How does 鐘頭 come to mean hour? I know that 鐘 means clock so am I right in saying that 鐘頭 means head of clock which becomes hour?

If it's the head of the clock, is it referring to the minute hand being at the '12' (I.e the top of the clock?)

If so that would be very intuitive and makes me appreciate the Chinese language further!

I think you got the idea of 鐘 means clock and 頭 means beginning. It means the beginning of a 60 min cycle in the clock. So it turns to mean hours.


What does having disposition of 护短 means? The context describe a character as having disposition of 护短. What does this means?

性格特点：护短！护短！护短！

I know that 护短 means to hide own's shortcoming. Does this describe a person who does not accept one's mistake? Shameless?

护短 is said 3 times, because it is important.

It conveys something like, "Don't judge me, my friends or my family; Never blame me or criticize me; If I make a mistake, you must ignore it. Got it?"

(nod)

"OK, now you are my friend."


Roots of the difference between 谈,论,说,讲,议, 叙,言,报,告,述 All those talk, discuss, chat and ect. In any language there are a lot of words expressing different connotation of people speaking.

In my own language (russian) there are lot's of them BUT I can hardly explain the difference. The etymology of those words is unknown to me. In chinese, on the other hand, I think, there might be some etymological information hiddend in 字 mentioned in the title.

Question: If not for all of those 字 listed in the topic, can you explain the difference between (for some of them) using etymology?

P.S. Added 述 to the question. Can anyone explain it's origing and how those origins affect the application of 述 to the speach.

P.S.S. Here is the list of connotations we have figured out:

告 - 牛 cow + 口 mouth → cow bending its neck in lowing → tell; inform; announce; signal
谈 - 言+炎 abbreviated form of 淡=light+words→a light talk
说 - 兌=八split or strip+兄extend the arms→extend the arms&strip away a captive's clothes. 说=言+兌=words+strip away doubts→a speach; an explanation. Or a better hypothesis that 兌=八split+兄men = salient or wedge, that is a formation of troops as a salient. If 言+兌=to insert words
報 or 报　- 服 (spread over) + 幸 (handcuffs) → spread a restraining device over part of a criminal's body in retribution for a crime → retaliation; recompense; remunerate→ reward. to report or to announce a crime as a punitive measure→official report or annoncment.
论 - 言 + elder scrolls → a doctrine, deep thoughts, a theory
讲 - 言 + structure, scaffold → structured talk.
议 - 言 + a separated in half animal = dis + cuss = a discussion
述 - 言 + weaving, interconnecting = a narration

言 (yan2) is the root of all words meaning talk. It says so in the 說文解字 (a dictionary from the Han dynasty):

  凡言之屬皆从言

The origin of the character 言 is a picture of a person with a big mouth. In ancient Chinese, it’s the general word for any form of speech or talking. In modern Chinese, it has become literary and is normally only used in compound words like 語言 (yu2yan2) "language".

Most other characters you mention are just 言 with a second component to indicate the sound of the word (this type of character is called 形聲字 (xing2sheng1zi4):

談

(tan2)’s phonetic part is 炎 (yan2), which means hot or inflamed. In ancient Chinese, this word has connotations of talking happily about something. It’s often used in the combination 談笑 (tan2xiao4), meaning "to talk and laugh". In modern Chinese, this is a general word for light conversation, similar to English "chat" or Russian "razgovor".

論

(lun4)’s phonetic part is 侖 (lun2), meaning logical order. In this case, this part also points to the meaning: Both in ancient and modern Chinese, 論 means to explain or to discuss. It can also mean to ponder something without actually talking out loud. Example from the 呂氏春秋:

闻言必熟论 the words heard must be carefully examined

說

(shuo1)’s phonetic part is 兌 (dui4), which can mean a number of things such as "exchange" or "melt". In ancient Chinese, 說 has two meanings. Pronounced "shui4", it means "to persuade". Pronounced "shuo1", it means "to explain", or, as a noun, "teachings". For example, 老子說 means "the teachings of Laozi". The meaning "explain" still exists in modern Chinese, but 說 has also become a general word for "speak", like English "say" or Russian "skazat".

講

(jiang3)'s traditional character had the phonetic 冓 (gou1), which can mean a number of things, including "to meet" and "to combine". Accordingly, 講 in the 說文解字 means "to reconcile". The simplified character uses 井 (jing3), meaning water well (Russian "kolodets"). In modern Chinese, 講 has a number of meanings, but the most common ones are:

講故事 tell a story
講價 negotiate the price

In some dialects, 講 replaces 說 as the main verb for "speak".

議

(yi4) has 義 (yi4), which means "meaning" or "righteousness". Both words reflect the meaning of 議, which means "opinion" or "comment" and is normally used in compound words.

告 (edited)

There are different explanations of this character. I originally followed the "cow that makes a noise" explanation found here, but that seems to be wrong.

告 (gao4) consists of the parts 牛 (niu2) "cow" and 口 (kou3) "mouth".
Various explanations for this character exist. The 說文解字 explanation does not make sense to me. This article (PDF in Chinese) claims that the character originally described a method of catching or keeping cows. Later it acquired the sense of "to sacrifice" (also written as 祰). From there, its meaning as "report" developed. In ancient Chinese, 告 meant "to report something to a superior". Nowadays it means "to tell somebody about something".

報

(bao4) is interesting. The left side is a criminal (辠 zui4). The right part is a hand and a kneeling person, a shorter version of the character 服 (fu4) "punish". 報 originally meant "court documents", but the meaning has expanded to cover the English words "report", "answer", "repay" and, from those meanings, "newspaper".


What's the difference between 顿 and 道 as a measure word for meals? What's the difference between 顿 and 道 as a measure word for meals? What each measure word stresses?

吃了一顿饭
吃了一道饭

Looks like 顿 used to mean 点头 diǎntóu or 鞠躬 jūgōng. If it's so, then presenting "a dish" with a 鞠躬 makes some sence and can explain why 顿 started to be used as a measure word for this type of thing.

But 道 as far as I know is used for crooked thinks like roads and lightnings. Can 道 be used as "a round" like in boxing. "Next round of meals"...

一頓饭 is one meal whereas 一道菜 is one course or one dish.

這頓豐富的晚餐共有十二道菜。

This sumptuous dinner is made up of twelve courses.


Taiwanese Guoyu vs. Putonghua 阴平/阳平 tone split? I might be reading too much into this and seeing things that aren't there. But, I think, I'm seeing a pattern between some dialects and Mandarin. The following characters seem to have some sort of Mandarin 阴平 vs. dialect 阳平 split:

夹
扎
击
跌
息

I originally just thought it was a Taiwanese Guoyu thing, but the above characters are also all listed 阳平 in《现代汉语方言音库 • 成都话音档》.

