Dictionary quest...
henning
February 10, 2008 at 04:36 PM posted in General DiscussionFollowing tvans advice I took out the following sub-discussion from the "Christian Agenda" thread.
During the heated discussion pipsy came up with an interesting little paragraph with loads of cool English vocab that dogseatsrat framed into its context as follows:
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The following message was composed for Bizarre Notes and Queries, July-August 1890, to show "that it would be possible to write a technically grammatical sentence, which would be almost unintelligible." "The words below can all be found in the dictionary, and all are grammatically used: and yet the thing is as hopelessly dark as if written in Cherokee." It purports to be a note from an author to a critic:
Sir:— You have behaved like an impetiginous-Croyle! like those inquinate, Crass-sciolists who envious of my moral celsitude, carry their nugacity to the height of creating symposically the facund words which my polymathic genius uses with uberty to abligate the tongues of the weetless! Sir—you have crassly parodied my own pet words, as though they were tangrams. I will not coacervate reproaches—I would abduce a veil over the atramental ingratitude which has chamferred even my undicerptible heart. I am silent on the foscillation, which my coadjivancy must have given you when I offered to become your fautor and admincle. I will not speak of the lippitude, the ablepsy, you have shown in exacerbating me—one whose genius you should have approached with mental discalceation. So I tell you sir syncophically, and without supervaceneous words, nothing will render ignoscible your conduct to me. I warn you that I would vellicate your nose, if I thought that any moral diathrosis could be thereby performed—if I thought that I should not impignorate my reputation by such a digtadiation.
"For an entire solution of the above highly interesting missive, the reader is invited to amuse himself an hour or two with Walker's or Webster's Unabridged."
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I found this to be fun and suggested a little game:
"Who will be the first to translate this message completely into Chinese???
Actually pipsy has a head start, so I expect to see his translation first.
impetiginous, by the way is:
小脓疹的, 像小脓疹的
according to http://dict.cn/search/?q=impetiginous
The competition is open!"
tvan
February 10, 2008 at 06:23 PM
Well, since this was my idea, my stab at the first sentence is:
先生:你像个小脓疹的肉夜。
先生: 你像個小膿疹的肉夜。
Xīansheng: Nǐ xiàngge xǐaonóngzhěnde róuyè.
Selected Characters:
脓 - Pus
疹 - Measles
肉夜- Poor transliteration of "Croyle - open to suggestions.
henning
February 10, 2008 at 04:39 PM
Next is "inquinate"
http://www.thefreedi...../Inquinate
To defile; to pollute; to contaminate; to befoul.
dict.cn for "defile":
弄脏,污损,以纵队前进
for "pollute":
弄脏,污染
for "contiminate":
弄脏,污染
for "befoul":
弄脏,污损
So I would go with 污损
henning
February 10, 2008 at 04:38 PMeyux decyphered "weetless". Here is an exerpt from his post:
The dictionary says it means unknowing. Would that be 愚昧 - yu2mei4 - ignorant? Nice characters - zhongwen.com says it's a monkey's heart + darkness (sun behind a tree?).
henning
February 10, 2008 at 04:37 PM
The first piece of vocab:
impetiginous
of, relating to, or resembling impetigo
http://medical.merri.....petiginous
impetigo
http://medical.merri.....l/impetigo
an acute contagious staphylococcal or streptococcal skin disease characterized by vesicles, pustules, and yellowish crusts
In Chinese it is:
小脓疹的, 像小脓疹的
according to http://dict.cn/search/?q=impetiginous
tvan
February 10, 2008 at 06:25 PMOops, that's "ròuyè". Changed characters without changing the accent.