Why is this a translation challenge? Do you think it's hard to translate? [Or copypaste from a PD translation anyway.]

You probably won't get this comment because notifications aren't working, but...

I tagged it as a translation challenge because this phrase, as well as many 成语 in general, have a very "thorough" meaning despite being compact and only 4 characters. The challenge in translating these is to do it without simply writing one or two sentences to explain precisely what the phrase is supposed to mean. Essentially, the difficulty is in finding the most terse translation without losing the essence of the original phrase.

It's also a challenge because you have to know the meaning (you can't simply read off the characters and say "yes, of course").

> You probably won't get this comment
> because notifications aren't working, but...
He-he, I check all the Tatoeba comments anyway :P

> It's also a challenge because you have to know the
> meaning (you can't simply read off the characters and
> say "yes, of course").
Ach, so?
Why does a mere typing this phrase in a dictionary work then? :)
http://www.zhonga.ru/search/res...8B%A5%E6%B0%B4
The only question is whether it's "water" or "river".

I agree that chéngyǔ can be hard to translate, but this one is not challenging at all. :o

> Why does a mere typing this phrase in a dictionary work then?

Being able to find it in a dictionary and being able to translate it well in a concise manner are not 100% equivalent.

> but this one is not challenging at all.

Then you have a gift for translating 成语. Personally, I'm not completely satisfied with my English translation.

> Being able to find it in a dictionary
> and being able to translate it well
> in a concise manner are not 100% equivalent.
Did you follow my link? :P
Oshanin’s dictionary doesn’t give the translation of this proverb. It gives the translation of its components. The translation is straightforward, and, well, in line with the traditional interpretation.

Of course it’s impossible to convey all the meaning.

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