Is there any explanation for this Putonghua 阴平 vs. dialect 阳平 split?

In this case, all of the characters were not even 平声 at all in Middle Chinese, but were all 入声 instead [Wiktionary's IPA]:

  夹 (夾) /kˠɛp̚/

  扎 /t͡ʃˠɛt̚/

  击 (擊) /kek̚/

  息 /sɨk̚/

All of the above started with voiceless unaspirated (obstruent) consonants, so are all 阴入 in Middle Chinese. For Standard Mandarin, these reflexes are notoriously unpredictable anyway. You may see that many (though not most) of the 多音字 of Standard Mandarin fall into this Middle Chinese tone category.

  跌 /det̚/

This, on the other started with a voiced plosive in Middle Chinese, hence 阳入. As this was an obstruent voiced plosive, in Standard Mandarin this is regularly to be merged into 阳平, so dié would have been expected for 跌.

This leads to the question, how did speech in Beijing get distributed as such? Various hypotheses have been proposed:

dialect mixing (much more important nowadays; there is an example of Jinan in Shandong being influenced by Standard Mandarin, increasing the number of 上声 because of its phonetic similarity to Beijing's 阴平);
initial consonant (labial towards 去声, others toward one of the 平声);
tone sandhi; some characters were more common in the middle of words, where they are more likely to be non-flat in contour (so more likely to become modern 阳平)

These are not conclusive; all that we can say is that the entering tone was particularly unstable, and variation in how it is pronounced is to be expected.


Usage and meaning of "占我的便宜" My understanding of 占我的便宜 means something similar to 吃豆腐 and I have never heard it used outside of taking sexual advantage. Can this be used in other contexts? Google translate suggests it means "take advantage of me", in English this phrase could also be used to take financial advantage or using someone for your own personal gain, is this the same usage in Chinese?

Further to this question, how did this phrase come about, why were these specific characters combined to make this meaning?

"占我的便宜" and "吃豆腐" are all disadvantages for usage with nagetive meaning for daily Chinese people.

However, the first set phrase is NOT ONLY used to women but to other things as well. We usually use this phrase to describe a senario that someones (tries to) gain sth at the expense of others, but the expense is very little for the others. And the fixed one is very similar to "揩油"(ShangHai dialect).——This is very similar to you.

Another meaning is that “贪小”（greedy for small gains or profits）

Now let's see some Chinese samples:

不要捡地上随便掉落的元宝、金银器物，不要占便宜，否则你极可能被犯罪分子要挟勒索！

"吃豆腐" is used when a man wanna do something ugh to a woman (especially something that is dirty)：(e.g), A man in the bus is rubbing the woman with the reason that the bus is fully crowded with people.

For more, you can see this sample.


What are these characters from this chopsticks packaging? What are the characters shown in the following chopsticks packaging?

I've no idea what the first character is and the Chinese speakers at the restaurant at which I was given this package couldn't identify it either.

The second character appears to be 箸, a classical and dialectical word for chopsticks. However, that leaves me curious as to why there's a dot at the right-hand side of the 者 component.

御 royal; imperial

箸 chopsticks

The dot at the right-hand side of the 者 component is due to different typefaces.


Does "希" mean Greek or Hebrew? For example:
他會説英德希三種語言。
Which of the following translation is correct?

He speaks English, German and Greek.

or

He speaks English, German and Hebrew.

Yes, 希 can refer to Greek, 希腊； or 希伯来 Hebrew; But I would be very carful in using it as it may causes confusion unless the context is very clear. For example, 他會説英德希三種語言。is confusing, definitely not Spanish (西 would be used).  But is it 希腊 or 希伯来？ For minor languages (in the sense of not many people use it), we tend to use the full name: 希伯来语，希腊语，意迪绪语，... etc.  Alas, this so happened in human history: "The last Mohigan"; the 莫歇语 (the only person who know it passed 10 years ago), especially the languages spoken without writting.


Best translation of 四风 (political term) What is a reasonable translation of 四风 in its political usage? "Four winds" does not seem to fit, neither does "four styles". I do know, however, that this expression refers to formalism, bureaucracy, hedonism, and extravagance.

KEY

PHR
"the Four (Evil) Trends" (current term introduced by President Xi Jinping in 2013, used by the PRC government to criticize the harmful practices of xíngshì zhǔyì 形式主義/形式主义 "formalism", guānliáo zhǔyì 官僚主義/官僚主义 "bureaucracy", xiǎnglè zhǔyì 享樂主義/享乐主义 "hedonism" and shēmí 奢靡 "extravagance")


The difference between 蓄着 vs 在蓄? That is the difference between:

蓄着胡子

and

在蓄胡子

As far as I understand it's:
在蓄胡子 -- to grow a beard.
蓄着胡子 -- to wear a beard.
Am I right?

Semantically, 在蓄胡子 sounds like the beard is still growing and may not necessarily be very long.
蓄着胡子 suggests that the beard has grown to a certain amount already and still keeps growing.


快: why does "fast" also mean "happy"? The character 快 is usually used for the meaning of "fast", but it is also used in the sense of "pleasant" or "happy" - for example, in the words 痛快, 爽快. It seems that both meanings are quite ancient.

According to the morphology, you'd expect this character to originally have the "happy" meaning - it has a 忄 radical - but the "fast" meaning is also very ancient, e.g.

  此马虽快,然力薄不堪苦行。——《晋书·王湛传》

How did this character pick up two meanings, which are not quite related?

And yes, 快 also has other meanings.

Not a very satisfying answer but anyway:

說文解字

  喜也。从心夬聲。苦夬切

說文解字注

  喜也。引申之義爲疾速。俗字作駃。从心。夬聲。苦夬切。十五部。

Notice the 引申之義爲疾速 from above, happiness extended to mean fast.

I don't know exactly the mentality of 喜 -> 引申 -> 疾速 but apparently people did think they were related at one point in time.

Maybe it has to do with 俗字作駃

大汉语词典

  駃 kuài［1］快马。“参见駃马”。［2］同“快”。

Must have been some mix-up somewhere.


Advice on Mandarin Chinese passive learning What are the best Chinese online TV channels with English subtitles for passive Mandarin learning. I find Chinese a rather musical language and would love to watch subbed TV (news, documentaries, culture etc) in Mandarin.

I have a few tips:

If you own your house (or are on good terms with your landlord), I would recommend having a C-Band satellite antenna installed.  The satellite you connect to will depend on the part of the world you live in. In Australia I had a 1.8m dish installed, and I connect to ChinaSat 6-B. (The whole set up cost AUD$800) There are more than 60 free TV channels broadcast from that satellite (plus many radio stations).
Use shooter.cn to download subtitles.  Wherever possible I watch English language media with Chinese subtitles from this site.  It takes a bit of a knack to figure out which subtitles to download, there are a couple of different encoding systems and there are subtitles in simplified, traditional, and some with both English and Chinese. A lot of the time the subtitles are targeted at a specific torrent (i.e. the .sub file from this site has the same name as the most-seeded torrent)
Find a Chinese / Taiwanese music charts website. Copy the titles into YouTube, and start making a compilation of tracks that you like. I listen to my playlist often in the car, It is amazing how after a few repetitions of the same tracks, you start singing along with the chorus.
Save your local Chinese radio station as a preset on your car stereo.  Most major cities will have a Chinese language radio station.
Subscribe to the Chinese language podcast of your country's national broadcaster. Most major national broadcasters have a Chinese language podcast (National Public Radio, Deutsche Welle, Radio Canada International, SBS Australia, The BBC, &c.)

Of all of these I really recommend getting the satellite antenna. It's definately worth the money.


How to say network but not internet Could I use 网形成 to describe a "network" of things with arrows going between them, like this?

Does that sound right?

Dictionaries give 网络 for "network."  But it seems to me that today 网络 mostly means the internet so it is not a good word for this.  Am I wrong about that?

Another possiblity would be just 网.  But I am not sure how that would sound to people.

In fact this is for an article on mathematical category theory. Google search shows that when Chinese language websites on category theory use  网络 they normally do use it for the internet, and not to describe networks of arrows

"Network" means 网状组织.

You can simply use only 网. For example,

television networks 电视网
a communications network 通讯网
a defense network 防卫网
an intelligence network 情报网
a network of railroads 铁路网
networks of arrows 箭头网; 箭号网


Why characters with "口字旁" were chosen in this transliteration? In 神天聖書 (a classical translation of the Bible to Chinese), the Fifth Book of Moses was translated as:

摩西之第五書名曰吐嘚咡挼咪啞譯言復講法律傳

I guess that 吐嘚咡挼咪啞 is a transliteration of Deuteronomy. But I failed to see the reason that except for 挼, only characters with 口字旁 was used in this transliteration. Is there any reason?

Characters with "mouth radicals" are often chosen for transliterations. This is especially helpful to show that it is a proper noun rather than anything else, otherwise the reader might try and put meaning into characters that are simply there for their associated sounds.

A similar concept can be seen in Chinese onomatopoeia. For instance "choo-choo" the sound a steam train makes can be written: 呜呜 in Chinese, and again we see the mouth radical to indicate purely sound-based usage. 咩咩 is equivalent to the English "baa baa," the sounds that sheep make. A closer fit to English would be: 喵喵 the sound cats make.

As a note: this is quite an old transliteration practice. You wouldn't see places written this way today and if you look at most countries names they just simply are not translated like this. But, the mouth radical does hint at sound over meaning.


How to translate 就 into English as in 这就是个很好的例子? 这就是个很好的例子。

Either with or without 就, it can be translated to

  This is a good example.

就 http://www.cantonese.sheik.co.uk/dictionary/characters/808/

就 has many usages,  I would say "definitely" is applicable here:

这是个很好的例子 - This is a very good example

这(就)是个很好的例子 - This (definitely) is a very good example

是他偷了我的钱 - He is the one who stole my money

(就)是他偷了我的钱 - He (definitely) is the one who stole my money

'就' (definitely) here is for emphasis function. Without it, the sentence's meaning doesn't change much, but with it, the emphasis on the object and the tone of seriousness would increase.

就是他 - you sure it is him

是他 -  you say it is him

Since it is for emphasis, you can use 'exactly' or 'actually instead of 'definitely' in English


Meaning of characters in 休戚相关, 患难与共 I have consulted a dictionary, but am unsure of the meaning of 关 in 休戚相关, 患难与共。

Also I'm not sure about the meaning of 与 in this context.

I get this answer from my Trusty translator. (Had to make her a coffee first!)

休：喜悦，吉利 happiness, luck

戚：忧愁悲哀 worry sadness

相关：related, connected

与共： have in common, we share

Edit: Found this link:

http://www.zybang.com/question/ea2bbea8fb9cc6cf808a4790c7900d44.html

From an old song: Life's joys and life's miseries walk hand in hand and keep each other company.

Think that translates it nicely!


How can I change the icon used for a keyboard input type in Mac I do a lot of writing in different languages and have keyboard input types set up with hot keys so I switch easily.

I'm currently in Taiwan studying Mandarin and added the "traditional" Chinese input type along with the "simplified" that I already had.

The problem I'm having is that the trad and simple input methods have the same icon and I sometimes don't know which one I'm on, and can easily mistake one for the other.

This isn't the end of the world, but if anyone knows a hack to change this (maybe just the color or something) I would be very happy.

you can click on the icon, it should provide a drop-down menu with a bunch of preferences and options.

Select "Show Input Source Name" - then select your preferred keyboard language.
It should come up with the icon, PLUS something like "Pinyin - Simplified".

This worked for me, hopefully works for you too!


How to say "Peekaboo" when playing hide and seek I have tried to find how to say "peekaboo" in chinsese when playing hide and seek.

I 've just found 门门! but I don't know it is corect or not.

Could you tell me how to say "Peekaboo!"  and "Play hide and seek!" in chinese?

PS It's a little game, often played with very little children to make them laugh. You cover the eyes or face of the baby and then you suddenly remove them and say "peek-a-boo!".

You can also say it to children. A child that was hidden and shows up in a sudden, can also say "peek-a-boo!".

It seems there's not a suitable Chinese name for the game 'Peekaboo'.
Someone says its name should be 躲躲猫, but I'm not sure.
Anyway, if you just want to know what should be said when you show up in a sudden in the game, you can say any modal particles such as "啊!", "哈!" etc.

BTW: In Chinese 捉迷藏 usually means a game played by several children. One child is selected, cover eyes and make a countdown, and the others hide themselves in the period of the countdown. And then the child selected try to find out all other children.
捉迷藏 also can be said as 躲猫猫, 藏猫猫.


How does one understand the [verb] + 在了 grammar structure? From random Internet sites, we can see many examples of the grammar structures:

[verb] + 在了

手机忘在了出租车上。
我站在了舞台上。
因为人不在，快递员就放在了门口。
小男孩被父亲故意丢在了超市。
闺蜜和男友睡在了一起。
(Google the quotes surrounded by quotation marks to see the source(s).)

I think I get the gist from these examples.  It looks like adding 在 modifies a verb, e.g., 忘 = "to forget" turns into 忘在 = "to forget at".  The 了 is the completion 了, added after the modified verb 忘在了 (so we don't write 忘了在 [or do we?]).  在了 doesn't seem to be used in the same way without a preceding verb (but we can say 不在了 or 没在了 to mean "not here", sometimes as a euphemism for being dead).
However, there may be a better way to understand this.  I'm wondering if there is a more rigorous treatment available.  I didn't find a reference from Google, not at the Chinese Grammar Wiki.
Question: How does one understand the [verb] + 在了 grammar structure?

在了 is very common, even colloquially, but it'd be better to see it as separate 在 and 了.
The usage of 了 and its position in a sentence is complex. In the example sentence

手机忘在了出租车上,

忘 here can be understood as a labile verb (perhaps?), meaning "be forgotten".
在 is a 结果补语 (complement of result).  Accroding to 刘月华(Liu Yuehua) et al.'s 《实用现代汉语语法》(Practical Modern Chinese Grammar, I'll refer to it as Gr from now on), the function of 在 is to "表示通过动作使人或事物处于某个处所，后边一定要有处所宾语" (convey the idea that something or someone is placed in some position via an action, and must be followed by an object of location).
出租车上 is the 处所宾语 (object of location) of 在. The object 出租车, or taxi, usually can't convey the idea of location on its own, but can do so when compounded with the adverb of position 上.
了 is a 动态助词 (aspect particle).  According to Gr, it's a bit complex; for a verb like 忘 in the sense of "to leave something at some place", 了 means the action has happened and has ended.

I think your problem here can boil down to where should the article 了 be in this sentence?
According to Gr, "如果谓语动词后有结果补语，“了”位于结果补语后：动词＋结果补语＋“了”＋宾语" (if there is a complement of result after the verb, then 了 is placed after the complement of result: verb + complement of result + 了 particle + object). So,
手机(Subject)忘(Verb)在(Complement)了(Particle)出租车上(Object)。
This rule can explain the first four sentences you provided. I think the fifth one is the same, but I'm unsure for now.
Also, please note that in every sentence you provided, 了 can be placed at the very end. This kind of 了 is called a 语气助词 (Modal particle), and the meanings of some sentences will change when you move 了 to the end, and some will not change very much. However, this is a much more complex grammar mischief of Chinese and I don't consider myself capable of talking about it.
Hope this helps.


Are there differences between 朋友 and 我朋友 in modern Chinese? When a friend sends me a photograph of a vase, saying

  是朋友的，

and some months later presents it saying:

  我朋友的

should I then usually assume, that the friend became a girlfriend/boyfriend (like in modern German), or is it normally unrelated to this difference?

In common context, the are literally the same.

But you can say the latter one shows 5% percent more friendship.

Since in Chinese we often omit some obvious verbs, we can get the following equation:

我朋友的 = 是我朋友的 ~ 是朋友的

Technically they are different just like:

tell the difference between :

Q: where do you get this chair?
A: it's from my friend  /  from friend

People may argue about their difference.
But As a Chinese, I would like to consider 我朋友的 and 是朋友的 the same thing under common context.


What does 三声无奈 mean? There is this Min song called 三声无奈, lit. "three sounds helpless". This seems to be an idiomatic expression. I am not totally sure what it means though. It seems to mean "completely helpless". This is also suggested by the fact 三声 is said here to 旧指军中用以传令的金鼓、笳、铎之声, i.e. "have originally indicated the (three) sounds of the golden drum, the whistle, and the bell used to transmit orders in the military", so after three sounds the transmission was complete, meaning that 三声 would mean "complete", or "completely". But this is pretty much guesswork. Does anyone know if the guesswork is correct or if it means something else?

我想你因該看得懂我寫的中文

三聲無奈的意思是表示「喊了3次無奈」表示非常的無可奈何(3次並不是準確的數字只是代表很多,一個複數的概念)

參考資料：
http://yifertw.blogspot.tw/2010/10/blog-post_01.html

讀中文的詩歌呢，重點不是字義（字面上的意思）：重點在於意境（作者想傳達的感情）。

I think you should read and understand the Chinese I've written.

三聲無奈 means:

  I shouted "helpless" three times

and shows extreme helplessness (three times is also not a precise number, it's just to mean a lot, a plural concept).

I reference you to this resource:
http://yifertw.blogspot.tw/2010/10/blog-post_01.html

Reading Chinese songs, the focal point is not the meaning of the characters. The focal point is on the artistic conception (the feeling the author wanted to convey).


What is the difference between 迟疑 犹豫 and 踌躇? Found some explanation online but it's not too clear

1.迟疑：需要考虑，迟疑不决；他迟疑片刻，才接着说下去。

2.犹豫：拿不定主意；犹豫不定

3、踌躇：犹豫不决,不确定的.

Need to think / can't decide on plan / indecisive or unsure

The three terms seem similar, they are mostly different in etymology and minor details in usage.

  迟= late, slow to; 疑= suspect, uncertain

  迟疑 to hesitate

  Hesitate to act because one feels uncertain of the consequence

  Mainly used to describe hesitancy in 'action'. It can be for a brief moment. For example: 动作迟疑 (hesitant movement); or it can be delay of action for indefinite time period. For example: 迟疑不发 (hesitating, holding off action)

~

  犹= as if; 豫= happy and content

  犹豫 to hesitate

  Hesitate to act (as if content of the the current situation)

  Mainly used to describe hesitancy in a 'mindset' For example: 心里犹豫 (cannot decide); 猶豫不決 (hesitant; indecisive)
  It can also describe an 'appearance' of hesitancy. For example: 一脸猶豫 (hesitant look);

~

  踌= (1) hesitant; shilly-shally (2) complacent; self-satisfied

  躇= hesitant; undecided

  踌躇 hesitant; wavering; undecided

  Hesitate to act (out of uncertain feeling or complacency, afraid of the action might bring change to the current situation)

  Mainly used to describe hesitancy in a 'mindset'. For example: 心里躊躇 (wavering heart);
  躊躇滿志 【釋義】：躊躇：從容自得的樣子；滿：滿足；志：志願。形容對自己取得的成就非常得意。

  (躊躇: leisurely, contented; 滿: Satisfied ;志; goal. 躊躇滿志 describes the proud feeling of one's achievements)


Can 孩子们 (háizǐmen) = "children (plural)" belong to the same family? 孩子们 (háizǐmen) refers to a plural of children.  I don't recall ever reading parents referring to their children as 孩子们.

Question: Can 孩子们 belong to the same family?

I'm not sure how to answer this myself.  Searching for, e.g. “父母的孩子们” gives e.g.

  那些有着强势父母的孩子们,后来都怎么样了?[src]

which don't belong to the same family.

Sure.

You can look up a phrasing like 我们家(的)孩子们 and you will quite a few results. Here are some snippets of titles and phrases for example:

看看我们家的孩子们
《家教之我们家的孩子们》
我们家的孩子们真棒!

孩子 can be both plural and singular without 们, depending on the context. You'd be more likely to find a combination of 我们家 and 孩子 to encompass all the kids in the family without especially stating "们."


Can someone translate these lyrics in English? 爱恨廉价 似苍苍蒹葭
苦艾后劲 皆贪共与他
望光亮 两世皆行走潇洒
破万枷 散馀霞 众相皆渡他

Ref 众相渡他·2020肖战生贺原创曲
I used Google Translate and a dictionary to find the meaning, but it doesn't make sense.

爱恨廉价 - Love and hate are cheap

love and hate here represent human emotions; 'cheap' (easily be bought) implies 'can easily change'*

似苍苍蒹葭 - Like a thick, thick reed field

蒹葭苍苍 《诗经·国风·秦风》中诗 (came from a classical Chinese literature 《Book of poetry》)

苦艾后劲 - like absinthe's strong aftertaste
皆贪共与他 - All because of greed to be with him (贪 = greed = strong desire)
望光亮 - Looking at the light
两世皆行走潇洒 - chicly traveling in  both worlds (two worlds refer to the living world and the afterworld)
破万枷 - breaking all shackles
散馀霞 - scatter the sunset cloud (the remaining sunlight at the dusk shines on the clouds make them seems red)
众相皆渡他 - Everything in the universe enlightens him

相 is a Buddhism term for 'form'; 众相 means 'all forms'. It can be loosely translated as 'the universe'; 渡 is a Buddhism term for 'to enlighten')


Word order in “出去了几个人。” “出去了几个人。”这句话是从汉语规范词典：

  出去

  chūqù

  动 从里面到外面, 离开说话人所在的位置

  出去买菜 | 他出去了 | 出去了几个人。

  注意 “去”口语中有时读轻声。

但是对我来说不太清楚。“出去了几个人。”跟“几个人出去了。”，意思一样吗？

I think “几个人出去了。” could be translated by “a few people [left]/[went outside]”. But I'm not at all sure about the meaning of “出去了几个人。”

It's just some basic vocabulary, but I feel like maybe I'm missing something important here... Help!

出去了几个人 is just a bit ambiguous. Are you making a statement or asking a question?

出去了几个人?  How many people went out?
出去了几个人 .  A few people left.
他们几个人出去了。 They went out together.
他们出去了几个人？How many of them went out?


How does "多" work in this describing sentence "多好看啊!"? I know 多 means many. But in some cases, it is used as in this sentence, such as this one: "多好看啊!" How exactly does it work? Thanks!

Chinese words or characters are best not to be thought of as having specific meanings but rather of having a concept or a general meaning.

So in the case of 多 anything that roughly means many, a lot, very (like Rui said) can work


Two terms for "According to" - What are the differences between 根据 and 按照? 根据 and 按照 can both function as a preposition that can be translated as according to. I imagine that the translation does not capture the individual character of each term. What nuances do the two individual terms express and in what situation/context would you use one rather than the other?

根据 is more formal, and preferably used when speaking about doing something according to some serious guidelines. Like following a law.

按照 is less formal, and can be used when doing something according to some less serious guide. Like following a person's idea.

Examples

根据新法律上的规定，小学老师都必须..
In accordance with the new law, all elementary school teachers must...

按照我们家的习惯，晚上九点钟小孩要去睡觉。
At our home we are accustomed that kids go to sleep at 9pm.


Why is it correct to omit 很 in 小男孩嫌小鱼儿丑? 小男孩嫌小鱼儿丑

Why is it correct to omit 很 before 丑? The sentence means "The little boy considered the little fish ugly".

When there's a verb before the object, you usually don't need 很 before the adjective
Since 嫌(dislike) is a verb, 嫌鱼儿丑 ( 這鱼儿我嫌丑) is a perfectly acceptable sentence,
More example:
天氣很冷
怕天氣冷 (天氣我怕冷)
這詩很好
讚這詩好 (這詩我讚好)


I asked my Chinese friend a question in Chinese, but she doesn't understand I wanted to ask her if she misses China and her friends in China.

So I asked,

你不想中国和在中国里的朋友吗？

Don't you miss China and your friends in China?

But instead, she understood it as 'I don't miss China and friends inside China'. Where have I gone wrong?

Just sounds odd to natives, 你不想念中国和在中国的朋友吗 is the common expression.
Add 念 to distinguish it from 想(think) and 想(miss).
You don't need 里 after a place name.
But this is still not normally said by the Chinese. The typical question is 你不想念你的家乡/祖国吗? 家乡/祖国 includes friends and other things.


Who said "he who is in a rush shall walk slowly"? A while back I read the saying "he who is in a rush shall walk slowly". I have seen it be attributed to Confucius (https://www.wer-weiss-was.de/t/redewendung-wer-es-eilig-hat-soll-langsam-gehen/8457422 https://www.quotez.net/german/konfuzius.htm) sometimes, but never in any academic reference.

Who is the author of the sentence and where was it written down first?

"he who is in a rush shall walk slowly” was translation of a Japanese proberbs,  and many of them came from Chinese literatures

The idiom 欲速則不達 (If you rush you are more likely not getting there)  came from 論語 and the writer was 子路.


Why 纹 is the wrong character to write for tattoo? I've only ever known tattoo (wénshēn) to be written as 纹身.
I was reading an article from 凤凰财经 yesterday called 猪躺着也能挣：一张纹身猪皮值百万.
What struck me, though, were all the comments on the article saying things like:

错别字，不是这个纹，小便没好好读书

and

文身的文写错了！！好么！！！！

Looking through ABC, Zhongshan Medical and even the Grande Ricci they all have:

纹身〔紋/--〕
wénshēn
tattoo / tattooing (MeSH) / Tatouer

(respectively).
MoE and 两岸 have entires for 文身 and note:

亦作「刺青」、「紋身」。

There seems to be a pattern here, though. MoE and 两岸 are Taiwan-based; 凤凰 is Hong Kong-based.
So where are the complaints coming from?
Let's have a look at 规范

动 在人体的皮肤上刺上文字或图案。
注意 不宜写作“纹身”。

Oh, there it is. Mainland-based 规范 is not happy with the 绞丝旁 here.
I have my hunches but what's the deal?
Why are some people so insistent that 纹 is wrong?
And who are these people?

They are purists. In the words of Steven Pinker:

  ...also known as sticklers, pedants, peevers, snobs, snoots, nitpickers,
  traditionalists, language police, usage nannies, grammar Nazis, and
  the Gotcha! Gang.

According to this article, 纹身 is accepted by a newer version of 《现代汉语词典》 as an alternative form of 文身.


Interpretation of second character Here's a picture I have found on flickr, taken in an outdoor museum in South Korea.
I can only recognize the 1st, 3rd and 4th characters: 寶X山房. 寶 is probably not the variant written on the wooden board, but it's the same character. What is the 2nd character?

The original high resolution image is here.

EDIT： My best guess is 丁, but why this odd curvy shape when the rest of the characters are rendered fairly standard?

It looks like it is indeed 丁. The Flickr link mentioned the photo was taken at 茶山草堂. With that information, I was able to find another site with a photo of the same doorway indicating that it says 寶丁山房.

I don't know the specific reason why the character is stylized in this way, though 茶山 refers to the pen name of Joeng Yak-yong (丁若鏞), so it could be in reference to his surname, 丁.


How to say "I'm finished"? When we've finished doing something like I've finished (doing my homework) what we should say.
Can we say 好了 "I'm finished"? (Hǎole)

How about "are you finished"?  Can we say "好了吗"?. (Hǎole ma)

Depend on the context, 好 and/or 完 can be used.

好 is more oral friendly as there is no emphasize of any difference between the speaker and the listener. In some cases, using 好 may show a closer relation between the parties of conversation than 完.

On the other hand, 完 is more formal. It is a better parallel to "finish" comparing to 好 as the latter has broader usage. Be weary while using 完 as it is often used when the parties involved in conversion are not equal.

For instance, 完 is used when your boss speaks to you, your teacher speaks to you, your group leader speaks to you, etc. 好 on the other hand, tend to be used when your friend speaks to you, your partner speaks to you, etc.


Addressing an acquaintance as 小妹 I met a woman four or so years younger to me at a conference (not work related). After getting to know her slightly more I later sent a text agreeing to meet tomorrow with "好吧 明天见 小妹". We briefly discussed our age difference prior for some reason.

My intention was to be playful and friendly with "younger sister". Is 小妹 rude and / or completely unfitting in this situation?

Just call her 姑娘

If she does not have business relations with you, it is absolutely OK.

Sometimes 小妹 is romantic involved, so it is not fit formal speaking.

小妹 is not very popular nowadays since it can be vague sometimes, but many chinese words can be vague like 小姐(young woman, also means whore), but 小姐 is still used in business and formal.

Here is a list you can use from the very formal to very rude and cursing.

女士 (formal)

小姐 (careful, also means whore outside business environment)

姑娘

妹子, 小妹, 老妹 (younger than you)

姐, 大姐 (older than you)

小妞 (rude, you don't want to be friends)

娘们, 小娘们, 老娘们(very rude, you want to have row)

破鞋 (dissipated and unconventional, you want to have a fight)

婊子(whore, you want to have a war)


What's the meaning of this sentences with 丛, 纷纷扬扬 and 飘来飘去? I'd like to understand this sentence well: 这天，农夫又来到田边巡视庄稼， 发现芦苇丛中的芦花纷纷扬扬，在空中飘来飘去.

这天，农夫又来到田边巡视庄稼 - I understand this part, no need to explain.
芦花 - it is probably reed's flower?
芦苇丛中 - what's the meaning of 丛 here?
纷纷扬扬 - what's this? Google Translate says 纷扬 means "flourish", while
纷纷扬扬 according to him means "one after another". I don't understand. And, if it means "flourish", how is it different from 开花? One is more common or more formal or what?
在空中 - does it simply means "in the air"?
飘来飘去 - Google Translate says it means "float around". Is ...来...去 a
common scheme which has the meaning of "around"? Could you give some
other examples with this phrase?
飘 - what does it mean, is it "float"?
I'd be interested in a translation of the whole sentence too.

丛 just means "thicket". What did your dictionary say?

纷纷扬扬 is a fixed expression meaning "fluttering (of leaves)" exactly as the rest of the sentence describes. A good dictionary should include fixed expressions like this. The first part 纷纷 does mean "in succession", but it's not usually useful to try to break down fixed expressions to understand the literal meaning.

在空中 is in the air, yes.

X来X去 means "X back and forth". E.g. 走来走去

飘 means float or flutter. Have you tried looking things up on https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary ?


Why is 条 the measure word being used in 那条街名是以一个将军的名字命名的 I know that the measure word for 街 is 条, but in this sentence the subject being identified is 街名, a word for "street name". My understanding is that a "name" has measure word 个:

那个街名是以一个将军的名字命名的

My questions are:
(a) Why is 条 being used here?
(b) Which version sounds more natural and correct?
Thank you for your help.

You are right, the correct classifier for 街名 is 个

那条街是以一个将军的名字命名的. would be the most natural way to speak.

We say 命名街道 (give name to a street), not 命名街名 (give name to a street name)

~

If you must use 街名, the correct sentence would be 那个街名是跟據一个将军的名字而起的

We say 起街名 (decide a street name), not 命名街名 (give name to a street name)


What's the difference: 一点 or 一点点? I feel kind of silly for asking because I doubt it's a huge difference. However, I can't seem to find any answers online. I understand that both mean a little as in 我会说一点缅甸语 or 请说一点慢 。

Is there a significant difference (regional, cultural, grammatical, preferential, etc) ?

一点 means “a bit”.
一点点 means “a teeny weeny bit”.
So if you use 一点点, the intensity of the thing you are talking about will be much milder.

我会说一点英语。(I can speak a bit of English.)
我只会说一点点英语。(I can only speak a tiny bit of English.)

I think 一点VS一点点 is analogous to pequeño VS pequeñito in Spanish.
By the way, your second example should be 请说慢一点.


Which is correct, "我对我的妈妈说很多话" or "我对我的妈妈说很多"? Can someone explain me which one is correct and why?

First, in Chinese if you don't want to emphasize "我的，你的，他的"，we usually remove "我的”，我对我妈说....or 我对妈妈说 is more natural.

Secondly, it should be added a complement "了" after the verb "说" to indicate the action is finished. So it could be 我对妈妈说了很多话。or 我对妈妈说了很多。

Finally, 说了很多话 means that you speak a lot "sentence" to your mother, while 说了很多 means you talk a lot topics or opions with your mother.


Does 以安倍的自民党为首的联盟 use the 以 ~ 为 pattern? According to the following sentence:

  日本一家电视台的民调显示，以安倍的自民党为首的联盟将保持三分之二的“绝对多数”，与安倍九月份解散议会下院之前的比例相当。

The bold sentence starts with 以, and it also has 为. So at first I assumed it is 以～为 pattern, which is "regarding A as B" or "taking A as B" in English.

However, I also found that 为首 means "serve as the head", and it should exactly refer to 安倍. And I understand the meaning then.

So is this sentence 以～为 pattern or not? If not, what does the leading 以 mean and work in this context?

