巴巴

[Kev]

巴巴 often appears after other words. I'm trying to get:

1. good translation of 省巴巴 (something about not much money to stay alive?)

2. a feel for what 巴巴 means

3. Some more examples

Examples in my database include:

皱巴巴 wrinkled

眼巴巴 eager

干巴巴 乾巴巴 gān bā bā dry, parched, dull, insipid

[Kanjiology]

I just ran into a word with 巴巴 today after looking through my new Chinese textbook, 磕磕巴巴. I believe it means stammering or stuttering.

[Kev]

Thanks kanjiology. That came up in pera-kun too.

[Don_Horhe]

I've wondered about this too and IMHO 巴巴 intensifies the meaning of the preceding character.

[Guest realmayo]

I've come across 可怜巴巴. Tried to use it once but the person though I was saying her father was very unfortunate to have her as a daughter. I haven't used it since.

[Guest realmayo]

nciku agrees with Don-Horhe:

An adj suffix, used to reinforcethe denotion of the adj.

ABC Dict says it's of limited occurrence.

examples etc: http://www.nciku.com...detail/巴巴/95580

[skylee]

結結巴巴 - used to describe people who do not speak fluently or stutter

Search 巴巴 on the Taiwan MOE dictionary and you can find more examples -> http://dict.revised.moe.edu.tw/

[Kev]

Thanks Guys!!

So now my problem is "register". Is it regarded as slang, as girly (not trying to be sexist), as ...

Would your grandmother use it?