Firefly language translations .....

POSTED BY: AllianceSoldier
UPDATED: Tuesday, June 27, 2006 05:22
VIEWED: 46211
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ALLIANCESOLDIER

Wednesday, November 13, 2002 12:03 AM

I used to love the intermingled language that you'd hear in Farscape (I still use "Frell" when I am ticked at work).

Anyone start making a translation list yet for the "colorful metaphors" utilized by the denizens of Serenity? :^)

SENSOU

Wednesday, November 13, 2002 5:00 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by AllianceSoldier:
I used to love the intermingled language that you'd hear in Farscape (I still use "Frell" when I am ticked at work).

Anyone start making a translation list yet for the "colorful metaphors" utilized by the denizens of Serenity? :^)

There's one on the net somewhere...
"Gorram" = Goddamn(<- said that this morning when I found a bug in my coffee!)
"Hung/Humped" = Screwed
"Shiney/Shiny" = Nifty
"Rutting" = Fucking
"Eerie-ass" = Weird (Obvious, I know, but I like it)
Anything else?

Sensou
Sweet is love when all is sane
Sweet is death to end the pain
Cruel is death when all is well
Cruel is love when all is hell

ALLRONIX

Saturday, November 30, 2002 3:30 AM

Maybe some stock phrases that fanfic writers would use? (Someone once posted a dandy list of Arabic phrases to a Bashir list...a similar list of phrases would be invaluable.)

Some stock rude phrases or insults...

Fuck you!

Get out!

Go to hell!

What an asshole!

I'm kicking his ass.

Terms of endearment (for us shippers, or when writing Wash and Zoe)...

I love you.

Sweetheart (or similar)

husband/wife

Some common phrases...

Shut up!

It's ok/It's going to be ok

Don't be silly.

It's bad.

I agree.

No/Yes

Thank you.

Hello/Goodbye

Co-founder of the Evil Writing Crew - causing hell, one hero at a time!

GAHERIS

Saturday, November 30, 2002 5:28 AM

I'll help ya out with some standard chinese phrases that'd be used. Now I'm spelling these out phoenetically so don't anyone who knows pinyin jump on me.

"Wo de tien ah." - Use as "My god"

"Aiyah" - Use as "Oh no" or a sound for disgust

"Shu muh?" - "Excuse me?" or "what?"

"Mei-mei" - Simon's use only "little sister"

"Ge-ge" - River's use only "Big brother"(pronounced guh-guh)

"Wei?" - Stock phrase for answering phones.

"Ni hao ma?" - "How are you" or "Hello"

That's all the multiple use I can think of right now. hope that helps.

-Gaheris

HOTARUANNE

Wednesday, December 18, 2002 2:26 AM

i tend to spew "gorram" every now and then...that and some sindarin (LotR language) in here and there

http://glaivemaster.cjb.net/
Just another Firefly fan

MANWITHPEZ

Tuesday, June 1, 2004 12:03 AM

I know you say only Simon can use Mei-mei in conjunction with his own sister, River. But, I think I heard Mal call Kaylee this one either on or two occasions. Can it not be an endearment?

"What this marriage needs...Is one less husband."

JASONZZZ

Tuesday, June 1, 2004 3:50 PM

It can, meimei is not just a term for blood-related sister. It can also be used for any girl younger than you - and not all necessarily as a term of endearment either (depending on the tone of voice and circumstances)

Quote:
Originally posted by manwithpez:
I know you say only Simon can use Mei-mei in conjunction with his own sister, River. But, I think I heard Mal call Kaylee this one either on or two occasions. Can it not be an endearment?

"What this marriage needs...Is one less husband."

SHIPPO6729

Tuesday, January 18, 2005 6:55 AM

I found a script of Heart of Gold. It said that mei mei means "dear sister

But I also found this website that translates all the chineese. Gorram isn't translated I've found. http://fireflychinese.home.att.net/phrase1.html

Wash: "Everything looks good from here... (playing with plastic dinosaurs over his console) Yes. Yes, this is a fertile land, and we will thrive."
(as Stegosaurus) "We will rule over all this land, and we will call it... 'This Land'."
(as T-Rex) "I think we should call it...your grave!"
(Stegosaurus) "Ah, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"
(T-Rex) "Ha ha HA! Mine is an evil laugh...now die!"