Yes, [以][安倍的自民党][为][首][的联盟] fits the pattern of [with][A] [as] [B]

"首" is short for "首领",

[A - 安倍的自民党] = [B - 首领]

'为'+'首(领)' simply means 'as leader' (preposition + noun)
'为首' as a set phrase, is a common adjective "leading/ top ranked"

Example:

'在这次会议上, 为首官员是北京市长'-- 'In this meeting, the leading (top ranked) officer is Beijing mayor'


Website about talk /speech in Chinese What's the website to watch about talk /speech in Chinese, like TEDx ?
What's the keyword to type to find video people do presentation in Chinese in youtube ?

Youtube is blocked in mainland china. The closest thing is 网易公开课.


Where do people use 来着 a lot? Where do people use 来着 a lot? Is that typical of 北京 or where？

来着 seems to be a kind of substitute for 吗 (是几号来着？). Is that correct?

Well, I can tell it's been widely used in the northern areas. And you would hear it in TV shows. Of course, it's an oral term.

It's not used to substitute for 吗. It's been used when you can not recall something from your mind, and then you ask out while you are still trying to think it out. For example, 几号来着？ means you can't recall 几号, and then you ask while you are still trying to think it out. In this case, you are expecting someone could remind you while you're thinking. 几号来着？ is kind of like saying "那是几号了？"


Are the two pronunciations of 谁 (shéi / shuí) the result of regional differences? The pronoun 谁 has two pronunciations — shéi and shuí — without a difference in meaning. When I started learning Chinese, I learnt the pronunciation shéi. However, one of my Chinese language partners (from Henan) said that he had never learnt this pronunciation and said that no other words in Chinese are pronounced as shéi (so this pronunciation was an anomaly).

(I have also noticed that New Practical Chinese Reader, published by Beijing Language and Culture University Press, uses shéi, while another book Chinesisch für Deutsche from Haiwen in Shanghai consistently uses shuí.)

Are these two alternative pronunciations the result of regional differences? Is one of them the "official" pronunciation?

Update: The original version of this question claimed that the final "-éi" (i.e. with the second tone) does not occur in other Chinese words. As 倪阔乐 pointed out in a comment, this is not correct.

Most of dictionaries include both of them:

  ● 谁

  （誰）

  shuí ㄕㄨㄟˊ 又 shéi ㄕㄟˊ

According to 说文解字,

  从言隹聲。示隹切

It seems to be shuí[1], but according to 康熙字典 it has both pronunciations in different books.

(pinyin added by me)

  《五音集韻》是爲切(shéi) 《玉篇》是推切(shuí)，音垂。

In conclusion, both are right. IMO, shéi seems to be used more in spoken language.

[1] 隹 has three pronunciations, zhuī, cuī, wéi, but only zhuī was mentioned in 说文解字. So I believe the pronunciation of 谁 mentioned in 说文解字 should be shuí.


When do you use 唄 instead of 吧 to end a sentence? I hear a lot of people in mainland China use the former (never from Taiwanese Mandarin) when saying a phrase as a sort of command, but I'm still not sure about why someone would say it.

Their meanings are somewhat different. In a few situations, they are interchangeable, but there are many others where you can only use one and not the other. The key difference is that 呗 is much more assertive, even rhetorical, whereas 吧 can be used to express doubt or uncertainty as well. For completeness I'll cover them all.

Definitions taken from zdic.net

呗

  (1) 表示事实或道理明显,很容易了解。如:你不会骑车就学呗

  (2) 表示勉强同意的语气。如:你一定要去,就去呗

吧

  (1) 用在句末,表示恳求、提议、请求、命令等语气 [(used at the end of a sentence) indicating entreaty, suggestion, command, etc.]。如:派六个人不够吧,我的意见派十个人;你说给大家听听吧!

  (2) 用在句末,表示同意、认可的语气 [indicating agreement or acknowledgment]。如:好吧,我一定去;就这样执行吧

  (3) 用在句末,表示疑问语气,带有揣度的意味 [indicating doubt]。如:他现在赞同了吧?你弄通了吧?

  (4) 用在句末,表示估量、推测语气 [indicating uncertainty]。如:他自己总该知道吧;老王会到这边来吧

  (5) 用在句中,表示停顿,带假设语气,并带有列举性质 [indicating a pause]。如:说吧,不好;不说吧,也不好

When expressing a foregone or obvious conclusion, you can only use 呗. Let's examine the example:

  你不会骑车就学*呗*

Here the speaker is saying that the solution, to learn how to ride a bike, is obvious, and doesn't need asking, as if the question was rhetorical. If you change the 呗 to a 吧, then the implication changes:

  你不会骑车就学*吧*

Here the solution of learning to ride a bike is more of a suggestion, and that other solutions may also be valid.
When expressing reluctant agreement, use 呗, although 吧 can also be used. Let's examine this:

  你一定要去,就去*呗*

Here the speaker is expressing reluctance that "you" have to go. The speaker could replace it with 吧:

  你一定要去,就去*吧*

But unless expressed elsewhere with tone or context, the tone of this sentence is ambiguous, and not necessarily reluctant.
When used as a suggestion or command, you can use either 吧 or 呗:

  你说给大家听听*吧*!

  你说给大家听听*呗*!

When expressing agreement or acknowledgement, you would use 吧. Sometimes you can use 呗 as well, but watch out for its more assertive tone:

  就这样执行*吧*

  就这样执行*呗*

When used to indicate doubt or uncertainty, you can only use 吧:

  你弄通了*吧*?

  老王会到这边来*吧*

There's another special use of 吧, as a pause in speech. In this manner, it is interchangeable with characters like 呢. 呗 doesn't have this usage.

  说*吧*,不好;不说*吧*,也不好


The origin of 勾 and 股 in The Pythagorean Theorem 勾股定理 The Chinese name for the Pythagorean Theorem is 勾股定理

Take a right angle triangle ABC

Let side AB be the shortest side.

Let AC be the second shortest side.

BC is therefore the longest side and the hypotenuse.

In Chinese the side AB is called 勾, the side AC is called 股 and the side BC is called 弦.

In English the two shorter sides are called “legs”.

Why were the two “legs” called 勾 and 股 ?

It makes sense that the hypotenuse is called 弦 as the triangle is usually drawn such that the hypotenuse is diagonal.

in ancient china, the right angle triangle is named "勾股形".

the 國語辭典 has this entry: 勾股, explained as

  我國古代稱直角三角形為「勾股形」。其直角旁的短邊稱為「勾」，長邊稱為「股」，對著直角的邊稱為「弦」。

the short side near the right angle is called "勾", the longer side near the right angle is called "股"; and the side opposite the right angle is called "弦".

people used something like "勾股", "勾股之法" to describe the equation a²+b²=c²; nowadays, a hybrid naming is used "勾股" (the ancient chinese name) + "定理" (translation of theorem).

btw, the character 句 (u+53e5) and 勾 (u+52fe) mutually borrowed in ancient time.


