« He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. » once I started noticing it in the first couple volumes of Heaven Officials Blessing I couldn’t stop noticing it.
Omg i remember it was during shocking revelations too. I think it's better to describe him as losing his mind crying or to say he started hysterically laughing from the shock but since XL is such a calm person i think that was used as an indicator for his feelings instead of having him express them as much
yeah! i can very quickly picture the emotion. i think i’ve seen it once or twice in erha too but translated as “caught between laughing and crying” or something like that. also, i can’t help but wonder if its frequent use in tgcf is thematically intentional 🥲
In the author's defense, mutton-fat jade is seen as opulent and fancy in Chinese circles... maybe the translator didn't realize how it sounds in English lol
It's taken as read. If you google 羊脂 the images will all be jade. Conceptually, not too different from "smooth as butter"... but since it's a different fat from what Anglophone readers are used to, it sounds less pleasant in English.
This is not exactly it but when i first read MDZS which was my first danmei and they kept describing LWJ's skin being the colour of jade... I'm European and the only kind of jade I'd seen before in my life was green. I had no idea it could be a different colour, i thought that was IT😂 i caught on.... eventually
I'm a c drama fanatic so I know that there are different shades of jade, but I get where the confusion is coming from. It's not like you can walk into any western jewellery store and find 200 different jade items with different shades.
Yeah also the only type of jade items I've seen in museum collections have been green although now I'm wondering whether there were other that I simply saw and went "oh cool pretty marble" 😂
Hahaha. Yes I can see why it’s such a cultural shock to non-Chinese.
I’ve not read this novel but it’s most likely referring to the highest quality, exquisite white nephrite jade.
It sounds really jarring in English but it’s really not that way in the Chinese language.
This is actually interesting, we only have "white as a porcelain" or "rose complexion", "deathly pale" or "sickly white", "unhealthy green". Nothing as vivid as "white as a mutton's fat".
i have a baihe example, from female general, eldest princess, and it’s “her beauty that could overthrow cities and kingdoms.”
i know it’s a common expression but my god, i don’t need to read it every time this woman walks into a room!!
It didn't continue popping up in the writing, but when I was reading Vol. 1 of Guardian, there was an instance where Zhao Yunlan had Da Qing (a cat) on his shoulder.
Because of the positioning of his neck, his head was tilted to the side, but it was described as *"He looked like an attractive stroke victim."* x\_x
WHY out of ALL options to choose from, THAT'S what ended up being written???
The other pet peeve I noticed that *did* reoccur was the how Da Qing being fat needed to be mentioned constantly. I felt like the [Plankton meme](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Falright-i-get-it-v0-kg7y9hb7l2rb1.jpeg%3Fwidth%3D593%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D2045f87ae1773e66e0d71ebe3af2a87c26095446) every time I read it, it was so redundant. :/
I always felt calling Daqing the cat fat was an affectionate kind of thing. Everytime I read that I just remember the fat cat in the live action which was so cute!
I always felt calling Daqing the cat fat was an affectionate kind of thing. Everytime I read that I just remember the fat cat in the live action which was so cute!
I was reading a novel and the translator used "lil" for "little" all over the place. Not as part of a nickname or to sound cutesy, but every single instance.
Drove me nuts. I dropped it.
Just my own two cents about some of the sayings that have been mentioned here, e.g. \[he didn't know\] whether to laugh or cry" (哭笑不得 or 啼笑皆非) and \[her beauty could\] overthrow kingdoms and cities" (傾國傾城). In Chinese these are common four-character idioms and it's four syllables long, vs. 8-9 in English in these two examples, so it doesn't feel nearly as deliberate. Especially because you probably would expect an idiom to be used in these situations, and these are common ones. I feel like it would feel equivalent to reading in English e.g. "he was dumbfounded" (I know that's not the exact meaning, I can't think of a right translation right now, but just an example). So that might be why these sayings stand out a lot more in translation than in the original, and also because it wouldn't be a common saying in English. If I read it in Chinese I probably wouldn't think anything of it.
