#jaynesays

Jayne says "Mother of god" (Ep3, "Bushwhacked" 2:38)

Chinese: 我的妈。 (Wǒ de mā)

Translation: My god (literally, "my mother") 

Context: As Wash is navigating the ship, Serenity runs into a dead body. The crew enter the bridge to find out what happened. They spy an abandoned spaceship in the distance. Jayne mutters, "My god."

Usage: Good usage here. It's for expressing surprise or shock, just like "Oh my god" in English. Unlike 我的天啊, it seems more appropriate for really serious situations like this one. 

Execution: Chuckle. Not sure if Jayne knows what he's saying here. The expression in his voice makes it seem like he's asking "What's the deal?" when in fact the meaning of the words are for exclaiming surprise. Total mismatch, negating his decent pronunciation.

Jayne says "Hundan" (Ep3, "Bushwhacked" 42:48)

Chinese: 混蛋 or, less commonly, 浑蛋 (húndàn)

Translation: Bastard or asshole

Context: An Alliance cruiser catches Serenity and they detain the crew for stealing the goods from an abandoned ship. However, Mal warns the commander of the cruiser that the survivor of the ship is turning into a Reaver and helps save his life. The commander lets Mal and the crew off, but takes the scavenged cargo. Jayne seethes and calls him a bastard.

Usage: Literally means “messy” or “stupid egg,” implying that your mother slept around a lot and the egg that became you was conceived by multiple male sperm. It’s one of a number of Chinese slurs that refer to eggs, the most common being 王八蛋 (wángbādàn). (Ep1, Jayne curses)

Execution: Not bad at all. First tone is off, but Jayne nails the second. Still sounds menacing and spiteful as shit as it should. 

Jayne in the infirmary (Ep2, "The Train Job" 26:48)

Chinese: 狗操的 (gǒucàode)

Translation: dog-humping (adjective)

Context: The train heist goes awry and Jayne is shot in the leg by Alliance troops before being extracted by Serenity. Mal and Zoe are stuck on the train and Wash lands the ship. In the infirmary, as Simon patches Jayne up, Wash walks in. Jayne inquires as to why they have not gone to the designated rendezvous point to hand over the goods to Niska's people--people who would not likely be happy to encounter any delays.

Usage: I've never heard this but grammatically it makes sense. Gou is dog, cao is the word for fuck (操 is an alternative written form of the more graphic 肏, also pronounced cào, which is composed of the characters for "enter" and "flesh," ie, sexy time), and de turn the phrase into an adjective to describe the spot that they've landed on. It's a general profanity--you can replace dog with just about anything and it still expresses the same meaning: this landing spot sucks.

Execution: Not atrocious since Jayne spits it out pretty quickly as you'd naturally do with any cuss word. But the pronunciation and tones are slightly off. But through two episodes, if I had to trust someone on the show with my life to communicate in Chinese (say I'm stuck in a well and need them to pass along a message to Chinese Lassie), I'd go with Jayne first, some combination of the others next, and Mal--well, let's just say if it's him, I should probably start building furniture down in the well, cuz ain't nobody coming to help me.

Jayne says "Dong ma?" (Ep2, "The Train Job" 21:18)

Chinese: 懂吗 (dǒng ma)

Translation: Got it?

Context: Kaylee clues Simon in on Mal's plan to rob a moving train. As Simon asks if he can help, Jayne comes up behind him and tells him that he's not part of the crew and the best thing he can do is figure out what's wrong with his sister.

Usage: Dong means understand while ma is a particle indicating the speaker is asking a question. Dong ma can be translated as "Understand?" but I find it highly unlikely for Jayne to have been so proper. A more curt "Got it?" seems more appropriate.

Execution: Beautiful. I'm tearing up. Tones, flow, pronunciation. Jayne, you done well.

Jayne curses (Ep1, "Serenity" 1:12:05)

Chinese: 混蛋 or, less commonly, 浑蛋 (húndàn)

Translation: Bastard or asshole

Context: Mal and Zoe land in order to sell contraband to Patience. Patience double-crosses them, but Jayne starts firing with his sniper rifle from a concealed position. After a couple headshots, he misses one and curses.

Usage: Literally means "messy" or "stupid egg," implying that your mother slept around a lot and the egg that became you was conceived by multiple male sperm. It's one of a number of Chinese slurs that refer to eggs, the most common being 王八蛋 (wángbādàn).

Execution: With gritted teeth, Jayne mutters it under his breath. He nails the pronunciation, but the tones are messy--though with swear words, it's more about the conviction, and Jayne sells it pretty well. Not bad.