免费 proofreading 与 translation help > 布鞋 in English

The following are not so much direct translations, as they are more
accurate desriptions of the shoe. The direct translations I have seen
are
normally cotton shoes (if made of cotton) or cloth shoes. However, I see
why this description in English doesn't really cover the "meaning" a
person may be looking for. Here are the ideas I came up with that are
not direct translations.

a. In the US, the "generic" term for these shoes is: Kung-fu shoes or
Tai-chi shoes. I believe this is because they were popularized in the US
in the 60's and 70's in movies with martial artists. See:

http://www.natashascafe.com/html/shoes.html

or

http://www.chinadirectstore.com/men_kung_fu_shoes.htm

b. The style of the shoe is a "slip-on" shoe or "slip-ons". This is a 
term normally used to describe shoes that you can just slip on and 
normally have no laces. So you could possibly say they are Chinese 
slip-on shoes or Men's Chinese slip-ons or Men's Chinese slip-on shoes. 
The reason for using men is to emphasize this because their are female 
shoes that are similar to this. Of course they may be unisex in which 
case Chinese slip-on shoes would be appropriate. You can add the word 
cloth in there if you want. Chinese cloth slip-on shoes or Men's Chinese 
cloth slip-on shoes. The hyphen (-) is sort of optional. Most of the 
shoes listed here are not the same type of shoe as the "cloth shoe", but 
the are the same "slip-on" style. Not the best examples, but you get the 
idea. See:

http://www.shoes.com/product.asp?p=5060163&variant_id=EC1058953

http://www.dealtime.com/xDN-Shoes--slip_ons

http://www.modells.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2460502

http://www.skateamerica.com/store/Slip-Ons-Shoes-ID_C1020.cfm?gclid=CKDazqzA8I8CFQqMTAodQ1WVHA


c. Another idea is a casual shoe. You could say traditional
Chinese casual shoes or traditional Chinese casual cloth shoes. This 
another way
I thought of describing this shoe based on the type of shoe it is. You
could drop the word traditional if desired.

d. a hybrid: I've also seen these terms used together. Chinese casual 
slip-ons or Chinese casual slip-on shoes.

e. Coming back the original translation of cloth shoe, I'd add the word
Chinese for accuracy and a more complete description. Chinese cloth
shoes or Chinese-style cloth shoes.

I sort of like the idea of not identifying the shoe as strictly a
kung-fu shoe, but it is common. I do prefer a version of b, c, and d. It
depends on your purpose for using this translation. For example, if you 
were looking for an accurate description and not worried about how long 
it is then you can be more detialed. However, if some of the 
aforemetioned may be longer than desired so you'd have to cut the down. 
Fabric shoes is okay, but I haven't seen it used a lot and it is rather 
open-ended.

Hope this helps.

cris75rabbit wrote:
> Here in China I have always read 'cloth shoes'. I also found the 
> translation 'fabric shoes', which is less common, but I like it better.
> HTH
> Cristina

Hi Cristina, I like fabric shoes better, too. Still, IMHO， it does not 
cover the meaning fully. Maybe we should start using bu xie in English 
:-)
Did you read 道德经 in Chinese? 真厉害！

Here in China I have always read 'cloth shoes'. I also found the 
translation 'fabric shoes', which is less common, but I like it better.
HTH
Cristina

phantom wrote:
> vergissmeinnicht wrote:
>> phantom wrote:
>>> 
>>> 
>>> there must be a better translation for this than cloth shoe. What is it?
>> 
>> Sorry that I never heard about cloth shoe before, 布鞋 is sneaker.
> 
> of course you're right, sometimes sneaker is exactly what it is. But in 
> my mind sneaker is more like a tennis shoe. I was wondering if there is 
> a more accurate way to define the traditional Chinese black shoes, that 
> you step into and that don't have laces, actually made of 布/cloth. They 
> are more like Spanish espadrilles than sneakers but obviously that is 
> not the right translation either.


We'll put 2 chinglings in the account of anybody who comes up with a 
good English equivalent for 布鞋 (see picture in link below)

http://chinglish.com/community/show/%E5%B8%83%E9%9E%8B

vergissmeinnicht wrote:
> phantom wrote:
>> 
>> 
>> there must be a better translation for this than cloth shoe. What is it?
> 
> Sorry that I never heard about cloth shoe before, 布鞋 is sneaker.

of course you're right, sometimes sneaker is exactly what it is. But in 
my mind sneaker is more like a tennis shoe. I was wondering if there is 
a more accurate way to define the traditional Chinese black shoes, that 
you step into and that don't have laces, actually made of 布/cloth. They 
are more like Spanish espadrilles than sneakers but obviously that is 
not the right translation either.

phantom wrote:
> 
> 
> there must be a better translation for this than cloth shoe. What is it?

Sorry that I never heard about cloth shoe before, 布鞋 is sneaker.

there must be a better translation for this than cloth shoe. What is it?