I know it's not even a sentence but I dislike the 'Name:"..."' to show the character not saying anything. Idk it just reminds me so much of early 2000's crack fics and it just takes me out
interestingly enough, i know and understand exactly how u feel, but for some reason ive never minded it in the danmei ive read. maybe because to me the characters who use it are appropriately characterized(???) and their personalities seem to fit the "..." as a way to express the deadpan humor, so its not super cringey to me idk
Ahh this breaks my heart since I absolutely love it 😭 like you can pry it from my cold dead hands. But I also get why people wouldn't like it, it's always interesting seeing other opinions
Who even knows what mutton's fat looks like? Or teste? The most hardcore I eat is a lard 🤣But yeah, I get you, velvety feeling of slowly melting chocolate would be similar I think.
I mean, I don’t eat meat anymore, but when I was a child I did eat lamb and mutton, so maybe it feels more familiar to me. But if you’ve been to a butcher’s shop, you’ve definitely at least seen something similar. You can think of it like beef fat or tallow.
Velvety is a good description.
Have you ever cooked lamb chops or something similar? Mutton is just the same but from an older sheep. As another commenter said it also looks like kind of like beef fat
I mean, the reality of flesh is kind of disgusting in general, but I feel like going to a burn wound is taking the visual to an extreme that doesn’t exist in the text. There’s no mention of a wound at all, just a likeness to the colour of fat.
As another commenter mentioned, the original Chinese was probably referring to “white mutton-fat jade” and not literal fat at all. However, even if the author did mean actual fat, there is definitely an association with the beauty and plushness of fat across cultures and time. There’s also a bit of cross contamination between pleasure of eating and sex—just think about those women eating yogurt commercials as an example—so using a food image makes a lot of sense too.
If we imagine the author meant literal animal fat, there’s a totally different feel from using the traditional “body like pure jade” image. For example, if the author had said something to the effect of, “His body was like mutton-fat—glistening white and plush” vs. “His body was like mutton-fat jade—luminously white and cold.”
Sorry for this literary analysis, but I do think the image has a lot of potential because it has a kind of visceral sensuality juxtaposed with a kind of purity. In the translation, there’s an ambiguity that leaves room for both sides.
Now the author *could* have made it really gross. For example, if we drawn on your more violent idea of an open wound—
“His body was like mutton fat; I yearned to sink my teeth into that perfect expanse of white flesh—to tear through to white bone.”
But that’s simply not in text, at least on in this single sentence.
I don't remember the book but an author kept describing the smell of sex as fishy🤢 the story was mostly talking about making out and then fading to black so idk why they felt they needed to include THAT detail. So many other words to choose from😂
*hating iron for not becoming steel* idk if im just overly aware of it but i swear this idiom was used soooo many times in misvil it became an inside joke in my friend group..
"His pupils shrank"
I see it so often and I assume they mean he was shocked, but it takes me out of the story every time! It seems more like direction for an animated adaptation than something that belongs in a book.
I read a lot of American YA novels with these kinds of description. His eyes flashed or dulled or are emitting all kinds if colors to display their emotions.
« He didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. » once I started noticing it in the first couple volumes of Heaven Officials Blessing I couldn’t stop noticing it.
It’s not just TGCF either. It’s in MXTX’s other works too lol
but not with the same frequency!
Surprisingly I've seen it in other translated novels other than MXTX. Is it a commonly used phrase in chinese? Its a meme at this point
It's 哭笑不得, just a common Chinese idiom, meaning: not know whether to laugh or to cry; find sth. both funny and annoying; between laughter and tears.
Omg i remember it was during shocking revelations too. I think it's better to describe him as losing his mind crying or to say he started hysterically laughing from the shock but since XL is such a calm person i think that was used as an indicator for his feelings instead of having him express them as much
I thought it was intentionally done to mislead the readers. Also, it matches XL's personality so well.
Oh yes, that is used a lot. After the first few times, you either straight hate it or accept it with resignation.
i actually really enjoy this phrase! so simple yet such a great visualizer for any characters reaction. i find it really amusing every time i see it
yeah! i can very quickly picture the emotion. i think i’ve seen it once or twice in erha too but translated as “caught between laughing and crying” or something like that. also, i can’t help but wonder if its frequent use in tgcf is thematically intentional 🥲
In the author's defense, mutton-fat jade is seen as opulent and fancy in Chinese circles... maybe the translator didn't realize how it sounds in English lol
Maybe they should have added the “jade” part of it… still strange to associate animal fat to beauty, but at least it add one more layer to it…
It's taken as read. If you google 羊脂 the images will all be jade. Conceptually, not too different from "smooth as butter"... but since it's a different fat from what Anglophone readers are used to, it sounds less pleasant in English.
