#also sorry i couldnt remember how to quote in chinese? i feel like it looks like L but i couldnt ... find on my keyboard?

[hideyseek]

okay well i was doing something else (liveblogging me watching guardian episode 23) and i started writing a post that "quoted" the show, then second-guessed my translation, and then spent literally two hours thinking about how to translate the preceding sentence. oops. this post is so long but also was SO fun.

ok so the full ... thing that zhao yunlan says is: 他这个人呀，个性太深沉. 喜欢哑巴吃黄连. 所以我只能等着了, 等到他苦到心头, 苦到他自己说出来为止. i'm only actually translating the first sentence, bc it took me like two hours and i need to go to bed. that first sentence is: 他这个人呀，个性太深沉. the 他 (he) in this sentence refers to shen wei.

uh. direct translation (literal translation? idk what this is called) would be something like: he, this person, personality too [adjective]. just to give some sense of structure, bc i have translation opinions about this later.

first off, this adjective. 沈沉 (shen1 chen2) means both "deep, profound" and "undemonstrative, reserved", according to pleco. i'm willing to bet that the line is meant to describe shen wei with both meanings. my best translation includes the word "fathom". "hard to fathom" or "fathomless" — i think that leans toward both the "depth" part and the lack of knowing/understanding, though describing someone as "fathomless" conveys the distance of "reserved" from the other direction: a distance to breach rather than a distance created. i'll accept this only because zhao yunlan, rather than shen wei, is the one speaking (well also becaue there is not another english word i know that can do this lol.) also, the bit i'm most thrilled about with this word choice: both characters (沈沉) in the original phrase have the water radical, and 沉 used as a verb means "to sink" (as an adjective it means "heavy"). historically (but modern-day in usa english only apparently), a fathom is a unit (equal to 6 feet) used to measure water depth, which pleasantly mirrors the deep water that the original phrase invokes to me.

and then the matter of preserving the cadence of the original line. lol. lmao, even. in my mind, part of what i'm valuing as a translator is giving an actor the same amount of time to work with when speaking. does this matter to other people? probably not. if this was written down i would probably value something else. but i'm the one writing the world's longest post about this, and bai yu said it, so.

initially i thought something like: "he's— he's too fathomless a person." the added dash because i couldn't think of another way to give the reader or actor the space of "这个人呀", which directly translated is like "this person" and here in the line i think is just a way to lend emphasis to "他" (he). but the dash could also force an actor into playing hesitation on the line when it's not originally present -- the way bai yu says this, it comes across meandering/pondering. (screams)

ok fast forwarding to after i chewed on this stick for way too long, bc it got late and i wasn't that structured about thinking about it anymore. it became a sort of "brute force it and then identify what i dislike about this translation and try to fix it." i'm going with: "he's such a fathomless person, that guy." (admittedly, this is without translating the other sentences of this bit that zhao yunlan is saying. in full context / going into the next sentence i might tweak it later.) analysis (justification? lol) follows:

the addition of "that guy" emphasizes the "he" of the first phrase and lengthens the whole line without making it more formal (more difficult than i expected!) in a way that mirrors the "这个人呀" of the original line. this is the "giving an actor enough words to work with" thing. just "he's such a fathomless person" is much more direct than the original line. but with this translation, there is an added distance between the speaker and the object of the sentence. in the original line, zhao yunlan says "这个人", meaning literally "this person", but in the sentence i feel like it's being used as more like, "this example" ("he", shen wei). either way, to me there's a nearbyness/presence conveyed. but it didn't feel right to maintain the use of "this" when shen wei isn't in the room (actually i have no idea if he is even in the building), and also in english when speaking generally about a person, i feel like it's more ... fluid(??) to say "that guy" than "this guy" (though truthfully writing this post has made me doubt my grasp of english about seven times so i'm really not so sure anymore). anyway, the point is, i compromised with "that guy".

