Lost in Translation? 3

[LFI]

I hope this is the right forum for this. Perhaps it will spawn some interesting discussion.

I opened a fortune cookie the other day and do not understand the message. I Googled part of the phrase and all I found was a web site of fortune cookies and this was one of the fortunes there too! Either this is a popular fortune or they use the same company that stuffed my cookie (perhaps there's a better way to say that...).

So, I figure this is either an idiom I have never heard or a sincere Chinese blessing that got mangled in translation.

Any insights would be grand!

Here it is:

Now is the time to make circles with mints, do not haste any longer.

???

--Dave

 

[Stella740pl]

Not the contents, but the name of this thread seemed like deja vu to me, so I made a search. Have you seen
thread1256-974702 and thread1256-1032400 ?

Can not say much about the Chinese phrase, though. But these things happen very often in translated texts.

 

[LFI]

Funny, Stella470pl! Thanks!

 

[Chopstik]

Since Chinese fortune cookies are a Western invention (they certainly don't have fortune cookies in China), I doubt that the fortune was something that originated in China, either. I'm personally unfamiliar with the phrase in question, but the way some things get translated it's impossible to know what the original phrase was...



------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I am not young enough to know everything."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

 

[ChrisHunt]

Surely it's a joke - you'd usually get fortune cookies at the end of a meal, you'd often get mints at the same time (in the UK anyway). Hence the "fortune".

-- Chris Hunt
Webmaster & Tragedian
Extra Connections Ltd

 

[LFI]

Interesting about fortune cookies being an American invention. Thanks for that, Chopstik.

I wonder if making "circles with mints" is indicative of wasting time... like someone making a paper clip sculpture or something. Then "do not haste any longer," which sounds like it SHOULD say "do not hesitate any longer" would make sense. Essentially, it means: "Stop and smell the roses", "Relax", "Slow down -- you move too fast", etc.

That's the best I can come up with, but I like it. If someone seems like they're overexcited or unnecessarily rush-happy, I'll now say to them, "Hey man... Make circles with mints!"



--Dave

 

[TheRambler]

Maybe they are talking about mint cards, a term used by card collectors.

Pay attention to "condition." A card that is "like new" will be graded as Gem Mint. Card condition goes down from there, following this scale: Mint, Near Mint-Mint, Near Mint, Excellent-Mint, Excellent, Very Good-Excellent (VG-Ex), Very Good (VG), Good (G) and Poor to Fair.

If so, they would be urging you to make a "circle of protection".

 

[jsteph]

How about a coin being minted, making circles (coins or money).

Now is the time to make money, don't wait any longer.
--jim

 

[sleipnir214]

How about.....

FADE IN:

INT. FORTUNE COOKIE FACTORY NIGHT

Irritating Git #1 is standing at a computer console, hands on the keys. Irritating Git #2 is reading over his shoulder.

IRRITATING GIT #2
You just THINK that one's bad...

Irritating Git #2 shoulders Irritating Git #1 aside.

Wait'll you see how many brain cells
people burn out trying to figure out
THIS one!


Want the best answers? Ask the best questions!

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[LFI]

Yeah, I wondered about that myself!

--Dave

 

[sleipnir214]

Sooner or later, to coin Rober Heinlein's phrase, you have to quit trying to unscrew the inscrutable.


Want the best answers? Ask the best questions!

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[aardvark92]

Pay attention to "condition." A card that is "like new" will be graded as Gem Mint.

As I was scrolling through the thread I saw this quote, and for a moment thought someone was talking about collecting fortunes.

I've been sitting at my desk too long.

 

[LFI]

Tee hee.

Yes, they're even MORE valuable when you leave them in the cookie!

 

[columb]

I sometimes wonder if the Chinese have a laugh about the way it's trendy to use Chinese characters as tatoos when neither the recipient nor the tatooist can read it.

I'm sure there's someone wandering around with something as absurd as Now is the time to make circles with mints, do not haste any longer. busy beleiving it means eternal peace or somesuch. It might even mean gullible western fool (That joke courtesy Terry Pratchett)

Columb Healy

 

[sleipnir214]

I sometimes wonder if the Chinese have a laugh about the way it's trendy to use Chinese characters as tatoos

They might feel the same way we do about the Japanese using nonsense (to us) English phrases as iconography.

