Does anyone speak Cantonese?
December 19, 2012 5:16 PM   Subscribe

I was hoping someone might be able to give me a clue as to what's being said in this clip.

I am working on a low budget travel show and had 40" of footage I was hoping someone might be able to look at. I presume it's Cantonese as we shot in Hong Kong. The scenario is that the host just received a Bruce Lee style one inch punch from the man with glasses. It was fairly powereful and made the host vomit and excrete.

I'm very interested to hear what they were saying about the situation. Any help is much appreciated!
posted by DOUBLE A SIDE to Writing & Language (14 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
This is Mandarin, but my language skills aren't good enough for a translation, sorry!
posted by Fig at 6:00 PM on December 19, 2012


Response by poster: Thanks, that narrows it down at least.
posted by DOUBLE A SIDE at 6:24 PM on December 19, 2012


Best answer: 1) Next time (implied "that we meet / see him") don't hit him
(there's a little bit afterwards that is in Mandarin, I couldn't get the entirety of it, something about being disappointed)

2) if he throws up it'd be really sad (as in pitiful, not crying boohoo sad)

3) afterwards (after throwing up?) I / we / somebody'll give him some water to drink, if it's really like that (if he throws up?) it'd really be sad

4) is it the first time he threw up like this (ie, this bad)?

5) Where's the lever to flush the toilet? Is it on the top or on the bottom?
The toilet on that side is broken

6) ?

7) didn't quite get the first part, asking about whether he had a problem (with his stomach) to begin with and that punch helped that problem become what it is

8) The sink doesn't have any water (it doesn't work)

9)

hope this helps!
posted by ditto75 at 6:25 PM on December 19, 2012


fig, It's all Cantonese (and English) save for that part in 1
posted by ditto75 at 6:25 PM on December 19, 2012


Response by poster: ditto75, Brilliant, thanks so much! It will very much help out the humour of the situation. Do you think it would be alright with the meaning of no.2 to have it say "If he throws up it would be really pitiful" so there is no confusion for the viewer? I don't want to twist the words too much, but if that is the implied meaning, I would like to say that.

Thanks again.
posted by DOUBLE A SIDE at 6:31 PM on December 19, 2012


Yeah that would definitely work as that's what he means anyway
posted by ditto75 at 6:33 PM on December 19, 2012


Can we see the punch? I think that would be interesting in any language.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 6:36 PM on December 19, 2012 [2 favorites]


Response by poster: Sorry haven't made an upload of our one. Here's some bad footage of Bruce Lee doing it though.
posted by DOUBLE A SIDE at 6:56 PM on December 19, 2012


Best answer: I don't hear any mando, it's all canto. Here's my stab at translation, keeping in tone with the slang:

1. Oh, let's not beat him next time. Let's not use him for demonstration next time.

2. He's vomiting now, poor guy.

3. Then I gave him a bottle of water, , that /gwailo/. It's a shame if it's like that. [referring to a previous sentence about barfing I think]

4. Is he the first guy to barf like that?

5. How does he flush? Is the lever at the top or at the bottom? It's broken in there.

6. I hit him so hard he's shitting.

7. Maybe he got shook up? Maybe he had a problem and it loosen him up and helping his digestion.

8. Water tank's out of water!

posted by tksh at 7:38 PM on December 19, 2012


You are going to post this to projects when it is finished, right? (Thanks for the Bruce Lee clip, but to my untrained eye, it just looks like he pushes the guy into the chair.

Xie Xie
posted by JohnnyGunn at 10:04 PM on December 19, 2012 [1 favorite]


Response by poster: Thanks tksh! Quite a different interpretation there, but seems to make more sense in the context. Love number 6...that is hilarious, it's also very true.
posted by DOUBLE A SIDE at 1:09 AM on December 20, 2012


Oh man, that is embarrassing - after another viewing, def not Mandarin. Sorry!

(that'll teach me not to browse AskMeFi between a heavy dose of NyQuil and passing out)
posted by Fig at 7:38 AM on December 20, 2012


Yeah, ditto75's translation is more literal while I went for context. They're speaking in the vernacular so I tried to keep that feel in the translation.

I want to see the [non-local, white guy] host getting the one-inch punch too!
posted by tksh at 8:52 AM on December 20, 2012


Response by poster: I'll see what I can do, the punch isn't too exciting though, it's more the fact he had to go to the bathroom to lose liquids out both ends.
posted by DOUBLE A SIDE at 10:59 PM on December 20, 2012


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