Random new word of the day

[Glenn]

畿 is also used in 近畿地方 (kinki chihou), the area in south-central Honshu, Japan, also referred to as Kansai (関西).

[skylee]

I think 近畿 is pretty self-explanatory - close to Kyoto which was the capital.

[ma3zi1]

@Glenn, you may like this one

Today it was:

蒔 (shi4) = to grow, transplant

As in 蒔田優衣 (a Japanese name, the 19-year-old runner up in a 2010 country-wide college beauty pageant)

The winner was 伊藤弘美. Japanese names always throw me a curve ball...

[Glenn]

You're not the only one, man. They took me a while to learn to read, and it's still at the point where sometimes I'll be pumped when I find out I got one right, if it's not so common-looking.

I had learned 蒔 as "sow", as in "the seeds you've SOWN will become FLOWERS over TIME." I always liked that mnemonic, because it's laid out perfectly in the character. By the way, 教育部重編國語辭典 has it as shi2. And now that I've opened up 搜狗, I think I know how you came across this.

[skylee]

It is good that the MOE dictionary provides permanent links again.

[Glenn]

I agree, especially since I didn't even check it! Heh, got lazy on that one....

[ma3zi1]

Haha, well regardless of the broken link (and what MOE says), it appears to have different meanings for different pronunciations:

http://xh.5156edu.com/html3/3883.html

(shi4) is the meaning I indicated, (shi2) appears to refer to particular plants, namely dill and fennel

Considering that the definitions in MOE encompass both meanings, they may only read it one way in Taiwan.

1）移植﹑分種。

2）種植。

3）見「蒔蘿」條。

(1 and 2 have the 移植, 栽种 meaning)

Great mnemonic Glenn!

[Glenn]

That's all I need -- more characters read differently between Taiwan and the mainland.

Thanks!

[ma3zi1]

Today I learned:

橇 (qiao1) ＝ to sled, a sleigh

As in 雪橇狗, apparently there was a race in the French alps recently, "La Grande Odyssee"

Also:

颼|飕 (sou1) ＝ to blow (of wind), (the sound of wind), (a soft murmuring sound)

As in 冷颼颼 (形容冷風、寒氣逼人) which fittingly was part of a Facebook posting by my 嫂子

[Daan]

Apparently D-Day is called D日 in Mandarin. I'd have expected it to be called R日, but oh well, man proposes, God disposes...see for example the Wikipedia page.

[ma3zi1]

Nice find on "D日"！

Today I learned:

坪 (ping2) = plains

As in the "核桃坪" (Walnut Plains) facility for re-releasing pandas into the wild. There is where that guy dressed up in the ridiculous panda outfit so the pandas wouldn't get used to human contact.

夔 (kui2) = a surname, a demon of Chinese mythology (sometimes a rain god or inventor of music and dancing)

As in 一夔已足, and also it was a surname that a new friend of mine was considering for his Chinese name B)

[ma3zi1]

Today I've got:

沸 (fei4) = to boil

As in 沸騰 (boiling, ebullition)

秸 (jie1) = stalks of millet or corn

As in 麥秸 (straw from barley)

芹 (qin2) = Chinese celery

As in 曹雪芹, the recognized author of 紅樓夢

[jbradfor]

壓歲錢 -- another term for 紅包 / 利市.

[seems the season to post this....]

[ma3zi1]

Today I learned...

哆 (duo1) = "to quiver"

嗦 (suo1) = "to suck"

As in 哆嗦 (duo1 suo5) "to tremble, shiver, shake uncontrollably"

黛 (dai4) = (a dye for painting eyebrows)

As in 林黛玉, a male character in 紅樓夢 who is in love with his female cousin (賈寶玉).

Correction (thanks to skylee ):

As in 林黛玉, a female character in 紅樓夢 who's male cousin (賈寶玉) is in love with her.

欷 (xi1) = "to sob"

歔 (xu1) = "to snort"

As in 欷歔 which means 悲泣抽噎的樣子.

I also learned that 吁 is more than just the simplified version of 籲 (yu4), but also has it's own pronunciation and meaning in phrases like 氣喘吁吁 (qi4 chuan3 xu1 xu1).

[skylee]

As in 林黛玉, a male character in 紅樓夢 who is in love with his female cousin (賈寶玉).

The male cousin is 賈寶玉, the female cousin is 林黛玉.

[ma3zi1]

Ah, thanks skylee! I should've paid more attention to the names. Who would name a boy 黛？

[skylee]

Instead of 黛, guys use 岱 in their names.

This term is very frequently used in recent news reports about Egypt. It is not new to me, but it might be for some:

撤僑 = 撤走僑民 to evacuate citizens of a country from a foreign country which is considered unsafe.

[ma3zi1]

I seem to be learning a lot lately:

坨 (tuo1) = a heap, a lump

As in 石塊冰坨.

灶 (zao4) = kitchen stove, furnace

As in 灶房.

蛐 (qu1) = cricket

As in 「夜間有蛐蛐的叫聲」, that's a pretty way to say it don't you think?

[Sarevok]

蛐 (qu1) = cricket

As in 「夜間有蛐蛐的叫聲」, that's a pretty way to say it don't you think?

I would rather not go and listen to the crickets, as the phrase 听蛐蛐叫唤去了 is an euphemism for dying in some dialects :blink:

[roddy]

拖鞋面包， Ciabatta. Found that so amusing I had to put the menu down and tell you all.