#miscsays

[fireflychinese]

Simon's father says Simon would have access to any 'tian xiao de' that filtered in from the cortex (Ep5, "Safe" 1:38)

Chinese: 天晓得 (tiānxiǎode)

Translation: Heaven knows. / Who knows.

Context: Young Simon and River are playing when their father enters the room. Simon complains to him about how their source box shorted out and he lost half his essay. He begs for a new dedicated source box, but his father refuses, saying Simon would then have unfiltered access to anything on the cortex.

Usage: Not quite. As mentioned in this previous usage of tianxiaode in episode 3, you generally use it as the start of a rhetorical statement, as in: "Only heaven knows what we'll encounter on our trip to the outer rim of the galaxy" (with "Only heaven knows" being a stand in for "Who knows"). You use also use tianxiaode to describe an innumerable or unexplainable thing, for instance, "Jayne has god knows how many guns," ("god knows how many" meaning so many that humans can't count them all: 天晓得Jayne有[这么多/几把]枪). It's often also used as a rebuke: ("After he starts drinking, tianxiaode what he'll say.") 

But the way it's used here is improper. Based on the way it's inserted in the sentence here, you'd think tianxiaode was a noun of some sort: "Yes, and you'd have access to any tianxiaode that filtered in from the cortex." But tianxiaode actually just means "who knows" not "who knows what." If you wanted to more accurately capture the usage and meaning of tianxiaode, you could re-word it to: "Yes, and tianxiaode what you'd be able to find that filtered in from the cortex!" 

Execution: Could work a little more on xiao's tone (it should rise after the initial fall), and put less of an accent/emphasis on the de, but overall, I like his pronunciation (though the xiao is more like she-ow as opposed to his she-ah). Quite reasonable!

Pronunciation:

[fireflychinese]

Young Simon tells River to go see her ghost (Episode 5, "Safe" 1:08)

Chinese: 见他的鬼 (jiàn tā de guǐ)

Translation: "Damnit" or "Bloody hell"

Context: In a flashback, a young Simon and River are playing. River pretends that they are at war and trapped by the dinosaur-riding Independents. Simon scoffs and exlaims jian ta de gui.

Usage: No way. I mean, what young Simon meant to say was "No way!" in response to his sister, which I don't believe is well expressed with the phrase jian ta de gui (so also a "No way!" from me on how they used the phrase). Jian ta de gui is a more fleshed out version of the oath jian gui, which literally means to "see ghosts." It's just a catch-all phrase for when you're displeased with something, sort of like in English "Damn." Ghosts can be inauspicious agents in Chinese culture, so saying "see a ghost" implies underworld, Devil type stuff. Jian ta de gui has the same overtones, except it literally means "see your ghost." You can use it to swear at somebody (especially if you take offense at something they've done or said) or as a general curse of your situation.

Why Simon uses it here, I'm not sure. Guides have translated it as "Like hell (that's not true)!" which is sort of a liberal interpretation of the phrase to try and have it fit the situation, but you need another follow-up sentence in order to really convey that sort of message otherwise it just sounds too much like a "Damnnit!" or "To hell with it!" It would probably be best to add something like, 见鬼, 绝对不可能！ ("Oh hell, that's definitely not possible!"), but even then, it's something you probably wouldn't say when you and your sister are playing make-believe and she says something ridiculous. He's not taking offense at what she said (unless he's some sort of anti-Creationist extremist who'd curse out his sister for pretending that dinosaurs and people might've lived together at one time). 见鬼, 绝对不可能 is the kind of phrase a fed-up migrant worker would say if his boss asked him to do another 12-hour shift. 

Execution: Pretty hard to recover this due to the mismatch in the words' emotional tone and the situation. On one hand, young Simon could've said it in a more angry or annoyed manner to really reinforce the oath's forcefulness. On the other, he could've said it in a super playful manner, maybe with a laugh, to make sure his sister knew he was joking and using the phrase ironically. It'd be like in English where you laugh and say, "What the hell!" at something so incredulous you find it funny. But this middle of the road approach just doesn't work. (Good pronunciation, wrong tone on gui.)

