Monday, March 14, 2005

Peaceful Flat Mousepad



Angela emails:

"Tian, My sister has found this mouse pad on sale on Futureshop.ca. My understanding is that 和平 means 'peace'. But 平 alone means 'even' level; flat'! Cheers, Angela"

Even though 平 is commonly translated as "peace", but technically it only means "flat" or "balanced".

The phrase for "peace" is 和平; and sometimes in Japanese, 平和.

平 = flat; level; equal; to make the same score; to tie; to draw; calm; peaceful
平 【ひら】 (n) the broad; the flat; palm; ED


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14 comments:

  1. AnonymousMarch 15, 2005 at 4:34 AM

    Well, it is flat...

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  2. BrendanMarch 15, 2005 at 6:02 AM

    I believe 平和 also means 'peace' in Vietnamese (binh hoa).

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  3. KMarch 15, 2005 at 3:38 PM

    My doormat has that character. How do you write "and square" in Chinese? ; )

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  4. tianMarch 15, 2005 at 4:58 PM

    方 = a square, rectangle; a region; local

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  5. GlennMarch 15, 2005 at 6:08 PM

    Kuan yin:

    I can think of three words for "and" -- 和, 與, and 又 (depending on the usage, 又 can mean "also" or "again).

    It's probably not the best idea to use 和 for "and" in this case, since it is the same 和 in 和平.

    So, I think 平又方 probably works, though 又方又平 works better, IMO.

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  6. kenMarch 15, 2005 at 7:45 PM

    It could be a Japanese family name, "Taira", which means, well, flat.

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  7. DurfMarch 15, 2005 at 8:17 PM

    Yeah, that's the perfect mouse pad for the person who cheered for the Taira over the Minamoto a thousand years ago.

    In Japanese 平和 is peace in general; 和平 is usually used in the geopolitical sense, as in "peace talks" or "reconciliation."

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  8. AnonymousMarch 16, 2005 at 12:24 PM

    Glenn, what's wrong with simply 平方?

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  9. AnonymousMarch 17, 2005 at 9:00 AM

    I'm pretty sure that 平方 is the mathematical term for "square", as in the square of 5 is 35.

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  10. AnonymousMarch 17, 2005 at 12:14 PM

    Its off topic, but i just have to do it.
    square of 5 is 25, lol

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  11. GlennMarch 18, 2005 at 2:33 AM

    Yeah, the square of 5 is 25, not 35. ^_-

    So 平方 by itself definitely does not work for "flat and square," as it can mean "square" or "to the power of" -- 二至三平方 means 2 to the 3rd power, and so on.

    Even if it doesn't mean "to the power of," however, it would not work well without the presence of a conjunction.

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  12. AnonymousMarch 20, 2005 at 10:28 PM

    Don't forget, "ping" also means "cheap".

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  13. AnonymousMarch 24, 2005 at 3:56 AM

    Sure, "ping" means flat, "ping" means cheap. But wouldn't "ping" used by itself as a decorative element be taken as 'calm' or 'peaceful' in a Chinese context?

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  14. elvenscout742July 21, 2008 at 11:38 AM

    If the buyer is a Japanese history buff it's also the name of the Taira clan. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taira)

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