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The author is not Chinese. It is common for people who study a foreign language to get a passion for things that to them seems more authentic. For example, man

The author is not Chinese. It is common for people who study a foreign language to get a passion for things that to them seems more authentic. For example, many learners of Japanese consider English loan words inferior to Sino Japanese words, even though in modern Japanese, they are equally Japanese.

dnautics 7y ago
I was always amused that "pine" street in San Francisco is transliterated to "plank" in chinese. Broadway, incidentally, is "avenue of 100 old people".
- deleted 7y ago
  [deleted]
- solstice 7y ago
  Another example: the Chinese name for SF is Laojinshan (老金山) afaik, which translates to Old Gold Mountain and sounds nothing like Hispanic/English name. I think it dates back to the California gold rush
  - osdiab 7y ago
    It's 旧金山 (jiu jin shan), but otherwise you're right.
    - morningseagulls 7y ago
      And in case anyone was wondering, the "New Gold Mountain" is another name for Melbourne[0]. [0] https://www.google.com/search?q=%E6%96%B0%E9%87%91%E5%B1%B1 https://www.google.com/search?q=%E6%96%B0%E9%87%91%E5%B1%B1
      - SideburnsOfDoom 7y ago
        The Melbourne Gold rush was in the 1850s-1860s so the "new" part has become inaccurate. See also: "New Forest", England, 1079.
        morningseagulls 7y ago
        >The Melbourne Gold rush was in the 1850s-1860s so the "new" part has become inaccurate. It also happened just a few years (very much less than a decade) after the California Gold Rush, and there were other gold rushes after that, so I'm not sure why it's "new" either.
    - solstice 7y ago
      啊呀, it seems I wasn't awake enough yet when posting. Thank you for the correction.
- binarysolo 7y ago
  re: Broadway - it's because the Chinese name is borrowed from NYC's Broadway - 百老匯. Chinese translators really like to translate names and locations which impart some meaning but still sound kinda similar to actual word. Bai-lao-hui sounds kinda like Broadway to a Chinese person. Also, presumably NYC's Broadway is an avenue of a hundred old people because affluent (older) people go to watch musicals more.

dnautics 7y ago

I was always amused that "pine" street in San Francisco is transliterated to "plank" in chinese. Broadway, incidentally, is "avenue of 100 old people".

deleted 7y ago
[deleted]
solstice 7y ago
Another example: the Chinese name for SF is Laojinshan (老金山) afaik, which translates to Old Gold Mountain and sounds nothing like Hispanic/English name. I think it dates back to the California gold rush
- osdiab 7y ago
  It's 旧金山 (jiu jin shan), but otherwise you're right.
  - morningseagulls 7y ago
    And in case anyone was wondering, the "New Gold Mountain" is another name for Melbourne[0]. [0] https://www.google.com/search?q=%E6%96%B0%E9%87%91%E5%B1%B1 https://www.google.com/search?q=%E6%96%B0%E9%87%91%E5%B1%B1
    - SideburnsOfDoom 7y ago
      The Melbourne Gold rush was in the 1850s-1860s so the "new" part has become inaccurate. See also: "New Forest", England, 1079.
      - morningseagulls 7y ago
        >The Melbourne Gold rush was in the 1850s-1860s so the "new" part has become inaccurate. It also happened just a few years (very much less than a decade) after the California Gold Rush, and there were other gold rushes after that, so I'm not sure why it's "new" either.
  - solstice 7y ago
    啊呀, it seems I wasn't awake enough yet when posting. Thank you for the correction.
binarysolo 7y ago
re: Broadway - it's because the Chinese name is borrowed from NYC's Broadway - 百老匯. Chinese translators really like to translate names and locations which impart some meaning but still sound kinda similar to actual word. Bai-lao-hui sounds kinda like Broadway to a Chinese person. Also, presumably NYC's Broadway is an avenue of a hundred old people because affluent (older) people go to watch musicals more.