Directly Translated 3

I have to keep stressing the fact that the direct translations I'm brining up aren't actually translated incorrectly. They do have a tendency to be used incorrectly, though, so there are plenty of instances where it will be incorrect. Like this example:

Just like Aunties and Uncles, any person that is maybe a little bit older than you can be called "older sister" or "older brother." This especially includes cousins. While there is a word for cousin, it is much more common to hear an older female cousin referred to as, "older sister," directly translated.

Once, back in the days of the Squirrel Class,
one of my students was telling me about what she had done with her "older sister." Knowing for a fact that she is an only child, I proceeded to carry out my contractual obligations with my employer and correct her.

Teacher: "She's not your sister, she's your cousin."

Student: "No, she's my sister."

T: "You don't have a sister." (I have to mention that it sounds a bit rude on my part because this is about the 10th time I've explained this to her.)

S: "Yes, I do."

This is where my co-teacher chimes in.

CT: "In Chinese we call our cousins 'sister'" (Spoken in a defensive manner, not an informative manner.)

T: "We aren't speaking Chinese."

I felt really bad about confusing the poor girl like that. There is a Chinese word that she already knows means "sister" in English, and there I was telling her that the person she's known her whole life as "sister" is not "sister." I can't let that sort of thing slide, though. It is not correct to say that in English.

I'm going to leave the family names alone and show you another directly translated mistranslation. This one confused me for awhile before I caught on to what was happening.

• toast-

Because this definition is so cut and dry, I'm going to quote dictionary.com to help me here:

"sliced bread that has been browned by dry heat."

The Chinese definition of the directly translated word "toast" is simply the first two words of that definition: "sliced bread."

"Bread" in Chinese refers to bread, but only in loaf form. The moment a knife has sliced through it, the "bread" becomes "toast." (should we call the knife a "toaster?")

Contrary to its name, it has not been browned by heat.

You can imagine the confusion when somebody, like a student, asks for another piece of "toast," and their teacher has to inform them that we only have "bread." The kid, meanwhile, is staring at the food item which he knows as 土司, which means "toast."

I actually need to correct myself on that last sentence. The Chinese word 土司 doesn't actually mean "toast." It is simply a pronunciation borrowed from English. That means at some point in time, a Chinese person heard an English-speaking person call a piece of bread "toast," and assumed that all bread that has been cut is "toast," and there isn't a word for that yet, so let's call it 土司 .

However, calling all sliced bread "toast" is incorrect usage of the English word.