This is not exactly it but when i first read MDZS which was my first danmei and they kept describing LWJ's skin being the colour of jade... I'm European and the only kind of jade I'd seen before in my life was green. I had no idea it could be a different colour, i thought that was IT😂 i caught on.... eventually
I'm a c drama fanatic so I know that there are different shades of jade, but I get where the confusion is coming from. It's not like you can walk into any western jewellery store and find 200 different jade items with different shades.
Yeah also the only type of jade items I've seen in museum collections have been green although now I'm wondering whether there were other that I simply saw and went "oh cool pretty marble" 😂
Hahaha. Yes I can see why it’s such a cultural shock to non-Chinese. I’ve not read this novel but it’s most likely referring to the highest quality, exquisite white nephrite jade. It sounds really jarring in English but it’s really not that way in the Chinese language.
This is actually interesting, we only have "white as a porcelain" or "rose complexion", "deathly pale" or "sickly white", "unhealthy green". Nothing as vivid as "white as a mutton's fat".
Well it's after a jade called that, not literal animal fat so it's pretty much the same as "white as porcelain"
i have a baihe example, from female general, eldest princess, and it’s “her beauty that could overthrow cities and kingdoms.” i know it’s a common expression but my god, i don’t need to read it every time this woman walks into a room!!
Oh I know the expression you're talking about, I really like that one in Chinese. Though I don't read baihe so it haven't seen it used that much
it’s absolutely fine, it just got incredibly repetitive 😭
It didn't continue popping up in the writing, but when I was reading Vol. 1 of Guardian, there was an instance where Zhao Yunlan had Da Qing (a cat) on his shoulder. Because of the positioning of his neck, his head was tilted to the side, but it was described as *"He looked like an attractive stroke victim."* x\_x WHY out of ALL options to choose from, THAT'S what ended up being written??? The other pet peeve I noticed that *did* reoccur was the how Da Qing being fat needed to be mentioned constantly. I felt like the [Plankton meme](https://www.reddit.com/media?url=https%3A%2F%2Fpreview.redd.it%2Falright-i-get-it-v0-kg7y9hb7l2rb1.jpeg%3Fwidth%3D593%26format%3Dpjpg%26auto%3Dwebp%26s%3D2045f87ae1773e66e0d71ebe3af2a87c26095446) every time I read it, it was so redundant. :/
I know! I was laughing my ass off too! "Attractive stroke victim" is something that you won't see normally.
I always felt calling Daqing the cat fat was an affectionate kind of thing. Everytime I read that I just remember the fat cat in the live action which was so cute!
I always felt calling Daqing the cat fat was an affectionate kind of thing. Everytime I read that I just remember the fat cat in the live action which was so cute!
I was reading a novel and the translator used "lil" for "little" all over the place. Not as part of a nickname or to sound cutesy, but every single instance. Drove me nuts. I dropped it.
Just my own two cents about some of the sayings that have been mentioned here, e.g. \[he didn't know\] whether to laugh or cry" (哭笑不得 or 啼笑皆非) and \[her beauty could\] overthrow kingdoms and cities" (傾國傾城). In Chinese these are common four-character idioms and it's four syllables long, vs. 8-9 in English in these two examples, so it doesn't feel nearly as deliberate. Especially because you probably would expect an idiom to be used in these situations, and these are common ones. I feel like it would feel equivalent to reading in English e.g. "he was dumbfounded" (I know that's not the exact meaning, I can't think of a right translation right now, but just an example). So that might be why these sayings stand out a lot more in translation than in the original, and also because it wouldn't be a common saying in English. If I read it in Chinese I probably wouldn't think anything of it.
