Random new word of the day

[Lu]

And a random word: 吸棒 xībàng, the little rubber suction thingy used to take hard contact lenses out of the eye. Needed one once in Taiwan, described the thing to the guy behind the counter in the optometrician's shop, who told me what it's called (and sold me one). I've never needed the word since, but it's unforgettable after you translate it back.

[Guest realmayo]

I feel like this has to be more than random chance... then again, it seems like 燕 and 咽 (yàn and yàn, "swallow" (n.) and "swallow" (v.) respectively) are just a coincidence

Hehe, I was just going to mention swallow. Always disappointed me that it's supposed to be a coincidence....

[陳德聰]

I think I'd like to point out that 马桶塞子 is something I have heard, but that 搋子 is something I don't think people ever say or use for that matter

[Demonic_Duck]

(Except on supermarket shelves, albeit written incorrectly.)

[Michaelyus]

 

 

I feel like this has to be more than random chance... then again, it seems like 燕 and 咽 (yàn and yàn, "swallow" (n.) and "swallow" (v.) respectively) are just a coincidence, so I guess 叶 and 页 could be as well...

 

Not just related - directly borrowed. 叶/葉 is meant to be the original character for this meaning (as in English and Dutch, as well as similar lexemes in the Romance languages e.g. feuille, foglia). The 說文解字 gives the definition of 頁 as "頭也", and the pronunciation assigned to this reading is xié. How/Why 頁 came to mean page is a more subtle question: HanZiYuan gives the following.

 

 

因为每个人的头面之间都有相似的地方，但是也有微小的区别，所以后来该字又引申为各自相似又各有不同之处的书页。

 

I wonder when the switch occurred...

[Lu]

Not just related - directly borrowed. 叶/葉 is meant to be the original character for this meaning (as in English and Dutch, as well as similar lexemes in the Romance languages e.g. feuille, foglia). The 說文解字 gives the definition of 頁 as "頭也", and the pronunciation assigned to this reading is xié. How/Why 頁 came to mean page is a more subtle question: HanZiYuan gives the following.

I wonder when the switch occurred...

The plot thickens! Somehow a Germanic, some Romance and a Saxon (?) language and Chinese do the same thing for the same word, and the Chinese one is a coincidence?! My guess would have been that people (all over the world) used to use the same word for both things because of their obvious similarities (flat bendy things), but that the Chinese at some point picked a different character for one of the meanings. But then it would still be strange that the identical pronunciation would have survived all those years.

[anonymoose]

(Except on supermarket shelves, albeit written incorrectly.)

 

I think the first time I came across this word was exactly on a supermarket shelf, or maybe it was the label on the plunger itself. And it was written correctly.

[Nathan Mao]

囊

Náng

 

Means bag/pocket, but takes on other meanings in different combinations.  Like "to include" when in 囊括.

 

For all my years of study, I do not remember/recognize having encountered this word before...

[tysond]

囊 Náng is similar to 馕 Náng (Naan bread) E.g. 新疆烤馕.  

I learned that first after giving some Naan to my teacher as a gift, and then found out the base.

Interesting that it sounds like the foreign name, has a related meaning too.  

But then when I was in India recently I discovered that they call bread rolls Pahv which sounds very like Pau, which is a pronunciation of 包 used in SE Asia (and probably from southern China).

[Demonic_Duck]

囊

Náng

Means bag/pocket, but takes on other meanings in different combinations.  Like "to include" when in 囊括.

I learnt this character a few weeks back, in the combination "囊中羞涩" (embarassingly short of money). I now use the phrase regularly, on the frequent occasions that I realise I haven't got enough money on me to pay my part of the bill... having lived in China for 1 and a half years, it seems I still haven't got used to not being able to use debit cards everywhere. I mean, I always repay the favour later, but "羞涩" is a pretty accurate way of describing it.

There's also "鼓鼓囊囊" (bulging). Now I think about it, I learnt this ages ago, but had since forgotten its meaning and just had the meaningless sound "gǔgǔnāngnāng floating around in my brain. Interesting how the sound left a longer-lasting impression than the meaning, normally I get this the other way around.

囊 Náng is similar to 馕 Náng (Naan bread) E.g. 新疆烤馕.

Holy crap, how did I never make the connection between 馕 and naan?

[tooironic]

囊 and 饟 are both interesting. I learnt 囊 a few years ago in the word 膠囊 ("capsule"), and later on in 囊腫 ("cyst"). I believe 饟 derives from Persian like the English word naan.

[imron]

I learnt it from 窝囊.

[Demonic_Duck]

Ah crap, forgot about "胶囊". Seems my memory for words containing "囊" is not strong...

[tooironic]

Yes I was going to mention 窝囊, but it's a regional term, so not all Chinese speakers will understand it.

 

EDIT: Let me retract that statement. Apparently it's a common enough term, according to one of my friends. Hmm...

[Nathan Mao]

Another character I could swear I have never encountered:

履

 

One of the meanings is "tread", as in a tank or bulldozer tread. Seems to be involved with treading on/trod on/shoe tread, etc, in general.

 

Which means I should have encountered it before.  In fact, I probably did, but it didn't go in, it just impacted on the surface (of my brain/memory).

[Michaelyus]

I think I recall quite clearly when I first encountered 履: it was one of the first words I learned first from the written form.

 

履行, in the collocation 履行诺言. Ah - those were the days!

[Nathan Mao]

Just bumped into "infatuated": 迷戀

[tooironic]

I've seen 履 most commonly in 履历 (CV) and 履行, like the above poster said.

[Demonic_Duck]

Also “步履”, as in 唐朝乐队's 《路》：

 

“未来步履匆匆”

[Nathan Mao]

损友, apparently a friend who likes to play pranks/tricks on you.  Just checked, and the word indicates despite their love of a good prank, they are still a good friend, cannot be understood as "frenemy".