be problematic for the translation, except that two other characters in the book go into that pillbox to have sex, making the connotations a bit much. Now my question: does 玩过家家 have both these connotations in Chinese, or does it only mean the game where 'mommy' and 'daddy' take care of baby and such? Because if it's only that, I'd better change the Dutch to 'play shop' or something else that doesn't evoke things the Chinese doesn't evoke. Context: Young boy and young girl are in the pillbox. 他从后面抱紧她。她微微扭动着身子，却没有挣脱。他们半蹲在地上，膝下是白天小孩子玩过家家时留下的青草，被他们的膝盖碾成一团青泥，散发出生涩的味道。 Thanks for any help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
陳德聰 Posted June 25, 2014 at 03:37 PM Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 at 03:37 PM I'd definitely stick with 过家家 being "play house". I don't think I've ever heard someone use 过家家 to imply sexy times, and especially in that context I think it's supposed to contrast the non-sexiness of innocent kids playing house with the sexiness going on. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted June 25, 2014 at 04:07 PM Author Report Share Posted June 25, 2014 at 04:07 PM Thanks, yes that makes sense that there is a contrast implied. I'll make it something like 'play shop' then, or 'play with their dolls' or some other game without any sexual connotations, because 'huisje spelen' ('play house') is not a word in Dutch and 'play mommy and daddy' (which would normally be the correct translation) has connotations that are not wanted here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carl Chen Posted June 27, 2014 at 02:38 AM Report Share Posted June 27, 2014 at 02:38 AM to my understanding 玩過家家 equals to 玩過家家(酒) 家家酒 is a game which is popular for children. Each kid will pretend to be adults. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SE8086zG2F4 We usually pretend to be family members. One kid may be a mother and use 'toy' to pretend they're cooking. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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