Mal: "It would be humiliating. Having to lie there while the better man refuses to spill your blood. Mercy is the mark of a great man. (stabs Atherton with a sword) Guess I'm just a good man. (stabs him again) Well, I'm all right."

JASONZZZ

Tuesday, January 18, 2005 3:35 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by Shippo6729:
I found a script of Heart of Gold. It said that mei mei means "dear sister"

Hiya Shippo, "dear sister" is one use of that term. Like I stated earlier, there are other uses depending on the context.

Quote:
Originally posted by Shippo6729:

But I also found this website that translates all the chineese. Gorram isn't translated I've found. http://fireflychinese.home.att.net/phrase1.html

Gorram isn't anything Chinese, real, imaginary, madeup, or otherwise. It's something of a Firefly universe madeup thing. There are definitely lots of other threads where Gorram and it's meaning are bantered about.

Quote:
Originally posted by Shippo6729:

Wash: "Everything looks good from here... (playing with plastic dinosaurs over his console) Yes. Yes, this is a fertile land, and we will thrive."
(as Stegosaurus) "We will rule over all this land, and we will call it... 'This Land'."
(as T-Rex) "I think we should call it...your grave!"
(Stegosaurus) "Ah, curse your sudden but inevitable betrayal!"
(T-Rex) "Ha ha HA! Mine is an evil laugh...now die!"

Mal: "It would be humiliating. Having to lie there while the better man refuses to spill your blood. Mercy is the mark of a great man. (stabs Atherton with a sword) Guess I'm just a good man. (stabs him again) Well, I'm all right."

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SIXGUN

Monday, February 28, 2005 1:06 AM

Quote:
Originally posted by manwithpez:
I know you say only Simon can use Mei-mei in conjunction with his own sister, River. But, I think I heard Mal call Kaylee this one either on or two occasions. Can it not be an endearment?

"What this marriage needs...Is one less husband."

I believe Nandy also called Inara this in Heart of Gold.

Well, as a rule I say girl folk ain't to be trusted.

BAHAMUDE

Friday, March 11, 2005 4:40 PM

Mei mei is used when referring to a younger sister, or someone who is close enough to be a younger sister. In Chinese culture, everyone you know is either family or cousins and you give them honorific names.

The fact that someone would refer to someone as Mei Mei and not be directly related indicates an unusual closeness and familial bond. Ordinarily you never refer to someone as Mei Mei just because they're younger or a friend.

Friends are "pung yo" (I'm going to be using phonetic pronunciations)

A young woman you know (an aquaintance) but is not your friend is a "shiao je"

A younger friend is just a "shiao pung yo" (literally means little friend).

-Albert

CPTJACKMURRAY

Monday, October 10, 2005 1:45 PM

no rutting is not what u said it was its its a diversion from rutty wich is something like "trash-like" I love living in the south.

GIRLWHOKNOWSMANDARINCHINESE

Thursday, October 27, 2005 11:07 AM

in my experience, it is okay to call any young girl "mei mei" when addressing her, just like you would say "little girl" or "sweetie" to a young girl. i think i've been called "mei mei" by store clerks and other strangers even when i was 18 (i might have looked 14 though). So you really don't have to be that close to a person to refer to them as "mei mei." store clerks are trying to be nice, of course, to sell you stuff, so it does have a little bit of endearment or friendliness to it. but "mei mei" just means "little/younger sister" and the rest of it is a matter of how the culture uses it. while i was still a child or teenager, i could refer to any woman i didn't know as "aunt" and any man i didn't know as "uncle" as a form of respect (you are taught to respect all elders), even if i was only asking him or her for directions. Now that i'm older (almost old enough to be referred to as "aunt" myself) I would refer to them as "miss/ms." or "mister" unless it is obvious they are older than me by at least a generation, then i could still refer to them as "aunt" or "uncle."
also, i disagree that "mei mei" translates to "dear sister," "dear sister" should be "qing1 ai4 de5 mei2 mei2" (pronounced more like "ching eye duh mei mei"), as "qing1 ai4 de5" means "dear."
However, you might appear less creepy if you follow Albert's suggestions and use "shiao jie" for "miss" and "shiao pung yo" for "Child" (it is literally "little friend" but it means child, which encompasses little girl).

my first post! i like the series a lot, even though i'm very critical of the chinese translations.

AMDIRAN

Friday, October 28, 2005 9:24 PM

A few more...

First episode: Scene where they are all arguing in kitchen area about River and Simon. Mal says

Ni men dou bi zui! Trans: Everyone shut up!

