Translators’ Notes: More And More Loves You 爱你情出于蓝

Episode 3

小姐姐 (xiǎo jiě jiě)

lit. “Little Older Sister.” This is an Internet slang, made popular by 二次元 (èr cì yuán), which is a word borrowed from the Japanese language that is used to refer to the 2D fictional world of animes, mangas and games (i.e. things that are unrealistic). It is originally used to refer to pretty/cute young girls, though the use of this form of address has become so widespread that you can informally address someone as such as long as she is young or looks young. This post gives a good summary of the use of this slang, and why it’s difficult to find an English translation that can fully express what this slang is actually trying to convey. 

Episode 30

欠你钱了吗？(qiàn nǐ qián le ma)

lit. “Does he owe you money?” When someone owes you money, you would normally be disgruntled at said person, especially if the money owed is a huge sum. Hence, this is where the phrase came about. This is a common phrase used when someone reacts negatively towards someone; it conveys the question of “Why are you mad at him” but is rhetorical. 

Translators’ Notes: Wedding Party 总裁的头号佳妻

Episode 11

墙头草 (qiáng tóu cǎo) 

lit. “the grass on top of the wall.” The grass on top of the wall is said to sway with the wind. Thus, this phrase describes a person who doesn’t have his own stand and is easily swayed by others.

Episode 13

何乐而不为 (hé lè ér bù wéi)

lit. “why not do it since you’re happy about it?” Similar to the literal translation, this phrase means to “not have any reason to not do it” and/or “it’s a no-brainer to go ahead with it.”

Translators’ Notes: Uncle Cool 这个大叔有点酷

Our previous project, Fall In Love With My Trouble Season 2, was pretty simple, translation-wise, so we didn’t have anything to write for a translators’ notes post. On the other hand, this drama is filled with so many slangs, with some of them rather unfamiliar to us. It gave us a bit of a trouble, but we had fun writing these little notes after subbing! We didn’t include all of the slangs here though, or this post would have gotten way too long.

Episode 3

小妞，给爷笑一个
(xiǎo niū gěi yé xiào yī gè)

lit. “little girl, laugh for Master.” This is a line made famous by cross-talk comedians Guo Degang (郭德纲) and Yu Qian (于谦) in their cross-talks (相声 xiàng sheng; two people engaging in entertaining dialogues, kind of like standup comedy, but not quite either). It can be used between friends to ridicule/mock in a playful manner, and can be used by anyone, regardless of gender.

Episode 5

破罐子破摔 (pò guàn zi pò shuāi)

lit. “smash an already cracked pot.” In a situation where you know that you have a shortcoming or is facing a setback, you do nothing to change the situation for the better and might even abandon yourself in despair. (Credit, Source)

Episode 5

吃饱了撑着 (chī bǎo le chēng zhe)

lit. “eat till you’re stuffed.” It is said that if you’re full, you’d have enough energy to involve yourself in someone else’s business and vice versa. Therefore, this phrase means to place your efforts into unnecessary things. (Source [1,2], Credit)

Episode 7

吃错药 (chī cuò yào)

lit. “ate the wrong medicine.” It is used to describe a person who is behaving in an unusual manner. Another similar phrase would be 该吃药了 (gāi chī yào le), which literally means “time to eat your medicine,” also used when someone is behaving abnormally. 

Episode 7

你可拉倒吧 (nǐ kě lā dǎo ba)

This is a slang frequently spoken in Northeastern China. We would usually translate it as “it’s your loss” (though it’s not quite the same meaning,) but it varies based on situations. It can sometimes be interpreted as “no way” or “just stop” to show disagreement or disbelief, such as in this particular scene. There’s a popular Chinese song by Jay Chou titled 不爱我就拉倒 (If You Don’t Love Me, It’s Your Loss). (Source [1,2], Credit)

Episode 11

嫌弃 (xián qì)

A more accurate (and common) translation of this phrase would be “to feel contempt for” or “disdain.” However, these two translations hold more negativity than the actual Chinese phrase actually holds in this context, and thus, we settled with “dislike.” In this scene, what this phrase is trying to convey is similar to you giving someone a side-eye if that person just told you a lame joke. This phrase is commonly used jokingly between friends, and thus, there are many stickers accompanied by the phrase, 一脸嫌弃 (“giving you a side-eye”). Here is an example of one.

Translators’ Notes: Irresistible Love 无法抗拒的恋爱

Episode 2

小白脸 (xiǎo bái liǎn)

lit. “small white face.” This phrase carries a negative connotation, and is used to refer to young men who rely on women to provide for them. For the sake of being concise, we used a short English insult instead.

Episode 3

你是个球 (nǐ shì gè qiú)

lit. “you are a ball.” It is actually a swear. In this scene, there is a word play with the word, “ball.” Since Guo Zhi Yu was talking about basketball, Xia Tian Tian replied with “you are a ball (you idiot).”

Episode 3

走过的桥比你走过的路还多
(zǒu guò de qiáo bǐ nǐ zǒu guò de lù hái duō)

lit. “the bridges I crossed are more than the roads you have walked.” He Qing Ning quoted this phrase a few times throughout the drama, so we thought that the literal translation of this phrase might be worth a share.

