Glossary entry

Chinese term or phrase:

不是省油的灯

English translation:

no small troublemaker

Added to glossary by Huijun Suo
Oct 23, 2007 08:41
16 yrs ago
Chinese term

省油的灯

Chinese to English Art/Literary Slang
不能怪德国政府对 xxx 不够宽容, xxx也不是省油的灯。

xxx指在德国居留的某国人。
Change log

Oct 24, 2007 08:15: Huijun Suo changed "Edited KOG entry" from "<a href="/profile/711422">wonita (X)'s</a> old entry - "省油的灯"" to ""least troublemaker""

Discussion

Wenjer Leuschel (X) Oct 23, 2007:
Na ja, dasgleiche wäre ohne weitere Erklärung wie mit "Der Kerl ist auch keine Öl sparende Lampe." 需要解释,但是他们一旦明白之后,这个说法很有笑果。
Bin Tiede (X) (asker) Oct 23, 2007:
"Der Kerl ist auch kein Strom sparender Armleuchter." 你这个说法不加解释德国人理解有没有问题?
Wenjer Leuschel (X) Oct 23, 2007:
几位的建议都有道理,也很不错,不过我以往开玩笑跟蕃婆子介绍这个中国说法时,说的是 "Der Kerl ist auch kein Strom sparender Armleuchter." 这样的说法比较“现代”一点。

Proposed translations

+1
50 mins
Selected

least troublemaker

不是省油的灯 big trouble-maker, no small troublemaker

One cannot blame the German gevernment for not being more lenient to him. He is no small troublemaker.

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Note added at 51 mins (2007-10-23 09:32:28 GMT)
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gOvernment

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Note added at 1 hr (2007-10-23 10:23:21 GMT)
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Or more directly: trouble saver, no trouble saver
Peer comment(s):

agree Shang
1 hr
Thanks Shang!
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4 KudoZ points awarded for this answer. Comment: "Thank you all!"
+1
15 mins

no easy person to deal with; tough guy, etc.

if a man, "tough guy" is good enough.
Peer comment(s):

agree Ocean520
6 hrs
thanks a lot!
Something went wrong...
35 mins

behave good

感觉是这样
xxx也不是省油的灯
it is xxx himself who doesn't behave good.
Something went wrong...
33 mins

xxx is quite a figure / a difficult person

...

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Note added at 1 hr (2007-10-23 10:04:14 GMT)
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I believe this one sounds more natural:
xxx is no stranger to trouble
Something went wrong...
2 hrs

xxx is not to be pushed around

相当于“不是好欺负的”。
Something went wrong...
6 hrs

always causing trouble

I think this sounds more natural.
Something went wrong...
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