Translating the Chinese in Joss Whedon's Firefly and Serenity. With video clips of each scene, notes on word usage, and in-depth (over)analysis of Malcolm Reynolds's heroic quest to butcher the Chinese language—one curse at a time.
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Mal gets into a barfight (Ep2, “The Train Job” 2:58)
Chinese: 噢，这真是个快乐的进展。(Ō, zhè zhēn shì gè kuàilè de jìnzhǎn.)
Translation: Oh, now this is a really happy development.
Context: It’s Independence Day in some backwater bar. As the locals toast the holiday, Mal picks a fight with a pro-Independence ruffian. Zoe sneaks up behind the guy and whacks him with her pistol. The drunk goes down and Mal is pleased, but his smile disappears when half the bar rises up to fight them.
Usage: O is a Chinese interjection for expressing surprise or dismay, quite apt for this situation. Kuaile means happy or joyful (生日快乐 is “Happy birthday”)–a really weird way to describe a jinzhan, which more often than not is a development wherein progress is made, like the economic development of a city. You’d be able to piece it together, but it rings a bit false. Probably would’ve been better as 快乐的过程 (kuàilè de guòchéng), with guocheng meaning “course of events,” which eschews the advancement connoted by jinzhan.
Execution: Mwahaha, this one is one of my fave “Mal"apropisms (sorry, I couldn’t resist). It’s as if Mal is exhausted by the Chinese can’t wait to get rid of the words he needs to say before moving on with the scene. They just tumble out of his mouth, picking up speed like an out-of-control speech synthesizer, adding to the inherent humor of the scene. If we were rating the actors on their Chinese speaking (which is totally unfair, they seem like they genuinely try!), 10+ for humor, everything else… well, not 10+.
Pronunciation:
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