Help with this list of words and phrases I wanted to say but couldn't at the time

[drencrom]

Well, ever since I got the Gexin, QQ, and all the other crapware off my Android phone, I've been keeping a list of needed vocabulary. Whenever I want to say something but can't, I just write it down. Now that I'm FINALLY one day short of exhausting Anki's unseen cards (yay!) it's time to add another lot of new vocabulary. I'd appreciate anyone's practical experience with the following words and phrases. I've been to the dictionary for some of these, but the dictionary has often led me astray and taught me a worthless word that gets blank stares when I use it. My wonderful thanks to anyone who can translate one, some, or all of these!

One by one. I found 逐一 but I got blank stares. How do you express the concept of one by one in Chinese?

So-so. This one is that horrible foreigners’ Chinese “mamahuhu”. How else do you express the concept of so-so in Chinese?

Warm. This one is weird, nobody around here seems to use 暖. What do you say instead when it’s warm? Or that you’re warm under your blanket?

“No rush” I’m not in a hurry.

Pepper. When I say this, I want someone to hand me a Western pepper shaker.

Surprised. I’m surprised that girl took off her top in front of us.

Confused. I’m confused why she did it.

Confusing. This map with tiny print is confusing.

Upside down. The museum hung the painting upside-down for a month before anyone noticed.

Naked. Without clothing. Not in nciku.

“I’m glad you understand that.” In the sense of telling someone off and then when they back down, you give them this phrase that establishes how the relationship will be from now on.

I’m a rare bird. Idiom meaning I'm unusual or a misfit. Doesn't have to be translated into another idiom, just the meaning is good.

Put something in my pocket

Alone

By myself

To try, as in to try to win.

Engine (gasoline or electric)

Dustpan, the kind with a long handle that everyone uses in China.

“You saw me the other day,” in the sense of the other unspecified day and you saw me in the sense of we were in the same place, at dinner, whatever.

Lose face. The dictionary has at least four ways to say this, no idea which one people will understand.

Number. An Arabic numeral.

Digit. Not a finger, but the smallest element of a larger number.

Any slang terms for megabyte/gigabyte/kilobyte like K or gigs?

somebody

anybody

Waste oil, 得沟油the first character is 5th tone, how's that work?

Are you my type? In reference to dating.

One day. as in one day, you'll be sorry or one day, I’ll need this pen so I’m saving it here.

Copy, as in copy someone's work. What are the various vocabulary for copying? I imagine Chinese has a rich variety of meaning for different kinds of copying, like Eskimo words for snow.

Fragile, as in fine china.

soft/hard, cushiony and granitelike respectively.

I'm getting the hang of it. An idiom in English, doesn’t have to translate to a chengyu, just a phrase.

Order, as in order coffee.

Well, why didn't you say that in the first place!

Ever. as in does anyone ever ask you, has anyone ever told you, etc.

swear words/curse words. Polite words for these obscenities.

Watch where you're going. For people who don’t watch where they’re going, especially on bikes and such.

Polite in the meaning of well-mannered.

Do you have an english-speaking employee/member of staff?

I don’t believe it! An improbable event has occurred.

Oven. A Western-style oven, either electric or gas.

Stove. The stoves in China are just usually gas burners sitting on the countertop. Is there a catchall word for “cooking place”?

The fifty-cent gang.

Remote control, for a TV.

Bar vs. club, how do you say it? Jiuba isn't enough nuance of meaning. Bar, a quiet place where people drink and chat. Club, a loud place where people drink and dance.

Cocky, this is a difficult one to translate. A male characteristic, devil may care.

To take a photo

to complain

to be picky, only like particular things

too strong, as in taste

[dnevets]

I think almost all of these could be found in the dictionary, but just for fun, here is my attempt... though I'm certain that others on this forum could replace some of my ideas with some better, more natural-sounding suggestions. Had to leave a few blank since I have no idea.

One by one. 一个一个的

So-so. 一般

Warm. 暖和 or 温暖

“No rush” 不急

Pepper. 胡椒，胡椒粉

Surprised. 惊讶 （我很惊讶）

Confused. 奇怪 （我很奇怪）--> note that depending on the context, this could mean "I'm strange" rather than "I'm confused".

Confusing. 复杂 = (too) complicated

Upside down. 倒.