we also lose the directness of zhao yunlan commenting specifically on shen wei's character/personality, since the original line is phrased as, "his personality/character is too [adjective]", but i'm satisfied with how much of that idea is retained with this translation. i also don't want to prioritize including the word "personality" over mirroring the cadence of the translation (when this would also cost us the secondary meaning of "character"). and, when including an extra word to capture this meaning (ie, the word "personality"), i couldn't figure out a way to juggle both the "too/overmuch" meaning of 太 and the natural-sounding two-part structure to the original line. "his personality is too/so fathomless" / "he's too fathomless a person" both don't sound quite right to me, but "he's too hard to fathom" emphasizes this idea of difficulty/prior attempt that both isn't present in the original line and doesn't really feel in character for zhao yunlan at this point. by now shen wei has already described zhao yunlan as the one person who has attempted to/partially succeeded in understanding him.

i wanted a third pros/cons paragraph bc two felt like too few but i think that was already my entire rant about "fathom" above. the third pro is: this translation achieved ... basic translation, lol. it conveys roughly the same meaning as the spoken lines and as far as i can tell (not far) is roughly the same level of casual/formal-ness. it doesn't include any additional metaphors or similes not present in the original.

ok that's all lol. goodnight ✌️

[keybangs]

Getting to Know SHINee World

tagged by @jinkisbelly tanks my sami sami~~~

01: How did you get into SHINee? 

oh geez, ok ummmm probably like four or five years ago? I honestly dont remember. So in my city i was a totaly loner when it came to kpop, only into artists like Rain and Big Bang and 2ne1. one day (first day of college) I made friends with this girl i recognized from orientation and when she found out i liked and knew some kpop artists she was like OMFG YOU KNOW KPOP and she was all I HAVE A HARD DRIVE WITH 274069Q5824 ARTISTS LET ME EDUMACATE YOU and i was like yeah cool. so she gave me like ALL of shinee’s stuff, but i was more into all the super junior stuff she gave me. like i would listen to it when it came on shuffle, but i didnt really get into them until I saw the Everybody mv and Sherlock. then i was like the typical fool OMG THEY HAVE A GIRL IN THIER GROUP??? that quickly passed, thanks to God xD but it got me hooked and here we are LOL

 02: Your favorite member in SHINee is?

....... HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA idk that one guy kimbam or whatever 

03: Bias wrecker anyone?

 Jinki ......but sometimes taemin when the moon is full........and also jjong when the tide is low ming is my baby dont look at me that way THREE OUTTA FIVE AINT BAD or would that be four outta five. nah, that would be an insult to kibum nvm MOVING ON

04: Your favorite SHINee OTP (if you have one) 

ummmmmmm wow this is awkward. i mean ok like onkey are my old men,  but i just love minkey’s dynamic? DONT QUOTE ME ON THIS 

05: Is there a SHINee ship you don’t like?

*looks into the camera like im on the Office* i mean we dont have all day ........okay, see the deal is, i dont dislike any ships. i dislike what fandom has done to many ships. 

06: The SHINee member you think is most easily shipped

idk i mean im not really a big shipper. the others just happened ok lmao 

07: Your favorite Korean song by SHINee

easily has to be Hello. it just gives me light yellow feels if that makes sense. like summer walks and ice cream carts 

08: Your favorite Japanese song by SHINee

KLJDFBGPAIUWEAHFDAZZLINGGIRLKZHLFBSJLJKSDS you can quote me on that i mean thats basically how i react to that song so

09: Favorite album

deffinitely Odd. it reminds me of summers in California 

10: Your favorite live performance

Eeek, i mean i dont really watch many live performances :3333 but shinee is bomb as hell like the live performances that stick out in my mind are Symptoms and Picasso? but i mean who are we kidding. the boys work

11: First SHINee MV you saw

I cant remember which was the first but my earliest memory was Sherlock so imma say that lol 

12: Your first impression of SHINee

Balady songs I wasnt really into. tbh a lot of shinee’s style grew on me. i wasnt really into them at first at all

13: Is there a SHINee member that recently impressed you?

ok, it’s not because im biased guys i fucking swear, but kibum in drinking solo for sure. when i heard he was in a drama i was honestly worried. theater people are often too, theatrical (sorry for the redundancy) for screen acting, but he was like a fish to water. i was blown away honestly. he’s someone that approaches every task with a fresh mind to do his best and it’s honestly inspiring to me. 

