[General] Two beings destined to marry each other.

[Silverobama]

Hi.

Are my two sentences idiomatic? Will native speakers use them?

1) Two beings destined to marry each other, though thousands of miles apart, are tied together with an invisible red thread by an old man under the moonlight.
2) Few could afford the luxury.

The first one was directly translated from Chinese, if it's not natural at all, please let me know. 2) is perfectly okay to me.

 

[Raymott]

2. is OK.
1. If the thread is invisible, how do you know it's red? Is this a cultural myth in China? Red is not the colour for marriage in Anglophone cultures; it would be white, if anything. Why an old man under the moonlight? The sentence is grammatical.

 

[Silverobama]

2. is OK.
1. If the thread is invisible, how do you know it's red? Is this a cultural myth in China? Red is not the colour for marriage in Anglophone cultures; it would be white, if anything. Why an old man under the moonlight? The sentence is grammatical.

Thanks a lot, Raymott. Yes, it's a cultural myth in ancient China. The old man who uses a red thread working as a matchmaker is called Yue Lao in Chinese. It's like Jupiter in Western culture. It is said that Jupiter uses arrows to "matchmake" two people who loves each other. Yue Lao is the Chinese version of Jupiter, but he uses a red thread. He's a god of Taoism who in charge of people's marriage. I think maybe one end of his red thread is tied with a man and the other end a woman, then these two people become wife and hushand. :-D

 

[Raymott]

Interesting, though it's Cupid (Eros in Greek) who shoots arrows into people to make them fall in love. Cupid is the son of Venus and Mars.
He's portrayed as a baby/child.
https://www.google.com/search?q=cup...ECAQQCg&biw=1920&bih=937#imgrc=DhkGeXMWGAtifM

 

[tedmc]

Red is not the colour for marriage in Anglophone cultures; it would be white, if anything.

Red is a very popular colour to the Chinese. It symbolizes luck, joy, happiness, festivity, vitality and fertility. It is the colour worn by Chinese brides, as it is believed to ward off evil. It is worn during Chinese New Year and used extensively in decorations as it is considered an auspicious colour believed to bring luck. The flag of China is in red.

White on the other hand is the colour of mourning and is used in funerals.

 

[Raymott]

And white is the colour of purity, typically associated with the bride. Most young brides at their first wedding want to get married in white.
https://www.google.com/search?q=bri...X0zTgGHRCQBiUQ_AUoAXoECBEQAw&biw=1920&bih=937

The color for mourning in Western cultures is, of course, black.

 

[emsr2d2]

Most young brides at their first wedding want to get married in white.

Plenty of people get married in white more than once these days.

 

[Charlie Bernstein]

Hi.

Are my two sentences idiomatic? Will native speakers use them?

1) Two beings destined to marry each other, though thousands of miles apart, are tied together with an invisible red thread by an old man under the moonlight.

It sounds like a folk tale. Is it? Was the thread really invisible and red?

2) Few could afford the luxury.

That's fine. I certainly couldn't!

The first one was directly translated from Chinese, if it's not natural at all, please let me know. Number 2 is perfectly okay to me.

Always start sentences with capitals. (I chose N.)