五姐你说这些做什么 这有何说不得
“Xiang, why do you have to say that? What can't I say?”
THE DIALOGUE REEL
谁能相信当年她曾破衣烂衫地 跪在老宅门口呢
“who would believe she once knelt before the old house, looking all shabby and ragged?”
五姐 你说这 些 做什么 这有何 说不得
“Xiang, why do you have to say that? What can't I say?”
我还没提九妹妹被退婚的事呢
“I haven't got started on her cancelled engagement yet.”
“Don't act like she's untouchable; everyone knows her embarrassing past and I won't pretend otherwise.”
Addressing kin by numerical birth order (e.g., Fifth Sister) is standard in traditional Chinese households, where bringing up past family poverty or scandals threatens collective 'face'.
LEARNING CHUNKS & PARTICLES
why bring these things up
A common spoken phrase used to reprimand someone for raising sensitive, irrelevant, or inappropriate topics.
what is there that cannot be said
A rhetorical challenge in classical-influenced spoken Chinese used to defy an attempt to silence the speaker.
