JellyCandy
Help, please!Some translation problems. For the purpose of improving myself in Eng-Chi translation as well as enlarging my vocaburary and strenthening my English reading ability,I have started translating some pieces of English articles and song lyrics. Here are some questions. 1.If you have heard the song "Hey,Soul Sister" by train, "Your lipstick stains on the front lobe of my left side brains." I don't actually get it.I suppose it means the lipstick impressed me a lot,right?Confused... "Hey soul sister, ain't the Mr. Mister on the radio, stereo, the way you move ain't fair, you know" Well,I've looked up on Wikipedia about Mr.Mister and I figured out that Mr.Mister is actually a band of the 1980s in America.However I'm still lost about the whole sentence.Does it mean that you're just like what Mr.Mister sings in their songs? "I'm so glad you have a one-track mind like me" Does "one-track mind" means you're a simple person who won't consider a second way of a problem or does it mean you're a person who is single-minded? "my heart is bound to beat right out my untrimmed chest" Well,what does untrimmed chest mean? 2.I'm also translating some GRE ISSUE ESSAY SAMPLE.Yesterday I came across like this"However,it's also true that everything cannot be experienced."I believe by saying this the author means "Not all things can be experienced",so it confused me.Is the original sentence wrong written or am I logically wrong? (Sigh)Sometimes it's really hard for a English learner like me to precisely comprehend what a sentence means and translate it into my mother tongue. I'll wait for your help.Thx.
Mar 15, 2010 5:44 AM
Answers · 1
1
I can help a little here. "Your lipstick stains on the front lobe of my left side brains" means (I think) that she left him unable to think logically. The left side of the brain is the side that handle language and logic. The next line is actually: "Hey, Soul Sister, ain't that mister mister on the radio, stereo, The way you move ain't fair you know." So it's "isn't that mister mister", meaning "Aren't you playing Mister Mister on your radio now?" This would imply that she likes old pop music from the 80's. And again, the way she moves (sexy) leaves him unable to think clearly A "one-track" mind implies that she (and he) thinks of just one subject, ignoring all others. "Untrimmed" means unshaved - though why they would say that I have no idea. Western men have more hair on our chests and it may have been the fassion to shave it. Just a guess. "However,it's also true that everything cannot be experienced." - this would be interpreted as you did - "Not all things can be experienced.", though the second sentence is much clearer. Logic is hard to translate at times. You might get the impression that the first sentence means that nothing can be experienced, but if you are a native English speaker, the normal translation would be "Not all things can be experienced." I know it's frustrating. I have the same problem with Chinese to English. The order and language conventions are both very important - a slight change can mean a complete logical change in the meaning.
March 15, 2010
Still haven’t found your answers?
Write down your questions and let the native speakers help you!