How to say "vehicle" in Chinese?

Hi kimiik

Both 大乘 and 上乘 mean "Mahayana" in Chinese, but only 上乘 is used in the sense of "best representative of". The word 上乘 is also used in Japanese, and it means "not so bad". Interestingly Japanese 上乘 (jo-jo) is often used in conversation, but Chinese one is basically a written word. This kind of subtle difference often confuses us Japanese learners of Mandarin.

Hi Changye,

In reality, I only know bits and pieces but synthetize the informations I find in different languages on the web.

Here, it appears that both 大乘佛教 and 上乘佛教 are used in chinese to speak about Mahāyāna (Great Vehicle) and it seems that 大乘 and 上乘 are also used in common language with non-buddhist meaning (something like "best representative of").

品味上乘  Excellent taste
你的炊事全是上乘之作 Your way to cook is great

Hi kimiik

You really know much about Asian culture, 佩服佩服. There are actually Buddhist terms "大乘佛教" and "小乘佛教", but I heard before that nowadays these terms are not so popularly used because they might make people mistakenly think that "大乘佛教" (greater vehicle Buddhism) is superior to "小乘佛教" (lesser vehicle Buddhism).

RJ 麻烦你了，谢谢！ I think we've come as close as as we can on this question.

Not sure how I missed that--I did go to nciku first.
So I ran searches in 百度 under 代表剧目，明星代表剧目，明星剧目 and am now under the impression that we still kind of have to feel out what will work best and support with context, not that any of those terms per se are understood in Chinese as we understand "vehicle" in English--because they still basically seem to be saying "repertoire" or "signature role" which has a lot of overlap with the Japanese term
十八番 o-hako Changye brought up meaning one's forte (like a star kabuki actor's most famous role).

So I think it's safe to conclude--the concept doesn't exist in Chinese, yes?

As usual, I learned about English as well as Chinese.
It was fun, thank you again everybody.

Orangina we can all be clods together here. Anyway we're clods trying our best!

Kimiik you always have such esoteric knowledge wrapped up in your questions ...

Zhen,

check out number 4 in this definition of "vehicle" from NCIKU: there is also a sample sentence and translation to chinese.

Impressive as it is, however, Dame Edna's show is no more than a star vehicle

尽管很感人，但是埃德娜夫人的剧本不再是明星代表剧目

http://www.nciku.com/search/all/vehicle

another example:

My favorite actor's vehicle will be on next week. I will definitely go

我最喜欢的演员的代表剧下周上演。我一定要去看。

Hi Changye,

As the names of the buddhist yanas (vehicles) are often translated in chinese with the character 乘, could "Elvis Presley 的上乘之作" or "Elvis Presley 的大乘之作" make some kind of sense ?

well, I cannot speak for all English speakers, but I distingush such subtle differences. I love the nuances of language, and wish I weren't such a clod in Chinese.

Changye I guess I should let native English speakers answer that!

Hi zhenlijiang

Do native English speakers really distinguish such a subtle difference?

粉丝电影 seems straightforward and easy to understand. A vehicle, again in my understanding, is a 作品 that indulges both the fans and the vanity of the star (☜ in the case of 木村拓哉 definitely true, but in the case of Elvis I guess not according to RJ).

A vanity picture--this really sounds like old Hollywood--that's a bit different but also overlaps I think with this vehicle thing I'm referring to. When a star is young and really 红 his every movie might be a vehicle; when he starts aging, waning, clinging to his past glory days but is still surrounded by people who will indulge him he may still get to make vanity pictures (to save his face! yes, face-saving occurs in Hollywood too).

Hi zhenlijiang

"以(noun)为载体(verb)" is a commonly used phrase in Chinese, but I also don't think "载体" carries the same connotation as the English "(Elvis) vehicle".

The safest way to say it in Chinese would be, for example, "李连杰电影系列" (Jet Lee movie series) or something like that, although it's just a neutral phrase.

Incidentally, how about “粉丝电影” for the "vehicle". I feel this word might has a meaning you described, but I don't know how commonly it's used in China.

Changye, yes I think the understanding I described is consensus--if I'm wrong, native English speakers will set me straight hopefully.

Xiaophil, I see what you mean of course.

Baba, "mum's the word" and "my lips are sealed"; as you can see the Chinese given here for "mum's the word" is in the imperative form.

Well, while I have this feeling now Chinese people don't speak of vehicles in this sense, I'll try and say what I wanted to in Chinese using 载体 and see how it works out.

zhen

I did get it mostly, but I guess when I see vehicle this way, I normally expect a 'to + [sth, sth]' to follow, but I would agree it doesn't need to be there.  I know I am way late, but I also say yes to 载体. 

Hi zhenlijiang

Does the English word "vehicle" carry a meaning you explained above?

Thank you all very much for your helpful insights.

Sorry it's late, but I'd like to add that my understanding of vehicle when it gets used in this way is that there is no story that compels the making of such a movie or TV series. Rather, the purpose of making such a movie is to showcase the star (we can see him act! he's being a regular guy with regular friends, not an entertainer! he's a hero punching out bad guys and saving the day! he has a crush on the cute girl in school!) and milk his/her fan appeal for huge quick profits. It's a treat for the fans as well. And not all vehicles are equally bad or embarrassing to watch, as Henning I think is saying.

