On 27/12/08 03:02, bill lam wrote:
> On Fri, 26 Dec 2008, Tony Mechelynck wrote:
>> On 26/12/08 15:28, bill lam wrote:
>>> On Sat, 27 Dec 2008, Ben Schmidt wrote:
>>>>> Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year
>>>>> Joyeux Noël et bonne année
>>>>> Ein frohliches Weihnachten und ein glückliches neuen Jahr
>>>>> Een vrolike kerstfeest en een gelukkig nieuw jaar
>>>>> С новым годом
>>>>> Buon Natale e buon anno
>>>>> Buena Navidad y feliz año nuevo
>>>>> Ĝojan Kristnaskon kaj feliĉan novan jaron
>>>> No CJK, Tony? You're slipping!
>>> japanese : メリークリスマス (kata)
>>> chinese: 聖誕快樂 (not politically correct)
>>>
>>> Happy holidays to everybody!
>>>
>> I recognise that first hanzi: "the ear and mouth of the Emperor" i.e.
>> "wise", as in 聖人 shèngrén "the wise man". What would you give as a
>> word-for-word translation of the whole sentence?
>
> 聖人 is wise man or man of great virture. It is non-religious.
>
> more complete form is
> 聖誕節快樂
>
> 聖誕節 = christmas
> 聖 holy, divine, saint (in this context, it is religious)
> 誕 birthday
> 節 festival
>
> 快樂 happy
>
> hence,
> 聖誕快樂
> happy birthday of the holy,
>
> it is politically incorrect because it equates christ as holy, however
> this translation is common, and no one feel offended.
>
Ah, thanks :-)
I understood the "politically incorrect" part, like I understand that
the Russian "С новым годом" (s novym godom, wfw. "with the new year")
was politically correct even in Soviet times, as it made no reference
to the "religious" Christmas feast.
"Christ", χρηστος, is Greek for "anointed", so I suppose "holy" is an
acceptable translation.
Best regards,
Tony.
--
It's a very *_UN_*lucky week in which to be took dead.
-- Churchy La Femme
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