A recent blog post wonderfully captures the idiosyncrasies of languages. Titled “15 Wonderful Words without English Equivalent”, the author lists phrases in a dozen languages packed with social, philosophical and anthropological back stories whose wonderfulness are lost in English. My instinct to this quirky list is let’s make one for Chinese! Of course most chengyus and suyus fall beautifully into this category, but I am talking about basic, high frequency words that you struggle to find an English equivalent. Here’s my own list to get the ball rolling. Please add yours in the comments!
1. 客气 (kèqi): often translated as “polite”, this word is a fine specimen of Chinese culture. 客 means “guest”, 气 means “chi” or “an air of”. So 客气 means to act as if you were a guest. It’s often used in the phrase 别客气(bié kèqi/don’t be so guest like). The irony is in most cases, the recipient of the phrase is indeed a guest. However, since Chinese culture prides itself on being hospitable, we want guests to not feel like guests. That’s why Chinese are always trying to get guests to eat more, drink more to the point of pushiness.
2. 辛苦(xīnkǔ): It means to work laboriously, be it manual or intellectual. Often used in the phrase 辛苦了(xīnkǔ le), which is an acknowledgement of one’s hard work and contribution. I feel it’s almost the Chinese version of “great job” or “well done”.
3. 小吃(xiǎochī): often translated as “snacks”. These are little dishes or nosh often eaten on the street and are representative of the local food culture. Examples of Shanghai 小吃 include 小笼包(xiǎolóngbāo/steamed dumplings). In Beijing, it’s various sorts of 串儿(chuànr/sticks of food). 小吃(xiǎochī) can come in all sizes, shapes and forms, making it hard to translate.
4. 馋(chán): this means you are easily tempted by food and always want to eat. However, it doesn’t mean you are hungry or an over eater. Rather you see food as a form of entertainment rather than just necessity, but you are not quite a refined foodie. We often use this word to describe kids and teenage girls since they always want to eat or snack in order to entertain themselves.
5. 鲜(xiān): another food term. This flavor is hard to describe. It’s the taste and sensation of MSG if it were natural and healthy. It’s not just salty or savory. It has more substance. Although 鲜doesn’t describe sweet taste, a dish can be unsalted but extremely 鲜, for example, Chinese style chicken soup or hairy crab. The more well known Japanese version is umami.
6. 山寨 (shānzhài): if you live in China, you are probably no stranger to this relatively new term. It’s not knock off products. It’s products entirely “inspired” by a famous counterpart. However, these 山寨 products usually have their own brands, e.g. “Adibas” or “uPhone”.
7. 气质(qìzhì): this means an intangible quality one carries as the result of a good upbringing and education. If a woman 有气质, it means she is not necessarily beautiful, but has a lot of substance and elegance. The example I often use to explain this word is Hilary Clinton有气质, Kim Kardashian没有气质.
8. 没办法(méibànfǎ): literally “no solution”. It’s a sense of disappointment and acknowledging that life has its limits. It’s one of those words that truly reflect the national psyche of China.
9. 上火(shànghuǒ): ever heard of eating spicy things, chocolate or mandarin oranges will ignite your “internal fire” and cause you to have pimples or constipation? You may call it pseudo science, we live by it to balance the ying and yang in our body.
10. ? Let me know your wonderful Chinese word without English equivalent.
