Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Chinese term or phrase:
跋山涉水
English translation:
to make an arduous journey
Added to glossary by
L3r0y
Feb 6, 2008 10:10
16 yrs ago
Chinese term
跋山涉水
Not for points
Chinese to English
Art/Literary
Cinema, Film, TV, Drama
一个机要员换防得跋山涉水.
I am working with a group of chinese students but they can't agree on the meaning of this sentence. How do you understand that and how would you translate it ? I know that it is a sort of idiom but...
I am working with a group of chinese students but they can't agree on the meaning of this sentence. How do you understand that and how would you translate it ? I know that it is a sort of idiom but...
Proposed translations
(English)
| 4 +2 | to make an arduous journey |
Ocean520
|
| 3 +1 | Climb every mountain, ford every stream |
pkchan
|
Proposed translations
+2
28 mins
Selected
to make an arduous journey
1 to make an arduous journey; to travel over mountains and rivers; to scale mountains and ford streams
2 over the hills and through the rivers
3 across hills and rivers
above information are from on-line dictionary and Lin Yutang's C-E Dictionary.
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Note added at 18 hrs (2008-02-07 05:03:46 GMT)
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According to my understanding, “换防” is a military term which means the troops shift their garrison.
“机要员(机要人员？)” usually means secretary or executive officer who works for the government, in some circumstances it could even mean “spy”.
From your sentence, I guess “机要员” might be some people (or one person) who are/is in charge of some military duty, and they (or he/she) have/has to shift the garrison according to a schedule or need. The shift can be a long hard journey involving lots of work.
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Note added at 19 hrs (2008-02-07 05:34:09 GMT)
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"得" is for emphasis, means "must, have/has to"
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Note added at 22 hrs (2008-02-07 08:28:35 GMT)
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To "换防" (shift the garrison), a 机要员 (coder) has to make an arduous journey.
I can only trans the sentence by the literal meaning. The real meaning should be judged with more context or the whole story.
2 over the hills and through the rivers
3 across hills and rivers
above information are from on-line dictionary and Lin Yutang's C-E Dictionary.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 18 hrs (2008-02-07 05:03:46 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
According to my understanding, “换防” is a military term which means the troops shift their garrison.
“机要员(机要人员？)” usually means secretary or executive officer who works for the government, in some circumstances it could even mean “spy”.
From your sentence, I guess “机要员” might be some people (or one person) who are/is in charge of some military duty, and they (or he/she) have/has to shift the garrison according to a schedule or need. The shift can be a long hard journey involving lots of work.
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 19 hrs (2008-02-07 05:34:09 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
"得" is for emphasis, means "must, have/has to"
--------------------------------------------------
Note added at 22 hrs (2008-02-07 08:28:35 GMT)
--------------------------------------------------
To "换防" (shift the garrison), a 机要员 (coder) has to make an arduous journey.
I can only trans the sentence by the literal meaning. The real meaning should be judged with more context or the whole story.
Note from asker:
| Thanks ! However, I still don't understand the whole sentence (一个机要员换防得跋山涉水)... Could you help me out ? |
Comment: "Thanks ! You really explained it well ! "
+1
4 hrs
Climb every mountain, ford every stream
Sojourn Notes: Climb Every MountainOr reach the second round because my opponent didn't show up like the year before that. Climb every mountain, Cross every stream, Follow every rainbow, ...
sojourn-notes.blogspot.com/2005/02/climb-every-mountain.html - 17k - Cached - Similar pages
Climb every mountain, ford every stream - Muse's Muse Songwriting ...Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow until you've found ... I just wanted to make everyone aware -- try to encourage cross posting, ...
www.musesmuse.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=36697 - 65k - Cached - Similar pages
sojourn-notes.blogspot.com/2005/02/climb-every-mountain.html - 17k - Cached - Similar pages
Climb every mountain, ford every stream - Muse's Muse Songwriting ...Climb every mountain, ford every stream, follow every rainbow until you've found ... I just wanted to make everyone aware -- try to encourage cross posting, ...
www.musesmuse.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=36697 - 65k - Cached - Similar pages
Note from asker:
| Thanks, some students suggested "when the coder changes job, he has to climb every mountain, ford every stream" . Others suggested "Coder changes is not a good thing". Is the second group right to translate that way ? |
Peer comment(s):
| agree |
orientalhorizon
36 mins
|
|
thanks
|
|
| neutral |
rushidao
: The second group is wrong. :-) It simply means that the person has to travel through remote areas and the journey is arduous.
1 day 17 hrs
|
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