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Tue 30 Aug, 2011 05:25 am
Context:
I once read somewhere a statement made by a foreigner who had lived in both countries, that the longer a foreigner lives in Japan the more he dislikes the Japanese, whereas the longer a foreigner lives in China the more he likes the Chinese. I do not know if what is said of the Japanese here, is true. But, I think, all of you who have lived in China will agree with me that what is here said of the Chinese is true. It is well-known fact that the liking_you may call it the taste for the Chinese_grows upon the foreigner the longer he lives in this country. There is an indescribable something in the Chinese people which, in spite of their want of habits of cleanliness and refinement, in spite of their many defects of mind and character, makes foreigners like them as foreigners like no other people. This indescribable something which I have defined as gentleness, softens and mitigates, if it does not redeem, the physical and moral defects of the Chinese in the hearts of foreigners.
@oristarA,
The French have a phrase,' je ne sais quoi (uncountable). An intangible quality that makes something distinctive or attractive.' It can mean the same thing, but not always.
@Setanta,
Thanks.
Does that context sound native?
@oristarA,
It sounds like something that someone with English as their first language would say.
@izzythepush,
izzythepush wrote:
It sounds like something that someone with English as their first language would say.
Cool.
Thank you.
PS. I don't understand " makes foreigners like them as foreigners like no other people" well. Could you please rewrite it in more detail?
It means that foreigners (people who are not Chinese) eventually come to like the Chinese more than they like anyone else who is foreign to them. This passage is unlikely to be well understood by anyone who is not a native speaker of English.
@Setanta,
Setanta wrote:
It means that foreigners (people who are not Chinese) eventually come to like the Chinese more than they like anyone else who is foreign to them. This passage is unlikely to be well understood by anyone who is not a native speaker of English.
Thanks.
What does "like" mean here?
@oristarA,
It means feel affection for, enjoy the company of, speak well of etc.
@izzythepush,
izzythepush wrote:
The French have a phrase,' je ne sais quoi (uncountable). An intangible quality that makes something distinctive or attractive.' It can mean the same thing, but not always.
[What is that "uncountable" in brackets doing there?] I have heard of
un certain je ne sais quoi as well as
un certo non-so-che (Italian)
e.g. La fusion de savoir faire et d'un certain je ne sais quoi assure une originalité de design.
@contrex,
To be quite honest I'm not entirely sure. I was in a hurry and took a definition online. That's why I used inverted commas. On reflection I should have checked it more thoroughly.
@izzythepush,
izzythepush wrote:It sounds like something that someone with English as their first language would say.
I'm not sure about that. Oristar never bothers to attribute, so I'd better make good his omission: It's from "The spirit of the Chinese people, with an essay on civilization and anarchy" by Gu Hongming (1922)
Gu Hongming (Chinese: 辜鴻銘; Wade-Giles: Ku Hung-ming; courtesy name: Hongming; ordinary name: 湯生 in Chinese or Tomson in English) (July 18, 1857 - April 30, 1928) was an Malaysian Chinese man of letters.He also used the pen name "Amoy Ku".
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