# It's so 80's anyhow!



## TheUnitedStatesOfEurope

Hello everyone, 

I would like to translate the sentence below (to a past love that I had in Beijing when I was a Student ):

*Gravity is so 80´s anyhow.*

*I would like to use this sentence not only in the context below, but also as fashion/cutural assessment. In Western countries, such am Expression became with time slightly ironic too. I always have a hard time  translating Western humour/irony in Chinese. 
*
Please finde hereunder a bit more context:

*The moon can move tides. *
_*Just like the moon, we both know that a rising tide lift all boats. *

*That´s why I will tide you over, when you want to reach for the moon, so you can be as happy as a clam at high tide.*

*However, unlike the moon I don´t use gravity, but just my heart.
Gravity is so 80´s anyhow. *
_
*I wish you a happy Autumn Festival! *

May you please help me?

* My try (it´s going to be bad...):*

满月会造成潮汐。
就这样, 我们知道月会做到水涨船高。("Just like the moon" is difficult here for me to translate).

这就是为什么我将接济你, 你把目标放在到达月亮的时候，
可是和满月不同，我不使用重力, 然而我的心。
无论如何, 重力是那么80年代的。*It doesn´t sound good... Not idiomatic enough and too "dry"... *

我祝你中秋节愉快！

 Many thanks for your help!


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## retrogradedwithwind

I can't quite understand why you wrote 80's here


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## TheUnitedStatesOfEurope

Hi retrogradedwithwind,

the date isn´t really important.

It could be the 90´s, the 80´s or -2000 BC. 

It is just a funny way to say it. 

We also had a party on the campus with the theme of the 80´s. Everybody was dressed-up. It was funny, trendy yet a bit tacky too. 

But to be frank, I haven´t thought of that when I wrote this. However, it does fit to the funny/tacky atmosphere of that evening.


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## retrogradedwithwind

用八零年代吧。
八零年代 is more literary than 八十年代。

Gravity, 万有引力

毕竟，万有引力是那么的八零年代

Not good enough as well


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## Youngfun

这是西方人的酱油诗么？
I'll try to translate it, but I'm not good at writing "beautiful" Chinese at all (优美的句子).

满月会产生潮汐。
如同满月, 我们都知道有了潮汐就会水涨船高。

这就是为什么当你想着追求月亮时，我要“潮”向你, 让你觉得像一只高潮中的蛤蜊一样快乐。
可是，和满月不同的是，我不用万有引力 。我只用我的心。
毕竟，万有引力太八零年代了。

祝你中秋节愉快！


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## retrogradedwithwind

高潮中的蛤蜊




我也来翻个。

————————————————
正如月亮举起浪，
我们都知道，浪举起船。

我因此像浪一般涌到你脚下，当你走向月亮时，你会高兴的像浪顶的蛤蜊。（这句实在没办法翻好）

然而，不像月亮用万有引力，我用我的心。

毕竟，万有引力听起来那么的八零年代。

中秋快乐。
——————————————

八零年代翻译不出讽刺味，蛤蜊也找不到合适的译法。


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## TheUnitedStatesOfEurope

这是西方人的酱油诗么？

Youngfun, what do you mean by that?


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## TheUnitedStatesOfEurope

Retrogradwithwind, 

你走向月亮时 is it the Chinese equivalent of the expression: to reach for the moon, or is it an equivalent expression, directly translated (yet still understandable by Chinese people, but a Chinese native-speaker will notice it is not originally Chinese)?

I will open a new thread about this anyhow, as says the rules #2 and #5 of this forum. 

Thanks a lot in advance!


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## TheUnitedStatesOfEurope

Retrogradewithwind, would: 万有引力太八零年代了 from Youngfun would be more satiric/ironic and depict better the Western joke behind this sentence?


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## TheUnitedStatesOfEurope

Retrogradewithwind, 

Wouldn´t 蛤蜊 be interpreted as something impolite in China? 