Episode 5

嘴巴没毛 办事不牢
(zuǐ shàng wú máo bàn shì bù láo)

lit. “a person without a beard is unreliable when doing things.” It means that a young person (i.e. “a person without a beard“) is inexperienced and thus, cannot be depended on. (Credit)

Episode 6

太阳晒屁股了 (tài yáng shài pì gu le)

lit. “your butt is already basking in the sun.” This is a common phrase told to someone who is sleeping in, to get that person to wake up. You would usually hear parents telling their children this.

Episode 7

人间难得几回闻 (rén jiān nán dé jǐ huí wén)

lit. “rarely heard in the human world.” This phrase is from the poem, “Dedicated to General Hua (赠花卿),” written by Tang dynasty poet, Du Fu (杜甫).

Below is part of the poem, translated:

This divine music should only be heard in heaven.
How many times could it be heard in the human world? (Credit)

Episode 8

跪搓衣板 (guì cuō yī bǎn)

lit. “kneeling on the washboard.” Kneeling on the washboard is painful, and hence, is a punishment. It is a popular internet slang, and usually used by men to “beg” for forgiveness. There are many commonly-used stickers depicting a person on the washboard, with phrases “please forgive me” or “I am wrong” accompanying the image. Here is an example.

Episode 9

不是你死就是我活
(bù shì nǐ sǐ jiù shì wǒ huó)

lit. “either you die, or I live.” This phrase is meant to be comical. In short, it means that “you must die,” but it uses a roundabout way to say it.

Translators’ Notes: Fall In Love With My Trouble 惹上首席BOSS

You have may realized that we have started adding t/ns to our episode posts. We believe that those words / phrases we pointed out in those posts are a little important in helping you better understand the story (but not significant enough to be in-line t/ns).

Our long explanations here, on the other hand, are just words / phrases that we found interesting while translating. Your drama-watching experience should not be affected in any way even if you do not read this post.

Without further ado, here are the phrases we picked out from the drama:

Episode 2

Episode 28

总监 (zǒng jiān) vs 总裁 (zǒng cái)

The drama wasn’t really outright when saying which positions Qin Jin Yang and Yu Rui (Jin Yang’s female friend) have. They’ve just always been called 秦总 (qín zǒng) and 于总 (yú zǒng), but 总 (zǒng) can mean a few positions. Here, since both Jin Yang and Yu Rui obviously hold high positions, the question is: are they 总监 (usually “CEO” in drama-verse) or 总裁 (President)?

There is a door plate reading “President’s Office”, confirming that Jin Yang is the president. As for Yu Rui- we skimmed through the manhua, where Yu Rui is titled 总监 (which allows us to somewhat confirm that she’s working in a different company from Jin Yang), but we translated her title as the president (for now) since there has been some changes made in this drama adaptation after all.

Episode 5

怕我吃了你 (pà wǒ chī le nǐ)

lit. “Are you afraid I’ll eat you?” Translating this as “are you afraid I’ll do something to you / touch you” might be more accurate. However, we’ve decided to keep it’s literal translation because (1) we believe that the message it’s conveying is rather straightforward; and (2) this is a very common saying in Chinese that we believe can be kept as such.

It can be used between friends in a joking manner, but when used between a couple (or a male and female with an ambiguous relationship), it may contain sexual undertones. 

Episode 10

暴发户 (bào fā hù)

This phrase describes someone who has suddenly gained a lot of money and/or power, and carries a negative connotation. For the sake of being succinct and to keep to the original sentence structure, we have translated it as “evil person” instead.

Episode 14

我就要欺负你 (wǒ jiù yào qī fù nǐ)

lit. “I will bully you.” However, “bully” here doesn’t exactly convey the same meaning as in English. This phrase is more of a “I’m going to take advantage of you,” but it does not carry a creepy undertone. It is usually said in a joking manner by a male to his significant other.

Episode 20

醋坛子翻了 (cù tán zǐ fān le)

lit. “the vinegar jar has toppled.” 醋坛子 describes a person who is easily jealous because of his significant other. 

Episode 20

小刺猬 (xiǎo cì wèi)

lit. “little hedgehog.” There was a couple of times where Guan Yi (Jin Yang’s friend/secretary) called Tian Ai that, but we did not translate it to keep sentences short and due to the difference in sentence structures for English/Chinese. The nickname he gave Tian Ai is rather straightforward, so we’ll leave you to interpret the reason behind it.

Literal translation of this line would be: “Jin Yang, did you fall in love with that little hedgehog?”

Translators’ Notes: Married First Then Fall In Love 先婚后爱

While we translate, we sometimes come across interesting words / phrases that we want to further explain, but we don’t want to clutter your screens with long in-line t/ns while you watch the drama either. Hence, we have decided to compile them into a single post instead.

Here are the two phrases we picked out from our first translated drama on this blog:

Episode 12

营养费 (yíng yǎng fèi)

lit. “nutrition expenses”. It is a compensation, usually given to an injured, covering the extra nutrition expenses necessary to help the individual recover. (Source)

Episode 22

站着说话不腰疼
(zhàn zhe shuō huà bù yāo téng)

lit. “standing while talking but your back does not hurt”. It is a common expression to describe someone who does not put themselves in someone’s shoes while telling that person what to do.