# 年輕不留白



## Carrie_Jaye

大家應該有聽過其他類似的說法: 少年不留白、青春不留白等等的
反正就是要大家把握年輕的時候好好努力打拼
那麼在英文裡有類似的用法或說法嘛??? Thank you!!


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## ktdd

Uhm.. carpe diem? Oh, probably not right.


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## Skatinginbc

_carpe juvenis _(Latin _carpe_ "seize", _juvenis_ "youth") = seize your youth, make the most of your youth.


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## Carrie_Jaye

Wow thank you ktdd & Skatinginbc! Never heard of carpe diem or carpe juvenis until now!! (you just learn something new everyday!!)

But yeah, I am not sure if these two terms best capture the underlying meaning of "年輕不留白" as I know it. Because whenever I see this phrase, I could hear my parents telling me that I need to study hard and get good grades... blah blah blah, rather than to explore my other potentials while I was young. 

I think "make the most of your youth" is a great start, though I might need to add more contexts of the way I learned this phrase to fully express what I want to say. Though if there are any more translations please do keep them coming


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## coolfool

_Carpe diem_, exclamation, means to urge somebody to make the most of the present time and give little thought to the future. Its origin is Latin, meaning to seize the day, a quotation from Horace (_Odes _I.Xi).

Figure you still remember one of Mao's famous quotations, i.e. 只争朝夕, having already been translated into _Seize the day, seize the hour_.

The above-mentioned two cases, however, don't fill the bill of your 少年不留白, 青春不留白, etc., if I ain't all wet, because they cover the entire lifespan. In order for us to underscore 少年 or 青春, I, and I alone, may, within my command of English, have to add time adverbs, like
fiddle not around...
mess not around...
live not in vain *(especially) when young / in the full flush of youth / ...*
hack not around...
idle not...
not whistle Dixie...
bum not around...


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## Skatinginbc

Don't waste your youth growing up.


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## brofeelgood

1) Time and tide wait for no one.
2) Don't fritter and waste your youth in an off-hand way. (inspired by Pink Floyd - Time)


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## Carrie_Jaye

coolfool said:


> _Carpe diem_, exclamation, means to urge somebody to make the most of the present time and give little thought to the future. Its origin is Latin, meaning to seize the day, a quotation from Horace (_Odes _I.Xi).
> 
> Figure you still remember one of Mao's famous quotations, i.e. 只争朝夕, having already been translated into _Seize the day, seize the hour_.
> 
> The above-mentioned two cases, however, don't fill the bill of your 少年不留白, 青春不留白, etc., if I ain't all wet, because they cover the entire lifespan. In order for us to underscore 少年 or 青春, I, and I alone, may, within my command of English, have to add time adverbs, like
> fiddle not around...
> mess not around...
> live not in vain *(especially) when young / in the full flush of youth / ...*
> hack not around...
> idle not...
> not whistle Dixie...
> bum not around...



My thoughts exactly!!! Thank you for the expansion!


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## Carrie_Jaye

Thank you everyone, this has been a very interesting discussion. An eye opener for me too


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## Carrie_Jaye

有人跟我說 "leave no void in your prime" 也可以用來翻譯 / 解釋 "青春不留白"，但我看這翻譯感覺挺彆扭的？！語法很不順，大家覺得如何？？


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## Skatinginbc

To me, it means 別在人生的黃金時光留下空虛與失落感。


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## Carrie_Jaye

Skatinginbc said:


> To me, it means 別在人生的黃金時光留下空虛與失落感。



Yes that's what I thought so too. I think the main problem I have with this particular sentence is that "prime" does not necessarily mean "youth", and it can be interpreted/understood differently according to the context. To me, 'prime' reads more like 中年時期 (like 40's to 60's) or 全盛時期, not something between 20's to 30's. Anyway, thank you for your thoughts


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## coolfool

Carrie_Jaye said:


> 有人跟我說 "leave no void in your prime" 也可以用來翻譯 / 解釋 "青春不留白"，但我看這翻譯感覺挺彆扭的？！語法很不順，大家覺得如何？？



Grammatically speaking, sentence _leave no void in your prime_ is flawless, if I happen to be right.


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## Lamb67

A young man should not waste his life just as a painter should not waste his paper.


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