"单前" and other questions

[website]

What is "单前"? I saw the characters on a barbershop sign. If it means "single front", what is that? My dictionary didn't have it.

Also what are some other words for "haircut" besides "lifa"?

BTW, how do you say, "Let me take your picture." and

"Have a nice day." in pinyin?

Xiexie.

[roddy]

I suspect what you saw was 单剪， or was mis-written - haircut only, not including washing, blow-dry, massage, etc.

Roddy

[889]

1. What you're seeing at those barbershops is 单剪 dan jian: just a haircut and nothing else -- shampoo, manicure, back massage and so forth -- on offer. No doubt a signpainter simplified it to 单前 dan qian.

2. A casual way of offering to take someone's photo would be 我给你拍个照，好吗？ Wo gei ni pai ge zhao, hao ma?

3. A cheery "Have a nice day!" is one US import China can do without.

[skylee]

Congratulations, website, for using Chinese characters (for the first time on this forum I believe).

[website]

-Doh! That's right. I see that word everywhere. I guess now I can go to the lifayuan and ask,

"Wo xiang lifa. Pingtou wu kuai yiyang danjian, ma?"

-Is "Wo gei ni pai ge zhaoPIAN, hao ma?" okay, too?

-I always hear "Man zou" (Slow go/take care) instead of "Have a good day." The problem with "man zou", "zaijian", "mingtian jian", "bye bye" or "huitou jian" is that they are too boring. In English, clerks can say, "watch yourself now", "take care", "have a good one,", "bye", "later", "see ya", or "have a nice day". I was wondering if there are more ways to say goodbye. Can you say "You haode tian"?

[website]

Oh, the reason I use pinyin is because although I have

Chinese software, I don't know how to use it to type. It's a big hassle to cut and paste from online dictionaries. Besides, I only know about 200 characters. If I read in Chinese, I don't know enough characters. My understanding is like "kuaile de ren bu dan SOMETHING ai SOMETHING SOMETHING." I have a long way to go before I am fluent.