English Chinese translation of 'getting fired'

I came across the phrase “being fired” when I was translating some conversation this morning. And without any hesitation, I wrote the Chinese phrase “被炒了(bèi chǎo le)”. It just came to my mind very naturally. But when I offered that English Chinese translation to one of my foreign friends, her first question was “what did you mean by 被炒了(bèi chǎo le)”. According to the Chinese she learned, she cannot understand why a person can be stir-fried. That was when I awarded that I used a typical Chinese-style word.

 

English Chinese translation services sample - Getting Fired



So I explained the English Chinese translation to her. The Chinese equivalent for the verb “fire” is “解雇(jiě gù)”. “being fired” literally means “被解雇了(bèi jiě gù le)”, using the passive voice. As most non-native speakers would ask, what is exactly the link between “being fired” and “being stir-fried”? Well, the Chinese phrase “被炒了(bèi chǎo le)” is an abbreviation of “被炒鱿鱼了(bèi chǎo yóu yú le)”. 鱿鱼(yóu yú) is squid. As we know, when we fry the squid, the sliced fish will get rolled up into tubes while it is originally flat like a board. Of course, frying a squid did not have any implication of getting sacked.

In earlier times, most Chinese employees left their hometown to earn money. And when they got fired, they could do nothing but get packed and leave. They did not have much to pack at that time, just their bedrolls (bed sheets and quilts). With time passing by, Chinese people began to imply “getting fired” by using the phrase “卷铺盖(juǎn pū gài) - rolling up the bed sheets and quilts”. It was a metaphor.

Maybe Chinese people are always good at observing. So one day, some guy was frying the squid for his meal and found that the rolled-up squid looked very much like a rolled-up quilt. You know, he might have been sacked. Then he was thinking: “ha, we’re like fellow suffers, right, poor squid.” Now you see, “炒鱿鱼(chǎo yóu yú)” is like “卷铺盖”(juǎn pū gài). Therefore, if “卷铺盖”(juǎn pū gài) can be used as a metaphor for getting fired/sacked, then “炒鱿鱼(chǎo yóu yú)” can be another similar metaphor.



Getting Fired - translate English to Chinese



Anyway, English Chinese translators should always take the cultural elements into consideration when they translate English to Chinese. I did not think a lot when I translated the conversation. Since I’m a native Chinese speaker, I know the targeted Chinese readers will definitely know what I’m saying by using this phrase. Besides, this phrase is more native like. However, if a foreign translator is doing this, he may then choose the official phrase “被解雇了(bèi jiě gù le)”. Readers will still understand him. But in that conversational context, this seemed to be too serious and official. It feels kind of absurd.

I always feel that to translate English to Chinese is somehow easier than translating Chinese to English. Even though I completely understand the original text, I still cannot express that with native-like English, especially when English slangs are involved. I think there is no shortcut for solving this. Maybe the only way is to read more and talk more with native English speakers.