Should I change "clam" by something else? 
你会高兴的像浪顶的XX

What do Chinese people say? 

To be as happy as the moon / a whale / the sea / a wave  / or... a panda...?


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## TheUnitedStatesOfEurope

What about 鱼?

We say 年年有余 during the spring festival, after all.

And 余 sounds like 鱼. 

So 你会高兴的像浪顶的鱼.

Any other suggestions?


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## retrogradedwithwind

It should be 打油诗. You can search the word. My ability of speaking English limits my intent of explaining it.

I cannot think of a suitable word to render "clam". If she were familiar with the English idiom "as happy as a clam", I would say it should be ok to use 蛤蜊. If not, 鱼 (or 美人鱼?) would an acceptable option.


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## hx1997

I will reply to you here.

My version:
潮水因月亮起伏
船儿随波涛荡漾

若你想上青天揽月，我会是你的浪，将你托上幸福的高潮
可是，我不像月亮般会操纵引力，我有的，只是我的心
况且，万有引力也太上世纪了

中秋快乐！

To make it sound more poetic I made a few modifications, so this is not (but almost) a direct translation.
Also, I suggest you seek professional advice. It would be better to let the translators do their work.

P.S. 蛤蜊 doesn't sound like a compliment especially to a girl.  But it's novel indeed. You could try.


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## Skatinginbc

月撐潮，潮撐船，我撐你上天摘月，快樂似神仙。
不憑引力，只用真心，吸引力是多落伍的概念。


TheUnitedStatesOfEurope said:


> translating Western humour/irony in Chinese.


英文的 happy as a clam at high tide, 有些英語人士可能會把clam當作女性性器官的影射 (see Urban dictionary "happy with life as it is because who doesn't want to be a vagina?" 爽得像高潮中的蛤蜊一樣，門戶大開，讓水沖進來)。 所以你若真要我翻譯，我可能會不客氣地說： 爽得像高潮中的花姑娘 (邂逅語：要多浪蕩就有多浪蕩).


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## SuperXW

Skatinginbc said:


> 月撐潮，潮撐船，我撐你上天摘月，快樂似神仙。
> 不憑引力，只用真心，吸引力是多落伍的概念。
> 
> 英文的 happy as a clam at high tide, 有些英語人士可能會把clam當作女性性器官的影射 (see Urban dictionary "happy with life as it is because who doesn't want to be a vagina?" 爽得像高潮中的蛤蜊一樣，門戶大開，讓水衝進來)。 所以你若真要我翻譯，我可能會不客氣地說： 爽得像高潮中的花姑娘 (邂逅語：要多浪蕩就有多浪蕩).


这次我撑你！ 
除了最后的“花姑娘"……都说了是皇军的话……


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## Skatinginbc

SuperXW said:


> 这次我撑你！


萬萬不可。我那個"撐"是雙關，是男人興奮時那話兒撐起來的撐。如上帖解釋，樓主要求把英語的幽默翻出來，所以我找了那麼個字眼兒，既能翻 tide over (支持支撐)，又能解釋"月亮-潮水""潮水-船"的關係，外加上淡淡的黃色意味(用你的想像力來體會我的"撐你上天摘月, 快樂似神仙").

花姑娘...明明就是妓女。


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## SuperXW

Skatinginbc said:


> 萬萬不可。我那個"撐"是雙關，是男人興奮時那話兒撐起來的撐。如上帖解釋，樓主要求把英語的幽默翻出來，所以我找了那麼個字眼兒，即能翻 tide over (支持支撐)，又能解釋"月亮-潮水""潮水-船"的關係，外加上淡淡的黃色意味(用你的想像力來體會我的"撐你上天摘月, 快樂似神仙").
> 
> 花姑娘...明明就是妓女。


