Glossary entry (derived from question below)
Chinese term or phrase:
不降龍
English translation:
insurmountable
Added to glossary by
Caroline Moreno
May 11, 2011 19:50
13 yrs ago
Chinese term
不降龍
Chinese to English
Bus/Financial
Slang
Possible Typo
Hello,
I'm not sure if this is a typo of some kind, or if it's slang, or something else.
It's a comment from a customer on a survey. Here's the context:
產品還是有問題,產品不降龍
Any insight would be appreciated. TIA!
I'm not sure if this is a typo of some kind, or if it's slang, or something else.
It's a comment from a customer on a survey. Here's the context:
產品還是有問題,產品不降龍
Any insight would be appreciated. TIA!
Proposed translations
(English)
1 | there are insurmountable problems | Ambrose Li |
4 | without superiority/at a disadvantage | lincaiwan |
1 | compatibility issues | Phil Hand |
Change log
May 20, 2011 14:08: Caroline Moreno changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/669676">Caroline Moreno's</a> old entry - "不降龍"" to ""there are insurmountable problems""
Proposed translations
1 hr
Selected
there are insurmountable problems
A literary reference or a literal meaning is probably a bit too far-fetched, but in case no one else has any ideas and you have not considered these before, perhaps these could be suggestions that might lead us somewhere (but likely not).
The literal meaning of 降龍 is “to defeat dragons”. There is an idiom that you can find at http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/ (I can’t give an exact link, since that dictionary has a strange interface that makes it impossible to provide links to individual words) that alludes to surmounting problems. There is also a well-known novel with this term in its title.
If we follow any of these lines of thought, then 不降龍 would literally mean something to the effect of “there are dragons that can’t be defeated”; if this is in the right direction, it might mean something in the lines of “there are insurmountable problems”.
But as I’ve indicated in my confidence level, this is nothing but a wild guess.
The literal meaning of 降龍 is “to defeat dragons”. There is an idiom that you can find at http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/ (I can’t give an exact link, since that dictionary has a strange interface that makes it impossible to provide links to individual words) that alludes to surmounting problems. There is also a well-known novel with this term in its title.
If we follow any of these lines of thought, then 不降龍 would literally mean something to the effect of “there are dragons that can’t be defeated”; if this is in the right direction, it might mean something in the lines of “there are insurmountable problems”.
But as I’ve indicated in my confidence level, this is nothing but a wild guess.
Note from asker:
Thanks, Ambrose. I do follow your logic and your insights are very helpful. |
4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer.
Comment: "I think this is an excellent guess. The word, "insurmountable" conveys the meaning of 不降龍 very well. Thanks to everyone for your contributions!"
13 hrs
compatibility issues
You suggested it might be a typo - if the respondent is from Taiwan and doesn't always distinguish fully between -n/ng, l-/r-, then it could at a stretch be a typo for 兼容
Note from asker:
Thanks for your help, Phil. That could be a possibility. |
On second thought, I think even if the respondent didn't always distinguish between these sounds/spellings, the person should still recognize the characters, as long as they looked at what they typed. So, the respondent would know that those weren't the right characters. This is a hard one though, and I do appreciate your response. |
8 days
without superiority/at a disadvantage
“降龙”means one gets help from god or others with power. “不降龙” is the negative tone of “降龙”.
Note from asker:
Thanks, lincaiwan! I appreciate your response! |
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