Talk:Chinese translation of crisis

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I moved the below to the talk page, because while it is interesting it appears to be non-encyclopaedic (and I prefer not to delete it.) -- GlennWillen

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Troy's Thoughts:

A conceptual understanding of both languages would reveal that while "crisis" and "opportunity" appear to be radically different ideas, both can be expressed by the single concept of "circumstances call for immediate action".

In the English language, seperate, different words are used that, on their own, describe what type of circumstances, and what types of action are warranted, however, other languages can carry a more generalized idea, and meaning is derived from context.

For clarity:

Though a hurricane is defined as a crisis, and free money is defined as an opportunity, the basic idea behind both is that they are certain circumstances that requre immediate action. The negative or positive connotation is derived from the context.

[edit] To call this a "controversy" is incorrect

As a (self-proclaimed) linguist, I think it is fair to say that:

1. The word 危机 weiji/kiki was NOT coined to mean 'danger & opportunity'. It was coined to mean 'dangerous juncture'. I suspect it was coined by the Japanese to translate 'crisis'. (I might add that this statement is rather off the mark: "The controversy is mostly due to differing interpretations of how much optimism should be associated with the character 機." The problem is the meaning and etymology of the word 危机, not the amount of "optimism" associated with the character.)

2. Somebody (not necessarily an English speaker, quite possibly a Chinese or Japanese) noticed that 危机 could be analysed into 'danger' 危险 and 'opportunity' 机会. This was no doubt a very attractive analysis for motivational pep talks.

3. The new interpretation spread into English, and is now also common both in Japanese and Chinese (I can speak with authority for the Chinese, because my native-speaking Chinese boss used this analysis just the other day in a talk with business partners).

It is kind of ridiculous to call this a 'controversy'. The facts are clear enough. The analysis is erroneous. That is the end of the story. The interpretation of 危机 as being a combination of 'danger' and 'opportunity' is a kind of folk etymology.

But that does not mean that this is not a good motivational example. It is a novel way of analysing the word that beautifully highlights a fundamental truth -- a time of crisis is also a time of opportunity.

That is how the article should be written; not as a "controversy", but as the reinterpretation of a word's etymology to make a particular point. 202.175.171.243 05:04, 20 March 2006 (UTC)

The more fundamental problem with the article is that it doesn't properly explain the issue at all.--Jack Upland 01:46, 16 April 2006 (UTC)

Indeed. I have no idea what the problem is. Don't the individual characters actually mean that in hanzi (Chinese)? If not, what do they actually mean? Zyxoas (talk to me - I'll listen) 21:34, 15 July 2006 (UTC)

I don't know Chinese, but, having followed the links in the article, I think the point is this. The root meaning is that, in a crisis, the danger has the opportunity (chance) to happen. It does not mean that a crisis is an opportunity (in the positive, up-beat sense) for the person experiencing it. --Sir Myles na Gopaleen (the da) 11:00, 27 September 2006 (UTC)

[edit] Simpsons

Is it worth mentioning that this false notion has been used in The Simpsons, referred to by Homer as a 'crisitunity'?

Sounds appropriate. Done. --Arcadian 22:12, 11 November 2006 (UTC)