在粤语中“撑”表示“支持”，普通话中也有“撑腰”等用法，不要想太多。
你不喜欢，那换成“这次我顶你”？

就算是妓女，也是国内认为皇军口中的妓女。楼主目的是to a past love that I had in Beijing。你翻译成花姑娘是想怎样？


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## NewAmerica

> (SuperXW to Skatinginbc):
> 你翻译成花姑娘是想怎样？



    也许Skatinginbc歪打正着吧？你想撸主出歪招要”把女儿锁起来“，Skatinginbc都帮着译的。


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## Skatinginbc

我在想：假如我把英文原句翻成「吸引力是那麼民國的概念」，能不能通？
在台灣鐵定不通的，因為我們不覺得「民國」是個老舊的東西。在大陸呢？ 大家會不會聯想到一個很久遠的時代？ 另外，這樣的說法，能不能具有樓主所要的俏皮效果？


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## SuperXW

Skatinginbc said:


> 我在想：假如我把英文原句翻成「吸引力是那麼民國的概念」，能不能通？
> 在台灣鐵定不通的，因為我們不覺得「民國」是個老舊的東西。在大陸呢？ 大家會不會聯想到一個很久遠的時代？ 另外，這樣的說法，能不能具有樓主所要的俏皮效果？


不会。我暂时想不到 “那么（某时期）的东西” 可以代替 “久远/老套/老土” 这类形容词。似乎偶尔有人用“上世纪的”。

另外别忘了，“引力”这词的流行确实有特定时期的，不能随便找个时期吧……


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## NewAmerica

是否可将Skatinginbc的版本再提炼一下？ 大家看什么地方还需要改善：

月撐潮，潮撐船，攜卿攬月樂似仙。
非引力，惟真心，羡煞牛頓老光棍。


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## retrogradedwithwind

在汉语中蛤蜊也偶尔被用于比喻女子性器官

但这个比喻不怎么常见，一般不会做此联想。


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## Youngfun

retrogradedwithwind said:


> It should be 打油诗.


Some people also say 酱油诗. I think they associated it with 打酱油, like me.



> I cannot think of a suitable word to render "clam". If she were familiar with the English idiom "as happy as a clam", I would say it should be ok to use 蛤蜊. If not, 鱼 (or 美人鱼?) would an acceptable option.


Wow I didn't know "as happy as a clam" was an English idiom. I thought he was trying to make a funny comparison, because a clam lives under the water and so will be happy during the tides.


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## TheUnitedStatesOfEurope

我的past love不是一个妓女哈哈哈！  (I´m laughing, but I was angry too when I read this ).

Why have we drifted to such translations?... And such topics: hookers, vagina, etc.?!

Skatinginbc, my past love is not a hooker and a clam is not directly linked to a vagina in the West (well at least in the expression "to be as happy as a clam at high tide" ~ basically being a tide not stuck in the mud)! Everytime Western humour and/or irony is mentioned, it has to be interpreted as something shocking or sexualy deviant... The shock of cultures, they call it, right? 

Anyhow, it would be nice to have a translation without implying she´s a hooker, or that a part of me is going to "stand up" in front of her, or mentioning a vagina or, mentionning myself who wants to be on cloud 9 with her, or something...

If my original post mislead you guys, and triggered a misunderstanding, then I´m sorry. 
But I mean, come on, it was quite clear I didn´t want a pornographic poem. We talk about a poem now, but at the beginning, I just wanted to send a nicely, romatically written greeting card for the moon/mid-autumn festival. 

This is a short and lovely poem sent during the Moon festival, and thus linked to the universe of the moon, the tide, the sea (a clam is an animal from the sea), boats, happiness and romantism...
She likes the name 云帆 too, for instance.
This whole universe is conveyed, with a note of humour on top of that, recalling in a romantic and wistful manner past memories from Beijing (后海，北海。。。).
I mentioned a note of humour in my original post (regarding "gravity is so 80´s"), not a pornographic poetry! I´m not the _Marquis de Sade_ (well-known French writer for such things!).

