Help with Chinese/Japanese character? Please translate

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Taurenzine
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Help with Chinese/Japanese character? Please translate

Post by Taurenzine »

So I found this hat way in the back of my closet, and it's very obviously Michigan Football (American) themed, because my father was a fan, but I have no idea what it says. It looks very similar to the character for cat, but I'm pretty sure that it isn't the character for csssssssat, so I have no idea. Is it wolverine (Michigan University mascot)? Image
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eldin raigmore
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Re: Help with Chinese/Japanese character? Please translate

Post by eldin raigmore »

I asked Bing Translator to translate “wolverine” into Japanese and three kinds of Chinese, and none of them looked like that.

Could it have something to do with the Great Lakes?
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Thrice Xandvii
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Re: Help with Chinese/Japanese character? Please translate

Post by Thrice Xandvii »

It is most definitely "貓" which Google Translate says is cat.

(Not sure if you know this, but Google and other translators have a handwriting option so that you can literally write the character and pick from a list of approximations that best fit what you wrote. It is an awesome feature for determining what unfamiliar characters are.)
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GrandPiano
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Re: Help with Chinese/Japanese character? Please translate

Post by GrandPiano »

Yes, this is the traditional Chinese character for "cat", 貓. You probably know the simplified equivalent, 猫 (also used in Japanese).
Iyionaku
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Re: Help with Chinese/Japanese character? Please translate

Post by Iyionaku »

Thrice Xandvii wrote: 26 Jul 2018 05:41 It is most definitely "貓" which Google Translate says is cat.

(Not sure if you know this, but Google and other translators have a handwriting option so that you can literally write the character and pick from a list of approximations that best fit what you wrote. It is an awesome feature for determining what unfamiliar characters are.)
The problem is that most handwriting inputs don't work properly if you don't obey stroke order. It's not necessary to be 100% precise, but if you just draw the character it's very likely that the character is not found. In the beginning of my Chinese career (or let's say, in the very beginning - I still feel like a novice) I more often than not had the frustrating experience not to be able to find the character I'd been looking for.
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Re: Help with Chinese/Japanese character? Please translate

Post by GrandPiano »

Iyionaku wrote: 20 Aug 2018 12:50
Thrice Xandvii wrote: 26 Jul 2018 05:41 It is most definitely "貓" which Google Translate says is cat.

(Not sure if you know this, but Google and other translators have a handwriting option so that you can literally write the character and pick from a list of approximations that best fit what you wrote. It is an awesome feature for determining what unfamiliar characters are.)
The problem is that most handwriting inputs don't work properly if you don't obey stroke order. It's not necessary to be 100% precise, but if you just draw the character it's very likely that the character is not found. In the beginning of my Chinese career (or let's say, in the very beginning - I still feel like a novice) I more often than not had the frustrating experience not to be able to find the character I'd been looking for.
Some IMEs are better than others, though. The handwriting IME that comes with iOS is very good at recognizing characters even if you totally mess up the stroke order.
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