Lu Posted January 8, 2008 at 10:50 AM Report Posted January 8, 2008 at 10:50 AM Better late than never, I'm sure that wasn't the last time you had something that was difficult to eat! I've been saying nanchi for years as well, but fortunately I now have a coworker who's not shy about correcting my Chinese. Or my English. Quote
YangDizi Posted January 8, 2008 at 11:33 AM Report Posted January 8, 2008 at 11:33 AM I've just come across [POP=tōng fēng bào xìn]通风报信／通風報信[/POP] which means to "tip off" or "divulge secrets". Examples are: 一、雇人散发刻章办证小广告，为防老窝儿被端，还给散发小广告的人员配备手机以便通风报信。 二、我国工业发展面临的新矛盾通风报信：……。 三、被告人林某，因向黑社会团伙成员通风报信，……依法判处有期徒刑5年。 Coincidentally, I've just heard this expression used in this evening's edition of the history programme 《这里是北京》on 北京电视台—1. To be a true Beijinger, the phrase has to undergo [POP=érhuà: retroflection; the addition of the "er (儿)" sound to the end of certain syllables which typifies dialects spoken in Beijing and other parts of Northern China]儿化[/POP]: [POP=tōng fēng bào xìnr]通风报信／通風報信[/POP]! This is going to be one of those expressions I now hear all the time! Quote
ABCinChina Posted January 9, 2008 at 05:24 AM Report Posted January 9, 2008 at 05:24 AM 被套 - bèi tào - to have money stuck (in stocks, real estate, etc.) Obviously it also means "coating or quilt cover", but I just learned this new meaning. For example, 我買了那個爛股票被套了！他媽的！ Quote
Lu Posted January 9, 2008 at 08:25 AM Report Posted January 9, 2008 at 08:25 AM 蛙人 wa1ren2 diver, especially in the navy. Taiwan calls its 蛙人 'frogmen'. The other day the first two women became 蛙人 in the ROC navy, which raised the question what to call them. Female frogmen? Frogwomen? Quote
YangDizi Posted January 9, 2008 at 10:11 AM Report Posted January 9, 2008 at 10:11 AM Lu, Maybe the female divers in the Taiwan Navy could be called [POP=nǚwā]女蛙[/POP] (女娲／女媧)! YangDizi Quote
Lu Posted January 9, 2008 at 11:11 AM Report Posted January 9, 2008 at 11:11 AM That would be nice :-) In Chinese they were just called 女蛙人, which works because 人 doesn't specify the sex. The problem was more what to call them in English. One English-language paper said frogwomen, one said female frogmen. I said female divers, but that wasn't picked up. Quote
YangDizi Posted January 9, 2008 at 11:45 AM Report Posted January 9, 2008 at 11:45 AM 蛙人 wa1ren2 diver, especially in the navy. Taiwan calls its 蛙人 'frogmen'. The other day the first two women became 蛙人 in the ROC navy, which raised the question what to call them. Female frogmen? Frogwomen? Lu, I didn't previously reply to the best English translation: I feel "frogwoman" is perhaps better but really shouldn't we say "frogperson" rather than "frogman" where the sex hasn't been specified? "Frogperson" sounds awkward but for some reason "frogwoman" less so. 女蛙人 does work as this use of 女 follows common Chinese usage. It is interesting, however, that you say 人 doesn't specify the sex. You are right that 人 doesn't inherently specify the sex of the person but in many cases it is common practice to use 女 as an adjectival prefix (e.g. 女老板, 出租车女司机 or 女局长) or as an adjectival suffix (think of news reports when there are changes in government/Party posts where 女 appears in brackets after the names of female post-holders). Such uses tend to be where a certain function has conventionally been carried out by a man. It is difficult to accept that in the majority of cases 人 or any other noun indicate a certain person in a certain function does not indicate sex. Often when not specificied, the sex is understood to be male (hence the need for 女蛙人). Of course, there are also examples where 男 functions in the same way (e.g. 男护士 or 幼儿园男教师) but I would argue such examples are far less than those involving 女. We haven't solved this problem of finding nouns devoid of any bias in English either. We also say "male nurse" (i.e. the "norm" is that a nurse is female) and so on. We do have some ways round the problem and there is much discussion over (politically) correct usage. Some committees, for example, are headed by a "chair" and others by a "chairman", regardless of the sex of the incumbent. Other committees refer to the "chairwoman" where the holder of the post is female. In the word 蛙人 we fortunately circumscribe this problem of bias but I think that if we were forced to choose a personal pronoun, most of us would choose "he"/"他" suggesting that 人 is not always neutral. Quote
