wix Posted July 26, 2003 at 08:48 AM Author Report Posted July 26, 2003 at 08:48 AM for "that time of the month" I was taught "yue4bing1(?)". It should be yue4jing1. Yue means month as you said, jing means "to pass through". The two words combine together to make sense. Quote
channamasala Posted July 27, 2003 at 01:37 AM Report Posted July 27, 2003 at 01:37 AM Ah...that does make sense. The person didn't write it for me, and you know how accents in these rural southern areas are. N's turn to L's, r's get dropped, ah's turn to ai's, tones stop being used, and an old lady telling me how to say "menstruation" obviously makes her j's sound like b's. Quote
ChouDoufu Posted July 28, 2003 at 03:53 PM Report Posted July 28, 2003 at 03:53 PM Some number ones: er4 bai2 wu5 (250, but you definitely have to say "er" instead of "liang") - which means crazy, or not normal. It comes from the belief that the number 500 counts as the whole. 250 is half of that, thus not normal. san ba (3, This one comes from cantonese I think and it means whore... Maybe it's not used very often though... Quote
channamasala Posted July 29, 2003 at 12:24 AM Report Posted July 29, 2003 at 12:24 AM the full phrase is chou3 san1 ba1. It literally means stinking three-eight (or ugly three-eight, apparently) and it means "b*tch" - March 8 (three-eight) is International Women's Day. Quote
skylee Posted August 8, 2003 at 02:19 PM Report Posted August 8, 2003 at 02:19 PM Don't think sanba is from Cantonese. More likely from Taiwan. Quote
channamasala Posted August 9, 2003 at 04:23 AM Report Posted August 9, 2003 at 04:23 AM It's not from the Cantonese. See my reply above. San means three and ba means eight. Three-eight. March 8. International Women's Day. The full phrase is chou san ba - stinking three-eight. Quote
TSkillet Posted August 11, 2003 at 05:09 PM Report Posted August 11, 2003 at 05:09 PM Yeah, Cantonese for bitch is "baht po" - "8 woman" - I've also seen this translated as witch. Quote
channamasala Posted August 12, 2003 at 12:32 AM Report Posted August 12, 2003 at 12:32 AM Well, that's not all that different from the Mandarin - funny that, being related languages and all. There's the whole "san ba" thing, and another word for "bitch" happens to be "za za po" or...there's another one that ends in "po" but I remember "za za po" so that's what I'd use, if I ever had a reason to say "bitch" ("You're gonna send my package to the USA, BI-ATCH!" would not have gotten my package sent, and that's the last time I've even desired to call someone that). I think we should discuss words for men now - what's the best way to say "man whore", or "playa" if you will? I learned "se mi mi de" (lecherous), ji nan (literally "man whore"), "se lang" (colored wolf, a man who'll go with ANY girl, specifically skanks), and a word I can't remember - I'd have to look it up - that quite conveniently means both "dirty old man" and "bestiophile". Quote
wix Posted August 12, 2003 at 01:22 AM Author Report Posted August 12, 2003 at 01:22 AM "se lang" (colored wolf, a man who'll go with ANY girl, specifically skanks It is my understanding that this word is used in Taiwan to mean pedophile or sexual deviant. Quote
channamasala Posted August 12, 2003 at 01:31 AM Report Posted August 12, 2003 at 01:31 AM Well, my students told me that one, and they often try to tone things down, thinking I'll be offended or something. What they don't know is that I can outswear anyone in my native language, should I choose to do so. I rarely do...but oh...I can. So it may mean that here, too. Quote
TSkillet Posted August 12, 2003 at 02:18 PM Report Posted August 12, 2003 at 02:18 PM se lang definately refers to older men who go after younger women - or at least that's what i've heard from my friends. here's a good all purpose cantonese word - I don't know if this expression exists in Mandarin - "haam sup" - directly translated as "salty wet" It means everything from "perverted" to "horny" to "X-rated" to "always thinking about sex" - which are 4 slightly different english concepts, but haam sup encompases all of them. Quote
