Qi Ruhong: Similar homophones make a joke

Qi Ruhong: Similar homophones make a joke Phoenix City Qi Ruhong Due to the different translations of places, there are many discussions about translation topics. There are actually many, many, and never...

Qi Ruhong: Similar homophonic pronunciation makes a joke Phoenix City Qi Ruhong Due to the different translations of places, there are many endless discussions about translation topics. In the international translation of local names, or names of people, and names of special items, whether Chinese is translated into foreign languages, or foreign languages ​​are translated into Chinese, most of them are transliterated, that is, similar homophones in the home country are used to replace the foreign pronunciation. Homophony is homophony or the closest phonology. For example: New york in English is translated as New York in Chinese, and Hong Kong in Chinese is translated as Hong Kong in English. Another example is Washington in the United States, which is called Washington in Chinese, and Chiang Kai-shek in China, which is called Chiang kai shek in English. They have to replace each other with the same homophony, so that they can communicate. The above brief description refers to translation issues, but in daily life, some homophones come from accidental collisions, and some are unintentional by the speaker, intended by the listener, or misunderstandings. What the Cantonese call "misunderstanding" occurs from time to time. When Chinese immigrate to foreign countries, some of them have unnecessary misunderstandings due to language barriers, and some of them are caused by foreigners not being able to understand us. It is said that the foreign name of Macao came from a mistake. When a Macao uncle was asked by the Portuguese where this place was, he was angry at foreigners for occupying his land. He responded with a vulgar language that was homophonic to Macao. It turned out to be the foreign transliteration of Macao. It was very interesting. When I traveled to Seattle a few years ago, the tour guide said that the name was a Chinese transliteration. According to legend, a long time ago there was a Chinese family living in the outskirts of Seattle. Their daughter fell in love with a local young man. The parents' traditional values were strongly opposed to it. The daughter ran away regardless, and the father yelled, "Damn girl!" A British explorer passed by, pointed ahead and asked what the place was called. He didn't know English, so he pointed in the direction where his daughter had left. He nodded angrily and said loudly, "Yes! That's where the dead girl went!" The British thought he said the place was called Seattle, so Seattle is the transliteration of "dead girl". These are interesting homophones between Chinese and foreign languages, and there are many more to collect, which can be used as jokes to relieve boredom after dinner. In real life, not only among foreigners, but also among us Chinese, misunderstandings of homophonic sounds often occur in conversations. For example, I once said that when I was working as a child laborer, an uncle explained that "when people give up their thrones and give up their country, there will be Yu Tao and Tang", which is the homophonic interpretation of "You Yu" as "You Yu". The Cantonese pronunciation of "Tao" is the same as the pronunciation of "Tu", so it is interpreted as stupid, confused, absurd, and making a joke. A farmer in Guangzhou said that there are often "blind worms attached to the crops" in his fields, which is a homophone of "blind obedience"; a friend went to Hanoi's Hoan Kiem Lake to see the giant turtle locked in a cage. He suddenly realized and said: "It turns out that the locked turtle is here!" Recently, a homophonic joke appeared on an online video, depicting a girl applying for a job as a female secretary. The male supervisor reviewed her resume and decided to hire her. He asked her when she planned to work, and she said she could do it at any time, just tomorrow! The male supervisor thought that tomorrow was too urgent. According to company regulations, new employees must accompany him for training before going to work. The girl felt uneasy and murmured to herself: "So when I am a secretary, I really have to accompany Gai Pang." But for the sake of work, she could only timidly ask: "How long do I have to accompany Gai Pang?" The answer was one week, two hours a day; Oops! I have to stay with her for a week and have to do it for two hours at a time. It’s really difficult for this girl. There’s nothing I can do about it. It’s not easy to find a good job now. I have no choice but to ask clearly with a shy face: “Well, do you want to go to your house to sleep or come to mine?” (Should I sleep at your house or come to my house to sleep?) Wow! The male supervisor who was drinking water all squirted out in front of the class. It turned out that the girl misunderstood "accompanying training" to mean sleeping together, which was another homophonic joke. In the past, for students studying at Fuk Fuk Secondary School and Ngee Ann School in Vietnam, the school stipulated that students were not allowed to use dialects in conversation and had to speak Mandarin, so that students could apply what they learned in daily life. A male classmate met a female neighbor whom he met on the street. He used to ask smoothly in Mandarin: "Miss, where are you going?" Unexpectedly, the other party replied angrily: "Your mother will tie the pig first!" It turned out that she misheard that "qunar" means "pig" (sow) in Cantonese. This gentleman really has a grievance and has no way to complain. The above-mentioned are all interesting homophones, so when we meet friends in daily life, we should be careful when hearing what they say. Similar homophones can easily make jokes. The late Hong Kong artist Huang Zhan once asked the actors on a TV show who was born to Xiao Li Feidao. No one knew the answer. He said, "Of course it was Xiao Li's mother!" The intonation already contained vulgar homophony; some friends said: "How do you help people? Others are crossing the river with mud Buddhas, but you are not crossing the sea with mud." It also contains vulgar homophonics, caution, caution.