Guest Daughter of the Nile Posted February 29, 2004 at 04:22 PM Report Posted February 29, 2004 at 04:22 PM Someone told me they thought "bing tang" meant "star" in Chinese. They thought they did but they aren't sure. Can anyone verify this? Is it even Chinese? Thanks! Quote
nnt Posted February 29, 2004 at 06:24 PM Report Posted February 29, 2004 at 06:24 PM Star (person): 明星 ming2 xing1 Has been mispronounced into "bing tang" or was it in some dialect? Quote
Guest Daughter of the Nile Posted February 29, 2004 at 07:42 PM Report Posted February 29, 2004 at 07:42 PM Well, it's a horse's registered name: Tango Bing Tang. Tango as in the dance. So is Bing Tang even Chinese? Quote
nnt Posted February 29, 2004 at 08:19 PM Report Posted February 29, 2004 at 08:19 PM What are the actual characters? As the person who told you "bing tang" if the proposed ones correspond. As I'm not in horse gambling in HK or anywhere, you should try to know where this transcription comes from, as it can be a very "poetic" one...It can be Chinese (someone said there are about 200 dialects, so it can be Ming2 xing1 in that dialect, then mis-transcribed, mis-heard, etc...) or Japanese, or Korean, who knows? Quote
beirne Posted February 29, 2004 at 09:33 PM Report Posted February 29, 2004 at 09:33 PM In Mandarin it means "rock candy". Quote
nnt Posted February 29, 2004 at 10:25 PM Report Posted February 29, 2004 at 10:25 PM Well, if it's 冰糖 bing1 tang2 what's the relation with "star" ? and a horse named "tango" ? is tang = tango ? Quote
Guest Daughter of the Nile Posted March 1, 2004 at 12:48 AM Report Posted March 1, 2004 at 12:48 AM Okay I'll try this again from the top. My friend's horse's registered name is Tango Bing Tang. She told me she thought "Bing Tang" means "star" in Chinese but she wasn't sure. Tango and Tang have nothing to do with each other other than they are in the same name. Can anyone verify that "Bing Tang" means "star" in Chinese? I do not know the characters, the name is written as you see it: Tango Bing Tang. Beirne - hmm interesting. =) haha. Quote
Quest Posted March 1, 2004 at 01:35 AM Report Posted March 1, 2004 at 01:35 AM No, Bing Tang does not mean "star" in Chinese. The closest would be rock candy(lit. Icy/Crystal Sugar) as Beirne said. If your friend wanted her horse to be called Tango Star, then change it to Tango Mingxing (M'EE-ng Sh-EE'ng). Quote
skylee Posted March 1, 2004 at 01:44 AM Report Posted March 1, 2004 at 01:44 AM Then I think your friend has mistaken the meaning. As beirne says, the pinyin is most likely for bing1 tang2 冰糖 which means rock sugar. Star can be 星 (xing1) or 星星 (xing1 xing) or even 星辰 (xing1 chen2). If in the context of, like, movie star, then it is 明星 (ming2 xing1), like nnt says. By the way, I used to like the japanese comic book "Daughter of the Nile" (not the movie, was it directed by 楊德昌?). Quote
smithsgj Posted March 1, 2004 at 03:22 AM Report Posted March 1, 2004 at 03:22 AM Bintang is "star" in Indonesian. Quote
Guest Daughter of the Nile Posted March 1, 2004 at 01:12 PM Report Posted March 1, 2004 at 01:12 PM ahhh okay thanks for your help. =) My friend was mistaken then. Skylee - Daughter of the Nile was a comic book and a movie? I knew it was a book about an Egyptian slave but not those two. Cool. =) Quote
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