# I am a stupid American and I will buy anything.



## dopplerthesexybeast

I know it's strange, but I was wanting to get a shirt made for a friend who enjoys these sorts of things. I grew up speaking Mandarin but never learned how to read or write anything, so could I have some help translating this?

Someone on another website gave me this:

我是一個笨美國人，我什麼都會買。

Is that accurate at all?


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## Geysere

Do you want to put that sentence on a shirt? If so, it needs to be more concise. Is your friend going to wear that in China or in America?


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## BODYholic

dopplerthesexybeast said:


> I know it's strange, but I was wanting to get a shirt made for a friend who enjoys these sorts of things. I grew up speaking Mandarin but never learned how to read or write anything, so could I have some help translating this?
> 
> Someone on another website gave me this:
> 
> 我是一個笨美國人，我什麼都會買。
> 
> Is that accurate at all?



While in English, you may call someone 'stupid' because he/she is a shopaholic. In Chinese, I'm afraid, "笨" and "什麼都會買" do not add up. At best, the translation is faithful.


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## Geysere

BODYholic said:


> While in English, you may call someone 'stupid' because he/she is a shopaholic. In Chinese, I'm afraid, "笨" and "什麼都會買" do not add up. At best, the translation is faithful.


 
Maybe "傻" is better? "我是个傻美国佬/傻老美, 我什么都买"


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## dopplerthesexybeast

Yes, I am planning on putting it on a shirt, although not necessarily all on one line. She got the idea from seeing a similar one in Japanese and has been collecting these in various languages.

She'd be wearing it in America, but she keeps company with people who would be able to read the shirt. That, and the fact that I grew up speaking Mandarin, make me want the most accurate translation possible.

I feel like I need to put this in context, and my spoken Mandarin is suffering from ten years without practice so I can't exactly transliterate what I mean... I guess the gist of what we're wanting is for the shirt to imply that the wearer does not understand the writing, when in fact he/she actually knows what it says, hence the "stupid," as in someone who is actually mentally lacking. We intend stupid as actually deficient in intellect, and the whole part about being willing to buy anything is just meant to reinforce the implied stupidity of the [American] wearer, further poking fun at my friend's own nationality. It's not intended to call Americans shopaholics.

She's strange, but I humor her.


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## Chinoise

dopplerthesexybeast said:


> Yes, I am planning on putting it on a shirt, although not necessarily all on one line. She got the idea from seeing a similar one in Japanese and has been collecting these in various languages.
> 
> She'd be wearing it in America, but she keeps company with people who would be able to read the shirt. That, and the fact that I grew up speaking Mandarin, make me want the most accurate translation possible.
> 
> I feel like I need to put this in context, and my spoken Mandarin is suffering from ten years without practice so I can't exactly transliterate what I mean... I guess the gist of what we're wanting is for the shirt to imply that the wearer does not understand the writing, when in fact he/she actually knows what it says, hence the "stupid," as in someone who is actually mentally lacking. We intend stupid as actually deficient in intellect, and the whole part about being willing to buy anything is just meant to reinforce the implied stupidity of the [American] wearer, further poking fun at my friend's own nationality. It's not intended to call Americans shopaholics.
> 
> She's strange, but I humor her.


 

You may also want to remind her not to wear it in a Chinese-speaking country/area.  Chinese in general don't understand this type of American humour!  (Definitely wouldn't find her funny at all)

And I second Geysere's translation:  "我是个傻老美, 我什么都买"

That's pretty dead on translation to me.


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## dopplerthesexybeast

Oh, for sure. I don't think she realizes it's only funny to Americans.

Could you give me the Pinyin so I can at least teach her how to say it?


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## Lamb67

我是个傻老美, 我什么都买
wo(3)shi(4)ge(4)sha(2)lao(3)mei(3), wo(3)shen(2)me(4)du(2)mai(3)


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## Chinoise

Lamb67 said:


> 我是个傻老美, 我什么都买
> wo(3)shi(4)ge(4)sha(2)lao(3)mei(3), wo(3)shen(2)me(4)du(2)mai(3)


 

I might be wrong.... but (when reading it out loud) shouldn't it be:

wo(3)shi(4)ge(5)sha(3)lao(2)mei(3), wo(3)shen(2)me(4)dou(1)mai(3)


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## xiaolijie

> *I am a stupid American and I will buy anything.*


I think it is a mistake to translate "buy" in this sentence as "买". "Buy" here means "believe". So the sentence must mean something like _"I am a stupid American and I'll believe anything you tell me."_


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## dopplerthesexybeast

I suppose the phrase could work both ways, the intent is essentially the same.

Thanks a million guys. I know this was silly, but thanks so much.


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## viajero_canjeado

對我 "buy" 不是意思 "believe" 在這句話裡. 也可以那種的意義, 但在這個情況裡要表達那位老美很容易買不需要的紀念品.

Addition: After pondering a bit, I see how this would be a pun in English, where "buy" can mean purchase as well as believe. I don't reckon the pun can be preserved when translated into Chinese (though I could be mistaken), so in that case it's best to stick with the primary meaning: to purchase.


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## Chinoise

viajero_canjeado said:


> 對我 "buy" 不是意思 "believe" 在這句話裡. 也可以那種的意義, 但在這個情況裡要表達那位老美很容易買不需要的紀念品.
> 
> Addition: After pondering a bit, I see how this would be a pun in English, where "buy" can mean purchase as well as believe. I don't reckon the pun can be preserved when translated into Chinese (though I could be mistaken), so in that case it's best to stick with the primary meaning: to purchase.


