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As long as we're having fun with it, I don't understand why the fake version of the opening isn't "Dao can dao, very dao. Name can name, very name". That is surely what a modern speaker will think when they see the text.

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Couldn't say -- I'm just making a reference based on second-hand understanding of what the "literal" translation reads like. I hadn't heard about that bit being used as an intensifier, interesting.

It's worth noting that 道 is a noun referring to a path, and a verb referring to speaking, and while both of those words are used in the first two clauses, they aren't the same word. The author is engaging in a pun or play on words.

Apparently the Christians adopted 道 to translate their concept of the Holy Word, which is a fun use of both senses.

So, some tie-ins with "in the beginning was the Word" and "I am the Way", etc.?

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