Here’s another one – I’m on a roll! See how many you can get right – and you get bonus points if you can guess the translation into your second language.
1. You’re famous for doing bad things. (adjective)
2. You can hear the sound of people having sex. (noun)
3. You’re obsessed with making sure that everything is clean. (adjective)
4. You’re a man and you really act like one. (adjective)
5. An item of footwear with a strap between the big toe and the other toes. (noun)
6. This type of Russian food is usually considered the most luxurious in the West. (noun)
7. You really like looking at yourself in the mirror. (adjective)
8. You change your mind all the time. (adjective)
9. You work too much. (noun)
10. You have sex with a virgin. (verb)
11. You act like a spoilt child. (verb)
12. You really need to pee! (adjective)
13. You feel like you’ve done this before… what a strange feeling! (noun)
14. Someone who tries to be cool. (noun)
15. When you say the opposite of what you mean. (noun)
16. You achieve success only because of good luck. (verb)
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Answers:
1. English: notorious; infamous. Chinese: 臭名昭著 chòumíngzhāozhù
2. English: moan. Chinese: 叫床 jiàochuáng
3. English: anal-retentive; obsessive-compulsive. Chinese: 洁癖 jiépǐ
4. English: manly. Chinese: 有男人味 (yǒu nánrén wèi); (很)男人 (hěn) nánrén (slang)
5. English: thongs (Aussie slang); flip-flops. Chinese: 人字拖 rénzìtuō
6. English: caviar. Chinese: 鱼子酱 yúzǐjiàng
7. English: vain. Chinese: 臭美 chòuměi
8. English: fickle. Chinese: 多变 duōbiàn
9. English: workaholic. Chinese: 工作狂 gōngzuòkuáng
10. English: pop someone’s cherry; deflower. Chinese: 破处 pòchù; 开苞 kāibāo
11. English: to chuck a tantrum. Chinese: 撒娇 sājiāo; 发嗲 fādiǎ
12. English: busting; bursting. Chinese: 尿急 niàojí
13. English: deja-vu. Chinese: 似曾相识 sìcéngxiāngshí
14. English: try-hard (slang). Chinese: 装酷 zhuāngkù (slang); 裝逼 zhuāngbī (slang; derogatory)
15. English: sarcasm. Chinese: 反语 fǎnyǔ
16. English: fluke it. Chinese: 走狗屎运 zǒu gǒushǐyùn
14. Someone who tries to be cool. (noun)
A wannabe; a poser; a poseur
just a few things:
Someone who tries to be cool is more like 装酷 rather than 装逼, cuz 装逼 is more negative than 装酷
déjà-vu can be translated as 老调重弹/ 老掉牙 depends on the circumstances
Very good suggestions, I’ve added them to the entry, thanks Charissa. 🙂
How about 有男人味 for manly? I don’t think 男人 can ever be used as an adjective, despite the fact that many people use it that way.
Ah yes, thanks Kenny, that’s a much more “official” translation for “manly”, I’ll add that to the entry.
Is 洁癖 really pronounced jie2pi3? I am pretty sure all my friends say jie2pi4, and that’s how I’ve been pronouncing it.
Hmm… The dictionaries I’ve checked agree with Carl. But in daily life, people seem to be pronouncing it with the 4th tone:
http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/335453244.html?seed=0
This is another example of variant pronunciation; the dictionary says one thing, the native speaker says another.