 
Sorry, I couldn't help but to be picky about the chinese:

對我來說 "buy" 在這句話裡, 不是"believe" 的意思.  雖然也可以這麼說, 但在這個情況裡要表達那位老美很容易買不需要的紀念品.

And yes, I'd agree with you about the pun, I don't think Chinese people would get it.


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## viajero_canjeado

謝謝妳, Chinoise, 改正我寫錯的文法. 如果沒有修改我就不會進步啦.
I guess it'd be worth confirming with Doppler in order to be certain: Are you more intending "buy" to mean simply purchase or to mean "to accept intellectually"?


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## Chinoise

不客氣﹐ 應該的。


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## dopplerthesexybeast

Although it would work either way in English, the original intent was "to purchase." I think, given that the whole reason for this is so it can be printed on a shirt, that it would be best to stick with "to purchase," as that would indicate that the person wearing it had purchased the shirt in his or her stupidity.


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## Aoyama

> I think it is a mistake to translate "buy" in this sentence as "买". "Buy" here means "believe". So the sentence must mean something like _"I am a stupid American and I'll believe anything you tell me."_


That is also what I thought (at first sight), as in "I'll buy everything you say". But apparently it's not the case ...
What about this :
傻美国佬的我,什么都买 ! or even 傻美国佬之我,什么都买 ! 　?


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## Geysere

Aoyama said:


> That is also what I thought (at first sight), as in "I'll buy everything you say". But apparently it's not the case ...
> What about this :
> 傻美国佬的我,什么都买 ! or even 傻美国佬之我,什么都买 ! 　?


I think when we use the structure "XXX的我" or "XXX之我", "XXX" is usually just an adjective, but here 傻美国佬 is adjective+noun, so it doesn't sound smooth. You can say "天真的我"/"傻乎乎的我", for example.
Or you can use another phrase "我这(个)XXX" (XXX=noun.) 
In this case "我这个傻美国佬". I guess it's equal to "Me, a stupid American"


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## Johnlan

Chinoise said:


> You may also want to remind her not to wear it in a Chinese-speaking country/area. Chinese in general don't understand this type of American humour! (Definitely wouldn't find her funny at all)
> 
> And I second Geysere's translation: "我是个傻老美, 我什么都买"
> 
> That's pretty dead on translation to me.


 
yes, it is a perfect translation.


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## Aoyama

> In this case "我这个傻美国佬". I guess it's equal to "Me, a stupid American"


Or "A stupid American like me [will buy anything]" (我这个傻美国佬,什么都要买)
What about, even : 我这様的傻美国佬,什么都要买　(sorry for the mixture of caracters, I'm writing from ... Japanese) ?


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## Geysere

Aoyama said:


> What about, even : 我这様的傻美国佬,什么都要买　(sorry for the mixture of caracters, I'm writing from ... Japanese) ?


Yes it works, but if it's for a slogan, it loses effect as the sentence becomes longer.


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## Aoyama

> if it's for a slogan, it loses effect as the sentence becomes longer


対了!


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## Jerry Chan

So maybe you can try something punchier and funnier:
我是美國大羊牯, 快來宰我吧!
Just kidding!


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## Geysere

Jerry Chan said:


> So maybe you can try something punchier and funnier:
> 我是美國大羊牯, 快來宰我吧!
> Just kidding!


  这个太牛了
大羊牯是方言吗？从来没有听说过 上网查了才知道是容易被骗的人，对么？这个词有什么来历吗？


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## Aoyama

> 大羊牯是方言吗


还是是关东话？有什么意思吗？（英文？）


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## Jerry Chan

羊牯 refers to those easily cheated or always lose money on gambling.
It's dialect but I don't know where it came from.
That said, it's one of 韋小寶's favourite terms:
韋小寶留神他的手勢，登時放心：‘此人是個羊牯！“在他心中，凡是不會行騙的賭客，便是羊牯。
韋小寶每見到一人擲骰，心中便叫一聲：“羊牯！“他連叫了七聲”羊牯“，登時大為放心。
So I guess it's from 浙江, or somewhere in 江南?

In Cantonese, we'd use 水魚 or 老襯


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## Aoyama

> 水魚


for "stupid" ? 不错...


> 羊牯 refers to those easily cheated or always lose money on gambling.


 that might be a "sucker" ...


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## Jerry Chan

Having read the whole thread again, I come to think that "宰我吧" actually serves better than 我什麼都買 for this specific purpose.
It essentially means "I'm stupid, I believe in whatever you tell me and will buy whatever you sell". 
It's humorous too.


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## Chinoise

I think it is regional.  In Taiwan, people call these naive and gullible folks with money to spend "大肥羊", and is used often in everyday language too.

example:

剛剛在那間店裡﹐那老闆竟然一件破牛仔褲要賣我300美元﹐我看起來像隻肥羊嗎﹖

Translation:

In that store just now, the guy was trying to sell me this jeans for US$300, do I really look that gullible??


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## dopplerthesexybeast

I like "A stupid American like me will buy anything." I guess as long as it's accurate and gets the point across, it works.


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## Aoyama

> I like "A stupid American like me will buy anything."


So you have it :


> 我这个/样的傻美国佬,什么都要买


 
What about also :这个傻美国佬的我,什么都要买 ?


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