Pronunciation:

[fireflychinese]

Simon and River's father says "Mei guanxi" (Episode 5, "Safe" 1:18)

Chinese: 那，没关系 (nà, méi guānxi)

Translation: In that case, don't worry.

Context: Young Simon and River are playing when Simon exclaims something mildly profane (link to be posted soon). Their father, Gabriel, overhears and Simon apologizes. Their father chuckles at their explanation and tell hims if that's the case, then not to worry; it's no problem.

Usage: Na here is just a particle that is used to link two thoughts together, roughly translated into English as "so" or "then"; it's used here to explicitly connect the children's explanation to his response. Mei guanxi has been translated in other guides as "that has nothing to do with it" or "it doesn't matter," which is indeed one of the translations of the term (guanxi means "relationship," mei means "lacking" or "none," hence "no connection") and totally legit for responding to say "How is your job related to your degree?" if you're a lawyer who studied art in college (well, technically, you'd say 没有关系, meaning "it doesn't have a connection"), or for responding to "Should we have chicken tonight?" (Mei guanxi would equal "doesn't matter" in such a case). However, when used after an apology or a statement of thanks, mei guanxi is best translated as "It's no big deal." It's both used to excuse someone for a small slight ("Sorry I ate the last cookie." "Mei guanxi, it doesn't really matter. I'll bake more") or to deflect praise ("Thank you so much for picking me up from the airport." "Mei guanxi, it's no big deal.") Knowing this, we can see how it's properly used in this scene. 

Execution: The tone on mei is badly off, but the pronunciation in quite good. More of a pause after the na would also be best. Overall, not bad.

Pronunciation: 

[fireflychinese]

Badger says "smelled a fart" (Ep4, "Shindig" 10:20)

Chinese: 闻过屁 (wén guò pì)

Translation: smelled a fart

Context: Badger, an underworld crony who previously walked out on a deal with Mal, invites Mal and Jayne in to talk about a new smuggling opportunity. It's with a mystery bigwig who doesn't trust Badger to do the job--the man is so refined and gentlemanly it's as if he's never smelled a fart in his life--so Badger is willing to hand over information about the job to Mal for a finder's fee.

Usage: The phrase literally makes sense but doesn't mean anything more than that. It's not some idiom or anything: wen means smell, guo is a Chinese word that indicates the verb has been experienced by the person, and pi is a fart smell (usually paired with the verb 放, to make 放屁, fàngpì, or "to let out a fart"). So together wen guo pi is "had the experience of smelling a fart in one's life." [EDIT: Actually, perhaps it's an idiom about shit smelling like roses. Will get back to you on that...]

Execution: Since wen guo pi isn't a typical Chinese idiom so it was a little tough to figure it out in context, but once you do, it's worth a chuckle. Badger does a credible job of saying it, though the guo sounds more like gua. Overall, not bad.

Pronunciation:

[fireflychinese]

Atherton calls Inara "Baobei" (Ep4, "Shindig" 5:30)

Chinese: 宝贝 (bǎobèi)

Translation: baby

Context: Serenity is about to land on the civilized world of Persephone, and Inara is reviewing prospective candidates who wish to obtain her services as a companion. A live call comes in from Atherton Wing. He proposes to take Inara to the social event of the season and Inara agrees. She ends the call soon after hearing a knock at the door.

Usage: Baobei can either refer to a literal baby (that is an infant child) or your lover (the Justin Bieber version of "baby"). It obviously comes from English, though the Chinese characters chosen to form the word sort of get at the essence of the word (bao means treasure and bei was a form of Chinese currency), kind of like how we sometimes invent backroynms for words sometimes. A number of other Chinese pet names for your boyfriend/girlfriend/lover/spouse are similar quasi-loan words from English, including 甜心 (tiánxīn), which literally means "sweet heart." 

Execution: Not bad at all! Good solid pronunciation, very fluent, rolls right off loverboy's tongue. Obviously doesn't get the tones; he never breaks stride from his English, which is why on one hand why he sounds so smooth saying it and why it sounds perhaps disjointed to a Chinese speaker.

Pronunciation: