The difference between 送 ,带 and 捎 I know that they all mean something like "to bring something to someone" and 送
also means "to see someone out" and "to give sm a present"
but what is the difference between these three verbs in these sentences?
1)他给我带来一些东西.
2)他给我捎来一些东西.
3)他给我送来一些东西.

【送】

一、Send something to somebody, this means You intentionally bring something to someone with your own payment, and this thing orignally belongs to you. This is usually used when you wanna go to pay a visit, or you wanna invite someone, to be in honor of something……ect.

E.g：

明天小明过生日了，我们送什么好呢？（Tomorrow is XiaoMing's birthday, what can we buy to send him as a present?）
今天是我们结婚的纪念日，我送你一枚戒指（I'd like to send you a ring for the anniversary of our wedding today.）

二、Can be also used you want to give someone something intentionally (for some special purpose, either good or bad).

E.g：

我送她一束花，我爱她。(I sent her a bunch of flowers because of my love to
her).
我送领导1000元红包，希望仕途顺利( I sent my boss 1000 RMB for my future
official career).

三、 The way of "sending someone something" by using “送” NOT ONLY MEANS"Person To Person". But Just enpharsis "Something to the destination". So you can say：

我寄了它一个包裹，送他一个表. (I sent him a package with a watch inside).

【带】

Bring something to somebody. The way to "give someone something" MUST BE "Person To Person". And this usually has two meanings (either will be OK):

The object to be brought to others isn't yours.
Maybe you have a purpose to bring this thing to others, and this isn't your main aim. You just do it "buy the way" (=捎)

E.g:

今天小王生病了，请给他带作业本。(Please bring the workbook to XiaoWang, because he's ill today).
我去了一次南京，顺便给他带点好吃的东西. (I had a trip to Nanjig, and by the way, I brought him something good to eat).

【捎】

This word CAN BE ONLY USED wihtout any purposes, this means when you do something, you see that this could be also good/favourate to others. So you also do that "by the way"：

你既然要去看阿姨，我就不去了。顺便请捎给她我的问候，谢谢。

(Since you are going to your aunt's, Please bring my greetings to her as well and I won't go there. Thanks).

For “捎”，you can also say “捎带” instead.


What would be an english translation for "手中法訣"? By "手中法訣", I mean where their hands are rapidly moving in certain patterns in a special movement, but I don't know what's it called (if there's a name for it) nor how to say it english.

First of all, what you are saying doesn't even exists in Chinese.
Chinese magic emphasis ritual and 心法口诀. It never specifically mention any gesture. Let alone a combination of multiple gestures.
So your translation is determined by what magic system you use.
If your system is based on naruto. I think you already got the answer.
If your system is based on western magic. The I think "spell" is the word you are looking for.


How does 非机动车 (fēijīdòngchē) mean "bicycle"? In the road sign below, we have the following:

非机动车靠右行驶
fēijīdòngchē kàoyòu xíngshǐ

Which breaks apart as:

非机动车 = bicycle (with 机动 meaning "mobile")
靠右 = keep right
行驶 = travel along a route

However, I'm not clear on how 非机动车 means bicycle.  Ordinarily, I would expect "bicycle" to be 自行车 (zìxíngchē), and I'm unfamiliar with this as an alternative.
Question: How does 非机动车 (fēijīdòngchē) mean "bicycle"?

It doesn't only means bicycle.

"非机动车" is non-motorized vehicle, NMV, including tractors,human cargo vehicles, animal-drawn vehicles, etc., according to the explaination of "非机动车" in Baidu Baike.

So bicycle is only one sort of NMVs and is used to reprensent NMV on the sign because it's very common.


Paifang inscription on a gate at the Yellow Crane Tower (Characters identified: 江山入画) I am having a hard time trying to identify a character inscribed on this gate at the Yellow Crane Tower.

I think I have been able to identify the other three characters (入山江).
So the character I'd like to have identified is the character to the left.

That would be 江山入画. If you search for Yellow Crane and 江山入画, you will find a bunch of results confirming, for example this one.


What are the differences between 违犯 and 违反? Both 违犯 and 违反 share the meaning "to violate".
What are the differences between these two?

Longman Advanced Chinese Dictionary has a footnote on their entry for 違背 which explains the differences:

  【違背•違反•違犯】
  wéi bèi / wéi fǎn / wéi fàn
  都是動詞﹐都有不合﹑不遵守的意思。區別在：「違背」側重於背離﹐不遵守﹐能用於自己的心意﹑情感等﹐語意較輕；「違反」和「違犯」語意比「違背」重；「違反」側重於不符合﹐如「違反紀律」﹑「違反操作規程」等；「違犯」側重於觸犯﹐適用範圍比「違反」小﹐如「違犯國法」﹑「違犯制度」等。

All three are verbs. They all basically carry the same meaning but「違反」and「違犯」are stronger.「違反」emphasizes the idea of falling short of, while 「違犯」emphasizes the action of going against.「違犯」is more specific and its scope of usage is more limited in comparison to「違反」.

You might also notice that 犯 is used in instances like breaking the law, where as 反 is just doing the opposite of something and is often used as the prefix: counter-.

Longman also provides some examples of usages:

違犯法紀

[To] break the law.

違反原則

[To] go against [one's] principles.


I just purchased this painting and I need some information Hello I need help with these symbols and calligraphy. I purchased the painting on a flea market for my husband. We don't have a clue as to what it says but I would love to find out about the story on the painting. thank you

漢光閣顧洛阜鑑藏中國古代書畵章
Stamp of authenticity of John M. Crawford's collection of old Chinese art

乾隆鑑賞
Qianlong likes this

嘉慶御覽㞢寶
Certified as seen by Jiaqing

三希堂精鑑璽
Refined seal of the library of the Qing Emperors

南北東西只有相隨無別離
No parting ways, only companionship, on any road

敵國㞢富
As wealthy as an empire


Why is 了 placed after the object in "你回英国了吗?" and “我去上海了"? In the following sentences, why is 了 placed after the object?

马大为：林娜，早！好久不见，你回英国了吗？
林娜：我没有回英国，我去上海了，昨天刚回北京。

I have looked at a Grammar Wiki page on when 了 can go after the object, but none of the reasons given seem to explain what is going on in these two sentences.
Wiki page: https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Advanced_%22le%22_after_an_object).

In those sentences, it's a modal particle, in which case it expresses a change of state. The page you linked has a link to it.
A change of state doesn't necessarily mean an actual physical change. It could be implied, or it could be a change in one's assumptions.
In your example sentences.

你回英国了吗

Here the change implied is from a state of being in England to a state of not being in England. Yes, it is backwards (!). You have to interpret the sentence from the point of view of the speaker. The first character Ma Dawei is seeing Lin Na after a long time, and he thinks: "I haven't seen her in a long time, she must have gone back to England". But obviously she's not in England anymore, since Ma Dawei is seeing her right now.
So the change implied by Ma Dawei is that Lin Na used to be in England and now she's back to Beijing.
Lin Na then replies:

我去上海了

This change could be relative to two things:
One, it is relative to Ma Dawei's assumption. Lin Na says: "I didn't go back to England, (instead/actually/in fact) I went to Shanghai". Using 了 here stresses the fact that the actual situation isn't what Ma Dawei thought.
Or two, it is relative to the change in location, i.e. she was in Shanghai but she is now back in Beijing. The reasoning is similar to the previous sentence uttered by Ma Dawei.
I interpret Lin Na's sentence as the latter possibility, but one could make a case for both.


What is the difference between 诡异 and 奇诡? According to Google Translate it is "Strange" and "Strangeness"

But I saw a native speaker post "好诡异", which would be "how strangeness?"

When would you use one or the other?

Both 诡异 and 奇诡 are adjectives. The "strangeness" translation is incorrect.

诡异 is a commonly used word meaning "strange". It can be used both colloquially and in writing. The idiom "好诡异" you mentioned means "How strange it is!".

奇诡 is a formal word used exclusively in literatures. It is a stronger form of 诡异 and is usually reserved for things that are extremely bizarre or supernatural. Use this word with caution.


Should the temporal indicators be in a certain order? To translate “what did you eat today at lunch?” in Chinese, I have 午饭 to translate lunch, and 今天 for today. Do they have to be located at the beginning of the sentence?

  今天午饭你吃了什么？

or can I put them in other locations, such as

  你午饭今天吃了什么？

Are those interchangeable?

The time specification should be before the verb, but you can choose whether you put it before or after the subject. There is (a little bit) more emphasis on the first word.

So you can either say 今天你吃什么了？  or 你今天吃什么了？

In case you have both a time description, a place description and explained how you did something (manner), the time should be first, then the manner and finally the place.

An example: 我   昨天  在北京     看到他 （I saw him yesterday in Beijing)

See the Chinese Grammar Wiki for more details and some more examples.

Also, in Chinese you normally specify something from broad to narrow, general to concrete. So the year comes before the month, the month comes before the day, and so on. For example, you could say 去年八月21号上午九点. For places it is similar (first the country, then the city, than the street, ...).

In your example 午饭 can be seen as the topic of the sentence. See Wikipedia for more information about topic prominence.

With commas, your first sentence would be 今天，午饭，你吃什么了？ (I'll put the 了 at the end. Before 什么 is done a lot, but not really correct. I won't go into details about this, since it is a completely different topic). 今天，午饭 is the topic of the sentence.

You can also say this as 今天的午饭，你吃什么了？

The second sentence is not really something you can use in written language, but people might say it in oral language, but they would say it like this 你午饭，今天吃什么了？  (added a comma). It still sounds quite awkward to me and certainly isn't standard usage, but I'm pretty sure some people would say it like this and others wouldn't look strange hearing this.

(I currently have no time, I'll extend this later).


讨 at the beginning of the sentence An example from a dictionary:

"讨不讨厌呀！Isn't that annoying?"

The first 讨 usage isn't clear here, as for beginner. Is it a special grammar structure? Maybe even an accidental mistake in the dictionary? (in case it happens sometimes)

Partly reminds tag question, but then it probably should have been "讨厌不讨厌" not "讨不讨厌", I'm not sure how it is used with multi-character words.

"討厭不討厭？" is a substantially shortened version of "討厭？還是不討厭？"

As you can see, it is quite wordy. In practicality, "討厭不討厭？"  is still one character too long. The standard practice is to shorten it down to "討(厭)不討厭?" (the shorter the better)

Similarly:

"明白不明白？" is  always shortened to 明不明白？or even further to "明不明？"
"知道不知道？" is  always shortened to 知不知道？or even further to "知不知？"

Avoid wordiness and omit as much as possible as long as the meaning is clear is consider good writing.


How do we answer to offensive phrases like 你 妈 bi? I am studying Chinese and I heard the phrase 'ni ma bi' from a native teenager. I am sure that it's an offensive phrase but I would appreciate your help.

How we could answer to such a phrase in Chinese?

Thank you in advance.

It is not wise to reply to any offensive words. Keep the blame to himself. Don't get involved.


Translation for "what a coincidence" What's the right way to say "what a coincidence" when I see a friend? Like for example if I see a friend at a shopping mall by coincidence do I say "真巧呀" or "真巧合呀"? Or is there any better way to phrase the sentence?

"真巧啊" or "好巧啊" is enough for the situation you care about.


Differences between 滑鼠 (huá shŭ) and 鼠标 (shŭ biāo) I've seen both 滑鼠 (huá shŭ) and 鼠标 (shŭ biāo) used as translations for "computer mouse". Are there differences in meaning, and which is more commonly used?

They both refer to the physical mouse device. Which translation to use depends on where you are using the term. In Mainland China 鼠标 is used whereas in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and other places 滑鼠 is more preferred.

Reference: 維基百科


Origin: of the phrase 不让[能]踩门槛 Looking for something authoritative.

What is the origin of the 不让[能]踩门槛 phrase?
Earliest usage?

I don't know if my answer is absolutely right.
There is a famous book named Di-Zi-Gui (弟子规）from Confucianism（儒学）. You know, Confucianism was prevailing for a long time in China. As I know, Di-Zi-Gui is a book to teach children moral precepts and standards.

《弟子规》：“勿践阈，勿跛倚，勿箕踞，勿摇髀……”
The first one is 勿践阈
 勿 means 'don't 不能',践 means ‘踩’，阈 means ‘门槛’

However, I don't know if this is the earliest usage. From my memory, I was told by my grandparents that 门槛 means all the trouble and setback in our life，we better walking cross the trouble instead of stepping right onto (踩到）the trouble. So that is what we usually do in temples--不踩门槛，跨过门槛。
I hope this is helpful!


"不应" vs. "不该": Which is used in formal writing? Recently I've been writing "should not" in Chinese a lot. But, I've been confused. What is the difference between "不该“ and "不应“? Are they both used?

For example, I know we can say

对不起，我不该说那么难听的话。

but we could also say

学习不应再是少数人的高级消遣

(Both examples from Iciba) My intuition says 不应  is more formal. Is that the only difference? Are there different usages?

Generally speaking, "不应" is used more frequently in formal writing, while "不该" is used in oral expression.

If it's hard for you to determine formal or non-formal, consider this, use 不该 for subjective, and use 不应 for objective case.


What is the meaning of 建设 here？ I have this text from my book. I thought 建设 means 'build, construct', by association maybe 'develop', but I can't figure out what it is doing in the second sentence. I put the 3 sentences for context. Any tips out there?

I don't much care for 'use for copyright building'.

尽管在网络上播放电视剧，电影的盗版现象仍然存在，但人们的版权意识已经越来越强。目前，优酷网融资的几千万美元中，超过一亿元人民币将用于版权建设。悠视网则表示正在筹备一个版权基金，基金规模达十几亿元人民币，主要用于购买影视版权。

You should really think of it like "establishing" given the context.

目前，优酷网融资的几千万美元中，超过一亿元人民币将用于版权建设 =

Currently, out of the 10s of millions of USDs that Youku has financed, over 100 million RMBs are being used to establish copyright protection [for their videos].


What is the meaning of the phrase 俫气更有仙气? I recently read the following comment about a Chinese actress:

除了有林青霞的俫气更有仙气

From the whole sentence, I can guess that it's sort of compliment (the actress has charisma like Brigitte Lin). But I don't know what the exact meaning of 俫气更有仙气 is.

I suppose it's a typo and should be 侠气更有仙气.

侠气 (chivalrous / heroic spirit)

  侠气 xiáqì
  [chivalrous] 豪侠的气概

仙气 (unworldly temperament)

  仙氣 xiān qì    ㄒㄧㄢ ㄑㄧˋ
  靈秀脫俗的氣質。

Then the sentence could be translated as "besides chivalrous like 林青霞, (she) also has unworldly temperament".


How to translate 'serve' in these sentences? I'm translating some programming documentation. I know 'serve' can be translated to 服务/提供. But in the sentences below, it sounds a bit weird in Chinese. So, what are the right and elegant translations of 'serve' in the sentences below? Thanks!

How do I serve the static files in deployment?
...setting up your server to serve this address.
...to ensure newer Bootstrap versions are served.

serve:

在开发过程中如何加载静态文件? 开发过程中静态文件如何管理？
设置好你的服务器来为这个地址提供服务
确保你正在使用新版本的 Bootstrap


What is this seal script character? (Character identified: 矦) Can someone help me to identify this seal character.
I have 3 others seals with this character, always in the 3rd position. Un the 3rd character it is slightly different but I think it is the same.
Thanks for your help

it should be treated as “侯” (u+4faf):
http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=侯
a severely distorted version to fit a circle
actually, it’s “矦” (u+77e6), the right component of the “侯”


“他们之间不再会有什么友谊”：在这个句子里"会“贡献什么意思？ 我的问题就对于这个句子：

  他们之间不再会有什么友谊。

我的英语翻译是：

  There can no longer be any friendship between them.

为了了解“会”的贡献，我就试试删除它，后来翻译一下：

  他们之间不再有什么友谊。

我的英文翻译成为：

  There is no longer any friendship between them.

“会” 的贡献

消除“会”导致消除将来友谊的可能性。

我的尝试是否合理？ 谢谢。

消除“会”导致消除将来友谊的可能性。

Yes, your understanding is correct. 会 in the context refers to the future tense. Removed 会,  他们之间不再有什么友谊 doesn't specify the tense and we'd have to rely on context to determine whether it happens in the past, present or future.


What's the amount of time in 足足有一刻钟，简默的脸上现出了惊喜和迷惑? 足足有一刻钟，简默的脸上现出了惊喜和迷惑。

It is less than a quarter of an hour, or a full quarter of an hour, or what amount of time is being talked about here?

足足有一刻钟 here means "a full quarter of an hour".

足足 means fully. The word is usually emotional, implying that that amount is a big deal. E.g. 我在这里足足等了你两个小时. (implying: two hours is really long time. It's a complaining about the fact that you kept me waiting for that long.)

PS. Compare 足足有两小时 and 足有两个小时. They mean the same(a full two hours), but the former puts an emphasis. 足足 sounds like almost exceeding the amount(or perhaps already exceeds a little bit?).


Is 目 suitable for daily conversations, or should I use 眼睛 (and what about 口 and 嘴巴)? Can I use  目 in daily conversations or its too archaic and I should use only 眼睛？

What about 口 and 嘴巴?

I am trying to teach my daughter Chinese with daily Chinese phrases and have dilemma -
目 is better as radical to explain other complex characters but 眼睛 is something you can talk with real Chinese person about.

In classical Chinese, most of the words only have one character, for example, "目", "口", "道" (道路, road), "卒" (士兵, soldier)...

One of the big differences between classical Chinese and modern Chinese is that in modern Chinese, most of the one-character words are replaced by words with lots of characters (usually 2).

So both "目" and "口" are not used in spoken language, and only in some special circumstances (explained below), they are used in written language. Attention: although "目" and "口" are not commonly used individually, they appear a lot in the words, for example, "口才", "目光", "港口", "目录"...

  目 is better as radical to explain other complex characters but 眼睛 is something you can talk with real Chinese person about

This means in daily conversation, you should use 眼睛 instead of 目, but the knowledge "目 means eyes" can help you to learn other complex things, for example, when you see "睁", or "盯", you should know they are related to eye. "睁" means open (eyes), and "盯" means stare.

Another thing: if you look at "睁" or "盯", you will find there is a typical way to construct the Chinese characters. Usually one part of the character shows its meaning, and the other part shows its (potential) pronunciation.
In "睁", the left part shows it is related to eyes, and the right part shows its pronunciation is zhēng.
In "盯", the left part shows it is related to eyes, and the right part shows its pronunciation is dīng.

  So both "目" and "口" are not used in spoken language, and only in some special circumstances, they are used in written language.

The situations to use "目" and "口" individually are extremely rare. Not only the beginners, even the common Chinese people don't use them in this way.

Usually when some writers want to make their works more comprehensive and variable, they will use "目" or "口". For example, 这时候她会有种奇怪的感觉,好像自己身上长满了嘴,张大着口,嗷嗷叫着要人喂. (Since 嘴 and 口 mean the same thing, the author uses both of them to avoid repetition.)

And also since "目" and "口" are words in classical Chinese, using these words can make the articles look more "classical".


Why can't 了 be used to complement 到? I have been taught that the sentence 我刚到了 (wǒ gāng dào le) is not correct because 了 cannot be used as a complement of 到. Is this right? If so, why?

我刚到了 is perfectly understandable in oral communication. Your teacher probably thinks this is verbose because:

刚 = just

了 = already

我刚到了 = I just arrived already


is this translation in Chinese of grammatical quality and flow? I am using a 3rd party translation company called Gengo to translate phrases and am trying to measure their ability to translate a phrase in English to Chinese, where flow and native quality are the most important.

Given the sentence:

  Getting information in my own language is more important than the
  price of the product.

Is this translation of high quality in terms of grammar structure?

  透過我自己的語言取得資訊比產品的價格還重要。

Talking about grammar, this version is perfectly fine. The problem is the word choice.

As a native speaker, my translation would be "通过母语获取信息比产品价格更重要".


Does "chà" requires "dào" when expressing time? My Chinese teacher (a native speaker) told me that when using "chà", I need also to use ""dào", like this:

  chà shí fen dào 4 diăn. (3:50).

But I cannot find a single reference to this online. Everywhere, only chà is used, like:

  chà shí fen 4 diăn

or

  4 diăn chà shí fen

chà shí fen dào 4 diăn. (3:50)
差十分到四點 = "(still) ten minutes to four o'clock" = "ten to four" in English
It is English grammar directly applied to Chinese language. Chinese do not usually describe clock time this way. (Although it is based on English grammar, most Chinese would have no problem accepting it)

The normal way to describe 3:50 is "三點五十分".
It is fine to say  "還有十分鐘就四點" or "還差十分鐘就四點" (still ten more minutes, and it will be four o'clock) to emphasize how close it is to four o'clock
chà shí fen 4 diăn 差十分四點 (it shorten 還差十分鐘就四點 too much, sound very blunt)
4 diăn chà shí fen 四點差十分 (no one say it like this)

when using "chà", I need also to use ""dào"

Yes there's a [差(chà) XXX 就到(Jiù dào) YYY] structure in Chinese grammar
For example "差(十分鐘)就到(四點)"
Sometimes people do omit 就 (Jiù) and say "差十分鐘到四點"
Sometimes people also omit '鐘' in '十分鐘' and just say '十分' in this structure


Is this an exception in the use of 的? I know that, when expressing possessives, we add 的 to the usual personal pronouns, such as 我的.

However, in a question in my grammar textbook I saw:

  你爸爸忙吗? = Is your father busy?

Why not "你的爸爸忙吗？"?

Are there any other exceptional or particular uses of 的 that are worth being mentioned here?

When 的 is used for possession or 's, it is often omitted in speaking when it's the subject of a sentence.
For example:

她(的)家很漂亮/她(的)家很漂亮 = Her house/home is beautiful.
你(的)電腦很慢/你(的)电脑很慢 = Your computer is really slow.
他(的)新車很貴/他(的)新车很贵 = His new car is quite expensive.

But 的 is usually kept when it's the object of a sentence.

我喜歡他的車/我喜欢他的车 = I like his car.

But then, again as in any language, there is always exceptions :(

For example:
我去過他(的)家/我去过他(的)家 = I've been to his house.

And because of this omission, interesting sentences like this one can come up occasionally in daily conversation:

他媽的洋裝很高雅/他妈的洋装很高雅 = His mother's dress is very elegant.

If you say this out loud, most Chinese people would pick up "他媽的" (damn, sh*t, bloody, f*cking depending on context) and think you are cursing for a split second before you finish the sentence. While this is not a serious problem in casual conversation, one way to avoid this awkward confusion is to explicitly say "他媽媽的".

  Added simplified Chinese after the original examples in Traditional Chinese as requested.


More common way to say "squared", 二次方X or X的平方？ In English it's much more common to say "squared" than "to the second power", but the reverse seems to be true in Chinese.  For example, m/s^2 is more commonly 米每二次方秒 (according to Google searches) than 米每秒的平方.  Does this match sound right to 中国数学家?

I think you don't bother to find what's correct, both 米每二次方秒 and 米每平方秒 are understandable.

Basically, there are some statute describe the general rule for unit pronounciation . But I can't find the data source, so I don't post the rule here.

My rule is, just like in english, read all x³ to 立方x, all xᒾ to 平方x expect /sᒾ .

For example read

kg/m³
kg        /     m³
千克      每    立方米
kilograms per cubic-meter

In most cases $ x \in {m,cm,mm,s}$, if oneday I have to read the gravitational constant G(6.67E-11 N*mᒾ/kgᒾ), I most probably read 每平方千克.

Below are reasons why "米每二次方秒" more common than "米每平方秒"(from the perspective of Bayesian inference.) I think it's just a convention. It's a huge project to find exactly why.
For the pronunciations of other common units, you can also find them in my links.

Statute law

It shows there are only one correct pronunciation.

中华人民共和国国务院公报 page 572 中华人民共和国计量单位名称与符号方案  from 中国政府
中华人民共和国计量单位名称与符号方案（试行） from 北京法院法规检索
《中华人民共和国法定计量单位使用方法》 , it is hosted on serveral unofficial web, I cannot find an official site.

Publication

This solved your question of "中国数学家" .

大学物理(高等院校物理系列教材)
常用非法定计量单位与法定计量单位的对照及换算表 from 中国大百科全书数据库
& 附录二 非法定计量单位与法定计量单位换算表 from CNKI jiangxi

Web data

This solve "the most common" problem.

Use double quotation marks and search by yourself to see what use them!
One publication only has one form

google books ( 194 compared to 9 )
google scholar ( 14 compared to 2 )
google result (15700 compared to 4960)

Don't use baidu, the result include "米每二次方秒" and "米每平方秒" even if you use double quotation marks.

Argument against

baike

米每平方秒
加速度(米每二次方秒)

see the link above, it's self-contradictory.
Due to web incompatibility, I can't amend it.
Also, the *former* baike article don't have source material.

google translate

`Metre per second squared` -> `米每秒平方`
`米每二次方秒`->`Meter every second second`
`米每平方秒`->`Meter per square second`

Baidu translate

`Metre per second squared`->`米/秒平方`
`米每二次方秒` -> `Metre every second square second`
`米每平方秒` -> `Metres per square second`

Others

FWIW, believe Wikipedia, when can't find in Wiki then use baike.


洗尘: why is a welcome banquet "washing dust"? 洗尘 refers to the traditional Chinese custom of holding a banquet to welcome visitors from afar. However, the literal translation is "to wash dust", which has nothing to do with eating, and I'm also not sure about the connection to travelling.

Where did this phrase come from? Is it referring to accumulation of dust on travellers' clothes, and washing dust is simply part of the welcoming ritual? Or is it something else entirely?

"洗尘"usually used with"接风"，like "接风洗尘"。

it's come from
明（Ming Dynasty）·凌蒙初(a scholar and offical)《二刻拍案惊奇》第26卷：“虽也送他两把俸金，几件人事，恰好侄儿也替他接风洗尘，只好直退。”（classical Chinese）。

When someone go far,we say "一路顺风"（I wish you a happy voyage），so when visitors come from afar we sad"接风",and after long travel with wind(顺风),there must be dust on visitors。
so we say "接风洗尘"。

送人走时通常说一路顺风，接人时正好就接着这一股风把人接到，所以叫接风！刮风必然会粘上满身的尘土，所以，接风的同时把客人身上的尘土洗掉。


Is the potholing term for 天坑 sinkhole? Not a potholer myself, I'm not up on the technical terminolgy. Is 天坑 a sinkhole, or is there some other technical term?

It's just 'Tiankeng', perhaps because this large karst topography exists mainly in China.

  2005年，国际喀斯特天坑考察组在重庆、广西一带大规模考察后，“天坑”这个术语在国际喀斯特学术界获得了一致的认可，并开始用汉语拼音“Tiankeng”通行国际。这是继峰林（Fenglin）和峰丛（Fengcong）之后，第三个由中国人定义并用汉语和拼音命名的喀斯特地貌术语。

See in wikipedia.


Proper translations on manager titles on business cards So far I have

President • 总统

FOUNDER • 创办人

CEO • 主席

CMO • 营销总监

Are these the correct characters to use on a business card for each title listed above?

I will go over your list one by one. Please note I am talking about the mainland and not sure it is true for HK or Taiwan.

1) President • 总统

It is true only if this president is managing a country, otherwise don't call him/her 总统.
Depends on the type of organization, a president could be:

总统 if he/she is the top governor of a country
主席 if he/she is the leader of a club
董事长 if he/she is the chairman of a board
校长 if he/she is the leader of a school

So this one could be tricky and you really need to bring the context in.

2) FOUNDER • 创办人

This translation is fine, or you can say 创始人.

3) CEO • 主席

Most cases this will be translated to 总裁, but it can also be left as is and no translation required... It has been kind of a fashion to print CXO in the business card or title.

4) CMO • 营销总监

This is fine.


What does "和尚撞了道士" mean? In the song《掐死大象的蚂蚁》by Bridge and 二毛 there's a bar by twenty-cents(?) that goes:

  咋个回事咋个回事
  十点半还不晓得回家
  问起咋子问起咋子
  也不晓得打个电话
  有事有事安啥子事嘛啥子事嘛
  和尚撞了道士上房揭瓦你要造次

The part that is tripping me up is: 和尚撞了道士. Most search results online for 和尚撞了道士 just come back to the lyrics for this song.

Any ideas?

First off: this is a Sichuanese song.

Let's start with something you'll recognize:

  Q: 怎么办？
  A: 凉拌！

In Sichuanese this is called: 展嘴巴劲 or 扳嘴巴劲 or 展牙巴劲. That is relevant because this is a form of Sichuanese 展嘴巴劲. It goes a little something like this:

  A: 有事
  B: 和尚赶道士

It is something that is said when someone thinks that you are coming up with a pretext or an excuse to be busy rather that actually having anything to do.

There also seems to be quite a few variants on the phrase. Obviously from the question we have: 和尚撞了道士. A more common variant is 和尚赶道士. Online you can also find examples of: 和尚做道士 and 和尚撵道士.

There are a bunch of these in Sichuanese:

开腔嘛——开腔<枪>打死人
负责——负他妈的床坝箦
赔——我陪你坐
真的——煮的哟
看嘛<马>——看牛哦
不敢<赶>——过吆
好久<酒>——没得好菜
长——往土坝里长
结婚——脑壳昏
花——眼睛花
钱——夹火钳
等于是——二加二等于四
啥子——帕子，帕子搭到脸上
没关系——没川戏，没川戏看电影嘛


How to understand 灵魂 sense of spirit? The words 灵魂 translates to 'soul' or 'spirit'. In English, the word 'spirit' can refer to the undefinable spiritual entity associated with the divine. I think that in Chinese, 灵魂 can refer to a person's innermost being and can be used in situations in situations of 'true love' referring to loving each other's 灵魂.

How can 灵魂 be used in sentences/sayings that distinguishes itself from the western understanding or meaning of 'spirit'?

How can 灵魂 be used in sentences/sayings that distinguishes itself from
  the western understanding or meaning of 'spirit'?

We might also ask how you distinguish soul and spirit in English. If you are clear about that (a big if), you could find an answer to your question easily!

Here is a cheap and nasty explanation.

Have a look here too.

  and can be used in situations in situations of 'true love' referring to loving each other's 灵魂.

Maybe the word you are looking for is soulmates? In the following sentences the bold text can be translated as soulmates.

我也不相信灵魂伴侣。
前卫网站《灵魂伴侣科学》报道称灵魂伴侣确实真实存在，而且可以被科学所证明。
昨日的挚友，今日的恋人，永远的知己
而且我希望全部你淑女也找你得不见知音
这个时候我真想找个贴心人说说心里话呀！


Is there a limited character set for European loanwords? In Japanese, there's a set of 48 characters called katakana that is often used for transliterating words of European origin. (This is a slight simplification - katakana is used for other purposes as well, and there's some European words that don't use katakana)

Is there a subset of characters in Chinese (especially traditional Chinese, as I'm planning to go to Taiwan) that's used for transliterating words of European origin?

There're no such character set like Japanese katakana.
kana is a kind of phonography, but in Chinese only select similarly pronounced Hanzi(汉字) to transliterate loanword. Such as 沙发(sofa).

Of course there're some commonly used idiom for special English pronunciation.


The meaning of 得趣...to get a taste for something? More from Chouchengzhi.

I would appreciate thoughts on my translation of the following...my supervisor doesn't like my translation of 得趣 at all! Does it mean something more like 'to get a taste for something'?

伏念襄。穀城之種。曹溪之流。王，謝相隨。擅風流於江左。嵇，劉得趣。寄閑情於竹林。

Brew (Yang) is of the genus of Grain Citadel (Gucheng), and the current of Dregs Creek (Caoxi). The Wang and Xie families both followed [the Yang family], and monopolised elegance and civilisation south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze. Xi [Kang] and Liu [Ling] shared a past-time [with the Yang family],  living in seclusion in the bamboo grove.

得趣 = technical term in Taoism. to find true meaning. Often used for the meaning (or pleasures), that hermits find in their surroundings.

朝退常歸隱，真修大隱情。園林應得趣，巖谷自爲名

Where are you getting the Yang family?


What does the name of the singer "约瑟翰 庞麦郎" mean? I did a quick search and have found:

  姓名： 约瑟翰 庞麦郎 英文名: Joseeh Punmanlon

I know it is supposed to be like "Snoop Dogg," "Buddy Guy" or something like that. But I'm still very curious on if that would have any meaning or cultural reference? Something a non-native Chinese wouldn't understand?

And what about the "English name" part, is that just a loose transliteration? If that's the case I'd think "Yosehan Pamelo" to be a better alternative, very "mid-aged-Brooklyn-mafia-member-ish"....

Oh, it is Joe the big wheatman!

Joking aside, Pang Mailang seems to be his real name, while Yuesehan is more like an artistic nickname, like "Joseph".


What does 的 mean in 你们在哪里认识的? 你们在哪里认识的?
Nǐmen zài nǎlǐ rènshi de?
Where did you meet?

What does the character 的 mean in this sentence?

One of the functions of 的 is being an adjectival marker that marks a phrase as an adjectival phrase
我们在中国认识  = We met in China
的 marks 在中国认识 as an adjectival phrase that describes 我們
[我們 (topic)] + [在中国认识的 (comment)] = [We] (are someones) [met in China]
你们在哪里认识的? just replaced 中国 with 哪里. 在哪里认识的 is still an adjectival phrase in an Interrogative sentence
Q: 你们(是)在哪里认识的?
A: 我们(是)在中国认识的


What's the difference between 帐户 and 账户? To my understanding, both mean "account", as in a bank account or online account. 账户 also appears to be the more common (100M search results) compared to 帐户 (about 50M results). What is the difference, if any, between their usage and meaning?

To boot, they have the exact same pronunciation.

账户 is the correct form, and 帐户 is a common typo seen a lot in online services.

账 or 账本 means "books", and 记账 is the action of "accounting". The word 账户 means a "bank account", and is also used as "online account" nowadays.

帐 has meanings related to cloth, like "mosquito net"(蚊帐) or "tent"(帐篷).

P.S. There is no entry for 帐户 in The Standard Dictionary of Contemporary Chinese.


Why is 或 used in 将在45天后禁止任何美国公司或个人与[ByteDance and WeChat]的相关交易 instead of e.g. 和? I read the following political article about Trump's executive orders in relation to TikTok and WeChat.

原因是当地时间6日，美国总统特朗普签署行政令，称抖音海外版（TikTok）和微信对美国国家安全构成威胁，将在45天后禁止任何美国公司或个人与TikTok母公司字节跳动以及腾讯控股涉及WeChat的相关交易。
My translation: [The] reason is [at] local-time 6-th [of August, 2020], USA president Trump signed executive orders declaring 抖音's foreign edition (TikTok) and WeChat is a threat to US national security, and after 45 days, forbids any US company or individuals having related dealings with TikTok mother company ByteDance and even Tencent Holdings's WeChat.
iPhone与微信“二选一”？美媒开始担心苹果了！, 8 August 2020; see also Google Translate

I'm confused about why it says ……美国公司或个人……, and in particular why it's 或 and not 和 or 跟.
Question: Why is 或 used as highlighted above instead of e.g. 和?

任何美国公司或个人 = any American companies or individuals

或 = or

“And” (和/跟) would be a strange choice here because then it would seems as if two sets of criteria need to be met before a law was broken. Whereas the “or” sets it up for one or the other.


What is the third character on this sign seen in Taipei? I saw this sign in Taipei. What is the third character?

The sign says "不夠_車" - "Not enough ? (vehicle)"

Is it the character 丩, in which case what does it mean?
Is it a bopomofo character? - I found ㄐ
Is it supposed to be an English 4?
Is the green line at the bottom part of the character or an underscore for some reason?

The shop the sign is on sells scooters / mopeds, or perhaps parts and accessories for them.

What was below the sign? That is, what products did the store sell? It wouldn't be motorcycles?

The sign says: 不够机车, or in old script 不够機車. 機車 means engine, but in Taiwan more specifically motorcycle.

ㄐ + ㄧ in bopomofo is j + i, that is ji, which gives 机.


How do I understand Ni (you) character correctly? It says

http://zhongwen.com/bushou.htm

If I search for you I got this

It consists of 2 characters

The first is person and you. The 2 characters are very different than the character in character ni. I supposed the ren is in alternate version. I wonder what's the character next to it.

It says there that the character next to it is you.

However, clicking it says it's the character er which means breath.

Of course, the character breath itself consist of 2 characters.

The upper part is ru (enter). And below we have number 8 pa divided by vertical line.

How wrong I am? Please correct me.

Any idea why letter 8 under enter becomes breath that combined with men becomes "you"? Any website that explains this?

Outlier

  FORM
  你 consists of 尔 (a shorthand form of 爾 “you”), and 亻 (person), indicating the original meaning “you.” 尔 also gives the sound.
  [Reference, p. 1253]

  COMPONENTS
   亻
  In 你, 亻“person” is a meaning component, indicating “having to do with people.”
   尔
  In 你 nǐ, 尔 ěr is both a meaning component and a sound component. It is shorthand for 爾, an ancient character that meant “you” (among other things). The sound connection between 你 nǐ and 尔 ěr is not obvious in modern Mandarin.


When should 叉 or 岔 be used when talking about a forked road? I have encountered the following usages of 叉 and 岔 when dealing with forked roads:

叉路口
交叉路口
叉路
三叉路口

三岔路口
四岔路口
岔路口

Is there any rhyme or reason to when to use 叉 vs. 岔? Is one more correct than the other? or only in certain usages?

Based on a google image search, it seems like 岔路 is used on road signage more often than 叉路.

There's a similar question here:

https://zhidao.baidu.com/question/326153419.html

that asks:

  岔路口 叉路口有什么区别

the answer reads:

  岔路口有方向概念，也即你面朝的方向有两条以上的分岔路；叉路口（一般不这样叫）一般称为交叉路口，指两条以上的路相互交叉。

岔 = forked (road) like this:

the road splits in front of you, like crossroads.

叉 = intersect like this:

like a junction or an intersection.


NYC's death certificate: "as no inquiry as to the facts has been provided by law." On NYC's death certificate, there is this sentence:

  The department of Health and Mental Hygiene does not certify to the
  truth of the statements made thereon, as no inquiry as to the facts
  has been provided by law.

I am trying to translate it into Chinese: 鉴于没有法务部门作出特殊要求，卫生局不对以上陈述的真实性负责。

It is a little inaccurate, but I can't think of any better translation that would make sense in Chinese. Any suggestion?

因沒有法定聆訊, 健康與心理衛生局不會證實以上陳述的真確性.

certify = 證實
truth = 真確性
statements = 聲明 / 陳述
made thereon = 有關 / 以上
inquiry as to the facts = 聆訊 / 研訊
.... provided by law = 法律規定

Actually, the phrase "no inquiry as to the facts has been provided by law" somehow appears to me that the Dept. does not have the authority to do so.


What does 乃 mean here? On a particular forum is a banner reading:

  此乃舊貼唯讀區

which I imagine is a highfalutin way of saying that this thread is read-only.

Now, 乃 has many senses in my dictionary. What is the sense of 乃 being used here? My best guess would be "only", in the sense that this page is "nothing more than" a read-only area.

Here "乃" means "be". This sentence means "This area is for old posts, and these posts are read-only."

Next time, if you find "此乃" these two characters together or a noun+乃 together, "乃" properly means "be". For example:

  此乃我的书.
   This is my book.

  意识乃是大脑的一种自然属性。
   Consciousness is an emergent property of the brain.


Analog of Hong Kong grade level for Chinese characters? The Unihan database lists a kGradeLevel for each entry. This is the primary grade in the Hong Kong school system by which a student is expected to know the corresponding character.

Is there a similar categorization of characters into grade levels that applies to all of China (PRC)?

Of course we have, you can see it on baidu.com.

But because in China many provinces now have the right to have their own teaching syllabus, they may have different categorization of characters. But all the characters must come from the most common used 2500 characters. Then spread to the  other characters.


Is there any relationship between 田 (tián), 由 (yóu), 甲 (jiǎ), and 申 (shēn)? Question: Is there any relationship between 田, 由, 甲, and 申?

田 (tián) = field; it seems rarely used
由 (yóu) = ???; I've only seen it as a radical for 油 (yóu) = oil
甲 (jiǎ) = nails, as in fingernails 手指甲 (shǒuzhǐjiǎ); it's also a radical in 鸭子 (yāzi) = duck
申 (shēn) = ???; I've seen it used in 申请 (shēnqǐng) = application

The characters appear similar, so I tend to get them confused often.  It might be there's a reason these characters are similar which might help me remember them better (or there might be no meaningful relationship).

The origin of 田 was a pictograph of a rice field

  http://www.zdic.net/z/1e/zy/7530.htm

  The primary meaning of 田 is 'rice field'

~

  The origin of 由 was a pictograph of a sprout

  http://www.zdic.net/z/1f/zy/7531.htm

  The primary meaning of 由 is 'from; begin with'

~

  The origin of 甲 was a pictograph of the intersection of a planted armor

  http://www.zdic.net/z/1f/zy/7532.htm

  The primary meaning of 甲 is 'armor; top class'

~

  The origin of 申 was a pictograph of a man kneeing with pleading hands (to plead to gods)

  http://www.zdic.net/z/1f/zy/7533.htm

  The primary meaning of 申 is 'plead'


What is the difference between 很 + adjective and adjective + 得很 Since learning the adjective + 得很 rule I have only seen it once in writing with a two syllable adjective。
What are the differences in register and／or meaning between 很 + adjective and adjective+得很？

I am not a linguist. As Chinese is my first language, I can describe how I use these 2 words.
很is like English word 'very', its place in a sentence is aways before another adjective. While 得很 is more intense, and it usually follows another adjective.
For example:  a, 这件东西很好。b,这件东西好得很。Both sentence a and b mean 'This thing is very good.', but sentence b is stronger in feelings.

很 + adjective can be followed by nouns, but adjective + 得很 can not.

For example: 很高的山峰

But we don't say: 高得很的山峰. It is just wrong.

I would say adjective + 得很 alomst always comes (with or without modal particle) at the end of a sentence.

For example:

这屋子 脏得很 。

你的字， 好得很嘛 。你怎么说不好呢？


Semantic Puns and Alternative Hanzi There seems to be a set of Chinese words that have alternatives (disregarding the traditional/simplified split). For example, 借 and 藉. Within this class of alternatives, however, seems to be a set of semantic puns. Consider, for example:

  (1) 蘇 (/su1/ 'revive') ＝ 更生('live again') → 甦 (/su1/ 'revive')
  (2) 天 (/tian1/ 'sky') ＝ 青色的空氣('blue air') → 靝 (/tian1/ 'heaven')

My question: is there a special term for these kinds of alternatives? Ultimately, I'd like to be able to find other such pairs.

NB1: I'm aware that the alternative in (2) is restricted to a Taoist context.
NB2: I'm also aware of alternatives like 妝 and 粧, but from what I can tell, this specific pair seems to have gone the other way -- the semantic 妝 was later supplanted by the phono-semantic 粧.

According to 六書
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_character_classification)

There are two kinds of this
1. 轉注：
Basically this mean the multiple characters may map in the same mapping if
1) They are in same radical (category).
2) They sound similar
Example: 老 (old) 考 (Originally meant old; deconstructed as 耂 derivative (老字头) of 老 lǎo "old" + 丂 qiǎo (phonetic). Later evolved to mean "deceased father". Modern meanings of to exam. (From http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E8%80%83)

假借：
Basically this mean the a character is assigned to more than one senses.
Example: 蘇 (/su1/ 'revive') ＝ 更生('live again') → 甦
     云 (Originally Cloud, then become "say") →  雲 (Cloud)

Or you can search "通同字" or "通假字"


Questions about policy of taxation 从使用年份起免征城镇土地使用税5年，第6年至第10年减半征收；超过500万元部分，减半征收企业所得税;国家重点扶持的高新企业，减按15%的税率征收企业所得税。

These are excepts from the favorable policies given by a local government in China. I do not really and fully understand the meaning, especially the words 减半, which literally means cutting half, but what is the total? 减按15% means what? The rate or the total?

u have to read that all,combine them and think what it means."减半",when u compare to above,u will know it is half of the originl。(比原来减少一半).e.g:the first year to fifth year u have to pay tax to goverment like 5 yuan,th sixth to 10th u only need to pay 2.5 yuan(减半).

15％,when u see above,u know that when  ur company is not in the goernment's support project,ur have to pay like 25% tax,but if ur company is in the special project,u just happily need to pay 15% tax.｡◕‿◕


simplification of 唻? 唻

唻的解释
拼音:lai4
呼声。
【本字提供国家或地区】
中国大陆、中国台湾、日本、韩国、越南

Does 唻 not have a simplificated version?
ZiSea:

字海:

As this ^ (above) just seems to be listed as a variant

This is a simplified word, and it is a rare used word. Most people will recognize it only as 哆唻咪(doreme), but now it's replaced mostly by 哆来咪，or even 多来米.
And the word 口来, though it is said to be simplified version of 唻， in fact this may not be realy a word, it's never used, even can't be inputed by most Chinese IMEs.


Why is Cristiano Ronaldo known as “C罗” in Chinese? I see Cristiano Ronaldo is often referred as C罗 in Chinese. I find it curious because:

This is not a nickname pattern followed in any other player name, and
罗 isn't even part of the full name transliteration 基斯坦奴·朗拿度, which would have led to a shorter name.

How did C罗 originated or why it is called like this?

C for Cristiano
罗 for 罗纳尔多 (Ronaldo)

Apparently before him:

Ronaldo (罗纳尔多) (Luís Nazário de Lima) was known as 大罗
Ronaldinho (罗纳尔迪尼奥) was called 小罗

So, with big (大) and little (小) already taken, the first letter of his first name was given to him instead.

As for 朗 vs. 罗:

It seems that 朗 is Cantonese (Hong Kong, Macao) while 罗 is Mandarin (Mainland, Singapore, Taiwan).


Pattern in the Chinese numbers 1 to 9 I know a lot of Chinese characters are either a symbol of something or a combination of symbols in the space of one character, so what's the origin of the symbol for numbers 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9? since knowing what the symbol is suppose to represent does make it much easier to remember, eg. the symbol for tree is a simplified tree branches with roots.

-

Some context...

I need to explain a fairly large group of people how to count from 1 to 9 in chinese, in at most 3min.

I personally memorized them fairly easily, but don't think most people have any chance in 3min to just pick them up on the spot, so is there a pattern to them (for 4 and above) that can be used to help people pick them up quickly?

I've considered teaching the Chinese 1-9 single-hand gestures as a "teaching tool" but don't know what the pattern/correlation between those is either.

-

To avoid confusion I'm referring to the traditional chinese numerals (modern ones are very much the same as far as I know). Not the so called "capital notation" used in checks and official documents, and not the so called "mercantile notation."

一二三 should be self-evident, they are equivalent to Roman numerals, that is, simple enumeration symbols.

Then it gets murky, but note that even numbers 二四六八十 are all symmetrical, whereas the odd numbers (一三)五七九 are not.

四 is defined by this symmetric property, as an even number that can be halved. 六 is actually a 四 with a dot above, using old seal script. 八 is also defined as a mirror symmetry, indicating divisibiliy.

As for 五七九, there are no good etymological derivations, they are simply symbols since long lost in origin. There are no patterns associated with these characters.


Translation of Chinese word is not an English word? This is really strange. Dictionary.com says "obdurability" isn't a word in English, but it is the ONLY translation for "强韧" in Pleco (my Chinese-English dictionary). Google.com has tons of results, but almost all of them seem to be Chinese companies describing their durable materials as having "obdurability"! Was this a typo by someone compiling a dictionary for Chinese readers that just got magnified over the years or what?

The ABC dictionary definition in Pleco is "pliable but tough". Other dictionaries in my Pleco edition have the same definition.  The only one that has yours is ADSO which is a community dictionary provided by the people of Popup Chinese.

My hypothesis about the wide-spread use of this word:
In online Chinese dictionaries I often see non-existing English words being used in the translation. This seem to happen when the Chinese word doesn't exist in English and hence can't be translated by one word. There is a lot of copied material on Chinese websites. You for example also see this on the Chinese wiki alternatives. The texts on different sites on a certain topic are most of the time almost complete rip-offs. It seems that they just want to be as complete as possible with minimal effort and in this way errors are spread quite quickly.


Difference between 羞辱 and 侮辱 What is the difference between 羞辱 and 侮辱?
Do they have difference in terms of the contexts where they can be used, or semantically, or syntactically?

羞辱: humiliate (v); humiliation (n)

Example:
加拿大隊在女子曲棍球世界杯中羞辱日本隊13-0  - Team Canada humiliates Team Japan 13-0 in Women Hockey Would Cup
成人被打屁股是一種羞辱 - An adult being spanked is a humiliation

侮辱: insult (v); insult (n)

Example:
不要用這種謊話去侮辱人們的智慧 - Don't use such lies to insult people's wisdom
把那人比作豬是對豬的侮辱 - It is an insult to the pig to compare that person to a pig
羞 has the meaning of 'shame' In a typical hockey game, the score total is around 3-4 goals by both teams, losing 13-0 is a humiliation/ shame. Only children would be spanked by adults, an adult being spanked is a humiliation/ shame
Both 侮 and 辱 mean 'insult'
侮辱 = 'insult'
Basically, an insult (侮辱) makes you feel offended/ angry; A humiliation (羞辱) makes you feel belittled/ humiliated/ angry
羞辱 (n) is similar to 恥辱 (n: humiliation; shame), but 恥辱 cannot be used as a verb
Being naked cause people to feel shame, to strip someone naked is more than a 侮辱. It is a 羞辱; Calling someone names is a 侮辱 but not always a 羞辱, e.g. I wouldn't consider '你這殺人兇手' (You murderer) a 羞辱, but I would consider '你這説謊者'(you liar) as one


Standards: Japanese - Chinese Name Translations Very rarely will you see a Japanese name in Chinese without 汉字.

What rules are there for translating Japanese names into Chinese?

Take for instance the name Yoshi (よし) 汉字 include: 与四、与志、与子、与士、与司, just to name a few (and there are, like, a million different variations).

What standards are there when translating Japanese names that may/may not have 汉字 equivalents?

1. Kanji with Chinese character counterpart

Wikipedia (ref 1) implies this is the majority case:

  Japanese names are usually written in kanji, which are characters usually Chinese in origin but Japanese in pronunciation.

When translating these names, the kanji characters are directly converted to their Chinese counterparts. It's not always 1:1 though, like both 沢(kanji) and 澤(kanji) map to 泽(Chinese character).

2. Kanji without Chinese character counterpart

Wikipedia (ref 1):

  Sometimes, a Japanese name includes kokuji. These kanji resemble Chinese characters but originate in Japan and do not have Chinese pronunciations. For example, the word komu (込) has no Chinese reading. When words like this are encountered, usually the rule of "有邊讀邊，沒邊讀中間" ("read the side if any, read the middle part if there is no side") applies. Therefore "込" is read as "rù" which is derived from 入.

This paragraph implies these kokuji are not translated, instead, Chinese pronunciations are 'invented' for reading.

On the other hand, the Zhihu Q/A (ref 3) suggests

  如果出现了中文没有对应汉字的情况，会基于汉字意思或者字形接近的原则来补一个汉字。例如：冴羽りょう，就有寒羽良的翻译。因为さえ这个词也有寒冷的意思。但，如果按照严格的翻译规则，应该翻译成讶羽獠。

In practice we see all different methods being used even in formal occasions (like broadcast and newspaper). No single rule is strictly followed.

3. Hiragana and katakana in names

From real life cases we know this is the place with the most flexibility. One thing I'm sure is the hiragana or katakana have to be translated into Chinese characters, but methods may span 'best guess' kanji conversion, direct paraphrasing, contextual paraphrasing, transliteration (rare), etc.

As mentioned in ref 3, when it comes to ACG (Anime, Comics and Games) or any fictitious names, it's free translation. Examples:

  音译
  例如：アラレ　→　阿拉蕾（原词为放在拉面里面的小号膨化颗粒）
  按读音填补汉字
  例如：ナルト　→　鸣人（原词为拉面上面放的鱼饼，常画有粉红色的螺旋图案）
  意译
  例如：ピッコロ　→　短笛（就是乐器短笛的意思）
  根据人物角色特点进行的完全颠覆式翻译
  例如：野比のび太　→　康夫（原文翻译，用填补汉字的方式应为野比延太或野比伸太）

For real person's names I believe 'best guess' kanji conversion is the most common method, with which there is still a lot of flexibility (or say lack of standard) like you said in your question.

E.g. '沢尻 エリカ' (Japanese actress) does not have kanji for her given name and used to be translated as '泽尻 绘里香' as 'best guess kanji'. Later the actress herself picked '泽尻 英龙华' (which has the same pronunciation) as the 'official' kanji name (reference here).

BTW, for Yoshi in your question, I believe the most common 'best guess' kanji is 吉.

References:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japanese_name
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanji
http://www.zhihu.com/question/20423517


What's the pronunciation of 不在乎 All the dictionaries I've checked say

  bu4 zai4 hu5

but should it actually be

  bu2 zai4 hu5

I get different answers searching for 不对， some dictionaries say bu4dui4 others bu2dui4, but as far as this phrase goes they all say bu4 zai4 hu, so is this some sort of exception to the tone change rules of 不？

Dictionaries, in general, will not incorporate tone sandhi rules into their pronunciations (of which Mandarin has quite a few)
Wikipedia says the following:

Mandarin Chinese
Mandarin features several sandhi tone rules.
When there are two 3rd tones in a row, the first one becomes 2nd tone,
and the second one becomes a half-3rd tone. E.g. 你好 (nǐ + hǎo = ní
hǎo)1
The neutral tone is pronounced "low" when following the 1st, 2nd, and
4th tones, and pronounced "high" following the 3rd tone.[dubious ]
不 (bù) is 4th tone except when followed by another 4th tone, when it
becomes 2nd tone. E.g. 不對|不对 (bù + duì = bú duì)
一 (Yī) is 1st tone when it represents the ordinal "first," Examples:
第一个 (dìyīgè). It changes when it represents the cardinal number "1"
following a pattern of 2nd tone when followed by a 4th tone, and 4th
tone when followed by any other tone. Examples: 一个 (yī + gè = yí gè),
一次 (yī + cì = yí cì), 一半 (yī + bàn = yí bàn), 一般 (yī + bān = yì bān),
一毛 (yī + máo = yì máo), 一会儿 (yī + huǐr = yì huǐr).

The rules you need to learn yourself dictionaries will not help you out on this one.
So to answer your question anytime you see 不+4th-tone it will actually be pronounced 2nd tone+4th-tone


Usage of negation 没 with 在 and 着 particle? Hello I start learning Chinese since not long, after I fell in love with the Expanse book series. (Chinese explorers are one of the first to colonise Mars planet).
I studied that 在 and 着 are particles for describing the action is in progress, happening continuously.
For example:

我在开车 "I'm driving"
我坐着吃饭 "I eat sitting" (maybe I eat while sitting?)

I also studied that the negation 没 makes some particles disappear, for example 了 and 着, but not 在.
我吃了饭 -> 我没吃饭
我吃着饭 -> 我没吃饭 (same as above!)
我在吃饭 -> 我没在吃饭
My question: if 在 and 着 are for action in progress, why the negation 没 must remove 着 and not 在？
And how do native speakers know the difference in 我没吃饭, how do you know without negation if it is 我吃了饭 or 我吃着饭?
Thank you very much!

The negation for 我吃着饭 should be 我没在吃饭 or 我不在吃饭, not 我没吃饭. You should change 着 to 在 when you turn the sentence to a negative one.
With this clarified, I think your confusion can be removed. Otherwise, let me know.


What does 还要 mean in this sentence? "释然啊，你现在心里在想什么，我恐怕比你还要清楚。" 大家好！

What does 还要 mean in this sentence?  "释然啊，你现在心里在想什么，我恐怕比你还要清楚。" It was in a Chinese novel that I was reading called 释然的修行.
Thanks!

“还要” is used to express a high degree. This sentence means I know more about your desires than you do.


Is pinyin `sh` of 什 the same as SHampoo Alright, I'm pretty sure it is not.

sh in pinyin is a [ʂ] in IPA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceless_retroflex_sibilant), while sh in shampoo in English, is a [ʃ] in IPA (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voiceless_palato-alveolar_sibilant).

Although it sounds pretty close and as a near-native speaker of Mandarin Chinese I use the SH in shampoo to pronounce [sh] in pinyin. Still I don't think the listed entries in the wikipedia is correct on this one. (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Transcription_into_Chinese)

So what do you think? I'm near-native in Mandarin Chinese but no professional linguist.

The problem is than pinyin x also sounds "like" an English sh. I'm pre-embryonic at Chinese but I've been an armchair linguist for years and I'm in China trying to pick up Mandarin right now.

Both Pinyin sh and x are different from English sh.

In English sh your tongue is at the ridge just behind your upper teeth.

In Pinyin sh your tongue bends backwards at the tip toward your palate. It curls upward.

In Pinyin x the middle of your tongue is at your palate and the tip of the tongue is at or near your bottom teeth.

But even knowing this and usually being good at mimicking speech sounds I must get it wrong constantly because people don't understand most of my efforts at Chinese. Also as I move from place to place I'm sure people don't all pronounce these Chinese sounds alike.

So what you might find is that maybe many Chinese hear your "English sh" as a "Pinyin sh" but perhaps some others might find that to them they hear a "Pinyin x", or hear a strange sound they don't immediately associate with either Chinese sound.


What's the translation of 这是瘤売肉? I'm a Chinese Novel translator and and I'm sort of having problems translating this: 这是瘤売肉。

Obviously it's something that the author made up. It doesn't hurt if you use pinyin or any funny sounding word you come up with.


Please help me understand this use of 去做 I came across this sentence in my HSK course:

但是很多时候，我们不得不去做一些自己不愿意做，甚至是非常不喜欢的工作

Can someone please help me understand what is the function of that "去"?
I think the sentence can also work without that "去" so if it is there it must definitely have a function.
Many thanks in advance!!!!!

去 means 'go'. It can function as a verb particle that denotes the initiation of a verb. Similar to 'go' in 'go kill people' in English
More examples:
我當教師 = I being a teacher
我去當教師 = I go and (begin to) be a teacher
因窮而犯法 = break the law because you are poor
因窮而去犯法 = go and (start to) break the law because you are poor

很多时候，我们不得不做一些自己不愿意做 = We often do something we don't want to do

很多时候，我们不得不(去)做一些自己不愿意做 = We often (go/ start) doing something we don't want to do

A simpler example:
殺人 = kill people
去殺人 = go kill people (initiate the action 'kill')


What title did the merchants who dealt with Canton's 13 Factories have? What I know:
During the period leading up to the Opium Wars, trade into China from Europe was locked down to 13 buildings in Canton known as the 13 factories. European merchants were only permitted to do business in the 13 factories.

What I want to know:
What title were the merchants who had authorization to deal with the europeans in the 13 factories called? Was there a title for these merchants who were allowed to deal with the outsiders? Was this even a special privilege, or could anyone walk into the 13 factories and strike a deal?

While we're at it, what's a better name than "the period leading up to the Opium Wars" for this period in Chinese history? That's obviously a eurocentric way to specify the time period, and I'd rather not do that.

I'm shamelessly crossposting this with the History Stack Exchange, because I can't figure out which one is the "right" place to put this question. If there's a clear policy on which one I should have used, please accept my apologies in advance and educate me.

What title were the merchants who had authorization to deal with the europeans in the 13 factories called

they're called 行商 (hong/factory merchant)

indeed, there're several chinese books about the thirteen hongs (十三行); for an english one, have a look of "the 'fan kwae' at canton before treaty days, 1825-1844"

if you can read literary chinese, try the book 夷氛聞記, by 梁廷枏:

https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/夷氛聞記/卷01

  what's a better name than "the period leading up to the Opium Wars" for this period in Chinese history?

in westerner's term, i think "before treaty days" is quite good.

in chinese's term, i would suggest:

嘉道年間 (1796-1850)

道光年間 (1821-1850)


Why is the 几次 in 你这个星期买东西几次了 incorrect? When trying to translate this sentence:

How many times have you gone shopping this week?

I would assume that it is:

你这个星期买东西几次了？

But apparently I put the 几次 at the wrong place? Can somebody help me understand why?
My teacher told me (if I remember correctly) it has to be:

你这个星期买几次东西了？

买 is a transitive verb; 买东西 is a separable Verb-Object structure, so the number + measure  goes between.
Examples:
to eat/ to have eaten a meal
吃飯/ 吃了一頓飯
to sing/ to have sung two songs
唱歌/ 唱了兩首歌
to shop/ to have shopped three times
買東西/ 買了三次東西
to tell a story/ to have told several stories
講故事/ 講了幾個故事
With intransitive, multi-syllabic verbs that cannot be separated, the number + measure goes after.
Examples:
to perform/ to have performed one show
表演/ 表演了一場
to complain/ to have complained quite a few times
投訴/ 投訴了好幾次


How are new element names/characters decided? Saw this on Twitter:

  4 new elements = 4 new Chinese characters (since every new element generally gets a newly-invented character).

Then, I found this article which says:

  化学元素周期表原子序113的新元素将命名为“Nihonium”，元素符号为“Nh”,“Nihon”是“日本”的日语发音，中文名称则尚未决定。

How are new element names/characters decided?

4 new elements = 4 new Chinese characters? I also know that 4 new elements = 4 new English words.

Actually these new elements have no relationship with China:

  113: Nihonium (Nh) is from Nihon, another name of Japan.

  115: Moscovium (Mc) comes from the city name Moscow.

  117: Tennessine(Ts) comes from Tennessee.

  118: Oganesson (Og) comes from Russian physicist Yuri Oganessian
  (1933-).

So how is a new element are named in Chinese? Here's Official standards from 全国科学技术名词审定委员会:

  化学元素的符号是国际通用的，化学元素的命名由于语种的不同，会有较大的差异。化学元素名称的汉译，自晚清开始译入到21世纪的今天，历经了百年，形成了化学元素自有的中文定名原则：

  （1)根据尽量少造新字的原则，在元素定名需要造字时，尽量选用已有的古字。

  （2）选用或新造汉字应符合国家汉字规范。

  （3）符合以形声字为主体的汉字书写特点，以体现元素的性质，发音靠近国际命名。

  （4)避免与以前的元素名称同音，避免用多音字。

  （5)使用简化字，避免用怪异字，选用笔画少的字。

  （6)为了避免歧义，选字应尽量避开生活常用字和已经用做其他行业专用字的汉字。

  （7)尽量采用繁简无差别的字，以利于海峡两岸和汉语圈科技术语的统一。

If you want to know more about how CHINESE name of new elements are decided, check out 全国科学技术名词审定委员会 Official Site.

P.S. They are collecting new names of these 4 new elements. If you have good idea, also check out this website to submit your name suggestions.


Usage of 師傅 in Mandarin In Cantonese 師傅 will often be used to refer to some sort of specialized worker (e.g. a plumber, or a renovator) or some sort of "master" or "teacher" (not in the sense used in a school setting), similar to some senses of 先生 in Japanese as far as I know. Is this sort of usage also common in Mandarin, and is it used for the same things?

EDIT: Are there also regional differences to how commonly the phrase is used?

Is this sort of usage also common in 普通話, and is it used for the same things?

Yes.

"师傅" means teacher or the guider who guides you to do something at the very beginning. There's a very famous saying: 师傅领进门，修行靠个人。 (Teachers can only guide you, Deeply learning depends on yourself).

Sometimes, 师傅 is a formal statement. E.G: 功夫熊猫(KongFu Panda)'s ShiFu:D,  Here it means "大师" (master). We usually use "老师" when speaking.


What is the meaning of "对着／对上／对不上" in this pattern "Subj. + 对着／对上／对不上"？ I read this. I do not understand the meaning of "对着／对上／对不上" in this structure. Can you guys make it clear?

Moreover, this pattern

  Subj. + 对着／对上／对不上

may lack of predicate. So, what types of words can I add to the predicate?

槍口對著人 means that let muzzle of the gun face a person. Here, 對著, means face a particular things. It is apply on 對著鏡子笑 too. So you face a mirror and laugh.

對不上 means fail to match correctly. In examples you provide, the two accounting cannot match correctly. Let me introduce other example, you can say 這兩片拼圖對不上. In this example, it show that two pieces of jigsaws failed to match.

If they can match correctly, you can say 這兩本帳對得上 or 這兩片拼圖對得上. It substitute 不 with 得. So the negative meaning is removed.


Chinese of “No one will think you’re mute because you don’t speak” Does anyone know the correct Chinese expression that goes something like no one would think you’re mute because you don’t speak? And how it’s correctly written in Chinese?

I’ve read the translation a few times and wanted to read the original words/see the characters. Thanks!!

The one comes to mind:

  你不说话没人把你当哑巴。

你 can be omitted:

  不说话没人把你当哑巴。


How to use the phrase "尝一尝"? Recently I encountered the phrase "尝一尝" in a sentence. I need some advice on the way to use it and when to use it. And is 尝一尝 similar to 试一试?

尝 basically means to taste something.

尝一尝 = to have a taste of something

Usually it is used quite literally, i.e.: to do with flavors and tastes of edibles.

Here is an example sentence from New Century E-C:

  很多人出于习惯往食物里加盐, 都不先尝一尝。
  Many people add salt to their food out of habit, without even tasting it first.

You can find a bunch of examples from TV show subtitles here:

  Yeah? Take a taste.
  尝一尝

  you can taste it
  你可以尝一尝

etc.

试 on the other hand means try.

试一试 = to have a try at something

Here is an example sentence from New Century E-C:

  这有点儿不靠谱, 但我想我会试一试。
  It's a bit far-fetched but I thought I would give it a shot.


Is "佳能" the standard translation for "canon" in a religious sense? Apparently "巴利佳能" is the translation of "Pali Canon."

When referring to the foundational documents of other theological or philosophical schools, will I be understood if I use the term "佳能"?

No. 佳能 is only used for the translation for Canon the brand/company name.

There are more than one translation for canon in religious sense based on its different meanings. The standard translation for Pali Canon is 巴利文大藏经 (Wikipedia).

If you are interested in the translations for other meanings, you can find them in a dictionary. Another way to find out is on the Wikipedia disambiguate page for 'canon', choose the term you're interested in, and click on 中文 on the left to see the Chinese version.


What is written in this satellite photograph? (Characters identified: 忠于毛主席) What is written in Chinese at this location 40.449787, 116.548828 on Google maps?

Tried using translators. But didn't find any feasible answer for this.

I used Google translator and wrote these words 于 毛 王 床 and got this translation - Yu Mao king bed.

The characters read:

忠于毛主席
Zhōng yú Máo zhǔxí

忠 means faithful;
于 is a multi-use preposition which, to me, sounds a bit archaic/formal, and here means "to", but can also mean "in" or "on";
毛 is Mao Zedong's surname;
主席 means "chairman".

So this translates to "Faithful to Chairman Mao". By the way, if you give the correct characters to Google, the translation it gives is Loyal to Chairman Mao.


How to differentiate moods, characters, temperaments, etc? It seems like there are way more words for these things than in English, and I am having a hard time figuring out the difference between them. Some adjectives can only be used to describe mood, while some can be used to describe character or temperament. I'm not even too clear how they differ.

心境: state of mind, mental state, mood

心气: mood, frame of mind

心情: frame of mind, mood

心思: state of mind, mood

脾气: temperament, disposition

气性: temperament, disposition

心性: disposition, temperament

性格: nature, disposition, temperament

性气: temper, temperament, character

性情: disposition, temperament, temper

What are the differences between these words? What adjectives may be used to describe which?

Those terms can be divided into two groups:
First group, temporary, like mood: 心境, 心情. Those two are close to each other. 心情 is more temporary, can be changed in a second. 心境 is more stable and broad, but it can still be changed by big event.
For example, if you say:

I am happy today. This is a kind of 心情.
I am happy the whole month. This is a kind of 心境.

Obviously, if you are happy in a month, you are happy almost everyday in that month, so most of the time 心情 reflects 心境. But it is not always true, you can have an unhappy day in a happy month.
Second group, stable, like character: 脾气, 性格, 性情. Those three are very close to each other, the difference is very subtitle.
Well, I left 心思 (ideas, thoughts), because it's totally different from the above. I also left 气性, 心性, 性气, 心气, because they are rarely used nowadays.


Children's play equipment and 儿童乐园 On the weekend I asked my mother-in-law how to say "children's play equipment" in Chinese, the answer I received was 儿童乐园.

I want to get some clarification on this and want someones help on translating the following two sentences into Chinese:

I took my children to the park. The oldest likes to kick a ball and the youngest likes to use the play equipment.
My son's school has two sets of play equipment.

儿童乐园 is children's playground, not play equipment.

The general term referring to play equipment is 游乐设施 (uncountable) or 游乐设备(countable). If you are referring to specific equipment, there are specific names for them, such as:

跷跷板 - seesaw
滑梯 - slide
猴架 - monkey bars
沙池/坑 - sandpit

As for the translation of the two sentences, I would go with the following:

  我带孩子们到公园玩。大的喜欢踢球，最小的则喜欢使用游乐设施。
  我儿子的学校有两套游乐设备。(Google Translate)

To further distinguish both 设施 and 设备, quoting from 汉典:

设施

  为某种需要而建立的机构、系统、组织、建筑等

设备

  指成套的建筑或器材

So, if you are referring to the whole installation, use 设施; if you are referring to individual equipment, use 设备.


Can I replace 可以不用 with 不需要？ This sequence: 可以不用 sounds odd to me. Maybe for Chinese ears it sounds perfectly natural. I suppose my brain immediately puts it in English, but I think the meaning is not 'you can not use' but rather 'you don't need'.
Can I replace 可以不用 with 不需要 here?
如果想准确地知道自己到底消耗了多少卡路里，平时可以不用计步软件或运动手环，只在开始跑步的时候使用就可以了。

"可以不用" and "不需要" can be used interchangeably when it means 'don't need to' and followed by a verb or verb phrase
Example:
[可以不用][付钱] = [不需要][付钱] = [don't need to] [pay]
[可以不用][用糖] = [不需要][用糖] = [don't need to] [use sugar]
~
"可以不用" (able to/ allow to not use) followed by a noun and "不需要" (don't need) followed by a noun, have different meanings
Example:
[不需要][糖]= [don't need] [sugar]
[可以][不用][糖] = [able to/ allowed to][not use][sugar]
Example of "可以不用糖" in context:

"我可以不用糖做甜品嗎？" (Can I make dessert not using sugar?)

~
[(可以不用)(用糖)] = [(don't need to) (use sugar)].
It is grammatically correct, but "可以不用用糖" (don't need to use sugar) may sound a little bit awkward in Chinese (two 用 back to back). Better change it to 不需要用糖

"不需要 + verb" = "don't need to + verb"

"不需要 + noun" = "don't need + noun"

"可以不用 + verb" = "don't need to + verb"

"可以 + 不用 + noun" = "able to/allowed to + not use + noun"

Can I replace 可以不用 with 不需要？

Yes, but only when it means 'don't need to' and followed by a verb, not noun

平时可以不用计步软件或运动手环

计步软件 is a noun, therefore, "可以不用计步软件" means "able to/ allowed to not use steps counting app"


How to say "in my opinion" in chinese? For example, "In my opinion, this music is very good".

The translation indicated by Google, 在我看来, seems rather dodgy to me.

我认为，我觉得，依我看，在我看来，依我之见，etc.
In your condition both are okay. But in daily life I would say 我觉得 since it's more common and informal.
窃以为 is an ancient-feel formal word for that , so is 恕我愚见.


App similar to "I learn Chinese", but for traditional Chinese I found a well crafted app named "I learn Chinese" for iPad. I like it, it seems a quality app. However, it teaches simplified Chinese characters. I'd like to learn traditional Chinese characters.

Is there a similar app for iPad to learn traditional Chinese?

not an app but here is a good resource: http://eword.ntpc.edu.tw/phrase.htm

i admire you're willingness to learn traditional characters. we call these 生字簿 (unknown character booklet) in taiwanese elementary schools, so it helps if you know 注音 (zhuyin, aka ㄅㄆㄇㄈ bopomofo), and the pages flow from right to left vertically for stupid political reasons so be prepared for smudges. unfortunately the site is designed for parents and teachers, so kinda unfriendly if you don't already read chinese, but the link above should contains all the links to the pdfs. start with 一年級 (first grade) then 二年級 and so on. it's a lot to go through and meant to take six years even for kids with they sponge like memory so take it slowly, have fun!


I can't understand this dialogue from my textbook. Can you help? This character has a $300 allowance. She was asked what would she do if she ran out of allowance money.
Her response: 我父母给了我一张银行卡，在紧急情况下，我可以去拿钱。但是如果没有紧急情况，我用钱用得多了，他们下个月就不给我那么多钱了。比如，
I'm confused because of this sentence: 但是如果没有紧急情况，我用钱用得多了，他们下个月就不给我那么多钱了。
So if the character spent a little bit of money on something that was not urgent, the character's parents will still give the character the same amount of money next month? Because it says only when this character spends a lot of money, her parents won't give her money next month?

I'm not quite sure how you got your English translation! The sentence "但是如果没有紧急情况，我用钱用得多了，他们下个月就不给我那么多钱了", translated, would be "but if it isn't an emergency, and I use too much money, my parents next month just won't give me that much money".
The two discrepancies between your translation and the English are in "我用钱用得多了" and "就不给我那么多钱了".
"我用钱用得多了" uses the 得 character, to provide description for a verb. You may be familiar with "跑步跑得快“, for example, which would be a way to say "runs fast". In the same way, the descriptive word in this phrase is "多", which describes the verb "用钱", or "spend money". And, of course, "多" means "much", rather than "little". "Spend only a little" could be better translated as "我用钱用得少了”.
The second area of discrepancy is in "就不给我那么多钱了", which translates literally to "just won't give me that much money", where 就 = just, 不给 = won't give, 我 = me, 那么多 = that much, 钱 = money. I would assume this simply means the parents would take the surplus spending out of next month's allowance.
Your translation, translated back into Chinese, would give something more along the lines of "但是如果没有紧急情况，我用钱用得少了，他们下个月就给我一样多钱了".


Mandarin: different ways of asking if someone prefers A to B This question is similar but doesn't address this question of comparing different ways to express the notion of preferring A to B.

Are all these ways valid grammar for asking if someone prefers A to B? (In this case A is Chinese food while B is American food.)

Expression #2 seems like it might be wrong.

妳喜歡中國菜多過美國才嗎?
中國菜比美國菜妳喜歡多嗎？
妳覺得中國菜比美國菜好吃嗎?

Sentence 3 is correct in grammar.

  妳覺得中國菜比美國菜好吃嗎?

I would probably put:

  中国菜和美国菜，你更喜欢哪一种？
  你喜欢吃中国菜还是美国菜？
  中国菜和美国菜，你觉得哪个更好吃？


What is the difference between 扰乱 and 捣乱? 扰乱 harass; disturb; create confusion; cause havoc with; mess up; perturb

捣乱 to disturb; to look for trouble; to stir up a row; to bother sb intentionally

扰 in 扰乱 carries the meaning of 'to disturb'; 'to disrupt'

捣 in 捣乱 carries the meaning of 'to smash; to crush'

扰乱(to disturb; to disrupt) is usually in non-physical, non-violent forms
When you talk with your classmate during class, you are disrupting (扰乱) the normal flow of the class
when you look over someone's shoulder while he write, you are disrupting (扰乱) his concentration.

~

捣乱 (to create a disturbance) is often in physical, violent forms
When you go smashing up a bar, it is an act of 捣乱 (to create a disturbance)
When you trashing someone's house, it is also an act of 捣乱 (to create a disturbance)

Of course your teacher may consider you and your classmate's disrupting action as 捣乱, in a metaphorically sense.
On the other hand, when the police arrest you for smashing up a bar, you cannot say you are merely disrupting (扰乱) its business. It is more serious than just getting drunk and talked loud.


What would be a proper Chinese name for someone meaning "achieving purpose/ambition?" I'm an American writing a novel in English and I have a Chinese character I want to give a real Chinese name. I'd like his name to mean something along the lines of "will," "purpose," "ambition," intelligence," or "achievement." I've found the names "Da" and "Zhi," which I like (maybe together--Da Zhi?), but I want to make sure that it's a real name and that the meanings are appropriate and accurate.

Zhi Da (Zhì dà) 志大 = great ambition/ ambition is great
Meanwhile, 大志 is a common noun for 'great ambition'. We often say, someone 有大志 (have big ambition) or 沒大志 (don't have big ambition)
志大 sounds like a first name. You can add any common Chinese family name to make up the character's full name, for example, "吳志大". The character '吳' sounds exactly the same as '吾'(I). So, "吳志大" would sound like 'My ambition is great' in Chinese
Other common names that have a similar meaning not mentioned in other answers:
志豪 - Zhihao (heroic ambition)
志強 - Zhiqiang  (strong will/ ambition)
志豪 and 志強 in Chinese are as common as 'John' and 'Michael' in English


How do you say "Do you speak Chinese?" in Mandarin and Cantonese? I realize that it is fairly easy to Google it but I'd never know how to pronounce it. Are there any audio recordings out there?

Mandarin

你会说汉语吗？ (Ni3 hui4 shuo1 han4 yu3 ma5)

Or polite form: 您会说汉语吗？(Nin2 hui4 shuo1 han4 yu3 ma5)

Of course, you can say 中文 (zhong1 wen2) instead of 汉语. That is not the big question here, but rather that you have to include 会, which underlines that you ask if the person you are speaking to, can speak Chinese or not. Only asking 你说汉语吗？ is not sufficient, it means "Do you use Chinese (in general)?, e.g. 你家里说中文吗？ Do you speak Chinese at home? (what is being asked is not the ability, but the fact if Chinese is spoken or not.)

Cantonese
你識唔識講中文啊? (Nei5/Lei5 sik1 m4 sik1 gong2 zung1 man4 aa3, I am using Jyutping here, but Yale is a similar transcription).

If you want to ask "Do you speak Chinese?" in Cantonese, you ask Chinese (中文), not Cantonese. I really don't understand why one would think Cantonese is not Chinese. So ask for 中文 not 廣東話. If you want to ask if someone specifically can speak Cantonese, then use 廣東話.

Notes:

(1) The Mandarin text uses simplified characters, as most Mandarin speakers use these, the Cantonese question uses the traditional ones, as most Cantonese speakers who are familiar with writing Cantonese are Hongkongers, who use traditional characters, but simplified characters are used by Cantonese native Mainland Chinese who can read and write Cantonese or at least have some experience with it.

(2) The Cantonese pronunciation is difficult to transcribe, there is a difference between Mainland Cantonese and Hong Kong Cantonese, e.g. 你 begins with 'l-' in "lazy speech", i.e. casual Hong Kong Cantonese, but 'n-' is a more formal, "proper" sound, especially used in the Mainland.

(3) The word "Chinese (language)" has many equivalents in (Mandarin) Chinese, all differ in some way.

汉语, the language of the Han
中文, the (written) language of the Chinese civilization
华语, Chinese as the language of Overseas Chinese, whether Mandarin, Cantonese, Hakka, or any other dialect, as contrasted to the non-Chinese languages, like English, Malay or Thai, etc.
中国话, less used, means "the (spoken) language of China".
国语, ("national language"), i.e. Mandarin Chinese, this expression is mostly used outside the PRC
普通话 ("general language"), also Mandarin Chinese (or sometimes called Standard Chinese), this word is used in the PRC, which promotes Mandarin Chinese and discourages speaking dialects in public.
官话 ("official language"), Mandarin Chinese, this word has historic connotations, the Ming and Qing-dynasties, under which the Northern dialects gained the status of official language of the administration and the "Mandarins".


When/where are chopsticks referred to as 箸子 Never heard 箸子 before.

It is in a lot of dictionaries I have though.

Aside from sample sentences there isn't any info about when/where this is used.

When/where are chopsticks referred to as 箸子?

箸 is used frequently in literatures of yore.

禮記﹒曲禮上　"飯黍毋以箸"

http://ctext.org/liji/qu-li-i/zh?searchu=箸&searchmode=showall#result

numerous times in 史記

eg 史記﹒宋微子世家　"紂始為象箸﹒箕子嘆曰﹒彼為象箸"

http://ctext.org/shiji/song-wei-zi-shi-jia/zh?searchu=箸&searchmode=showall#result

later, in 菽園雜記 of 明 dynasty, it recorded the rationale of people called it 筷子

"民間俗諱﹒各處有之﹒而吳中為甚﹒如舟行諱住﹒諱翻﹒以箸為快兒"

https://zh.wikisource.org/wiki/菽園雜記/卷01


How to stylized back-to-back or consecutive western-style quote marks? It seems most punctuation marks in Chinese are automatically stylized with spaces. Periods (。), commas (，), question marks (？), exclamation marks (！) and even book title marks (《》), as oxford likes to call them, all have spaces either in front or behind them.

Western-style quote marks (“”) on the other hand do not.

How should they be stylized?

Back-to-back quotes look even worse. I'm working on the following sentence:

  《明珠缘》第三十七回：“体乾醉了，应星却未吃酒，兼之少年精壮，隔席把张体乾轻轻一把提过来，丢翻在地，拳打脚踢。”“丢翻”意为打翻或摔倒在地等，可能源于武林。

Where we have this ugly looking

  ”“

in the middle. An end quote mark followed by an opening quote mark with no spaces in between.

Is this correct? (It doesn't look so)

Chinese quotation mark is called 引号 「」 『』

  “.......” =「......。」

~

  單引号 (single quotation mark) 「」

  Use 單引号 for quote「........。」

~

  雙引号 (double quotation mark) 『』

  Use 雙引号 for quote within quote...『....「...」....。』

~

  An end quote mark followed by an opening quote mark with no spaces in between.

  Is this correct?

There have to be space between back to back quote, Chinese quotation mark is automatically stylized with spaces.

《明珠缘》第三十七回：『体乾醉了，应星却未吃酒，兼之少年精壮，隔席把张体乾轻轻一把提过来，丢翻在地，拳打脚踢。「丢翻」意为打翻或摔倒在地等，可能源于武林。』

If you use English quotation mark for quotes, you have to put space between back to back quotes as if it was Chinese quotation mark .

《明珠缘》第三十七回："体乾醉了，应星却未吃酒，兼之少年精壮，隔席把张体乾轻轻一把提过来，丢翻在地，拳打脚‌踢。" " '丢翻' 意为打翻或摔倒在地等，可能源于武林。"


Correct spelling of Min word I have come across this song recently. I understand practically all of it. My question is specifically about one word. At a certain point, the lyrics go:

  二項要選擇啥

Now, according to 台灣閩南語常用詞辭典, a better spelling is:

  兩項欲選擇啥

Pronunciation:

  Nn̄g hāng beh ?-? siánn

The meaning should be:

  Of the two which should I choose?

What I'm concerned with is "choose". The given characters, according to the above dictionary, are pronounced suán-ti̍k, but listening to the song, I hear more like sng-tia. I did some research, and I found 摘, pronounced tiah, means 揀選, i.e. "choose". However, I found nothing close to "choose" with a reading close to "sng". So I tried to look up any word close to sng-tia, and found 痠疼, read sng-thiànn, which could well fit here, were it a verb rather than an adjective. I subsequently looked on minhakka.ling.sinica.edu.tw, finding 算 | sǹg. So possible guesses are 算疼 | sǹg-thiànn, "endure suffering", or 算摘 | sǹg-tiah, "think of choosing" or similar. I found two lyric links, [1] and [2], which both spell it as the video's subs, and a third one, which just won't load on my computer, but I expect it to spell it the same way. So in the end, what is this word? Does it mean "choose"? Otherwise, what does it mean? How is it spelt and pronounced?

As a bonus, can you confirm to on its own is equivalent to tó-uī | 叨位, i.e. means "where"?

Edit:
To add context, here are the full lyrics in Dictionary-suggested spelling with transliteration:

若無分開我不知
Nā bô hun-khui guá m̄ tsai
我有遮愛你
Guá ū tsiah ài lí
心像海水湧來湧去
Sim tshiūnn hái-tsúi íng lâi íng khì
想你無停止
Siūnn lí bô thîng-tsí
萬萬也想袂到
Bān-bān iā siūnn buē kàu
愛你遮爾深
Ài lí tsiah-nī tshim
回頭的路愈離愈遠
Huê-thâu ê lōo lú lī lú hn̄g
愛的終站佇佗位
Ài ê tsiong-tsām tī tó-uī

天啊問天啊何必折磨我
Thinn--ah mn̄g thinn--ah hô-pit tsiat-buâ guá (tsiat!?!?)
欠你偌濟怎會還袂煞
Khiàm lí guā-tsuē tsuánn ē hîng buē suah
愛你也苦無愛也苦
Ài lí iā khóo bô ài iā khóo
兩項欲選擇啥
Nn̄g hāng beh suán-ti̍k siánn
啥人知影只有天啊
Siánn-lâng tsai-iánn tsí-ū thinn--ah

指示我
Tsí-sī guá
指示我該對叨位行
Tsí-sī guá kai tuì tó-uī kiânn
我的幸福終站佇佗啦
Guá ê hīng-hok tsiong-tsām tī tó--lah

And here's a possible Mandarin rendition with English translation:

如果沒分開我不知
If we hadn't parted, I don't know
我有這麼愛你
If I'd have loved you so much
心像海水湧來湧去
My heart surges up and down like the water of the sea
想你不停止
I think of you without stopping
萬萬也想不到
I absolutely couldn't imagine
愛你這麼深
I'd have loved you so deeply
回頭的路越離越遠
The way behind me, the more I leave, the further it is
愛的終站在哪裡
Where is the final stop of love?

天啊問天啊何必折磨我
Heaven, I ask heaven, why do you torture me?
欠你偌濟怎會還袂煞
How much do I owe you? How could I not yet have finished paying?
愛你也苦無愛也苦
If I love you I suffer, if I don't, I also suffer
兩個要選擇什麼
What should I choose of the two?
誰人知道只有天啊
Who knows? Only heaven

指示我
Point out to me
指示我該對哪裡走
Point out to me whither I should go?
我的幸福終站在哪兒啊
Where is the final stop of my happiness?

Update

Yep, the third lyric site spells it 選擇 both on the right and on the left. It is a three-column site with the first two columns having the lyrics once each.

You are right, it means 'choose', and the difference of pronunciation, (as a Taiwanese I think it) is due to the song. (The elongation of that note.)

So both suán-ti̍k or sng-tia are fine.


Sign on the edge of a cross-country ski trail in Ontario, Canada This sign has been at the entrance to a ski trail.  I've been wondering what it might mean for the past couple years.  thanks for anyone able to translate.

These "what does this say?" are a bit borderline for this site (they're not really about learning Chinese), and why I started the post How do I self-answer “What does this say?”.
Anyway, since I've read it already, and it's probably not that easy to use other methods...

这是私人领地。
This is private property
请不要摘蘑菇，野韭菜或任何其他植物。否则你将会遭到检控，因为这是非法的。
Please do not pick mushrooms, wild chives (?), or other plants, otherwise you will meet with prosecution, because this is illegal.
欢迎你在郊野小径散步，但地面上有雪的话，请不要入内（11月15日至4月15日禁止通行），谢谢。
[You are] welcome to walk on the countryside alley, but if the ground has snow, please do not enter (from 15-th November to 15-th April going through is prohibited), thank you.


Where is the correct place to use 您 when addressing others? Almost every foreign text book I've seen mentions 您 as a polite or formal address to others, however I rarely hear it said and rarely see it written except when addressing customers and occasionally in toilets asking people to take a step closer.

Has this fallen out of use or is there a correct place that I should be using this to address others?

I've found when meeting people for the first time, they often ask '您贵姓' as opposed to '你叫什么' or whatever else. This is even in informal situations with friends of friends.

Also, when meeting older people, or friends relatives for the first time I would definitely go with 您 - you just want to show your polite character. I've noticed all my friends doing this so I'm not the only one.

Lastly, if you even meet anyone in a business context, then it pays to go with 您 from the outset, at least until you know them better. Just more polite really.

Hope that helps!


哪儿 vs. 哪里, Difference in Meaning? Is there any difference in meaning between 哪儿 and 哪里? If not, then how did the two different words come to be employed? Does 儿 have a meaning, or is it just a sound? I know that there are many 'redundancies' in language, but I'm interested in original meanings these words may have had, that led to the redundancy, or anything really, that can explain why there are these two distinct words that are seemingly interchangeable.

Similarly, does the same reasoning govern 这儿 and 这里, 那儿 and 那里 also?

There's no difference in meaning. They are not actually all that distinct: both words came from 哪, a generic interrogative character used for indicating a question. Given an appropriate context (e.g. 在哪), the character expresses the meaning of "where". Both 哪儿 and 哪里 builds upon that.

The suffix 儿 is generally meaningless, and reflects the northern dialectical tendency for retroflex consonants. That is, when they say 在哪 it comes out sounding like 在哪儿, so you are essentially right about it just being a sound.

Southerners are less likely to curl their tongues like that, so 哪里 is a bit more common in the south. The second character 里 (裡) here means "a specific area of space". Combined the interrogative 哪, this readily becomes "where".


Writing critique request: Zhou Ziwang gets an injection from the "doctor" Continuing from part 3 (with the story starting at part 1):

  我们到了医务室，这家楼看起来像实验室，而并不是像普通的医院。我看着我爸，他似乎已经对这个地方很熟悉，甚至知道怎么走。他说了“我的朋友在这儿工作”。我们一进去就看到医生了，而他带我们去他的办公室。医生立刻从桌子的抽屉中取出了一只注射器，说“这会解决你的体重问题 ”。我有奇怪的感觉，但是我爸悄悄地说“我已经告诉了他你来这儿的原因”。虽然我当时还有所怀疑，但我就只是相信父母而已，因此我让他给我注射。没有发现了立即而明显的后果，所以然后医生就走了，而我们回家了。

Please critique my writing.  New words for me are in links.  I'm at an "almost mastered HSK4" level.

I'm afraid 一进去就[...] is too often used in relation to premature ejaculation (一进去就射了), which would be totally inappropriate here.  But maybe what I've written is okay.

Also I'm not sure if 而已 is appropriate.

I won't include an English version: that's not the point of this exercise.  I'm fairly confident it's understandable (or at least if it needs modifying, it won't require much back-and-forth in the comments).

The sentences are short, implying the passage is colloquial. However, its style doesn't accord to daily language, which makes it translationese.

我爸就带我去了医院，但比起医院那座建筑看起来更像研究所。我爸似乎已经很熟悉这里了，他根本没有问路。哦，我想起他说过有朋友在这里工作。最后我们到了一个房间，进去就看到了医生，见了我们立刻带往了他办公室。医生从抽屉里取出一支注射器，告诉我说打了以后就不会有体重问题了。我感到十分奇怪，但爸爸小声解释说他早就跟医生说过了。听了这话我虽然仍然怀疑，但出于对父亲的信任我没有拒绝注射。打完之后没什么特别的感觉，但医生确定已经完成了，于是走掉了，所以我们也回家了。

Comments:

It seems that you are not used to use link words, so sometimes it's weird in logic.

实验室 is a room complex, while 研究所 is a building complex.

一支注射器

"这会解决你的问题" We don't say like that, which I have only heard in translation works.

这并不能解决你的问题。√
这解决得了你的问题吗？√
这样你的问题就解决了。√
你还有什么问题没解决？√
这不会解决你的问题的。√
这会解决你的问题。x
—— hard to say why.

"我已经告诉了他你来这儿的原因" Oh, it's worse.

你为什么要来我已经告诉过他了。
我已经告诉过他你为什么要来了。
我已经跟他说过你要来的原因了。

"虽然我…但我…因此我" is usually shortened as "我虽然…但…因此"

"而已" Why? I don't see how it is used.

"后果" is usually something bad, and is always used to imply the consequence/effect of something. It cannot be used alone.

你有没有考虑过徇私枉法的后果？√（下场/结果x）
现在锒铛入狱才后悔当初没有多想想贪污腐败的后果。√（下场√结果x）
上述两句区别在于，“下场”必定是已成现实/假定已成现实。
现在家道中落，祖荫尽失，可谓是不思进取的后果。√（结果/下场√）（贬损的语气下场＞后果＞结果）
这样做不用担心有什么后果。√（结果/下场x）
树倒猢狲散，飞扬跋扈的王家没落得个好后果。x（结果/下场√）
利用政策套利，目前还没发现有什么后果。√（结果/下场x）

Should 儿化音 be written down or not? I recommend not.


How many different types of adverbials exist in total? At first I learned:

  The most frequent sentence pattern in Chinese is S V O
  e.g.
  你 打 我

Next I learned:

  There are fixed places within this pattern, where one can put adverbials,namely between S and V and after O.
  S a1 V O a2
  e.g.
  你 去天 打 我 几个小时

Finally I learned:

  There are different kinds of adverbials. Those expressing  duration are put after O, those expressing time,manner and place are put between S and V in this sequence.
  S time manner place VO duration
  or for the sake of brevity
  S t m p V O d
  e.g.
  你 去天 愉快地 房子后 打 我 几个小时

Now these four kinds of adverbials can't be all kinds, for instance one could think of an adverbial,that expresses the instrument

  用大头棒

or the target

  向踝

So, how many types of adverbials are in total and what is their sequence?

In situations like this, it IS better to make it a full sentence than just combinations of whole bunch of adverbs.

In the examples OmniBus provide above, it will create some kind of "emphasize" feeling if you put so many comma in it. If the sub-sentence belong to the same flow of actions and logics, the comma could be omitted.

In addition, the example above would be better if the order is changed to

昨天，你在房子後用大頭棒打我的腳踝，打了好幾個小時，打得很愉快。

向 means "Toward", so 打向踝 means "Hit toward ankle". Even in English, it's "off". And, who's ankle!? Yourself's!?

了(Re) is some how complicated, it often used for stating that the action is an ongoing process and it's done deal! Deal with it!

好(Hao)幾個 is an often used phrase meaning "Many of, a lot of, whole bunch of".

So the whole sentence means "Yesterday, you bit my ankle with a bat behind the house, for many hours, and you enjoy it!".

But! The OP's sentence COULD be put into one single sentence. It would be

你昨天愉快地用大頭棒在房子后打了我的腳踝好幾個小時。

But, I have to ask, who is this perverted person!?!?!?


Chinese Idiom puzzle 10 (中文填字遊戲) Please solve the puzzle below

People use their collective wisdom and abilities to work together

(something good) Happens twice

Give no quarter

Awesome skill

Miles of waves

Overly militaristic; Wantonly engage in military ventures

Follow the leader's direction

輸打贏要  Bad sportsmanship (Cantonese expression)

Unexpected disaster (with no fault of one's own)

Misfortune may turn out to be a blessing in disguise

Return strongly (in high profile)

Too happy and forgets the time to go

Fight and die on the battlefield

(Someone in a high position) Can treat talented people with respect and courtesy

Reward the good, punish the bad

Admit mistakes to the other party, ask for punishment and forgiveness

A heart as kind and pure as a child's

Have done many bad things

Get lost!

Brother harming brother

Palm reading: 'Career line'

Someone could be listening

Looking at things roughly without seeing the details

A national symbol of Canada

A. Metaphor for being loyal to each other (Similar to 肝瞻相照)
B. Leaderless
C. Conquer and unify the world
D. False things; fictional
E. Fortress
F. To try hard to save a desperate crisis; Overcome impossible odds
G. Pleasant activity
H. Will never fail; totally secure
I. The visitor is not the friendly type
J. The evil is always a step ahead ('道高一尺'下句)
K. Have done many evil deeds
L. See picture below:

M. People do not desire much would always be happy
N. Seems right on the surface, but isn't
O. Metaphor for the news spread quickly without promotion
P. 楊戩
Q. Ungrateful
R. Have no literary knowledge
S. The other name for Tofu brain (mostly in the Southen China regions)
T. Metaphor for people who used up all his tricks, and have nothing left
U. A famous quote from 項羽 after he lost his final battle, basically saying it was the heaven decided he would lose, not the fault of him fighting this war.
V. War disaster
W. heavy dust rolling
X. It is unfair and undesirable to win against an overmatched opponent.
Y. Referred to the Shanghai French concession area in the olden time.
Z. Idiom: (of trees) be luxuriant, be flourishing; (fig.) To have a lot of offsprings

Formatted as a code block
(With U+3000 IDEOGRAPHIC SPACE)

　　殺　　輸肝剖膽　禮　　　　隔
群龍無首　打　　　　賢　赤　　牆
策　赦　　贏　席捲天下　子虛烏有
群　　波　要塞　土　士　之　　耳
力挽狂瀾　　翁　重　　賞心樂事
　　　萬無一失　來者不善　　業
魔高一丈　　馬　　　　罰　　線
　　　　馬　焉　　　作惡多端
梅花樁　首　知足常樂　　行
開　　似是而非　　而　　不脛而走
二郎神　瞻　福　　忘恩負義　　馬
度　乎　　　　　　返　荊　煮　看
　　其　胸無點墨　　　請　豆腐花
黔驢技窮　妄　　非戰之罪　燃
　　　兵刀之災　　死　　　萁
　　　黷　災　　　沙塵滾滾　　楓
勝之不武　　十里洋場　　開枝散葉

Down (numbers)

 1. 群策群力 People use their collective wisdom and abilities to work together
 2. 梅開二度 (something good) Happens twice
 3. 殺無赦 Give no quarter
 4. 神乎其技 Awesome skill
 5. 波瀾萬丈 Miles of waves
 6. 窮兵黷武 Overly militaristic; Wantonly engage in military ventures
 7. 馬首是瞻 Follow the leader's direction
 8. 輸打贏要  Bad sportsmanship (Cantonese expression)
 9. 無妄之災 Unexpected disaster (with no fault of one's own)
 10. 塞翁失馬焉知非福 Misfortune may turn out to be a blessing in disguise
 11. 捲土重來 Return strongly (in high profile)
 12. 樂而忘返 Too happy and forgets the time to go
 13. 戰死沙場 Fight and die on the battlefield
 14. 敬賢下士 禮賢下士 (Someone in a high position) Can treat talented people with respect and courtesy
 15. 賞善罰惡 Reward the good, punish the bad
 16. 負荊請罪 Admit mistakes to the other party, ask for punishment and forgiveness
 17. 赤子之心 A heart as kind and pure as a child's
 18. 多行不義 Have done many bad things
 19. 滾開 Get lost!
 20. 煮豆燃萁 Brother harming brother
 21. 事業線 Palm reading: 'Career line'
 22. 隔牆有耳 Someone could be listening
 23. 走馬看花 Looking at things roughly without seeing the details
 24. 楓葉 A national symbol of Canada

Across (letters)

 A. 輸肝剖膽 OR 輸肝瀝膽 Metaphor for being loyal to each other (Similar to 肝瞻相照)
 B. 群龍無首 Leaderless
 C. 席捲天下 Conquer and unify the world
 D. 子虛烏有 False things; fictional
 E. 要塞 Fortress
 F. 力挽狂瀾 To try hard to save a desperate crisis; Overcome impossible odds
 G. 賞心樂事 Pleasant activity
 H. 萬無一失 Will never fail; totally secure
 I. 來者不善 The visitor is not the friendly type
 J. 魔高一丈 The evil is always a step ahead ('道高一尺'下句)
 K. 作惡多端 Have done many evil deeds
 L. 梅花樁 See picture
 M. 知足常樂 People do not desire much would always be happy
 N. 似是而非 Seems right on the surface, but isn't
 O. 不脛而走 Metaphor for the news spread quickly without promotion
 P. 二郎神 楊戩
 Q. 忘恩負義 Ungrateful
 R. 胸無點墨 Have no literary knowledge
 S. 豆腐花 The other name for Tofu brain (mostly in the Southen China regions)
 T. 黔驢技窮 Metaphor for people who used up all his tricks, and have nothing left
 U. 非戰之罪 A famous quote from 項羽 after he lost his final battle, basically saying it was the heaven decided he would lose, not the fault of him fighting this war.
 V. 兵禍之慘 兵刀之災 War disaster
 W. 沙塵滾滾 heavy dust rolling
 X. 勝之不武 It is unfair and undesirable to win against an overmatched opponent.
 Y. 十里洋場 Referred to the Shanghai French concession area in the olden time.
 Z. 開枝散葉 Idiom: (of trees) be luxuriant, be flourishing; (fig.) To have a lot of offsprings


What's the opposite of 不安? 不安 (bùān)
CC-CEDICT: unpeaceful / unstable / uneasy / disturbed / restless / worried

Sometimes I want to use the opposite adjective to 不安 (with the meaning 不不安), but I'm not sure what to use.  It's likely not 不不安 nor just 安, but there's a lot of other possibilities like 安静, 安宁, 安详, etc., but none seem to be a great fit.
Question: What is the opposite of 不安?

不安 mean uneasy, restless. The close opposite is 鎮定, which means a person with a stable mental state when facing either expected or unexpected events (can be any mind-stimulating event but usually bad things or news).
The complete opposite is 安然, which means at ease.