MAMEWorld Forums - The Loony Bin - Re: Chinese translation request :)

> How do you translate this phrase...
> 从 A 到 Z

It does mean "from A to Z" but I'm not sure it's quite right, it might need some conjunction in the middle. I'm not sure the characters for "from/to" are correct for abstract concepts, although they're used for places and times. (Can you see how shit I am at actually writing Chinese as opposed to just reading it?)

> If that's not the meaning the phrase conveys... what's a better way to convey the
> sentiment "from A to Z"?

Cultural bias interferes with this – the phrase doesn't generally refer to the alphabet literally in English, and it means something more like "from beginning to end", or "in full scope". However, since the alphabet is a foreign concept to a Chinese speaker, the phrase would be only be interpreted as being about the Latin alphabet literally. The closest equivalent colloquialism I can think of right now would be "从来" (cong lai), which means "at all times" or similar.