Some can't even learn from their mistakes about misusing words from other languages. The canonical case:
See

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/allnew...3&headline=a-load-of-old-tatt--name_page.html

Want the best answers? Ask the best questions!

TANSTAAFL!!

 

[Paul4Meep]

Now, that really makes me laugh because I do not like her. I love hearing any story about her making a fool of herself. Just goes to show how dumb she really is.

 

[TheRambler]

Dummies For Kanji (I'm dumb too)

[img]http://zhongwen.com/d/165/x213.htm[/img][img]http://zhongwen.com/d/195/x168.htm[/img] means "[COLOR=white]idiot[/color]" or "[COLOR=white]retarded[/color]"

 

[Chopstik]

As someone who travels back and forth between the two countries, I've seen more than a few shirts (in China) and tattoos (in the West) that really needed to be redone - or at least considered with greater thought. I always get a kick out of the really bad translations on t-shirts in China that try to mimic some of the more popular Western styles. And I am reminded of this funny article about some poor translations, euphemistically speaking.

Something else to think about, however, is the impression that is made by those people. Are Asians impressed by Westerners who tattoo characters on their bodies? Are Westerners impressed by Asians who wear shirts with English sayings? I'll withhold comment for the time being...

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"I am not young enough to know everything."
Oscar Wilde (1854-1900)

 

[Paul4Meep]

LOL! I love that article. I'm kind of torn on the issue, though. On one hand, I can understand where the artist is coming from, considering it is somewhat insulting, in my view, to carelessly use something from another culture because you think it is "cool." Make no mistake about it, most, if not all of the folks that get a tattoo of Asian lettering don't care about or understand the culture at all. They just think they are cool. I have a few tattoos myself, and their popularity makes me somewhat angry. A tattoo should be something that has meaning to you, not just something you get to be "cool."

After all, you are going to have it for the rest of your life. "Cool" changes, but if something has meaning to you, it always will. Not only that, but it seems like everybody gets tattoos these days, and that is so lame! Don't get me wrong, it is okay to get a tattoo that you think is cool. Why would you get one you didn't like?

I'm just opposed to folks who get them just in a vain attempt to be cool. I never used to wear short sleeves. I'd always have long sleeves, even in the summer. Later, I got a tattoo on my arm (then, eventually another), but I still don't wear short sleeves. Why? I got the tattoos for me, not to look or be cool. I got them because [highlight]I[/highlight] think they are cool, not because I want other people to think they are cool, or I am cool for getting them.

However, on the other hand, these people paid for a service only to be taken advantage of, and in a permanent way too. The artist is running a business, and should be professional. If this bothered him THAT much, the professional thing to do is to refuse to do the tattoo, citing that he thinks it is disrespectful. I don't know. I'm somewhat torn on this issue.

As much as I understand the artist's feelings, though, I have to slightly lean towards siding with the customers. It certainly isn't fair of the artist to pass judgment like this. I am sure that at least a few folks get Asian letter tattoos out of respect of the Asian culture instead of in spite of it. How can he be sure that isn't the case? They may still not be able to read the letters, but that doesn't definitely mean they are doing it without any respect to the culture.

I kind of think of it like getting a tattoo of Mickey Mouse. On one hand, somebody getting this tattoo could be a lame-wad who just wants a tattoo to be cool. On the other hand, it could be somebody who really likes Mickey Mouse, and doesn't care that it is something you wouldn't expect to see on a tattoo, because it is what he/she wants. If these two people both walked into a tattoo parlor asking for that same tattoo, you may jump to the conclusion that they are both lame, but if you actually bothered to find out instead of judging, the second person has the right attitude. Woah. Sorry. I got lost on a tangent there. This is just a topic that really grasps my attention.

 

[AnotherHiggins]

Calm down, Paul4Meep. Notice that the linked article was published on soufoaklin.com? Click the 'Home link at the top left and you'll quickly realize that this is a spoof site.

When I first started reading it I was wondering if it was legit or not, but once I read the line, “I don’t even like General Tso’s!” Baker sobbed. “I’m a vegetarian!” I knew that this had to be a joke.

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[blue]-John[/blue]
[/tt][red]Quidquid latine dictum sit, altum viditur[/red]

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