[General] Beautiful youth, expectable future

[Silverobama]

Hi.

Someone asked how to translated a Chinese phrase into English. The phrase in English literally goes like "Youth is the most beautiful and the future is able to be expected".

I think in Chinese the connection between them and also the one who wrote that phrase wanted to express "Youth is the best time of one's life so it's beautiful. When we're in prime time of our life, we can have better future".

My version, since it's a phrase, of that translation is "Beautiful youth, bright future". Is the italic translation natural? If not, may I have your version?

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hi.

Someone asked how to translated a Chinese phrase into English. The phrase in English literally means "Youth is the most beautiful, and the future can be expected".

The future can be expected — what? To also be beautiful?

I think in Chinese [STRIKE]the connection between them and also[/STRIKE] the one who wrote that phrase wanted to express, "Youth is the best time of one's life, so it's beautiful. When we're in prime [STRIKE]time[/STRIKE] of our life, we can have better future".

My version, since it's a phrase, of that translation is "Beautiful youth, bright future". Is the italic translation natural? If not, may I have your version?

Your translation is very good. It's concise, and it's a great use of parallel construction.

 

[teechar]

Idioms and set phrases do not translate well across languages. The one above is a case in point.

 

[GoesStation]

Chinese seems to have a huge number of idioms and proverbs that pose significant problems for translators. American news outlets in the sixties often included the phrase "running dogs" in translated Chinese slogans. For example, they might speak of "the running dogs of American imperialism". My brother studied a bit of Chinese in college. He told me that "running dog" is a transliteration of an idiom that just means "aggressive". I don't know if that's true.

 

[tree123]

Chinese seems to have a huge number of idioms and proverbs that pose significant problems for translators. American news outlets in the sixties often included the phrase "running dogs" in translated Chinese slogans. For example, they might speak of "the running dogs of American imperialism". My brother studied a bit of Chinese in college. He told me that "running dog" is a transliteration of an idiom that just means "aggressive". I don't know if that's true.

I'm not a teacher.

I didn't understand what English 'running dog' refers to until I searched it via a Chinese search engine. It doesn't mean 'aggressive'.

The following definition is from Merriam Webster. It is what we refer to about the Chinese phrase.

Definition of running dog
: one who blindly follows someone else's orders : LACKEY

 

[tedmc]

I'm not a teacher.

I didn't understand what English 'running dog' refers to until I searched it via a Chinese search engine. It doesn't mean 'aggressive'.

The following definition is from Merriam Webster. It is what we refer to about the Chinese phrase.

"Running dogs" is also a term used to refer the Malayans who remained loyal to the British during the Malayan Emergency in 1948-1960, as described in the book "War of the Running Dogs" by Noel Barber:

https://www.amazon.com/War-Running-Dogs-Malaya-1948-1960/dp/0304366714


Back to the translation, how about "prime youth, boundless future"?