During the Movie: The students are discussing reavers and their usual rumored killing habits, and the teacher says

Ni men an jing yi diar! Transl: Everyone quiet a bit!

I know it's not much. As I watch it again I'll pick some more out.

JACKCORDIAL

Tuesday, December 13, 2005 6:53 PM

I use "gorram" all the time at work, and "ruttin'" too. Usually in conjunction with each other, and most often directed at customers in private. (I. E. "Gorram ruttin' library patrons can't even so much as conduct themselves like adults for five minutes...". You'd be surprised how some adults conduct themselves out in public.)
My whole theory on "rutting" is that is that it was cleverly taken from the biological term "rutting" meaning mating or procreating, a vulgar form of which is "f***ing" which is universally understood as a swear word.

AMDIRAN

Tuesday, December 13, 2005 7:30 PM

Yeah, I use both of those in addition to 'shiny' and the Heart of Gold's version of 'sly'. A lot of fun, and cryptic to those from whom you'd like your meaning kept secret.

JACKCORDIAL

Tuesday, December 13, 2005 10:30 PM

Also easy to tell who other browncoats are without asking them directly. Just pop words like "shiny" and "gorram" into your vocabulary and see who responds.

JACKCORDIAL

Tuesday, December 13, 2005 10:34 PM

I just called a coworker of mine who said something really odd "moony-brained" She just looked at me sort of oddly. Apparently, she has no clue what I'm on about.

SHUTTLE2

Friday, December 23, 2005 7:17 AM

From my limited highschool chinese education i got:

Dong ma?= understand??

Shen me?= What?

Mei mei= little sister

and everything else was said so wrong i couldn't understand what they were saying haha!

I never heard them say "ge ge" or "ni hao ma". Hmm.....

"I'm a leaf on the wind!"....R.I.P Wash

MEIMEINICCO

Thursday, February 23, 2006 3:12 AM

I am not quite sure on the episode title, its the one where Inara, mal and kaylee go to taht ball and mal gets himself in trouble, again and he has to duel some dude.

Gossa- shit

from what i uderstand anyway. and also about the whole 'mei mei" thing... i remember inara calling River that...i dunno.

i feel so lost on the firefly universe now that it has been taken off tv...again. oh well just gotta find it on DVD.

*thinking of one*

KIZYR

Monday, February 27, 2006 7:47 PM

Quote:
Originally posted by GirlWhoKnowsMandarinChinese:
... i could refer to any woman i didn't know as "aunt" and any man i didn't know as "uncle" as a form of respect (you are taught to respect all elders), even if i was only asking him or her for directions. Now that i'm older (almost old enough to be referred to as "aunt" myself) I would refer to them as "miss/ms." or "mister" unless it is obvious they are older than me by at least a generation, then i could still refer to them as "aunt" or "uncle."

Same here, but I still want my younger nieces and nephews to be calling me Kizyr-Uncle. Kizyr-bhaiya is fine, too.

The familial relationships as a term of endearment is pretty common for a lot of Asian cultures; South Asian included.

Anywho, besides that, I do use gorram and shiny as part of my vocabulary; gorrammit more often. KF

~KF

Lord, I'm walking your way. Let me in, for my feet are sore, my clothes are ragged.
Look in my eyes, Lord, and my sins will play out on them as on a screen. Read them all.
Forgive what you can and send me on my path. I will walk on until you bid me rest.
~Haven Prayer

EYZERAN

Monday, June 26, 2006 5:45 AM

So anyone else come up with any more translations and or spellings for the nonenglish words used in the series and movie yet? If so posty posty..

ZIMCRUSHER

Tuesday, June 27, 2006 5:22 AM

Go here to learn how to swear in Chinese.

http://www.baianed.com

I have been recording My Chinese Friends' voices, and writing my own software to help me study. I am now providing these programs on-line to help others.
I'm also a Big fan of Serenity. I even got to work on the film. I animated some of the ships for Rhythm & Hues Studios. Kick ass film.
anyway.... It's one of he reasons I decided to learn how to insult people in Chinese. I knew some insults from Studying in China, but my friends really
got into giving me a deeper understanding. :P
Go here to find them.
http://www.baianed.com

Ni Shi Wo d Biao zi (Knee Sh Wall Duh Be-ow zzzz) = You are my Bitch.

Have fun!!!

ZimCrusher RULES!!!