69 sats \ 2 replies \ @cryotosensei 12 Jun \ parent \ on: This Day in Stacker News: June the 11th meta
Chinese saying about groping for river stones with your feet to find your way acros I had to look this one up. Didn’t learn it in school haha. 摸着石头过河 It was a popular phrase coined when China opened itself to the world in the 1970s.
There is a Chinese saying for slow is smooth. We say 慢工出细货 (Màn gōng chū xìhuó). Literal: (slow work) (yields) (fine work)
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49 sats \ 1 reply \ @Undisciplined OP 12 Jun
How would you translate the river one?
The context I heard it in was the CCP trying to liberalize the economy without giving up control, but I didn’t realize that’s where it came from.
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69 sats \ 0 replies \ @cryotosensei 12 Jun
I think the way you put it is fine. It retains the original flavour of the saying.
The context behind the saying is that because there are no ready-made bridges and boats and because no one has ever crossed the river before you, you got to test the waters and move ahead, one step at a time. The following is from its Wikipedia page: “摸着石头过河”本意指在没有前人经验、没有现成的桥和船的情况下，要想过河就必须以身试水、摸索前进”
Language forums translate this to improvising by trial and error. Which is a fine translation I guess, but the original essence is lost
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