# 谁让你那样做的,找死啊



## gntlstp

Hi, 

How would you say this sentence "谁让你那样做的,找死啊." in English?

Thank you.


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## Rikkify

Well,

literally it would be "_Who let you did it that way? Are you trying to die?_", but it'd sound rather strange. A more natural way would be "_Who the hell told you to do it like that? Fucking hell."_


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## xiaolijie

> A more natural way would be "_Who the hell told you to do it like that? Fucking hell."_


No, this is not a "natural" way. It is ok for some occasions but is rude for most occasions . My try would be:
"Why do you have to do it that way? Are you already tired of living?"


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## Rikkify

> ^No, this is not a "natural" way. It is ok for some occasions but is rude for most occasions . My try would be:
> "Why do you have to do it that way? Are you already tired of living?"



The original Mandarin sentence _is _very rude, with a apparent _superior _attitude. Moreover, "Are you already tired of living" sounds extremely awkward in English.


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## xiaolijie

> "Are you already tired of living" sounds extremely awkward in English.


That may be so, as I tried to keep to the original in Chinese "找死". I would prefer this to making it into something that isn't there.


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## Rikkify

> I would prefer this to making it into something that isn't there.



I'm sorry, but you can't just translate a sentence word by word. You have to interpret the meaning of the original sentence in the language that you are translating it to. In the case for "找死啊", the literal translation would be "You wanna die?", and I have provided a closer English equivalent.


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## Jerry Chan

Rikkify said:


> I'm sorry, but you can't just translate a sentence word by word. You have to interpret the meaning of the original sentence in the language that you are translating it to. In the case for "找死啊", the literal translation would be "You wanna die?", and I have provided a closer English equivalent.



You mean a closer English equivalent for "找死啊" is "fucking hell"?
Hmmm... that's interesting!


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## Rikkify

> You mean a closer English equivalent for "找死啊" is "fucking hell"? Hmmm... that's interesting!



In given situations. For phrases like "找死啊", the indication of death toward the recipient in a negative tone could be interpreted in many different ways. Read everything I wrote before making an suggestive comment, thank you  And I apologise ahead if I have assumed bad faith on you.


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## Razzle Storm

gntlstp said:


> Hi,
> 
> How would you say this sentence "谁让你那样做的,找死啊." in English?
> 
> Thank you.



你好gntlstp，要翻译好的话，还是要看上下文比较好，因为“那样做”的具体的意思不明确。你能否说一下这是在什么样的情况下说的？


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## Jerry Chan

Rikkify said:


> In given situations. For phrases like "找死啊", the indication of death toward the recipient in a negative tone could be interpreted in many different ways. Read everything I wrote before making an suggestive comment, thank you  And I apologise ahead if I have assumed bad faith on you.



I've read everything you wrote, that's why I think it's "interesting".


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## BODYholic

gntlstp said:


> "...找死啊." in English?


Courting death.


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## Razzle Storm

"Do you have a death wish?" Is probably what I would suggest, but it also depends on context.


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## indigoduck

BODYholic said:


> Courting death.


 
Just my opinion, but this sounds way too formal/fancy.

I agree "You wanna die (_or something_) ?" is most natural in American conversational english, yet without being rude.

"Courting Death ?" sounds like something that two fine gentlemen would say on the streets of London in the Tale of Two cities or something.


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## indigoduck

gntlstp said:


> Hi,
> 
> How would you say this sentence "谁让你那样做的,找死啊." in English?
> 
> Thank you.


 
Here's my version..

Probably the person was working with electricity or some dangerous stuff like at a construction site or something.

"Who told you to do it that way ?  Are you trying to kill yourself ?"


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## Razzle Storm

indigoduck said:


> Just my opinion, but this sounds way too formal/fancy.
> 
> I agree "You wanna die (_or something_) ?" is most natural in American conversational english, yet without being rude.
> 
> "Courting Death ?" sounds like something that two fine gentlemen would say on the streets of London in the Tale of Two cities or something.



The problem is that the Chinese _is_ rude. The person saying this is either angry, or is friends with the person (the type of rudeness that friends can use without the other person getting angry). 

“谁让你那样做的，找死啊” really needs context to be properly translated, here are the sentences I would suggest (based on different meaning):

"Who told you to do it like that!? Are you _trying_ to get yourself killed?" (if working at a dangerous site)

Another possible (but not very likely) interpretation is that the person being scolded is a third party. Again, without context it's hard to know:

"Who let* you do that? They have a death wish!" 

*Note: This "let" is not the typical mistaken translation for 让. I mean 允许, as in someone was supervising this younger person, and they allowed him to do something s/he wasn't supposed to. The 找死 would be targeted at them. Again, I'd say this isn't very likely, as it would be a somewhat rarer situation than working at a construction. However, without proper context, we can't really know for sure.

If it was just 找死, without any other context, I'd translate it as "Do you have a death wish?", but I don't know if that usage is only used in the US? It uses a natural form of expression, yet preserves the original meaning of the Chinese. If we're going with a construction site for context, it's a little inappropriate (不恰当）. Something like your suggestion would be good for that context.


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