Yep, just asked my quebecois colleague in the office, what will it mean if people say: C'est pas chinois? He answered: means this is not complicated, because Chinese language is very complicated.
Ok, everyone, I was angry before I asked him this question. Now, no more anger, everybody. It's true, if they really wanted to mean the merchandise is not from China, the French would be: C'est pas de Chine.
I don't think those Quebecois dare of writting some obviously humiliating words about Chinese or China or any ethnics in pulic like that, otherwise, they can be sued for that. ;)
It's a strange sentence, but I think I can explain what it means.
(1) "Battre les prix" literally translate "To beat prices", which means "offering better prices than the competitors", or "beating the prices of competitors".
(2) "C'est pas chinois" literally is "It's not Chinese." In French, we refer to the Chinese language to designate the complexity of a situation. When we are confronted to something that we don't understand, we say : "This is Chinese to me" , meaning that we don't understand. So, when someone says "C'est pas chinois" ("It's not Chinese"), it means that "it's not hard to understand" or "it's simple".
In conclusion, "Battre les prix, c'est pas chinois", means "Beating our competitors' prices is not difficult."
From a Quebecois: its a local saying pertaining to complexity of the mentionned subject as most caucasians find the Chinese spoken and written language to be extremely complexe and difficult. Anybody finding any hint of racism in this may need to review his understanding of north american culture. Loosen up a little ;) .
Daniel 拜拜！
If we know how the Chinese in China compete against each other in the commercial battlefields( maybe they are competing in a better way now?), then nobody will benefit, they will work 18 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week for nothing while sacrifizing their family life, their kids & their health. Maybe I am not talking about the big business people. They still benefit because they have millions of small people working for them. So, Battre les prix, C'est pas chinois. They have better ways, ways that don't kill everybody inlcuding themselves!
Post by xu3331
Battre les prix, c'est pas chinois. 本人数十年弄法文，这句法文理解很简单。
C'est (du) chinois 意为：难，不好弄懂。 则， c'est pas chinois 为： 不难，容易。
If we only see: C'est pas du chinois, then Kat is right. But if it is used together with
Battre les prix, c'est pas chinois. It means something else.
Whatever it means, it is not necessary to feel paranoide. Chinese don't have to be so right all the time, if so, life won't be happy & light hearted. Chinese should learn to laugh at themselves ( I learn to do that myself ). Everybody has the right to understand things from their ability( angle ). It won't change nothing if we really know where we stand. Bla Bla Bla is just Bla Bla Bla!
Post by Kat
From a Quebecois: its a local saying pertaining to complexity of the mentionned subject as most caucasians find the Chinese spoken and written language to be extremely complexe and difficult. Anybody finding any hint of racism in this may need to review his understanding of north american culture. Loosen up a little ;) .
Daniel 拜拜！
发表于 2006-11-6 17:23
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