Naked. 裸体

“I’m glad you understand that.” 你明白就好了

I’m a rare bird. 我不是那种随波逐流的人 (’I'm not that kind of person that just follows the crowds / follows trends‘）

Put something in my pocket 吧something放在我的口袋里

Alone 孤单

By myself 我一个人

To try, as in to try to win. 试

Engine (gasoline or electric) 引警，发动机

Dustpan, the kind with a long handle that everyone uses in China. 簸箕

“You saw me the other day,” 我们是那天互相看到的

Lose face. 丢脸

Number. An Arabic numeral. 数字

Digit. ？？

Any slang terms for megabyte/gigabyte/kilobyte like K or gigs? ？？

somebody 某人

anybody 某人? 随人？

Waste oil, ??

Are you my type? In reference to dating. 你是不是很配我呢？

One day. 改天 (another day) or 将来 (in future)

Copy, as in copy someone's work. 抄写

Fragile, as in fine china. 不坚实

soft/hard, 软/硬 cushiony 软软的 and granitelike 像岩石一样 respectively.

I'm getting the hang of it. 我慢慢习惯着呢，我慢慢做的惯着呢

Order, as in order coffee. 点， 点咖啡

Well, why didn't you say that in the first place! 你怎么没说呢？！

Ever. ‘过’ 你吃过面吗？ = Have you ever eaten noodles?

swear words/curse words. Polite words for these obscenities. --> not really sure what you want? I'm not going to list swear words... they're easily found elsewhere, try wiki :-)

Watch where you're going. 小心点儿！

Polite in the meaning of well-mannered. 有礼貌

Do you have an english-speaking employee/member of staff? 有没有会说英语的人员？

I don’t believe it! 咋可能？！ or 我不相信！

Oven. A Western-style oven, either electric or gas. 烤箱

Stove. 电磁炉 is the electric/magnetic kind...

The fifty-cent gang. 五毛党

Remote control, for a TV. 遥控器

Bar vs. club, how do you say it? Jiuba isn't enough nuance of meaning. Bar, a quiet place where people drink and chat. Club, a loud place where people drink and dance. --> I'm sure there are better, more specific terms, but they're both 酒吧 to most people.

Cocky, 骄傲 = arrogant, 大男子主义 = "believes men are superior", 太有自信 = extremely confident

To take a photo 照相

to complain 抱怨 (grumble about something)，投诉 (make a formal complaint)

to be picky, 讲究

too strong, as in taste 重 （=heavy), 味道有点重 = the flavour is a little strong

[tooironic]

I agree with most of @dnevets's translations, except for a few which I think are incorrect/inaccurate:

“No rush” 不用急

Confused. 我很困惑。

“I’m glad you understand that.” 你明白了，我很高兴。

“You saw me the other day,” 前几天你看到了我。

somebody 某个人

anybody 任何人；谁也... (different structure, need exact sentence)

Fragile, as in fine china. 易碎

Well, why didn't you say that in the first place! 那你怎么原来没说呢？！

I don’t believe it! 我才不信！or 不可思议！(more like inconceivable)

Oven. A Western-style oven, either electric or gas. 烤炉

Bar. 酒吧

Club. 俱乐部

To take a photo 照相 or 拍个照

to be picky, 挑剔

[skylee]

Engine (gasoline or electric) 引警(X) 引擎 (O)

[jbradfor]

too strong, as in taste 重 （=heavy), 味道有点重 = the flavour is a little strong

Is this true? I thought I recall hearing people use 濃 (as opposite to 淡), at least for tea.

[abcdefg]

“No rush” I’m not in a hurry.

I often hear 慢慢来 for this as well as the others that were mentioned.

[skylee]

Waste oil, 得沟油the first character is 5th tone, how's that work?

得 - de (X) 地 - di4 (O)

[dnevets]

Bit disappointed that I didn't think of

anybody 任何人

引警(X) 引擎 (O)

Thanks Skylee

I thought I recall hearing people use 濃 (as opposite to 淡), at least for tea.

I *think* that is only used for liquids, but again hopefully someone (hi Skylee!) can step in with a definitive answer!

Club. 俱乐部

This one too... I thought this term referred to a club (= society, a group, gathering of like-minded individuals) rather than a night club.

Also, does anyone have a better translation of 'cocky'?

[drencrom]

Thanks for all the help! I've been burned by the dictionary too many times to trust it with anything but the most concrete of nouns. And even then, half the time I find that's some dongbei regional usage or something. This happened most recently the other day with 逐一。 They knew what it meant after I explained it, but the dictionary said that meant 'one by one'. 一个一个的 sounds like a literal translation, is this one certain?

If there's any way to distinguish between a nightclub and a bar, I'm all ears.

Digit = the smallest member of a larger number. 6,011 the digits are 0, 1, and 6.

By swear words, I mean the phrase for swear words, not the actual words themselves.

Anki is bare as a bone! I've just filled it with these phrases, but they won't last long so I'm off to the hunt for more vocabulary I can use in daily life. Thanks to dnevets for all the hard work, and thanks for everyone who chimed in with those little corrections that mean so much!