If you want to understand Western humour and why "gravity is so 80´s" is ironically western (but not conveying a deviant or bad meaning), you should watch the following western TV programmes: Absolutely Fabulous, Sex and The City (sex is back on the table ~ sorry ) or Will&Grace, if you want to understand Western humour/irony/sarcasm.

So I´m lost now... Which translation should be the best, *WITHOUT ANY* sexual implied meaning *AT ALL!*
I don´t want to hurt or insult her... 

Thanks a lot!

p.s.: Youngfun, you didn´t know the expression but you knew it´s meaning at first place!
Impressive (speaking or irony above, I´m not being ironic here)!


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## Skatinginbc

TheUnitedStatesOfEurope said:


> Why have we drifted to such translations?... And such topics: hookers, vagina, etc.?!


Actually, the translation suggestion I offered (i.e., 月撐潮，潮撐船，我撐你上天摘月，快樂似神仙。 不憑引力，只用真心，吸引力是多落伍的概念) is not sexual at all to most people's eyes.  It is however designed as such that it could have a mild sexual innuendo if one chooses to interpret that way, like the "clam" expression which, as you said, is not DIRECTLY linked to the vagina.  If you think your "clam" expression is safe, mine is more than safe.

After giving you my suggestion, I decided to remind you and, more importantly, forum members coming here to learn English that some speakers of English (有些英語人士可能會) might see "happy as a clam" from a sexual eye.  The discussion of that idiom was meant to be a reminder, not my true suggestion, and therefore I didn't care if "花姑娘" would work in Mainland China or not.  It was there simply to make a point and never meant to be used. (Note: "所以你若真要我翻譯，我可能會不客氣地說..." ==> I would not have used a conditional construntion if that was truly my suggestion.  It was merely my way of making a point).

As for the expression "gravity is so 80´s", I think we all tried to help you to come up with a translation that could incorporate some humor therein, but unfortunately no luck yet.
"Gravity is so 80's anyhow" ==> The notion comes out of nowhere and that sentence does not match the style of the rest of the verses.  Is that supposed to be what you called irony (i.e., an outcome that is not expected) and humor?


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## retrogradedwithwind

I cannot still understand the humor of 80' though I have watched sex and the city...

But 火红年代, which is related to the days of old generations for a mainlander, could be an option?


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## NewAmerica

牛顿三百多年前提出万有引力概念与公式而轰动当时。因为那是人类首次用精确的数字语言来描述自然力，其预言天体（物体）运动的惊人准确性给当时学术界留下了极为深刻的印象。说*"Gravity is so 80's anyhow" *根本就是胡诌。辛苦你了，Skatinginbc，硬是译出了个*吸引力是多落伍的概念。*美中不足的是*吸引力*这个概念从未在现实世界中落伍过。



Skatinginbc said:


> Actually, the translation suggestion I offered (i.e., 月撐潮，潮撐船，我撐你上天摘月，快樂似神仙。 不憑引力，只用真心，*吸引力是多落伍的概念*)
> *"Gravity is so 80's anyhow" ==> The notion comes out of nowhere and that sentence does not match the style of the rest of the verses. * Is that supposed to be what you called irony (i.e., an outcome that is not expected) and humor?


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## Skatinginbc

NewAmerica said:


> 说*"Gravity is so 80's anyhow" *根本就是胡诌。


先用嚴肅的口氣說了一串話，然後在結尾突然冒出一句不搭調的胡謅，這種意外，若處理得好，也是一種幽默，若處理不好，就僅僅是莫名其妙的胡謅了。風趣是見仁見智的東西。有時候知道別人明明在說笑，可是自己卻笑不出來。我想我們都有過那樣的經驗。


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## NewAmerica

好象你不明白牛顿（万有引力）定律便是*Law of Gravity*？怎么会不搭调？



Skatinginbc said:


> 先用嚴肅的口氣說了一串話，然後在結尾突然冒出一句不搭調的胡謅，這種意外，若處理得好，也是一種幽默，若處理不好，就僅僅是莫名其妙的胡謅了。風趣是見仁見智的東西。有時候知道別人明明在說笑，可是自己卻笑不出來。我想我們都有過那樣的經驗。


