white ppl love translating 加油 as “add oil” instead of like “you go” or something as if a single chinese person actually thinks abt oil when saying that and all language isn’t decomposable & metaphorical to a degree
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On my first trip to China, to teach English, my students asked "how do you say 'add oil' in English?" and I had no idea what they were talking about.
not knowing a word/expr is one thing, sticking to a hyperliteral translation once you learn it shows a lack of understanding of the language and tbh would make for a pretty shit teacher if they asked you how to say 电脑 in english you wouldn’t tell them “electric brain”
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At the time I had no knowledge of the language at all whatsoever. They were literally asking me, in English, how to say 'add oil.' I'm just relating what I thought was a funny story.
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Years later, someone got angry at me for telling them they were 可笑. My dictionary said it meant "funny," and it took a while to learn that it meant "ridiculous." Another time I found myself in a hotel gym after asking for a poorly translated literal phrase-book "bath room."
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