[drencrom]

I have a few more phrases...

volume

Can you turn down the volume?

It's too loud. (Grr, need this one for people who are in enclosed spaces with their mobile phones blaring music or video game sound effects)

to visit, as in visit a new apartment to see if its good

perfect

deposit (on a rental)

agent fee (likewise for renting an apartment)

recharge (recharge a phone or bike battery)

My battery's almost dead. (time to recharge, an excuse for not using phone)

[imron]

一个一个的 sounds like a literal translation, is this one certain

technically it should probably be 一个一个地, but yes it's probably going to be correct for most contexts.

If there's any way to distinguish between a nightclub and a bar, I'm all ears.

Consider 夜总会 vs 酒吧, though to be honest, many Chinese might not make the distinction between the two.

By swear words, I mean the phrase for swear words

脏话

I've been burned by the dictionary too many times to trust it

It all depends on how you use it. If you just look up the Chinese from the English, then it's probably not going to be that useful. Whenever you're looking up words like this, you should then take that Chinese word and do a Chinese->English lookup in the dictionary to see if the word matches your desired meaning.

[abcdefg]

deposit (on a rental)

押金

agent fee (likewise for renting an apartment)

中介费

recharge (recharge a phone or bike battery)

充电

[Mike]

My mobile battery is almost dead.

我的手机快没电了。

My phone card has no money.

我的手机没前了。

[imron]

我的手机没前了。

有后吗？;)

[Mike]

haha.... tnxs imron

》》》 没钱

[Michaelyus]

Regarding "lose face", all of them will be almost certainly be understood - the concept of face feels stronger and more common in most Chinese-speaking communities I've been to (or maybe the English communities that I hang around in don't really use that phrase anyway). There are meant to be a few differences between the different definitions, all of them being covered by the English.

Digit I would translate as 数字 as well. If there is ever a case of both digit and number being used together, number would generally be covered by 号码. Although I think a "four-digit number" is taught in school as a 四位数, but that's only when referring to digits as placeholders. I'm not sure how I would deal with numeral and digit co-occurring - they'd probably both be subsumed into 数字 for me.

"Swearword" has a different range of meanings in Chinese than in English and other European languages. I would probably use 粗话 to translate "profanity" as a concept and as an act, although it can venture general vulgarity that may not make use of swearwords themselves. 骂人话 is probably the closest to "swearing".

"Cocky"; would probably use the Chinese version of "He thinks he's so big / so it / the man" e.g. "他自己以为本事很大". But to use it attributively I would still use 骄傲的... or 自大的...

For "turning down the volume" (which I think is virtually the only way to say it in English - even "lower the volume" seems a bit strange, even if we're being super-polite; "Could we lower the volume just a bit please" is about the most comfortable way of using that verb) it's far more common for me to say something like 把声音转小一点 but I've heard 把声音[弄/改/作][小/低]... I've never actually heard or used 音量 used in that context, but it wouldn't surprise me really if I were to.

Visit; in that context, definitely 去看. But 探访 I would still use, especially if I wanted to be more official.

Perfect; as an adjective, I would use 完美. Might depend on context; generally Chinese tends to use 很好、非常好 etc. when "perfection" is not actually meant. Never used as an interjection (it jars a lot on my ears when used in Chinese, although I'm not a fan of it used in English this way anyway, so am biased).

[tooironic]

Re pub/bar and club, I should clarify. The difference is rarely observed in Chinese, to the extent that the average person you ask in China wouldn't know the difference between them. It's a cultural thing. The terms can be translated as 酒吧 and 俱乐部/夜总会, but 俱乐部 is too broad (could refer to any club, not just a night club), while 夜总会 is a pretty old-fashioned expression. Oh, the marvels of translation...

[abcdefg]

Pepper. When I say this, I want someone to hand me a Western pepper shaker.

黑椒 is said more often; 黑胡椒 is written more often. One doesn't often see shakers for black pepper (at least in Kunming.)

[yialanliu]

Deposit has different meanings in english

押金 = deposit in the sense of rental

订金 = closer to reservation deposit

naked: 裸体

Club for dancing = 跳舞厅

Digit: 数 as in 千位数, 百位数

For the opposite of 淡 I use "ni". No idea how to write it.

黑椒 is said more often; 黑胡椒

I think 胡椒粉 is used the most often though. Although you are not specifying the black or white pepper you want. 黑胡椒粉 if you want to specify it.

[WestTexas]

For the opposite of 淡 I use "ni". No idea how to write it.

This ni 腻? Meaning oily?