Talk:Hu Shih

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Revision as of 01:58, 21 April 2007 by imported>Stephen Ewen (→‎Correct translation of 哎喲: Full poems probably not "fair use")
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Article Checklist for "Hu Shih"
Workgroup category or categories Literature Workgroup [Categories OK]
Article status Developed article: complete or nearly so
Underlinked article? Yes
Basic cleanup done? Yes
Checklist last edited by Petréa Mitchell 17:27, 7 April 2007 (CDT)

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Correct translation of 哎喲

Following on form, but taking a radically different track for, this forum discussion [1]. I deliberately waited until the censorship issue had resolved before raising the translation issue as I don't want the issue of censorship to cloud this topic. Aside form cries of censorship there is a more pertinent issue relating to this article. Namely, what is the real translation for 哎喲!

The Chinese word 哎喲 (pinyin: aīyo) is not an expletive. Nor is it a swear word. No Chinese person would take even the slightest offence on hearing it.

'Aīyo!' is an interjection. There is no direct translation in to English. In general it is a expression of surprise and also pain. Possibly close translations in English include 'Eek!' and 'Ouch!' or 'Argghhh!'. However, since the word is also onomatopoeic, if it was in a Kong Fu movie with Bruce lee or Jackie Chan, then it would not be dubbed into English. It would be left as 'Aīyo'.

The long and the short of it, censorship excluded, 'Shit' is the wrong word here. Derek Harkness 01:15, 21 April 2007 (CDT)

Full poems probably not "fair use"

Another issue I have been slow to bring up is that it is very probably not fair use, as defined in the U.S. where CZ's servers are, to include an entire poem without written permission of its copyright holder. Stephen Ewen 01:58, 21 April 2007 (CDT)