Silly things we say to babies

[Melrose Plant 1]

Mai says a lot of things to Mickey that I don't really understand. As English speakers, you know we say a lot of very silly things to babies. I asked Mai what silly things Vietnamese say to babies. She didn't understand my question. Then, a little bit later, she was talking in a voice I knew was a silly voice. So I asked, "OK, what did you say to him just now?"

She said, "Đại ca đầu Trọc!" Idiomatically, but not literally, translated, this means, "John Dillinger stole your hair!" Or alternatively, "Al Capone stole your hair!" Choose your own famous outlaw. Funny, no?

Edited March 3, 2009 by Melrose Plant

[Dai. 7]

hahaha I think Đại ca đầu Trọc means master of the bald heads.

[Melrose Plant 1]

Hahaha, Mai disagrees with your translation. She says that it's sort of Chinese/Vietnamese slang. Dại ca is kind of like "Big Brother." I guess that would be the equivalent of our American gangsters. And then đầu Trọc is distinct from đầu hói. Anyway........you guys can argue about that. I'm going to bed! Hahahaha. It's still a very silly thing to say to a baby. Got any more?

[Mr. Leggs 0]

yup, mai's right :-)

Hahaha, Mai disagrees with your translation. She says that it's sort of Chinese/Vietnamese slang. Dại ca is kind of like "Big Brother." I guess that would be the equivalent of our American gangsters. And then đầu Trọc is distinct from đầu hói. Anyway........you guys can argue about that. I'm going to bed! Hahahaha. It's still a very silly thing to say to a baby. Got any more?

[Melrose Plant 1]

And I am surprised, Dan, that you didn't call me on my typo the second time around, "Dại ca" instead of the correct "Đại ca."

I find that idiomatic translations are much more difficult, yet more important between Asian languages and English. There is just no common bond between the two.

On the same subject, I would like to share an idiomatic translation slightly closer to home. As a former student of German, I ran across a Bavarian phrase, "Es ist mir Wurst." Translated literally word-for-word, this means, "It is [to] me sausage." The idiomatic meaning is, "It doesn't matter to me." As in the answer to the question, "Which movie would you like to go see?"

These difficulties in dissimilarities between the languages strengthens my resolve to make sure that my younger son is truly bilingual. He still has the ability that I have lost with age.

[Jasman0717 9]

"John Dillinger stole your hair!"

[Melrose Plant 1]

"John Dillinger stole your hair!"

Yeah, so what weird things do Filipinas say to babies? Time to pony up!

[Donna A 4]

i was surprised when my husband said goche goche goo to our dog (our only baby). i thought we were the only ones who said that.

[Melrose Plant 1]

i was surprised when my husband said goche goche goo to our dog (our only baby). i thought we were the only ones who said that.

Hey Donna, thanks for the reply. We've got one of those too. Dogs that is. Her name is Elsa, but we've taken to calling her Lazybones lately. In Vietnamese, that translates to "Lazybone." No S.

Mai's Aunt is very concerned that Lazybones, or Lazybone, as the case may be, is going to bite the baby. I told her the basic problem with that theory. You see, that would require her to actually get up off our bed, and go to the effort of biting someone. Ain't gonna happen.

This is not a Vietnamese-only thread. I know there are people all over SE Asia that say silly things to babies, and to dogs. Let's hear them.

[Mr. Leggs 0]

word for word in vietnamese to english :

1/ không sao đâu-Nevermind

không-No

Sao-Star

Đâu-Where

no star where

xấu hổ-embarrass

xấu-ugly

hổ-tiger

ugly tiger

And I am surprised, Dan, that you didn't call me on my typo the second time around, "Dại ca" instead of the correct "Đại ca."

I find that idiomatic translations are much more difficult, yet more important between Asian languages and English. There is just no common bond between the two.

On the same subject, I would like to share an idiomatic translation slightly closer to home. As a former student of German, I ran across a Bavarian phrase, "Es ist mir Wurst." Translated literally word-for-word, this means, "It is [to] me sausage." The idiomatic meaning is, "It doesn't matter to me." As in the answer to the question, "Which movie would you like to go see?"

These difficulties in dissimilarities between the languages strengthens my resolve to make sure that my younger son is truly bilingual. He still has the ability that I have lost with age.