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## Skatinginbc

咦？我們在討論同一東西嗎？ 我是說樓主開始的語氣有點兒詩情畫意，最後一句突然變得很俚語，這是口氣上的不搭調。先前邏輯有序，最後一句突然冒出個未加解釋、與眾不同的評論，這是邏輯上的不搭調。我猜這個不搭調是故意的，是想製造一個意外的風趣。至於有沒有成效，就見仁見智了。


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## SuperXW

大概是从80年代起，男女谈恋爱时，就爱说“it's gravity (that brings us together)”吧？说多了就太俗气了。
看看从80年代起有多少叫Gravity的专辑和歌曲：Gravity (disambiguation) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## retrogradedwithwind

I think you are right superXW thanks


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## Skatinginbc

第一個gravity指的是重力(萬有引力，地心引力，自然力)，所以我給的翻譯是「引力」。最後一句的gravity指的是人與人之間的gravitational pull, 所以我翻成了「吸引力」(註：雖然中文裡很少人會稱gravity為吸引力，但我認為，透過引力和吸引力之間有重覆字彙，i. e., 引力, 或許能使這個轉折自然順暢).

吸引力是80年代的陳腔濫調，老掉牙的話了。==> 這是原義。與前文「不搭調」。讓我舉個不搭調的例子：「我愛你，像天下父母。父母都想給子女最好的，為子女犧牲，我給你的是我的真心，但不犧牲，犧牲是國民黨的陳腔濫調。」==> 最後一句對他人的嘲諷與前文不搭調。這個從嚴肅到胡謅的意外轉變，處理得好的話是一種幽默，處理得不好的話，也不過是個沒有意義的胡謅。


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## TheUnitedStatesOfEurope

Skatinginbc, my apologies. 

By the way, did you chose: 神仙, in relation to the female divinity which is often depicted during the mid-Autumn festival. 
I don´t know her name sorry. 

She is often depicted dancing in the air, with clouds and the moon in the background. 

If not intended so, could she interpret it like that? May people link this 神仙 to this divinity?


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## Skatinginbc

My intention was to add some profound meaning to your final sentence, that is, "anti-gravity love".  Reaching for the moon and living happily forever like the immortals in the clouds are both examples of "anti-gravity".


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## NewAmerica

在台湾是陈词滥调，在北京是不是还是个问题。



Skatinginbc said:


> 吸引力是80年代的陳腔濫調


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## Skatinginbc

NewAmerica said:


> 在台湾是陈词滥调，在北京是不是还是个问题。


咦？ 怎麼又是牛頭不對馬嘴？ 不知道是你看不懂我的話，還是我看不懂你的話。反正我可沒說吸引力在台灣是陳腔濫調。


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## SuperXW

TheUnitedStatesOfEurope said:


> Skatinginbc, my apologies.
> 
> By the way, did you chose: 神仙, in relation to the female divinity which is often depicted during the mid-Autumn festival.
> I don´t know her name sorry.
> 
> She is often depicted dancing in the air, with clouds and the moon in the background.
> 
> If not intended so, could she interpret it like that? May people link this 神仙 to this divinity?


His suggestion 快樂似神仙 is a common Chinese slangy idiom. A 神仙 is a god/divinity/immortal who can be either a male or a female, but usually a male. (A female 神仙 is usually called a 仙女.)
What you were thinking about was 嫦娥, the Chinese moon fairy. We don't necessarily think about her when we hear the idiom 快樂似神仙.

Anyway, a poem is especially hard to be translated as your patterns, rhythms, rhetoric, metaphors... may not exist in the other language, for example, your "clam" and "gravity" lines cannot apply to Chinese culture. It still confuses people even though we've translated them literally.


