Need vocabulary help here!

[calibre2001]

Hi Guys,

I'd like to verify which is the more universal term for the following thingies:

-Restaurant (can1ting1/can1guan3 or fan4dian4)

- Medal (jiang3pai2 or xun1zhang1)

- Paper Clip hui2xing2zhen1 or qu1bie2zhen1)

- Hotel ( jiu3dian4 or lu3guan3 or bin1guan3)

- Porcupine (hao2zhu1 or ci4 wei)

- Tomato (fan1qie2 or shi4zi)

- Ice Cream ( ping1qi2lin2 or xue3gao1)

- Compass (ci2tie3 or zhi2nan2zhen1)

- Ladder (lou2ti1 or di1zi)

- Generic machine/machinery (ji1qi4)

- Domestic lizard ( bi4hu3 or xi1yi4)

- Fly (the insect) (cang1ying2 or zhi1liao3)

- Pineapple (feng4li2 or bo1luo2)

- Sea wave (hai3lang4 or bo1lang4)

- To see a doctor (kan4bing4 or kan4yi1sheng1)

- Wet Market (cai4shi4 or ba1sha1)

- Noisy ( chao3nao4 or re4nao4)

- Clean ( qing1jie2 or gan1jing4)

Thanks! Sorry my computer does not support chinese characters.

[heifeng]

I think the alternate for tomato is xihongshi (shizi is a persimmon, right?)

Ice cream is bing with a b not a p

xue3gao1 is technically a popsicle, as is binggun'r (which is simpler and icier and maybe said more in the north......)

I'm just going to assume your tones are correct...

哼 didn't I start a vocab thread already..

[Hero Doug]

I'm sorry i don't have an answer but I have another one to throw on your list.

For restaurant.

饭馆

One thing I'm wondering is if all these different way's to say the same word is the same as in English.

Like restaurant, mess hall, cafeateria, dining hall, food court, etc

[calibre2001]

heifeng,

Thanks. i discovered shi4 zi from pre-school material where no characters or translations (only drawings and pinyin). I probably mistook persimmon for tomato due to the resemblance.

I got these terms off books used in chinese schools in Malaysia, Singapore and Kumon School. The difference seems rather startling.

Hero Doug,

Would appreciate if you could provide the pinyin for that. And yes I concur, they are probably variants of the same object.

[Gulao]

-Restaurant (can1ting1/can1guan3 or fan4dian4)

The first two seem to have more of a "cafeteria" feel for me. I haven't hear the latter very often either. Hero Dog's suggestion seems best.

- Hotel ( jiu3dian4 or lu3guan3 or bin1guan3)

I'd say that last one, just from what I've seen most often.

- Ice Cream ( ping1qi2lin2 or xue3gao1)

I've heard "bing1qi2lin2," but never either of those two.

- Fly (the insect) (cang1ying2 or zhi1liao3)

I've only ever heard cang1ying2.

- Pineapple (feng4li2 or bo1luo2)

bo1luo2 seems more common.

- To see a doctor (kan4bing4 or kan4yi1sheng1)

I was taught kan4bing4, personally.

- Noisy ( chao3nao4 or re4nao4)

I'm under the impression that chao3nao4 would have the more negative meaning that noisy carries. Re4nao4 seems more positive.

- Clean ( qing1jie2 or gan1jing4)

I hear gan1jing4 more often.

Take all of this with some skepticism, though. I don't get daily exposure to this language, so I won't be the best source.

[djwebb2004]

饭店 means hotel, whereas 饭馆 means restaurant. 酒店 means a bigger and posher hotel. 宾馆 means a guesthouse, a smaller and cheaper hotel. I personally would be more in the budget for a 宾馆 than a 饭店 or 酒店. 旅馆 and 旅店 are much smaller, more downmarket establishments. Another possibility is 招待所. Every place in China has a zhaodaisuo even if not a posh one, but I think the state guest house at Beidaihe is called the Diaoyutai Zhaodaisuo, so connotations are not necessarily negative.

Potato: 土豆，马铃薯，洋芋 (the latter preferred in Kunming, where mashed potato, known here as 老奶洋芋, is a common dish)

[Lǎowài]

- Restaurant (can1ting1/can1guan3 or fan4dian4)

can1ting1/can1guan3 are more common.

fan4dian4 is rare and what they call hotels in Taiwan.

- Medal (jiang3pai2 or xun1zhang1)

jiang3pai2 for prize medals

xun1zhang1 for official/military decorations

- Paper Clip (hui2xing2zhen1 or qu1bie2zhen1)

hui2xing2zhen1 which literally means shape-returning pin

also commonly used is zhi3jia1 (纸夹)

- Hotel ( jiu3dian4 or lu3guan3 or bin1guan3)

already explained above

- Porcupine (hao2zhu1 or ci4 wei)

ci4wei4

- Tomato (fan1qie2 or shi4zi)

shi4zi3 = persimmon

fan1qie2 or xi1hong2shi4 (西红柿) = tomato

- Ice Cream ( ping1qi2lin2 or xue3gao1)

either is fine, and it's bing1 (ice) qi2lin2 (sounds like cream)

- Compass (ci2tie3 or zhi2nan2zhen1)

zhi2nan2zhen1 = compass

ci2tie3 = magnet

- Ladder (lou2ti1 or di1zi)

lou2ti1 = ti1zi3 = ladder

- Generic machine/machinery (ji1qi4)

- Domestic lizard ( bi4hu3 or xi1yi4)

bi4hu3 (literally wall tiger) = lizard

xi1yi4 = monitor lizard/iguana

- Fly (the insect) (cang1ying2 or zhi1liao3)

cang1ying2, not sure what is zhi1liao3

- Pineapple (feng4li2 or bo1luo2)

huang2li2 = feng4li2 = bo1luo2 = pineapple

although bo1luo2 is more common in cantonese

- Sea wave (hai3lang4 or bo1lang4)

same meaning

- To see a doctor (kan4bing4 or kan4yi1sheng1)

both are accepted

- Wet Market (cai4shi4 or ba1sha1)

cai4shi4chang2 = wet market

ba1sha1 = only understood in south east asian countries where. This is a chinese transliteration of the malay word "pasar".

- Noisy ( chao3nao4 or re4nao4)

chao3nao4 = noisy

re4nao4 = festive or bustling with excitement

- Clean ( qing1jie2 or gan1jing4)

same

[Lǎowài]

Sorry... made a mistake about "ladder".

lou2ti1 = stairs

ti1zi3 = ladder

[Hero Doug]

Sorry about that, it's

饭 - fàn

馆 - guǎn

You can also try Adsotrans if it happens elsewhere in the future. I've yet to come across a word they didn't have in their database.