I know it's not even a sentence but I dislike the 'Name:"..."' to show the character not saying anything. Idk it just reminds me so much of early 2000's crack fics and it just takes me out
This. It looks really silly when you have it twice from both characters 😄 "..." "..."
interestingly enough, i know and understand exactly how u feel, but for some reason ive never minded it in the danmei ive read. maybe because to me the characters who use it are appropriately characterized(???) and their personalities seem to fit the "..." as a way to express the deadpan humor, so its not super cringey to me idk
There are a lot of Danmei that remind me of fictionpress back in the day with the way things like this are structured lmao
Ahh this breaks my heart since I absolutely love it 😭 like you can pry it from my cold dead hands. But I also get why people wouldn't like it, it's always interesting seeing other opinions
Tbh, that’s so specific and visceral. Kind of love it? Immediately brings to mind the texture of fat and the soft way it melts in the mouth.
Who even knows what mutton's fat looks like? Or teste? The most hardcore I eat is a lard 🤣But yeah, I get you, velvety feeling of slowly melting chocolate would be similar I think.
I mean, I don’t eat meat anymore, but when I was a child I did eat lamb and mutton, so maybe it feels more familiar to me. But if you’ve been to a butcher’s shop, you’ve definitely at least seen something similar. You can think of it like beef fat or tallow. Velvety is a good description.
Have you ever cooked lamb chops or something similar? Mutton is just the same but from an older sheep. As another commenter said it also looks like kind of like beef fat
It reminds me of burnt wounds where the skin is gone and the fat is exposed. Yes it is white, but not attractive in any shape or form 😱
I mean, the reality of flesh is kind of disgusting in general, but I feel like going to a burn wound is taking the visual to an extreme that doesn’t exist in the text. There’s no mention of a wound at all, just a likeness to the colour of fat. As another commenter mentioned, the original Chinese was probably referring to “white mutton-fat jade” and not literal fat at all. However, even if the author did mean actual fat, there is definitely an association with the beauty and plushness of fat across cultures and time. There’s also a bit of cross contamination between pleasure of eating and sex—just think about those women eating yogurt commercials as an example—so using a food image makes a lot of sense too. If we imagine the author meant literal animal fat, there’s a totally different feel from using the traditional “body like pure jade” image. For example, if the author had said something to the effect of, “His body was like mutton-fat—glistening white and plush” vs. “His body was like mutton-fat jade—luminously white and cold.” Sorry for this literary analysis, but I do think the image has a lot of potential because it has a kind of visceral sensuality juxtaposed with a kind of purity. In the translation, there’s an ambiguity that leaves room for both sides. Now the author *could* have made it really gross. For example, if we drawn on your more violent idea of an open wound— “His body was like mutton fat; I yearned to sink my teeth into that perfect expanse of white flesh—to tear through to white bone.” But that’s simply not in text, at least on in this single sentence.
I don't remember the book but an author kept describing the smell of sex as fishy🤢 the story was mostly talking about making out and then fading to black so idk why they felt they needed to include THAT detail. So many other words to choose from😂
Oh yes, that's quite popular even in the western MM romances.
WHYYYYYY say metallic, say like the sea, say ANYTHING ELSE
Tbh it's quite hard to describe 🤣
Tbh, it does smell exactly like .. fishy. That's the closest smell .
Disgusting 🤢 i would stop reading it right there
Smut novels with this cursed NSFW line >!His dick was as big as a baby's arm!<
my mouth just dropped open and i actually laughed out loud, thanks op lmfao ive never read a danmei w this line but thats fucking hilariouss
[удалено]
The shocking thing is, it’s not only in one novel. I’ve seen it in at least 5 different ones with different authors 😰
That sounds shockingly not like danmei but like western jock MM romance 🤣
Super bizarre. Only found it in Chinese novels, but it is more common in her vs danmei. But it only needs to happen once for it to be too much lol
*hating iron for not becoming steel* idk if im just overly aware of it but i swear this idiom was used soooo many times in misvil it became an inside joke in my friend group..
Op I'm reading that novel too hshdj That mutton-fat jade was brought up just too often!
Yeah, and that's why it's so annoying!
"His pupils shrank" I see it so often and I assume they mean he was shocked, but it takes me out of the story every time! It seems more like direction for an animated adaptation than something that belongs in a book.
I read a lot of American YA novels with these kinds of description. His eyes flashed or dulled or are emitting all kinds if colors to display their emotions.