In the modern mainland Chinese drama series (aired 2022) that I'm watching at the moment, the head of cardiology is a fearsome man: fearsome with his tongue, and fearsome with his temper.
After a heated disagreement with a particular underling (whose father is an old friend of his) about a new medical project, he later told the underling that what he'd said in the argument was for his own good, adding that he was not to take it to heart being the most ticked off of the lot.
The underling said:
大家给你总结了：三个骂，三个不骂。心情好的时候骂，心情不好不骂，有出息的学生骂，没出息的学生不骂，当着内行的面骂，当着外行的面不骂。
(Their English subs, my punctuation) Quote Everyone has summed up the three scenarios where you would and wouldn’t scold. You’ll scold when you’re in a good mood, and won’t scold if it’s otherwise. You’ll scold good students, and not the bad ones. You’ll scold in front of those in the same field, and not in front of outsiders. Unquote
(My translation) Quote Everyone's summed you up: there're three situations when you'd tell us off; three when you won't.
When you're in a good mood, you'll tell us off. When you're in a bad mood, you won't.
The promising students, you will tick off. The unpromising students, you won't [tick off].
You will reprimand students in front of those in the profession, but not in front of outsiders. Unquote
(China, 2022)
PS: The cultural use of 骂 mà makes it tricky to translate adequately into languages that don't behave the same way. It needs a bit of explanation, as it's used a lot, which I shall do in a different blog, as it can be long.
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