Glossary entry (derived from question below)
English term or phrase:
Four-character Phrase?
Chinese translation:
沙漠藉马
Added to glossary by
Geof Aberhart
Sep 20, 2003 07:32
20 yrs ago
English term
New Zealand
Four-character Phrase?
Non-PRO
English to Chinese
Other
This is going to sound a bit weird, but can anyone tell me of any four-character phrases that use the syllables listed, or very similar ones:
Ma
Mo
Sha/Xie
Jie/Zhe
My parents want to do some design with each members' first initial "in Chinese" (sic). What I thought could be a nice touch is if it could also be a four-character phrase of some sort. Order is unimportant, and as long as the syllables are at least close to those above, that'd be great.
Absolutely ANY help would be much appreciated!
Ma
Mo
Sha/Xie
Jie/Zhe
My parents want to do some design with each members' first initial "in Chinese" (sic). What I thought could be a nice touch is if it could also be a four-character phrase of some sort. Order is unimportant, and as long as the syllables are at least close to those above, that'd be great.
Absolutely ANY help would be much appreciated!
Proposed translations
(Chinese)
| 4 | 沙漠藉马 |
jinshi
|
| 2 +2 | 马到成功; 好事多磨 |
Kevin Yang
|
Proposed translations
9 days
Selected
沙漠藉马
沙漠藉马(sha 1 mo 4 jie 4 ma 3)
meaning: rwlying on a horse in the dessert.
This is the best I can think of, though it is not an existing 4-word idom in Chinese.
This phrase can well orgnize Sha (husband) + Mo (wife) and Jie (brother) + Ma (brother) together.
Any comments?
Regards
meaning: rwlying on a horse in the dessert.
This is the best I can think of, though it is not an existing 4-word idom in Chinese.
This phrase can well orgnize Sha (husband) + Mo (wife) and Jie (brother) + Ma (brother) together.
Any comments?
Regards
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "Thanks for that - it may not be a recognised idiom, but it's close enough."
+2
10 hrs
Kevin Yang
Native in Chinese
Translation, Graphic Design, Copywriting
Native in: Chinese 
Works in: English to Chinese, Chinese to English, English to Korean, and 12 more.
Related KudoZ points
:
346
马到成功; 好事多磨
I do not think your request is weird. But, the challenge here is that you ONLY provided the syllables and did NOT give out the characters, nor indicated the genders.The limited information made this job tougher. Does this mean that ANY characters can be used as long as they carry the pronunciations you listed above?
Well, here come my suggestions for now:
Ma = 马(?) = 马到成功
Mo = 莫(?) = 好事多磨
Sha/Xie = 沙/谢 (?) (wife and husband?) = 沙滩邂逅
Jie/Zhe = 杰/哲 (?) (wife and husband?) = 杰出哲人
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Note added at 4 days (2003-09-24 07:56:35 GMT)
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Geof,
By reading your additionally added notes, it sounds like there are 4 people involved here, among whom Mo and Sha Xie are husband and wife, whereas Ma and Jie Zhe are two brothers. They are from two different families. The problem is that Ma and Mo sound like family names, whereas Sha Xie and Jie Zhe sound like given names.
If \"Husband and wife are represented by the Mo and Sha/Xie syllables,\" I think you can use a single 4-character phrase to include both of them, that is, \"沙漠绿洲\" (sha-mo-lü-zhou) which means \"oasis of the desert.\" Note Well: This is not a 4-character idiom.
As for the two brothers, 马到成功 is great for Ma. If Jie/Zhe has the same last name “Ma”, I think it is OK for him to have马到成功. In this way, there will be no fight between the two brothers. If they are not related, Jie Zhe is a tough one to find a related 4-character phrase. Perhaps you can consider something like 有界哲觀, which is quoted from http://www.thirdnature.com.tw/tai-gi/index-6-5.htm
Well, I hope there are some better suggestions from other translators.
Kevin
Well, here come my suggestions for now:
Ma = 马(?) = 马到成功
Mo = 莫(?) = 好事多磨
Sha/Xie = 沙/谢 (?) (wife and husband?) = 沙滩邂逅
Jie/Zhe = 杰/哲 (?) (wife and husband?) = 杰出哲人
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 4 days (2003-09-24 07:56:35 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
Geof,
By reading your additionally added notes, it sounds like there are 4 people involved here, among whom Mo and Sha Xie are husband and wife, whereas Ma and Jie Zhe are two brothers. They are from two different families. The problem is that Ma and Mo sound like family names, whereas Sha Xie and Jie Zhe sound like given names.
If \"Husband and wife are represented by the Mo and Sha/Xie syllables,\" I think you can use a single 4-character phrase to include both of them, that is, \"沙漠绿洲\" (sha-mo-lü-zhou) which means \"oasis of the desert.\" Note Well: This is not a 4-character idiom.
As for the two brothers, 马到成功 is great for Ma. If Jie/Zhe has the same last name “Ma”, I think it is OK for him to have马到成功. In this way, there will be no fight between the two brothers. If they are not related, Jie Zhe is a tough one to find a related 4-character phrase. Perhaps you can consider something like 有界哲觀, which is quoted from http://www.thirdnature.com.tw/tai-gi/index-6-5.htm
Well, I hope there are some better suggestions from other translators.
Kevin
Discussion
Ma: masculine
Mo: msculine
Sha/Xie: feminine
Jie/zhe: masculine
For the 'slashed' ones, that's an either/or case. Husband and wife are represented by the Mo and Sha/Xie syllables, brothers by the Ma and Jie/Zhe. I'm not concerned about specifically which characters are used, as long as they fit the pronunciations, or are reasonably close.