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没有规矩不成方圆

English translation: Nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards

GLOSSARY ENTRY (DERIVED FROM QUESTION BELOW)
Chinese term or phrase:没有规矩不成方圆
English translation:Nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards
Entered by: Jian Chen

15:29 Sep 28, 2003
Chinese to English translations [PRO]
Art/Literary
Chinese term or phrase: 没有规矩不成方圆
a chinese expression. Thank you!
Jian Chen
Local time: 18:56
Nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards.
Explanation:
Nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards.
Selected response from:

Chinoise
Local time: 19:56
Grading comment
4 KudoZ points were awarded for this answer



Summary of answers provided
4 +2Nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards.
Chinoise
5 +1No rules, no behaviors
Lichun E
4 +1FYI
Xiaoping Fu
3 +1A circle can not be drawn without a compass
English Chinese Medical Translator - Jimmy Deng
4Without using a ruler and a pair of compasses,one can describe neither a square nor a circle.
Francis Fine
2Bad manners will get you nowhere.
chica nueva


  

Answers


3 mins   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +2
Nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards.


Explanation:
Nothing can be accomplished without norms or standards.


    Reference: http://language.chinadaily.com.cn/vocabulary.shtml?ty=m&curp...
Chinoise
Local time: 19:56
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
PRO pts in pair: 1543

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Lu Zou
6 hrs
  -> Thanks!
agree  Xiaoping Fu: It works in some cases.
21 hrs
  -> Thanks!
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 3/5Answerer confidence 3/5 peer agreement (net): +1
A circle can not be drawn without a compass


Explanation:
The previous answerer has already provided an excellent free translation. Just in case that you may need a literal translation, I gave you this option.

English Chinese Medical Translator - Jimmy Deng
New Zealand
Local time: 10:56
Native speaker of: Chinese
PRO pts in pair: 287

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  chica nueva: typo? 'cannot'. Strictly speaking it would be 'compasses, I think. Compass is something else.
1 day 3 mins
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3 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5
Without using a ruler and a pair of compasses,one can describe neither a square nor a circle.


Explanation:
The translation of our colleague is a correct and usable paraphrase. Mine is merely the truly literal translation. Longer, but vivid. It could serve well when the occasion calls for emphasis.

Francis Fine
United States
Local time: 15:56
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese, Native in EnglishEnglish
PRO pts in pair: 89
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7 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 5/5 peer agreement (net): +1
没有规矩不成方圆
No rules, no behaviors


Explanation:
No rules, no behaviors

Lichun E
Local time: 06:56
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
PRO pts in pair: 96

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  Xiaoping Fu: I like this one. In most cases, this Chinese saying is about disciplining of human behaviors. There is apparently not a single word matching in this version, but it is getting the idea most closely.
14 hrs
neutral  chica nueva: This translation is a little difficult to understand,because behaviours is not used like this. Unfortunately it is not plural. 'no rules no decorum' for adults?
19 hrs
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14 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 2/5Answerer confidence 2/5
没有规矩不成方圆
Bad manners will get you nowhere.


Explanation:
Is this possible?
Bad manners will get you nowhere (with people you want to work/live with).
1 One meaning of 没规矩is 'have no manners, be impolite'
2 get nowhere[Colloq]=fail to make progress
3 The circle could be a 'circle of cooperation/community', since one meaning of 方圆is 'neighbourhood'.




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chica nueva
Local time: 10:56
Native speaker of: English
PRO pts in pair: 1039

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
neutral  Xiaoping Fu: Good thoughts. See my comments below.
9 hrs
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23 hrs   confidence: Answerer confidence 4/5Answerer confidence 4/5 peer agreement (net): +1
FYI


Explanation:
I appreciate Lai'an's efforts in getting the meaning of this saying and I understand the difficulties one might encounter in getting rid of the ambiguities when a word or phrase has more than one meaning, just like we always do in studying English. There are some thoughts I would like to share with you:

1.It is true that “没规矩” means having no manners in some contexts. But this phrase is only used for criticizing behaviors of children. We don't describe adults' bad manner as “没规矩”. When the phrase “没规矩” is used to dress down a child, it basically means that the child is not disciplined well, as the process of disciplining is on going. So it appears in the same place where the English word "disciplines!" might be used and it doesn’t make much sense for adults if they were treated as adults.

2.It is also true that “方圆” means neighborhood in some contexts. But combined with the word “立” (to establish), it doesn’t work that way. It means manners actually. It means good behaviors and good personality of a person or orders of a community or a process, that is composed of good behaviors of every member or factor.


Xiaoping Fu
Canada
Local time: 15:56
Native speaker of: Native in ChineseChinese
PRO pts in pair: 418

Peer comments on this answer (and responses from the answerer)
agree  chica nueva: Great. Thank you.Excellent advice.
3 hrs
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