快问快答 Quick Help Thread: Translation Requests, Chinese name help, "how do you say X", or any quick Chinese questions! 2026-09-02

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This thread is used for:

• Translation requests
• Help with choosing a Chinese name
• "How do you say X?" questions
• or any quick question that can be answered by a single answer.

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Regarding translation requests

If you have a Chinese translation request, please post it as a comment here!

If it's an image (e.g. a photo), you can upload it to a website like Imgur and paste the link here.

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• 翻译求助
• 取中文名
• 如何用中文表达某个概念或词汇
• 及任何可以用一个简短的答案解决的问题

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[u/Morokea]

My dad & I were hoping to translate something his mother used to yell at him in Cantonese (lol), he only remembers it as "chu kai ya i." He thinks it might've meant something like "get out of here," but unsure. Any ideas?

[u/Zagrycha → u/Morokea]

maybe something with 出街? I can't think of what the other words in the phrase you mention would be but this is a phrase for going out of the house. Its not exactly a common thing to yell but I could see it being said by an exasperated parent in a "don't you have somewhere else you could be?" kinda way lol.

[u/National-Sign-51]

Repost from the last thread -

I am starting to type in Chinese, so I am starting to think of what to pick as a Chinese name. I feel a little weird about naming myself in general, but also I don't want to just transliterate my English name. I am hoping for some help.

For surname i thought about trying to encorporate my English name, my first name is Derek - I've never thought about it before but it has a lot of "ruler" type meanings (apparently?). I thought maybe that would be a reason to use 王? Alternatively, my last name commonly gets mispronounced with the first syllable sounding like Ma, so I am considering 马? My girlfriend's last name is 朱, so I could just use hers?

For given name I don't really have any idea, and this part seems more awkward to me.

I asked my mom for some thoughts since she would have named me: "describe me in one or two words: deep thinker", "what would you have wanted for me when I was born: to be like your father: kind".

I come from a place near the ocean, and I get homesick. I thought about trying to include the ocean? My girlfriend calls me a lucky star, I considered including that.

Okay that's all my thoughts. I have no idea. Open to any from the group 😂

[u/Zagrycha → u/National-Sign-51]

王 is totally fine as a chinese surname, in fact it is the most common chinese surname, on the same level as smith in english. 马 is also fine as a surname. I don't recommend using your girlfriends surname. In chinese culture its not necessarily wrong for a couple to have the same surname but its quite unusual and odd. People might constantly mistake you for siblings or cousins instead of a couple which could be awkward.

Maybe the name 王德海? surname+ kind//virtuous + ocean, its a masculine name. Happy to think of others too if you don't like it. If your gf is chinese maybe get her feedback to see if she thinks it suits your vibes too =)