[General] I found a bonanza of the translation of a Chinese phrase

[Silverobama]

Today when I was reading an article online, I read the phrase "hole-in-the-wall restaurant". Then I looked up the phrase online and soon understood its meaning. Actually this phrase has a Chinese version, but the Chinese version of the phrase is so colloquial that it's almost impossible to be translated. The Chinese version goes like literally "Fly restaurant", which refers to "restaurant is small but the food is perfectly good". I read some threads and people from midwest of US believe that "hole-in-the-wall restaurant" might be synonymous as "fly restaurant", which means "an obscure restaurant might provide good food".

Then I was very happy and I thought I unexpectedly found this good phrase and I wrote a sentence:

I found a bonanza of the translation of a Chinese phrase which is almost not be able to translate.

The intended meaning is "I unexpected read an English phrase and surprisingly thought of its counterpart version in Chinese".

Is my italic sentence natural?

 

[GoesStation]

No. That's not how "bonanza" is used.

 

[Rover_KE]

No — It's ungrammatical, and 'a bonanza of the translation of a Chinese phrase' has no meaning.

 

[GoesStation]

Look up "untranslatable".

 

[tedmc]

Do you mean you found a hidden gem of a phrase and its equivalent in Chinese?

 

[teechar]

Since the two don't exactly match, I would say "near equivalent".

 

[Silverobama]

Much appreciated, everyone.

Would you please check my new sentence?

I accidentally came across an English phrase which is the near equivalent to its almost untranslatable Chinese version.

Is the above italic sentence good?

 

[teechar]

OK, but you might want to say "a useful English phrase".

 

[Silverobama]

OK, but you might want to say "a useful English phrase".

I accidentally came across a useful English phrase which is the near equivalent to its almost untranslatable Chinese version.

Much appreciated, teechar. Can my sentence still be improved or now it's okay?

 

[teechar]

OK.

 

[jutfrank]

I accidentally came across a useful English phrase, which is the near equivalent of the Chinese phrase ________ .

It seems contradictory to me to say that the Chinese phrase is untranslatable and then claim you've found a near equivalent.

Notice you need to use of after equivalent.

 

[teechar]

It seems contradictory to me to say that the Chinese phrase is untranslatable and then claim you've found a near equivalent.

Their purpose or overall meaning can be nearly equivalent.

Notice you need to use of after equivalent.

Right.

 

[Tarheel]

The idea of a "fly restaurant" doesn't appeal to this American.