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The Local Dialect
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« on: January 10, 2012, 11:19:56 AM » |
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I'm working on a lesson on diction for my AP Language and Composition class and part of the lesson is about connotation vs. denotation. This is especially important for 2nd language learners who don't often just choose words from a thesaurus without really considering the appropriateness of the word.
Anyhow, I am trying to think of some examples of words that our students often abuse, misuse. I have run across loads of these editing student essays, but I'm drawing a blank trying to prepare this lesson. Can you all help me come up with some examples?
I do not just mean Chinglish either, I mean words where they get the meaning right, but they've ignored (or been unaware of) the connotation.
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Fozzwaldus
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« Reply #1 on: January 10, 2012, 11:22:26 AM » |
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Propaganda has no negative connotation in Chinese 宣传 just means to disseminate information.
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两只老外， 两只老外，跑得快，跑得快，
一个是老酒鬼，一个是老色鬼，真奇怪， 真奇怪
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The Local Dialect
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« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2012, 11:47:16 AM » |
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That's a good one Fozz, exactly what I was thinking of.
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tomhume89
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« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2012, 12:09:03 PM » |
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A lot of my co-teachers have mentioned that I look "high" when they mean I look happy or full of energy. Is it just British English that this means on drugs?
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MK
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« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2012, 01:31:53 PM » |
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Probably gonna cross into Chinglish here...
I've noticed a lot of Chinese people say things like "She is a Chinese" or even "He is a gay", which somehow has a more negative connotation in English than just "She is Chinese" etc.
Chinese people will often refer to themselves as 'yellow'.
'Colorful' as an adjective, as in "you have a colorful life', 'makes life more colorful', it doesn't seem to carry as much meaning in English as it does in Chinese.
Fat / Strong, I've had people use both but it's pretty obvious what they mean.
I am pretty sure 'interesting' and 'funny/amusing' get mixed up in translation sometimes.
Just a few off the top of my head, there are so many...
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What is the sound of one hand ganbei-ing?
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xwarrior
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« Reply #5 on: January 10, 2012, 02:31:58 PM » |
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Can you come over and play with me tonight?
?
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I have my standards. They may be low, but I have them.
- Bette Midler
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randyjac
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老骥伏枥
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« Reply #6 on: January 10, 2012, 11:15:07 PM » |
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Intercourse.
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George
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« Reply #7 on: January 11, 2012, 04:25:31 AM » |
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VIVID, as in.......she is a vivid girl.
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kitano
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« Reply #8 on: January 11, 2012, 05:40:10 AM » |
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I'm not sure if this is connotation or a more straightforward vocab issue, but 'ancient' is often used in place of historical (200 year old buildings are not ancient....)
I think that describing people is where the really big problems are, I get the impression that pretty much every adjective about a person has a slightly different meaning in the languages...
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The Local Dialect
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« Reply #9 on: January 11, 2012, 09:27:16 AM » |
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These are all really good. I used "propaganda" and "play" in my PPT for class today because I felt like those really got the message across.
Another one I realized that they often get the connotation wrong on is "proud." Proud does not have really the same negative connotation in English as it does in Chinese. I was revising a student's college essay and he said he was not proud of his accomplishments, and of course what he's trying to say is that he's not arrogant or self-aggrandizing, but in English it is ok to say you are proud of someone or yourself or even to describe someone as "proud" in a positive way. You also hear Chinese students saying they don't like someone because he is "too proud." They seem to use "pride" as a translation of 骄傲, when what they really mean is arrogant.
kitano, you're right, adjectives describing people can be tricky. For example, we don't say "lovely" that much in American English but I think in British English you use it more and the Chinese use it too. In America I'd never say my brother was a lovely boy, the word has distinctly feminine connotations.
The whole concept is about culture really, which is why diction is consistently an issue even with my very advanced students.
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Fozzwaldus
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« Reply #10 on: January 11, 2012, 03:16:56 PM » |
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however, lovely for Brits and Irish just means nice - he's a nice/lovely guy, today is a nice/lovely day
where as for the Chinese it means cute 可爱 literally lovalble.
does that count as a connotation issue?
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两只老外， 两只老外，跑得快，跑得快，
一个是老酒鬼，一个是老色鬼，真奇怪， 真奇怪
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zero
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« Reply #11 on: January 11, 2012, 07:50:43 PM » |
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Worth noting, though, that pridefulness is one of the Seven Deadly Sins. Just sayin'.
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fullricebowl
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« Reply #12 on: January 12, 2012, 05:46:33 AM » |
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I know it's a little late, but I would always cringe when my former students would talk about going to the playground after dinner. Are there places where this is considered an appropriate name for a soccer field/running track?
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AMonk
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« Reply #13 on: January 12, 2012, 07:07:56 AM » |
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I know it's a little late, but I would always cringe when my former students would talk about going to the playground after dinner. Are there places where this is considered an appropriate name for a soccer field/running track?
Not that I'm aware of  But going to a "playing field" is usually OK.  |
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Moderation....in most things...
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old34
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« Reply #14 on: January 12, 2012, 11:03:54 AM » |
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My students, too, call the athletic field "the playground." And the basketball courts. And the tennis courts.
I'm writing a lesson over winter vacation on the vocabulary of sports venues: Stadiums, Gymnasiums, field houses, fields, courts, pitches, courses, natatoriums, Nests and Cubes.
The attention grabber will be the "Baseball Diamond" because, of course, all Chinese love diamonds.
Playground: Another example of the one-word-fits-all nature of English>Chinese translations.
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Knowledge is knowing that a tomato is a fruit; wisdom is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. - B. O'Driscoll
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