14: The SHINee member you think has changed the most over the years

hmmmm...am i allowed to have two? imma have two....first taemin because it’s the most obvious i guess. he was the awkward kid that everyone thought would be the lead dancer forever and nothing more. now the kid’s had multiple solos and exhibits a confidence that only comes from having the influence of four strong men in his life to steer him right.....and second, minho, in my opinion. for so long he was stuck in the persona that SM forced on him, but in recent years he has shown more of his authentic self. even if it’s just the face he smiles more and his laughs are boisterous and unrestrained. we see a more authentic person off AND on stage who is sweet and tender (sounds like im talking about food lol oops) and unafraid of his true self and that’s pretty fucking awesome. 

15: The SHINee member you think has changed the least

ummm, well, and this is NOT  a bad thing to me, but I think Jinki. he’s always been a stable force within the group, and maybe he has changed personally in his private life, but the same strong leader is still present for all the members whenever they need him. even if he is too modest at times and feels lacking. 

16: Your favorite SHINee MV

this question seems out of place :/ ummmmm still Hello lol xD i have the mv and when it comes on shuffle i literally have to drop what im doing to watch it lol

17: Your favorite SHINee lyric

ring ding dong ring ding dong ring dingy ding dingy ding ding ding IM NOT EVEN KIDDING it always makes me smile, and RDD was the first kpop song my mom heard and she loved it immediately and said it was so cute that I had that part as my ring tone for like a year lmao 

18: The SHINee member you think has the best face

*is once again looking into the camera like on the Office*

19: The SHINee member you think has the best body

*WAILS IN PAIN* jinki 

20: The SHINee member you think has the best personality

IM STEALING SAMIS ANSWER shinee 

21: A SHINee picture that makes you smile

IM BIASED OK but i mean they all look so chill and etherial also ok 

22: A SHINee picture that makes you nostalgic idk i couldnt think of one tbh :3 

23: Your favorite quote by someone in SHINee

“I hit things when im scared” -kim kibum im sorry im tired and thats the first that came to mind and apparently he said it so there

24: A picture of your bias with someone else you like in another group

kibum and jeonghan buT ALSO DAMN BABE DID I MISS THIS  ONE KIMBAM LOOKS FINE AS HELL i mean when does he not BUT 

25: Have you seen SHINee live?

NO DAMMIT I HAVE NOT ;-; but i was fortunate enough to see Jjong at Suwon Super Concert when i was in Korea during She Is era THE COTTON CANDY PINK YALL omggggg good times ;-;

26: Do you have a favorite variety show moment?

I dont really watch variety shows :3 um but, that one Chinese one where they had to play that game that was like red light green light but with food xD and taemin inhales that orange and jinki gives zero fucks and kibum’s precious head shake as he has mayonnaise on the corner of his mouth and i just yeah wow 

  27: How would you describe SHINee in three words?

family, talent, real 

28: Which SHINee video would you show to someone who has never heard of them before?

Sherlock, because it’s honestly one of my favorite kpop dances of all time. i love the technicality and precision.

 29. Is there a memory in connection to SHINee that you will always treasure?

wow, i think just meeting the amazing people i have thorugh them. i literally have friends all over the country, and world thanks to them. it’s not necessarily a memory, but im definitely grateful. 

30: If you could tell SHINee anything you wanted…what would that be?

first, i would have to thank them for the amazing work they do. they travel across the world at the drop of a hat with little to no rest and still perform for us like it’s the only thing in the world they could want. I would take them each aside and tell them the amazing qualities, talent and personality, about them i love and admire. i would tell them that their youth and vibrancy reminds me to be young and that it’s ok to free myself sometimes from the shit that brings me down in life. im not one to say that a band “saved” my life, but i would be sure as hell to tell them it feels like they’re the only thing keeping me sane sometimes. each one of them, bias or not, inspires me to be more than i am and that’s really fucking cool and i hope they can feel my vibes even if i never get that chance to meet them.  

well that took me nearly an hour and a half thanks sami im exhausted now omfg ㅎ_ㅎ ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ ok im ok ANYWAYS 

let’s tag EVERYONE to do this hell post and take hours out of thier life to talk about these dorks. gabby out