ChouDoufu Posted August 12, 2003 at 08:11 PM Report Posted August 12, 2003 at 08:11 PM I think we should discuss words for men now - what's the best way to say "man whore", or "playa" if you will? I learned "se mi mi de" (lecherous), . Is that different from "se se mi mi" which I learned to be "horny"? I was asking one of my teachers about this word and she said it's more something a girl would say if she was horny. My teacher might not have been up to date on current uses of the word, though. Any clarifications? Quote
channamasala Posted August 13, 2003 at 12:31 AM Report Posted August 13, 2003 at 12:31 AM I'm not sure...they could be the same, or related. Probably are. Xiaosun (a friend) told me it was for men - specifically old men who stare at young girls or try to give them "hugs". I don't know the characters (watch it be ones I already know, like "colored rice", that'd be funny) so I can't check my dictionary... Quote
skylee Posted August 13, 2003 at 01:33 AM Report Posted August 13, 2003 at 01:33 AM The characters are - se se mi mi - 色色迷迷 se mi mi de - 色迷迷的 These terms are usually used to describe men - semimi de nanren/zaolaotouzi - 色迷迷的男人/糟老頭子 semimi de yanshen - 色迷迷的眼神 semimi de selang - 色迷迷的色狼 (ha ha ha) The cantonese term someone mentioned is 鹹濕, very cantonese indeed. Quote
skylee Posted August 13, 2003 at 01:42 AM Report Posted August 13, 2003 at 01:42 AM Also - manwhore - 男妓 (literally) playboy - 花花公子 (I think this is exactly the name of the megazine) Quote
ChouDoufu Posted August 14, 2003 at 12:56 PM Report Posted August 14, 2003 at 12:56 PM Also -manwhore - 男妓 (literally) playboy - 花花公子 (I think this is exactly the name of the megazine) I always find the term "hua hua gong zi" very interesting in China (mainland). THe people I've met for the most part don't realize it's a pornographic magazine. I think it's probably originally from HK where they knew it was a porno. Most people just see Playboy as a clothes label. Quote
Guest Anonymous Posted August 14, 2003 at 07:14 PM Report Posted August 14, 2003 at 07:14 PM Also -manwhore - ?? (literally) playboy - ???? (I think this is exactly the name of the megazine) I always find the term "hua hua gong zi" very interesting in China (mainland). THe people I've met for the most part don't realize it's a pornographic magazine. I think it's probably originally from HK where they knew it was a porno. Most people just see Playboy as a clothes label. "Huahua Gongzi" is the title for the Playboy magazine in Taiwan and has been for many many years. Why does everyone assume a term is from Hong Kong or Cantonese when it's seldom used in the mainland? Mandarin (and Chinese in general) is used in many other regions as well. Quote
Guest TheChineseGQ Posted August 28, 2003 at 08:32 PM Report Posted August 28, 2003 at 08:32 PM Hi everyone! I'm new in here. I've read your comments. Pretty funny stuff. I have a question. I was watching chinese tv once and I heard the host say something like Hua shi... Is this like pervert or something? I wasn't sure. Quote
little_golden_panda Posted January 22, 2004 at 03:54 AM Report Posted January 22, 2004 at 03:54 AM Here's a very easy to remember and easy to use idiom.人山人海 ren shan ren hai or people mountain' date=' people sea It basically means a place that is very crowded and overflowing with people.[/quote'] another one is "给他个 colour see". another one about the ku4 being cool. also shuai4 being cool? but when i went back to china 2yrs ago, my little 10yo cousin taught me something. you'd say "wa, hao3 ku4 a" and he'd say "shenma ku? chen4 ku4 de ku4" chen4ku4 being underwear? or trousers you wear on the inside of your trousers? and also "wa, hao shuai a!" "sen ma shuai? xi1 shuai4 de shuai4!" xi shuai being beetle? which i thought was quite funny... Quote
little_golden_panda Posted January 22, 2004 at 03:56 AM Report Posted January 22, 2004 at 03:56 AM i meant "给他个 colour see see". that being " 给他个颜色看看" meaning to beat someone up. man was that a stupid botch up... Quote
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