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| Where does all the weird Chinese component terminology come from? |
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| gamalot:
--- Quote from: coppice on November 18, 2023, 03:05:41 pm --- --- Quote from: gamalot on November 18, 2023, 02:52:00 am ---In Cantonese, the term "牛" is used to specifically refer to a transformer. Some people call modern power adapters and even ATX power supplies "牛" just because they think those devices are also transformers. :-// --- End quote --- So, A power supply is a transformer on fire? --- End quote --- Even I as a native Chinese speaker can't find a reasonable explanation, but I know that the term "火" here means "electricity". Relatedly, in Chinese, the live wire is called "火线", literally means "fire wire". |
| coppice:
--- Quote from: gamalot on November 19, 2023, 12:06:18 am --- --- Quote from: coppice on November 18, 2023, 03:05:41 pm --- --- Quote from: gamalot on November 18, 2023, 02:52:00 am ---In Cantonese, the term "牛" is used to specifically refer to a transformer. Some people call modern power adapters and even ATX power supplies "牛" just because they think those devices are also transformers. :-// --- End quote --- So, A power supply is a transformer on fire? --- End quote --- Even I as a native Chinese speaker can't find a reasonable explanation, but I know that the term "火" here means "electricity". Relatedly, in Chinese, the live wire is called "火线", literally means "fire wire". --- End quote --- And the formal word for electricity (literally spark) 電, forms 電車 which literally means electric vehicle, but actually means a gas powered motorbike. Languages are a mess. |
| gamalot:
--- Quote from: coppice on November 19, 2023, 12:34:19 am --- --- Quote from: gamalot on November 19, 2023, 12:06:18 am --- --- Quote from: coppice on November 18, 2023, 03:05:41 pm --- --- Quote from: gamalot on November 18, 2023, 02:52:00 am ---In Cantonese, the term "牛" is used to specifically refer to a transformer. Some people call modern power adapters and even ATX power supplies "牛" just because they think those devices are also transformers. :-// --- End quote --- So, A power supply is a transformer on fire? --- End quote --- Even I as a native Chinese speaker can't find a reasonable explanation, but I know that the term "火" here means "electricity". Relatedly, in Chinese, the live wire is called "火线", literally means "fire wire". --- End quote --- And the formal word for electricity (literally spark) 電, forms 電車 which literally means electric vehicle, but actually means a gas powered motorbike. Languages are a mess. --- End quote --- "電單車" is a traditional Chinese term. In mainland Mandarin, motorcycle is transliterated as "摩托车". |
| EPAIII:
What I find most curious here is that the Chinese can actually read those characters at the scale that they appear on my computer screen. Either they have very sharp eyesight or they must have a different type font size setting on their computers. --- Quote from: niconiconi on July 21, 2022, 08:05:21 pm --- --- Quote from: bg8aak on July 21, 2022, 07:54:33 am ---not 三级管 but 三极管 极 means "pin" :-DD --- End quote --- In this case, "极" is a short-hand for "电极", or "eletrode". Just like how the suffix "-ode" in "diode" and "triode" came from "eletrode" in English. The terminology was originally a faithful translation. --- End quote --- |
| EPAIII:
A lot of this is centered around Chinese, but they do not have an exclusive on terminology differences and confusion. Back in the 80s I worked in a TV station when the Japanese companies, like Sony and Ikegami, started to make equipment sales to the US TV market. I am talking about professional equipment, not consumer. This equipment came with thick manuals where maintenance and set-up procedures were explained on a step by step basis. Often there would be two or more thick manuals for a given item of equipment so there was a lot in them. One such manual, translated from the original Japanese, that I recall had a cover title that immediately told you that you were going to have real problems understanding what was within. That title read, "Color Handi Lookie System". It was not unusual to see small groups of our TV engineering staff standing around for a half hour or longer trying to understand just one sentence or phrase in that manual. And the item of equipment was stuck on a maintenance bench until the meaning was figured out. With our people afraid of messing things up to where only the factory could fix it, procedures that should have taken only a few minutes, wound up taking all week. The translations did get better with later generations of equipment. I am sure there was some unpleasant feedback on that manual. PS: If you haven't figured it out, "Color Handi Lookie System" meant "Hand-Held, Color, TV Camera". |
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