confucius Posted February 3, 2004 at 04:23 AM Report Posted February 3, 2004 at 04:23 AM You hear the same questions every day. For those of you who have spent some time in China, what do you say in response to these common questions? (I'm interested in hearing what others have in their standard reply repertoire.) Have fun with this topic! * 1. Ah so, you speak English (they meant to say "Chinese") very good! Confucius says: "Wo duo duo shao shao hui yi dian." I use the same line in response to "Do you speak Chinese?" What do you say when a Chinese person compliments your Mandarin aside from the textbook "nali nali"? 2. Telling the host you're full. I used to use the standard textbook "Wo chi bao le" and simultaneuosly pat my belly 4 or 5 times. Then I started trying to be fancy and used the word "cheng" followed by some small morsel of food that I could not eat: "Wo cheng de yi ge huasheng (peanut) ye chi bu xia....cheng de yi ge putaogan (raisin) ye chi bu xia. This reply got chuckles the first couple times I used it, but my entourage soon got tired of hearing me say the same thing everywhere we dined so I went back to "Wo chi bao le" 3. Declining the cigarette: "Wo xianglai bu chou yan" (I never smoke) This one seems to work well on the long distance mini-bus when strangers try to befriend me with tobacco. It makes them immediately aware that I maintain a healthy lifestyle and receptive to my request that they not smoke in my presence. I'm sure I missed some questions and situations. Simply post your contributions here and I'll give you my line. Likewise I'll add more when my light bulb is turned on :idea: Quote
roddy Posted February 3, 2004 at 06:11 AM Report Posted February 3, 2004 at 06:11 AM 1. If I'm in the mood to be jocular I'll say 'Hai shuo de mei ni hao' - still not as good as you. Otherwise I'll just say it's still not too good. 2. chi bao, you chi hao - I've eaten-full, also eaten-well always seems to go down well. 3. wo bu hui chou always works for me. Interesting topic. Quote
geek_frappa Posted March 25, 2004 at 04:00 AM Report Posted March 25, 2004 at 04:00 AM 1. nali nali, wo shuo de meiyou ren yao ting ... 2. bao le bao le .. fei chang hao chi. xie xie 3. wo cong lai mei chou yan. wo bu hui chou. Quote
39degN Posted March 25, 2004 at 09:53 AM Report Posted March 25, 2004 at 09:53 AM 1. nali nali' date=' wo shuo de meiyou ren yao ting ...2. bao le bao le .. fei chang hao chi. xie xie 3. wo cong lai mei chou yan. wo bu hui chou.[/quote'] good! also, if it changed to "wo cong lai mei chou guo4 yan. wo bu hui chou" will sound a bit better. Quote
39degN Posted March 25, 2004 at 09:57 AM Report Posted March 25, 2004 at 09:57 AM 1. If I'm in the mood to be jocular I'll say 'Hai shuo de mei ni hao' hehe, you do have a sense of humor! Quote
geek_frappa Posted March 25, 2004 at 10:01 AM Report Posted March 25, 2004 at 10:01 AM 1. nali nali' date=' wo shuo de meiyou ren yao ting ...2. bao le bao le .. fei chang hao chi. xie xie 3. wo cong lai mei chou yan. wo bu hui chou.[/quote'] good! also, if it changed to "wo cong lai mei chou guo4 yan. wo bu hui chou" will sound a bit better. thanks. i am curious to hear your answer to the question in the original post. i never know what to really say when i am asked or told these phrases. what do native speakers in beijing say? Quote
39degN Posted March 25, 2004 at 12:36 PM Report Posted March 25, 2004 at 12:36 PM the reason why i didnt post my answer is waiting for every body's creativity, language is not math, there's no fixed answer, let's see if somebody else would have a nice answer, i would post our saying later. 谁有更酷的说法，快来秀一下！ "秀" is a popular word now days, meaning "show" 时装秀 泳装秀 做秀 Quote
39degN Posted March 25, 2004 at 02:57 PM Report Posted March 25, 2004 at 02:57 PM okey,okey, seems nobody interested in it. so: -------------------------------- “你汉语说得真棒！” “一般般啦！”or“一般般吧！” “还成吧！” “马马虎虎！” “凑和吧！”(cou4 huo2/4/5 ba5) -------------------------------- “我已经饱了！” “我吃完了！” “我完了，你怎么样？” “我也完了！” “完了咱走吧！小姐——买单！”(seems it's your turn! ) actually the 买单 SB 埋单, but usually we say mai3 in madarin “完了咱走吧！还傻楞着（干）嘛呢？小姐——买单！” (after paying the bill, somebody finds you two are fighting in the aisle. hehe, this one is rude, dont try it! just kidding!) -------------------------------- “哥们儿来根烟吧？” “我不会抽！” “谢了，我不会！” “谢您了，我不会！” -------------------------------- above are slangs, 请慎用！ Quote
smithsgj Posted March 26, 2004 at 02:14 AM Report Posted March 26, 2004 at 02:14 AM Just curious, heard it often, but 我不会: it's actually supposed to mean "I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SMOKE"!?!? Come on 哥兒們 it ain't that complicated! Stick it in yer mouth and suck! Quote
39degN Posted March 26, 2004 at 05:49 AM Report Posted March 26, 2004 at 05:49 AM Just curious' date=' heard it often, but 我不会: it's actually supposed to mean "I DON'T KNOW HOW TO SMOKE"!?!?Come on 哥兒們 it ain't that complicated! Stick it in yer mouth and suck![/quote'] hehe, yeah, it actually means that i dont know how to smoke, sinse most of us thought that smoking is something you have to learn it first, and then you can "enjoy" it maybe. also, you can just say 我不吸烟, a bit written though. or 我不抽烟 more spoken than 我不吸烟 Quote
Smoothie Posted March 28, 2004 at 06:12 AM Report Posted March 28, 2004 at 06:12 AM hey confucius when u repeat "duo duo shao shao" what does that mean? also what is "nali nali" and "dian"? Quote
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