We chose the name Maverick for our company back in 2006. We wanted a name that expressed our willingness to put forth our own views on China's markets, even when they went against the conventional wisdom of the time. Fast forward to 2008, with China and the rest of the world following the U.S. presential race. Lisa Chiu interviewed us shortly before the election about the word "maverick" in Chinese for her Chinese culture blog on About.com:
We chose the name Maverick for our company back in 2006. We wanted a name that expressed our willingness to put forth our own views on China's markets, even when they went against the conventional wisdom of the time. Fast forward to 2008, with China and the rest of the world following the U.S. presential race. Lisa Chiu interviewed us shortly before the election about the word "maverick" in Chinese for her Chinese culture blog on About.com:
In some cases the translations used to describe a maverick really become a phrase rather than a word. For example there is "独立行动的人" (du li xing dong de ren) or "a person who has independent actions" or an adjective like "独立见解" (du li jian jie) or "independently-minded." I've seen "独行侠" (du xing xia) or "independently-behaved hero" -- literally translated of course. There is also "异士" (yi tu shi) or a "different/strange warrior."
It's a translation conundrum that the folks who run Maverick China Research, a business consulting company in Beijing, know well. Founder Dave Carini tells me that they have chosen not to translate their name into Chinese, partly because of a lack of obvious translation.
"We did a bit of comparison on search engines, and the most common one seems to be: "特立独行" (te li du xing)," he said in an email. (It means "especially with independent behavior")
"The phrase has a neutral meaning and, like "maverick", can have positive or negative connotations depending on context," Carini says.
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