# Cantonese: 娶妻求淑女一定要搵個識大體，識持家既咁先實際



## indigoduck

What does this mean ?

娶妻求叔女一定要搵個識大體，識持家既咁先實際

To find a wife and a niece, you need to find someone who understands the big picture, support the family ?

I'm not sure what's the purpose of the niece.

Thanks in advance.


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## xiaolijie

> I'm not sure what's the purpose of the niece.


It looks like a typo to me. Have you tried "淑女" ?


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## lumiere137

I'm sure the writer meant 淑女.
In old Chinese, many words are written differently though, and they are called 通假字. Maybe this could be the case.


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## indigoduck

lumiere137 said:


> I'm sure the writer meant 淑女.
> In old Chinese, many words are written differently though, and they are called 通假字. Maybe this could be the case.


 
Yes, the writer made a typo.

But can anybody explain what this sentence means ??


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## Lamb67

I think I can give you the gist of it: When choosing a bride, the quality of being considerate and economic and practical are very important.*識大體 is the difficult part, literally means to know what is important, the priority of things but here I just bet on considerate.*


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## Ghabi

Perhaps: "'Only a virtuous woman can make a good wife', as the cliche goes. You need someone who knows the decorum, and knows how to manage the house and kids."


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## xiaolijie

I don't speak Cantonese (I think the sentence is in Cantonese?) but I'm curious. Can someone please tell me what *咁先* in the sentece means?


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## Jerry Chan

xiaolijie said:


> I don't speak Cantonese (I think the sentence is in Cantonese?) but I'm curious. Can someone please tell me what *咁先* in the sentece means?



咁先 means 才

...懂持家的才現實


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## Nicolemiller

*1) explain in a whole , 2) explain for a word*

*娶妻 1)marry a woman, 2) 娶: marry, 妻: wife*
*求淑女 1) look for a good lay, 2) 求: look for, request ; 淑女: the near meaning is "good lady", someone might explain 淑女better*

*一定要 1) must be, 2) 一定: must, 要: be*

*搵個 1) look for a, 2) 搵(slang): look for; 個: a*

*識大體 1) this is the most difficult, and the near explaination would be "know how to behave properly, politely, maturely, consider other people feelingetc..."*

*2) 識: know; 大體: 大體 is a noun, I think it could say to be a "polite behavior", and this "polite behavior" includes behaving properly, politely, maturely, considering other people feeling etc..."*

*識持家 1) know how to maintain the family properly; 2) 識: know, 持家: maintain the family properly*

*既 1) 既= Chinese "的", 既 is a slang of "的", e.g.: My hat = 我的帽(mardarine) = 我既帽(Cantonese)*

*咁先 1) that would be; 2) 咁 in this sentence means "that", 先 means "would be" in this sentence*

*咁*
*e.g.*
*1) 咁好 : if someone say 咁好, it's usually a question, so it should be write like this "咁好?", means *
*(a) "Why it could be that good?(in long)" *
*(b)"that good?(in short)" *
*(a) and (b) express the same meaning in different ways.*


*實際 1) practical, 2) 實 and 際 be together to mean practical.*


*娶妻求淑女一定要搵個識大體，識持家既咁先實際* 

Looking for a good lady to be a wife, you must look for a lady who know how to behave properly, politely, and considers other people feeling; know how to maintain a family would be practical.


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## Jerry Chan

*I think 識大體 describes someone who's sophisticated and knows the manners.

We use 大氣 in Mandarin?

*


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## Lamb67

*識大體 and大氣 do overlap a bit I think.*

*But here it means knowing what comes first literally and could be extended to mean being gracious 大气。*
Even it is close to having a version in case of talking a political man/woman, a leader etc.

*这是中文独特的表达方式。在北方口语里等于说不钻牛角尖。*

*Ghabi's '*who knows the decorum' sounds best to me.


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## xiaolijie

Thanks all for the explanations! 



			
				Nicolemiller said:
			
		

> 求淑女 1) look for a good lay


 I think I may have got a dark mind, but "look for a good lay" sounds a bit too... explicit!


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## Ghabi

Allow me to make a few nitpicking comments, dear Nicole:



Nicolemiller said:


> *既 1) 既= Chinese "的", 既 is a slang of "的", e.g.: My hat = 我的帽(mardarine) = 我既帽(Cantonese)*


You've misused the word "slang" here. 嘅 ge3 belongs to the essential part of Cantonese vocabulary, and thus is not "slang".



> *咁*
> *e.g.*
> *1) 咁好 : if someone say 咁好, it's usually a question, so it should be write like this "咁好?", means *
> *(a) "Why it could be that good?(in long)" *
> *(b)"that good?(in short)" *
> *(a) and (b) express the same meaning in different ways.*


The 咁 in question here is gam2 上聲, while you're talking about gam3 去聲.


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## Nicolemiller

oic, thank you very much


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## samanthalee

xiaolijie said:


> Thanks all for the explanations!
> 
> I think I may have got a dark mind, but "look for a good lay" sounds a bit too... explicit!


xiaolijie, don't tease. We know it's a typo.


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