skipping work

[laohu489]

A simple but not so simple question. Often I heard the word qiao4 ban1 or qiao4 ke4 used to mean 'skip work' or 'skip class' but when it comes to writing I have come across two possibilities and no one can seem to give me an answer. So which is more proper: 跷班 or 翘班? I really would like to know.

[fenlan]

From ABCD:

跷课[蹺課] qiāokè v.o. 〈slang〉 avoid attending classes

跷家[蹺-] qiāojiā v.o. 〈slang〉 run away from home

qiao1 means "to walk on tiptoes"

[xiaocai]

旷课

旷工

I think 旷 means "be absent from".

[Mohepuoliyan]

Actually, you can also say Tao2 Ke4 逃课, meaning "escaping"(逃) from classes(课).

[skylee]

Somehow I feel that 蹺 is more neutral than both 曠 and 逃, which are quite negative IMHO.

[laohu489]

But the question is about 跷 vs. 翘. Are there any other opinions? 跷 is what I am leaning towards as well, but it seems mostly southerner's agree with this. The northerner's in my experience tend to go for 翘.

[fenlan]

Well 跷 is in the ABCD dictionary in the sense you are looking for. As qiao1 means "to walk on tiptoes", qiao1ke4 as "skip classes" is perfectly logical. 翘 is a duoyinzi either qiao2 or qiao4 with the following meanings:

2641 翘(F翹) [qiào] hold up; 翘尾巴 [qiáo] raise one's head; become warped

翘[翹] ¹qiào v. stick/hold up; bend/turn upwards

翘[翹] ⁵qiáo v. ①raise ②become warped

So this does not seem the right character to use. That does not mean that no one ever uses it though. A lot of Chinese people don't know many more than 3000 characters

[skylee]

A lot of Chinese people don't know many more than 3000 characters

IMHO this is being quite insensitive and patronising ... when there are "Chinese people" on these forum.

[fenlan]

I am sorry Skylee, I did not mean to sound patronising, especially not to you. What I meant is that standards of literacy are highly variable in mainland China, and in some cases people may use the wrong character. In fact the same is true in England, America and everywhere. I worked for years as a subeditor, and so I know from experience that educated native speakers of English make very frequent mistakes in their English. All I meant was, "maybe some Chinese people do use that character, but the word qiaoke with that character in it is not listed in ABCD". I wonder if qiaoke (to miss class) with the other qiao (翘) in it is listed in larger Chinese-Chinese dictionaries? I would be surprised if that were the case, as 翘 is qiao2 or qiao4, whereas qiaoke needs qiao1.

跷: in the spreadsheet I posted elsewhere this is the 4098th most frequently used character

翘: this is the 3014th most frequently used character.

China literacy rate was estimated by UNESCO at 85% in 2000. The definition of literacy used in China? "One who can recognize more than 1500 Chinese characters (for a farmer) and 2000 characters (for an office worker or urban resident)." Are there any figures for the proportion of the adult population that know various numbers of characters? For example, if 15% according to the literacy definition do not know 2000 characters, what % do not know 3000, what % do not know 4000, what % do not know 5000? Do these figures exist?

[zhwj]

But the question is about 跷 vs. 翘. Are there any other opinions? 跷 is what I am leaning towards as well, but it seems mostly southerner's agree with this. The northerner's in my experience tend to go for 翘.

Two possibilities:

1. It's a regional pronunciation thing. Northerners (Harbin dialect is what I'm going with) can pronounce 跷 with a fourth tone. 跷脚儿 qiàojiǎor "stand on tiptoe", 跷二郎腿 qiàoèrlángtuǐ "cross-legged sitting position". So, 跷课 would be qiàokè, which people might write as 翘课. Whether this is long-standard usage, or is merely people applying the formal pronunciations learned in school to a colloquial term not found in many dictionaries, I can't say.

2. It's a character variant that's been around for a while. The basic verbal meanings of the two characters are similar enough (to raise) that things like 跷跷板 (or 翘翘板) get written in two ways, so skipping class may simply share the two characters' indistinct boundary.

And while the ABC Dictionary is an excellent reference for words and compounds in the standard language, it's not really designed to be the final word on characters or regional variants. In this case doubly so, since as you quoted, fenlan, it lists them under , whose written forms are generally more fluid and which tend to vary by region.

[fenlan]

And while the ABC Dictionary is an excellent reference for words and compounds in the standard language, it's not really designed to be the final word on characters or regional variants. In this case doubly so, since as you quoted, fenlan, it lists them under , whose written forms are generally more fluid and which tend to vary by region.

The original post asked "which is more proper". So, although the word is slang, the question was about which form was more correct. Anyway, what is the best source of reliable information on such things? Would the 12 volume Hanyu Da Cidian be the ultimate authority?

[chenpv]

i have been hesitating to post in this thread, because like 作 and 做，the differences between 翘 and 跷 in words are even difficult for pundits in linguistics.

while i have been living in Xian for 20 years and i dont think 'qiaoke' is used in Putonghua as well as Xian dialect. Maybe 逃课 is more popular in Xian. Since it exists and is widely used in easten china, there is no excuse to avoid giving its right characters. IMHO, i prefer '跷课' (qiao1ke4), even though it is pronouced like (qiao4ke4) here in Wuhan. But for the sake of purity of Putonghua, i think the first tone is the most appropriate.

[laohu489]

All right, I have been convinced that the more proper answer is qiao1 ke4 跷课.

The reason I asked this question is exactly the reasons given by fenlan. I am a native english speaker and I am much better at 'bad english' than I am 'proper english'. I get my point across and I think that the use of either 跷 or 翘 in context would get the meaning across as well. Same situation.

Thanks.