imron Posted January 12, 2008 at 01:45 PM Report Posted January 12, 2008 at 01:45 PM 酵母 - yeast. 泡粉 - baking powder. From today's excursion. Quote
muyongshi Posted January 12, 2008 at 01:55 PM Report Posted January 12, 2008 at 01:55 PM One from who knows how long ago (when my dresser door broke), kept forgetting to post it buts its really useful (that is if you ever have to repair something): 合叶- Hinge Quote
gougou Posted January 21, 2008 at 05:58 AM Report Posted January 21, 2008 at 05:58 AM 在野党 - a party not in office. From a 德国之声 podcast. Quote
Lu Posted January 21, 2008 at 09:21 AM Report Posted January 21, 2008 at 09:21 AM I usually translate 在野黨 as 'opposition party'. 教安 jiao4an1 polite phrase to end a letter (or email) to a teacher, literally means something like 'teach in peace'. From my colleagues discussing conventions for Chinese letters. 祝好 is ok for letters to friends, and if it has to be more polite but you don't want to be too specific, you end with '[name] 敬上'. Quote
heifeng Posted January 22, 2008 at 04:45 AM Report Posted January 22, 2008 at 04:45 AM ok, I have accumulated some really random ones: 襟兄 jin1xiong1, brothers-in-law, whose wives are sisters 烙印lao4yin4 to brand (as in to brand cattle), a brand，but can also be used figuratively, "北京奥运之后,除了金牌和场馆之外,中国的文明烙印中能留下什么?” 碾： nian3：roller and millstone， but looks like it can be used to say roll over st., like "南坝路司机听见“快倒车”才知碾着一个人" 掐算：qia1suan4: to reckon, or count s.t. on one's fingers, to figure s.t. "马思聪身体一向很健康,他给自己掐算过能活到98岁" 捣：dao3: to pound with a pestle, ie 捣碎(sui4) "先将榛子仁捣碎,然后与枸杞子一同加水煎汁,去渣后与粳米一同用文火熬成粥即成" Quote
roddy Posted January 25, 2008 at 03:29 AM Author Report Posted January 25, 2008 at 03:29 AM Culled from this mornings 德国之声, I have for you . . . 辞呈 cíchéng, written resignation, from a bit about Italy's recent 信任表决 - xìnrènbiǎojué or vote of (no confidence) in . . . whoever it was. I had to a double-listen on this one as they said something like 因未通过信任表决提出辞职， but I heard it as 因为, which didn't make sense, even in Italian politics. Also 关门大吉 guānméndàjí, which the ABC just has as 'to close down for good', but the Guifan specifies it is a 戏称, which makes more sense. Oh, and one I just remembered - 交易员, jiāoyìyuán, trader. Nice and simple, but I hadn't seen it before. Quote
YangDizi Posted January 25, 2008 at 02:10 PM Report Posted January 25, 2008 at 02:10 PM [POP=mógū: mushroom]蘑菇[/POP][POP=tóu: head]头[/POP]: "bob" hairstyle (from CCTV6《[POP=Àicāi diànyǐng]爱猜电影[/POP]》): what a perfect description! Quote
YangDizi Posted January 26, 2008 at 01:11 AM Report Posted January 26, 2008 at 01:11 AM In mid August 2007, the PRC Ministry of Education published a survey of the state of Chinese language(s) in 2006. The survey includes examples of new words which may be of interes (see the attached pdf). I don't know which is my favourite, maybe 洋漂族（即到中国来体验生活的外国人，他们的工作、生活大多不固定，经常变换，到处漂流）! The whole survey can be read on the Ministry of Education's website. 2006年汉语新词语选目.pdf Quote
roddy Posted January 29, 2008 at 02:38 PM Author Report Posted January 29, 2008 at 02:38 PM 苟存, gǒucún, to drift through life. Quote
heifeng Posted January 31, 2008 at 05:29 AM Report Posted January 31, 2008 at 05:29 AM here's one: 袖珍人xiu4zhen1ren2: a little person Quote
roddy Posted February 4, 2008 at 08:57 AM Author Report Posted February 4, 2008 at 08:57 AM 轮盘赌, lúnpándǔ - roulette . . . also 网特 - wǎngtè, Internet police-type people. See wikipedia Quote
muyongshi Posted February 6, 2008 at 12:54 PM Report Posted February 6, 2008 at 12:54 PM 洗胃: get your stomach pumped Quote
gougou Posted February 7, 2008 at 05:37 AM Report Posted February 7, 2008 at 05:37 AM 洗胃: get your stomach pumpedHad a good new year's party, yeah? 1 Quote
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