CMO/OAA Cahier #01

White Cat or Yellow Cat?

W

E Japanese usually translate Deng Xiao-Ping's "yellow cat" into "white cat" because of some traditional difference between China and Japan.

　We also usually don't understand French words "enveloppe jaune" and use instead "brown envelop" if translated into English.

　The word "jaune" in France must not be in a spectroscopic sense, and may be used in the way

“--- Des souliers jaunes? ---D'un brun très clair, si vous préférez. Ce que, de mon temps, si vous excusez l'expression, on appelait des souliers caca-d'oie.”

(G SIMENON, Maigret)

How about la nuée jaune? Is the word "yellow" exactly and culturally equivalent to "jaune" in the above sense?

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Masatsugu MINAMI CMO #199 (25 Jan 1998)

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