Trashy?

[Yuchi]

I've always used la1 xi1, but apparently some of my friends haven't heard of it before.

Are the characters "垃稀"? And is it a regional thing or are my parents setting the wrong example? (They say 容易 as "yong2 yi4" instead of "rong2 yi4" so I'm not too sure whether they know what they're talking about anymore).

[studentyoung]

Are the characters "垃稀"? And is it a regional thing or are my parents setting the wrong example?

It sounds like 拉稀 (= 拉肚子) which means to have loose bowels.

(They say 容易 as "yong2 yi4" instead of "rong2 yi4" so I'm not too sure whether they know what they're talking about anymore).

Those who say 容易 as “yong2 yi4” instead of “rong2 yi4” may not be a 北方人, hopefully, they may be 南方人, because “yong2 yi4” has a quite strong southern accent, in my opinion.

Thanks!

[Yuchi]

I'm quite certain it doesn't mean loose bowels, my parents use it to describe people who have done something wrong to them, or cheap quality items.

btw, they're from shanghai, anyone know if the term exists there?

[studentyoung]

I'm quite certain it doesn't mean loose bowels, my parents use it to describe people who have done something wrong to them, or cheap quality items.

Oh, yes, indeed, 拉稀 can be used to describe people who are just so-so. But usually this meaning appears in some informal and colloquial linguistic environment, and seldom appears in formal dictionary. For example:

这小子平时还凑合, 一到紧要关头就拉稀.

This guy is OK in common time, but he behaves so-so at some critical point.

Thanks!

[randall_flagg]

wouldn't the cheap quality products be 垃圾？

[ala]

I've always used la1 xi1' date=' but apparently some of my friends haven't heard of it before.

Are the characters "垃稀"? And is it a regional thing or are my parents setting the wrong example? (They say 容易 as "yong2 yi4" instead of "rong2 yi4" so I'm not too sure whether they know what they're talking about anymore).[/quote']

It has nothing to do with 垃稀.

垃圾 Shanghainese: lashi (trash / trashy) [Mandarin: la1 ji1] is simply pronounced like Pinyin "la3xi1" in Shanghainese. Some people believe that the word actually comes from English and was first adopted in Shanghainese (trashy --> rashy --> lashi).

容易 Shanghainese: yon-i (easy) [Mandarin: rong2 yi4] is pronounced like Pinyin "yong2yi1" in Shanghainese.

In Japanese it is pronounced you-i (ようい). The character 容 even in Middle Chinese (Sui-Tang dynasty) was pronounced with a "y-" [j]. Mandarin is bastardized.

I'm surprised you don't know that these are Shanghainese pronunciations. Do your parents not speak Shanghainese to you? They obviously still slip some Shanghainese elements in their Mandarin.

[Yuchi]

Yes they speak shanghainese to me, but I sometimes have no way of distinguishing between mandarin and shanghainese as I have never had proper education.

Just wanted to make sure, since they mix pronunciations in and since my friends sometimes don't know what I'm talking about.

[ala]

There are many more words like 普遍 (pubian in Mandarin; but like Pinyin "pupi" in Shanghainese) that throw people off completely; lots of Shanghainese end up saying "pupian" when they speak Mandarin.

Also like 长途电话.... Shanghainese speakers will say 长度电话 in Mandarin, because 途 in Shanghainese is pronounced "du" not tu.

浓 nong; many Shanghainese people will say niong.

etc etc

[Yuchi]

Thanks for clearing it up.

What's funny is my mum tried correcting me when I said 'rong' instead of 'yong'.