I connected "Big Madam" with terms like "big boss" where "big" is about status. (In my office, we call my boss's boss the "big boss," for example. *g*)
That makes sense! I'm used to friends referring to "bossboss" or "top boss" but I definitely see where "big boss" fits in there!
I wonder if the Chinese titles are always translated to the same English word, or if sometimes certain words were chosen to convey a nuance, like "ducal household" to emphasize the higher status of Hualan's husband?
The dictionary app I use (and Wikipedia) very strictly translates Chinese titles to specific English titles, apparently because Empress Dowager Cixi decided on this like a century ago (?) even though I can't imagine that the titles correlate that well because the two systems of nobility must have worked differently? But as someone who reads a lot of Regency romance novels and period Chinese webnovels, I do feel like they serve the same purpose in both (mainly get brought up to convey a nuance around status, as you point out, and in the especially trashy novels I read in both genres, also to mark which romantic interests are more desirable).
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2022-05-31 04:25 am (UTC)That makes sense! I'm used to friends referring to "bossboss" or "top boss" but I definitely see where "big boss" fits in there!
I wonder if the Chinese titles are always translated to the same English word, or if sometimes certain words were chosen to convey a nuance, like "ducal household" to emphasize the higher status of Hualan's husband?
The dictionary app I use (and Wikipedia) very strictly translates Chinese titles to specific English titles, apparently because Empress Dowager Cixi decided on this like a century ago (?) even though I can't imagine that the titles correlate that well because the two systems of nobility must have worked differently? But as someone who reads a lot of Regency romance novels and period Chinese webnovels, I do feel like they serve the same purpose in both (mainly get brought up to convey a nuance around status, as you point out, and in the especially trashy novels I read in both genres, also to mark which romantic interests are more desirable).