Preserving the mood

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Shadowys
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Preserving the mood

Post by Shadowys »

"怎么了?"
The literal translation of the above phrase is "What is it?", however, this was in a conversation between lovers(spoken with a soft tone, by a boy to a girl) and I felt that the literal translation was quite...out of place. I would like to translate it as "Hmm?" but that might seem vague. What are your thoughts?
Winter's the time of the year,
when the cold chill the skin,
from the very within,
but you grasped my hand,
your eyes shedding a frozen tear.
Our eyes met,
and warmth filled the air.
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florza
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Re: Preserving the mood

Post by florza »

"Sup girl, why the glum face?"

"You look pretty sad there sweetlips."

"Cheer up baby girl."

"Why so serious?"

Or the plain old "What's wrong?"
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Shadowys
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Re: Preserving the mood

Post by Shadowys »

"What's wrong"! I was searching for this all along lol. This fits nicely.
Though I do find that some phrases in English, while it being a good translation of the meaning, cannot convey the mood as it may be used differently in Japanese culture...
Winter's the time of the year,
when the cold chill the skin,
from the very within,
but you grasped my hand,
your eyes shedding a frozen tear.
Our eyes met,
and warmth filled the air.
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Hiyono
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Re: Preserving the mood

Post by Hiyono »

Context matters as well. By default, I'd say something like "What's the matter?" or "What happened?" but sometimes 怎么了 can be used in other ways as well.
"There is always an easy solution to every problem - neat, plausible and wrong." H.L. Mencken (1971)
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Shadowys
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Re: Preserving the mood

Post by Shadowys »

Yeah, different relationship between people gives different meanings to what they say...and while it may be the same sentence in chinese/japanese, it's not so in English, which have way too many words for the same meaning
Winter's the time of the year,
when the cold chill the skin,
from the very within,
but you grasped my hand,
your eyes shedding a frozen tear.
Our eyes met,
and warmth filled the air.
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pudding321
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Re: Preserving the mood

Post by pudding321 »

ANGRY: What the poke is wrong with you? /// Is there a poking problem? /// What shit do you have in your ass now?

IRRITATED: What is it now? /// What matter do you have with me now?

TIMID: W-What is it?

CURIOUS: Yo, what's up?

HELPLESS: Um...what is it?

FLIRTING: What is wrong, my dear? /// What is wrong, my sweetheart? /// Is there something I can help you with? /// Please tell me if anything is bugging you. /// Is there something you want to say? /// Let it out. We can discuss this together.

You sir, just gave me a good example of why translations should refer to the context.
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YoakeNoHikari
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Re: Preserving the mood

Post by YoakeNoHikari »

pudding321 wrote:FLIRTING: Let it out. We can discuss this together.
never flirt with anyone ever please
Even eternity can be encased in ice.
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pudding321
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Re: Preserving the mood

Post by pudding321 »

I just realised my F bombs were replaced by pokes. Anyway, isn't flirting an essential socialising skill?
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florza
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Re: Preserving the mood

Post by florza »

pudding321 wrote:I just realised my F bombs were replaced by pokes. Anyway, isn't flirting an essential socialising skill?
Yoake means to say your lines are so horrible for flirting you should never do it.

There, I spelled it out for you.
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pudding321
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Re: Preserving the mood

Post by pudding321 »

florza wrote:
pudding321 wrote:I just realised my F bombs were replaced by pokes. Anyway, isn't flirting an essential socialising skill?
Yoake means to say your lines are so horrible for flirting you should never do it.

There, I spelled it out for you.
Thanks for your interpretation of what Yoake is saying. I do not find it to be convincing though. Yoake is just saying this solely because Yoake hates the idea of flirting.
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YoakeNoHikari
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Re: Preserving the mood

Post by YoakeNoHikari »

LOL
Even eternity can be encased in ice.
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