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weber
Joined: 07 May 2012
Posts: 1
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 Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 8:52 am Post subject: Jia-you a chinese word meaning good luck |
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Hello teachers:
My name is Weber and i am currently a senior student in college.
I'm from Taiwan and our official language is Chinese.
well, the thing i would like to ask about is a very common and often used phrase in chinese called Jia-you. and it actually means wishing somebody the best and wishing them lots of energy or luck.
it can be used at all kinds of situations or circumstances, but mostly at competitions or sport games or even tests. So when someone is about to go for a competition or test, you can say Jia you to them. what i am curious about is how exactly do you translate this phrase into English, what would be the most accurate word to pin point this meaning.
i have heard some answers including, wish you luck, go go go or come on etc. but still, is there any other words or exact phrase you would suggest?
thanks for your time and help
weber |
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askeladd
Joined: 05 Jan 2010
Posts: 89
Location: Chicago area, USA
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| Posted: Fri May 11, 2012 10:00 am Post subject: Re: Jia-you a chinese word meaning good luck |
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| weber wrote: |
Hello teachers:
My name is Weber and i am currently a senior student in college.
I'm from Taiwan and our official language is Chinese.
well, the thing i would like to ask about is a very common and often used phrase in chinese called Jia-you. and it actually means wishing somebody the best and wishing them lots of energy or luck.
it can be used at all kinds of situations or circumstances, but mostly at competitions or sport games or even tests. So when someone is about to go for a competition or test, you can say Jia you to them. what i am curious about is how exactly do you translate this phrase into English, what would be the most accurate word to pin point this meaning.
i have heard some answers including, wish you luck, go go go or come on etc. but still, is there any other words or exact phrase you would suggest?
thanks for your time and help
weber |
There aren't any special phrases or sayings that we have for situations like that - we'd just say "good luck" or maybe "knock 'em dead," or something similar.
The only other thing I can think of is when somebody has a performance, like acting in a play or performing a solo, or something like that on a stage: then we might tell the person to "break a leg" as a way of wishing that everything goes well for them. (No one is quite sure how that phrase came to be used for wishing somebody good luck in the theater, but that's what they say  )
Hope this helps 
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