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## NewAmerica

好啊，台湾也不是，北京也不是，说明吸引力青春常在，怎么你会有“*吸引力是多落伍的概念*”的表述？



Skatinginbc said:


> 反正我可沒說吸引力在台灣是陳腔濫調。


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## Skatinginbc

NewAmerica said:


> 怎么你会有“*吸引力是多落伍的概念*”的表述？


為了和「神仙」押韻，我決定用「概念」，而捨棄了「陳腔濫調」。既然已決定了「吸引力」和「概念」， 中間能填的詞就有限。
我三番兩次地提到幽默是見仁見智，言下之意就是我不覺得樓主的風趣很成功，不成功的風趣會給人胡鬧(goof)的感覺。所以我決定捨棄幽默，而賦予上下連貫的意義--強調精神和物質(肉體)的對比：
物質：質量，地心引力 (月撐潮，潮撐船)，肉體的互相吸引。
精神：真心，超越自然力的束縛(上天摘月，像神仙般地超脫世俗)
我說的「吸引力落伍」指的就是physical attraction.
這個物質精神的對比、超脫束縛的愛是我填加的，樓主真正想要的似乎是Will and Grace 式的笑鬧劇。


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## TheUnitedStatesOfEurope

SuperXW, "It still confuses people even though we've translated them literally".

So basically, I should not write this translation on my card?! 

It will confuse people...?! 
I thought that the translation of Skatinginbc was fine... 

So what do I do know? 

Write a boring and commonplace: 中秋节快乐！??


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## retrogradedwithwind

The key point here is whether she masters a good English. If she were, you could just literally translate your poem because she could get what you intend to say.

If she weren't, you should try to write a Chinese-style poem.


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## SuperXW

TheUnitedStatesOfEurope said:


> SuperXW, "It still confuses people even though we've translated them literally".
> So basically, I should not write this translation on my card?!
> 
> It will confuse people...?!
> I thought that the translation of Skatinginbc was fine...
> 
> So what do I do know?
> 
> Write a boring and commonplace: 中秋节快乐！??


It depends on how you define "fine"... Don't forget that Skating is an oversea Chinese. You should have noticed the confusion and debate it had brought to other native speakers... They all have comparatively good knowledge about English and foreign culture, comparing to most native Chinese.

I think you can just copy Skating or other's suggestion to the card. Forget about questioning them or trying to translate the poem sentence by sentence literally. They might drop some of your expressions and change them to new ones which are familiar to Chinese. That's a good thing.

OR, you just literally translate all those "gravity", "80's", "clam" anyway. A girl cannot fully comprehend but she WILL feel cute, funny and curious. She may literally go check them or ask you to explain. That would be the real good thing for you... (but it will displease some linguistics on our forum...)


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## fyl

I don't have better suggestions. But from my personal point of view, the "best" translations (*merely in terms of being fluent and easily understood* in the Chinese language, *not considering the accuracy* that several posters have put lots of efforts in) are magmay's in this post Just like the moon and NewAmerica's based on Skatinginbc's (#21 in this post). The difference is that magmay's is a serious translation that sounds well educated, whereas NewAmerica's is a funny play that can be posted on the Internet (which is not appropriate for your purpose). You can use magmay's safely, but note that it's obviously not written by a foreigner. Good translates are often like rewriting from the ground up and are not your work. I think another safe thing is just writing in the language that you can master, e.g. English.


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## TheUnitedStatesOfEurope

Thanks a lot fyl and SuperXW for your recommandations! 

Just a last comment and let´s say, that we´re done here, even if I´m always open for new posts from other members... 

I think that Skatinginbc really is good and safe too, right? 

月撐潮，潮撐船，我撐你上天摘月，快樂似神仙。
不憑引力，只用真心，


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## Ghabi

Moderator's Note: There must have been a misunderstanding. One is not exhorted to open different threads for the different phrases of a text in order to "get around" Forum Rules#5. The forum is not meant to help one compose or proofread a text, or misrepresent their linguistic competence. If one wants to ask for/provide free translation service, do it privately.

This thread has set a bad example, and is now closed.


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