Maybe 载体 is the closest term available in Chinese? Again, perhaps this whole concept doesn't really exist in the first place?

Changye, I've been trying to say that anything with 木村拓哉's name on it is a vehicle.

Changye,
"Yellow Submarine" (黄色潜水艇) is a fine piece of art. Way beyond a simple "promotion movie" (unlike those other movies these guys made).

Hi rjberki

Your story just reminds me of Beatles movies, such as "Yellow Submarine", although I don't know if the four guys liked their promotion movies.

Hi orangina

I like your analogy of "pigment" and "oil". I think the line between "载体" (vehicle) and "媒介/媒体" (medium) is sometimes not so clear in Chinese. For example, "电影" (fiml) can be both "载体" and "媒介/媒体". So you can say both "以电影为载体宣传" and "以电影为媒介/媒体宣传". (promote something using a movie)

hmmm... I do think that many words have to be translated in context, but I don't think Elvis' movies are 代表作，because they weren't the body of his work or even representative of his work. They were intended as a means to showcase his talent and profit by it. In English "vehicle" gives this connotation. I think zhen (and the rest of us) are searchng for a word or phrase that emphasises that the movies are a means to an end, and not an end product in themselves.

 代表作 is a good translation。对于有些单词不能翻译的那么死。针对什么样的场景怎么翻译的。that means don't translate the word "vehicle" to a fixed word .you should translate it into the right way by where it is . 

changye

I also think you may have it.

a "vehicle" used this way is a medium through which something is expressed, conveyed, or achieved. It is an abstract vehicle that carries you where you want to go or transports your message.

btw- the truth is that Elvis actually hated his own movies. He wanted to do something more meaningful but did what the colonel  (his manager) wanted. The goal here of course was just to make money, not art.

载体 is a good translation, I think. With paints, oil (or water or latex, etc.) is the vehicle by which pigment is distributed. I think this is the same definiton of "vehicle", and the oil is also called the "medium". The movies Elvis made are the vehicle, or medium, by which his talents were monitized. 

对不去我来晚了。

Vehicle 是《车辆》 

I think I've found a possible Chinese translation (candidate) for the "vehicle"............although not so sure.

以电影为载体(zai4ti3)宣传
advertise using a movie as a vehicle ..........?

真，

我懂了。妈妈是这个词【呵呵，我觉得那是非常奇怪的中文。。。可不可以猜在英文有什么意思？。。。我给你一个含义。。我也可以说：我的嘴唇被密封。。呵呵，也奇怪？】

顺便，在中文怎么说？

paulinurus,

Good translation..I like it..办法 或者 方法

Zhen,

Vehicle can be defined as 'something you use in order to achieve a certain purpose'. For example: Her intelligence was the vehicle that got her that good job.

Vehicle is a noun word, similar to the word "means". The  words in Chinese would probably be 方法 or 办法

I'll try writing the sentence in Chinese and maybe someone can improve it.

她的高智商是个办法让她找到那么好的工作。

Incidentally, who made the avators for "I have a question" and "中文吧"? I like them very much as they are "appealing". Great job!

Hi zhenlijiang

I think I understand what you mean. I agree there is no exact counterpart of the "vehicle" in Japanese. Probably the "vehicle" can be translated as "十八番シリーズ" or "代表作/出世作", but I don't know if they carry the same connotation as "vehicle" does.

Yes Changye you're right--like I said, it's not something I have ever heard said in Japanese (we've got them though! when Johnny's Jimusho idols get to star in their own movies, Misora Hibari's movies were vehicles, what else--I reckon the 若大将シリーズ were 加山雄三 vehicles, etc.). But do you see what I mean?

OK Miantiao, what brought all that on? Why target me? I've lived long enough by now to earn the right not to be harrassed like that by anyone, anywhere. Don't come here angry; you'll only terrify new poddies and they've really done nothing to offend you (why do I have to say this?).

Baba, I haven't seen it actually. Missed it. But would like to see it. So pls don't give too much away!

Xiaophil, I guess I'm surprised you don't know what I mean (I am the author of the sentence) by vehicle in this sense. Huh I thought it was standard American(? maybe it's entertainment industry-speak?) English.

What do you mean by the "vehicle"? It doesn't seem to indicate a car. Am I right?

null

zhen,

I can't believe you've mentioned that movie..the secret,because I have been meaning all day to mention it in the hanzi only group thread about movies and was going to do it tonight..reminded of it by the fact that Scarlett mentioned romantic movies and I was discussing Chinese movies.I bought the dvd of that movie and my daughter was surprised to find that she really enjoyed it.I must watch it again.

shou4jing1bao1 zhong1wen2zen3me shuo1 ne

To tell you the truth, I don't know what the author of that sentence was trying to say.  By vehicle, does he or she mean 'medium' or 'mode of promotion'?