October 20, 2007

Next 150 years

It was the association's 150th anniversary. The chairman, a slim sprightly elderly man, went up on stage to say a few words. He stood in the middle with the compere a short distance away.

Part of what he said...
"..... I don't know if I will be here at the next 150 years. ....."
Of course this was said in jest, a self-directed remark which elderly people sometimes say, like 'I don't know if I'll live that long.' It didn't need a response. But the compere said something.

I was just thinking If he asked you that question, as the compere what would you say?

5 comments:

Victor said...

"Chey, choy, choy"?

Haha, only joking of course. I would have said, "If you are not here in person, at least be here in spirit."

Hmm... I wonder if that statement could be translated into Chinese and still convey the same meaning and humour?

Anonymous said...

I think something like that can be said in cantonese.

Thanks for your response, I didn't expect any because people are worried they say wrong things.

I will just smile as I don't think I can think of something within 7 sec before the speaker carries on.

Victor said...

Well, I guess that's the difference of commenting on a blogsite as compared to saying something as a live commentator. I don't have to restrict myself to 7 secs - I can take 7 mins, 7 hours or even 7 days to think of something witty and politically correct to say.

I think the word "spirit" can convey either of the meanings 灵魂 or 精神 but the 2 phrases in Chinese/Cantonese have different meanings.

Anonymous said...

精神 is right

On that occasion the compere said (in cantonese) "可能会" which means possible. Also said in jest but I feel it sounded quite weird

Anonymous said...

这个司仪很爱出风头