Meaning of 东西

[yzy19880801]

889

I am sorry for that part.

yes.. if somebody says that, it means that they are treating their dogs like humans..... imagine that a little cute chinese yonge lady holding a dog and saying " my honey, why don't you eat the meal? Then, the husband, over the far corner, replies: HE( referring to the dog) is not hungry!"

it is common that you can hear someone, mainly female, calls their dog

as little brother, son, or refers themselves as the mother of the dog, brother of the dog.. and so on... so, yes they refer a dog just like humans....

But, technically, it is wrong to say that. Or say, if i wrote that 这只狗吃饭呢 on my elementary chinese exam, that could be a really good example for a grammar mistake.

[889]

In English, we call such mainly female people anthropomorphists.

[HashiriKata]

if i wrote that 这只狗吃饭呢 on my elementary chinese exam, that could be a really good example for a grammar mistake.

This could be true, but it may not be because of "吃饭" but because of a different problem in the sentence. I think the acceptability would improve if it's something like:

这只狗在吃饭呢

这只狗不吃饭呢

By the way, in one of 889's cited examples:

我家的狗狗最近好奇怪,都不怎么不吃饭.

is 不怎么不吃饭 a "double negative" here? Shouldn't it just be 不怎么吃饭?

[889]

I always thought the English double negative taboo doesn't apply to Chinese, that a double negative simply adds emphasis in Chinese.

There's even a Wikipedia entry on this point:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_negative

[HashiriKata]

There's even a Wikipedia entry on this point:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Double_negative

The Chinese examples of "double negative" in wikipedia are actually correctly used:

"我不得不接受它", "没有人不知道", etc.

but the one in the example I quoted earlier "不怎么不吃饭" is wrongly used, of the same variety as "I don't want nobody..."

For another example: 他不怎么不回我短信

(Should be: 他怎么不回我短信)

[yzy19880801]

@889, thx very much 4 ur reply. i just didn't wanna make it so formal. Yes, it is so true, in chinese it is 拟人... which we use A LOT!!

By the way, the dog thing, it maight be an offence of treating dogs as humans to certain ppl, like my grandma. In other words, i can't use He or she, or 吃饭， to refer a dog in front of her because it really means there is no difference between the dog and her. So, be careful when using it. That is also the reason why u found that sentence 狗在吃饭 most likely in a pet onine community or so because everyone is ok with that.

For the doule negetive.. i think you guys get it right. Chinese doesn't say 他不怎么不回我短信，should be 他不怎么回我短信。

however, we say that 他不是不知道这件事儿..well it's kindda double negetive..