Variations of 得 in 好玩得很 I heard this phrase from a TV drama.
好玩得很。
Are these also correct?
好玩得多。
好玩得很多。
喜欢得很。
喜欢得多。

得很 (very) is for describing a high degree of the adjective. e.g. 鮮牛肉貴得很 - Fresh beef is very expensive
得多 (much more) is for describing a much higher degree of the adjective for one object in comparison to another object. e.g. 鮮牛肉比冰牛肉貴得多 - Fresh beef is much more expensive than frozen beef

If you mean 'very', then '多' in  '鮮牛肉貴得很多' is nonsensical. The sentence itself is wrong. It has to be '鮮牛肉貴得很'

If you mean 'much more', First, you need another item for comparison. And second '很' in  '鮮牛肉比冰牛肉貴得很多' would be redundant.

Either 鮮牛肉比冰牛肉貴[得多]  or 鮮牛肉比冰牛肉貴[很多] would be correct, but not 鮮牛肉比冰牛肉貴[得很多]
In your examples, It would be either 足球好玩得很 (football is very fun to play) or 足球比籃球好玩得多 (football is much more fun to play than basketball)


What does 丫 mean? 丫是什么意思？ I'm currently watching a TV show called ”匆匆那年“, at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0Tub19BTX4&list=PLn8V6LgDVrvJ3SAHEtI4i6hEL_ODIulko&index=7. I've only watched half an hour of the seventh episode, but I've already heard the word "丫" a few times. For example, at 30:22, one of the characters says, "你丫不会要哭吧“, and I understand what the sentence means, but why is “丫" used and what does it mean? I've never heard it in China, is it used in some parts of China and others not? Are there only certain contexts when it could be used? Unfortunately, I can't find the other times I heard it in that episode currently, but I know I heard it and saw it a few times. I've tried searching on Google and various online translators, but I couldn't find a conclusive answer on when to use it or what it means.

我正在看一个电视节目叫”匆匆那年“。我就看了半个小时的第七集，已经听过了一些次句话用“丫”。比如，在这个 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g0Tub19BTX4&list=PLn8V6LgDVrvJ3SAHEtI4i6hEL_ODIulko&index=7) 的30:22，一个人说，”你丫不会要哭吧“。我听懂这句话的意思，可是“丫”是什么意思，而且为什么需要用它? 我在中国没听过了，有的中国部分用它很多，有的没用它吗？ 不好意思，我现在不会找到那些其他次我听过了“丫”，但是我知道我听过了它。我在Google上查资料了它，也不会找到一个好的解答。谢谢！

另外，我知道我的中文不好，如果你会改善我的写作，请帮我！

It is a short word for "丫头养的" only used in area around Beijing city，"丫头" means slave girl or young girl servant. "养的" means feed by.

This is bad language saying somebody's mother is young girl servant, some kind of "son of bitch". However this talking is generalized nowadays, "你丫..." is more compare to "You fucking ..."(你他妈的...)


他在工厂住了半年/living in factories This was an example sentence in Practical Chinese Reader 31. Do people actually live in factories, or is there some cultural context I'm missing? In previous chapters, people are constantly visiting factories《参观工厂》, which I found bizarre. Who would want to visit a factory? Why would they live there?

Yes, it is common for many Asia countries that "lodging" (typically dormitories) is provided by the companies and often these "factories" form cities on their own.

A famous (or maybe better to say notorious) example is Foxconn. From Wikipedia:

  Foxconn's largest factory worldwide is in Longhua, Shenzhen, where
  hundreds of thousands of workers (varying counts include 230,000,
  300,000, and 450,000) are employed at the Longhua Science &
  Technology Park, a walled campus sometimes referred to as "Foxconn
  City" or "iPod City". Covering about 1.16 square miles (3
  square km), it includes 15 factories, worker dormitories, a
  swimming pool, a fire brigade, its own television network
  (Foxconn TV), and a city centre with a grocery store, bank,
  restaurants, bookstore, and hospital. While some workers live in
  surrounding towns and villages, others live and work inside the
  complex; a quarter of the employees live in the dormitories, and
  many of them work up to 12 hours a day for 6 days each week.
  Another of Foxconn's factory "cities" is Zhengzhou Technology Park in
  Zhengzhou, Henan province, where it is reported 120,000 employees
  work.


For part 1 of HSKK高级 exam, do you really need to repeat word for word what is said in the recording? My issue here is that I would struggle even in my mother tongue to repeat word for word a passage I just heard, let alone one in Chinese. Has anyone done this exam yet? Any tips on how to prepare for the first part? I'm assuming that you have the opportunity to write down notes as you hear the passage.

There is some information I found on the internet.

For part I of HSKK(高級), you have better repeat "word to word" and "fluently" what is said in the recording to get the higher score !

HSKK 评分说明

听后复述

适用试题：HSKK（高级）第 1-3 题。
答题要求：每题播放一段话，要求考生听后复述。

评分档次：

高：考生能完整、流利地复述材料的主要内容，较少停顿和重复。

中：考生能复述部分材料内容，停顿、重复较多，有语法错误。

低：考生复述内容与原材料出入大，语言零乱，信息量小。

http://www.chinesetest.cn/userfiles/file/HSKK-pingfen.pdf

录 音 材 料

（音乐，30 秒，渐弱）

你好！你叫什么名字？ （10 秒）
你是哪国人？ （10 秒）
你的序号是多少？ （10 秒）
好，现在开始第 1 到 3 题。每题你会听到一个句子，请在“嘀”声后重复这个句
子。现在开始第 1 题。

1．（2 分钟）

有一天，小李在乡间的小路上开着车。正当他开心地欣赏美丽风景时，突然
迎面开来了一辆货车，更没想到的是，长相奇怪的货车司机还摇下窗户对他大喊
一声：“猪！”小李一听，越想越不明白，也越想越生气，于是他也摇下车窗回头
大骂：“你才是猪！”才刚骂完，他便迎头撞上一群过马路的猪。

2.（2 分钟）
  ...

3.（2 分钟）
 ...

https://ttcn.co.jp/hsk/contents/text/hskkouyugaojimoni9.pdf


How does 哇 affect the meaning of 大河向东流哇? As part of my immersion process I am studying Chinese lyrics of songs that I like. Many times I find Chinese phrases that I understand all of the words but none of the context. In this case 大河向东流哇 seems to describe a great river flows eastward. The final word threw me for a loop and so I wanted to ask whether how that word affects the overall sentence? What is the implied emphasis being added (if any) or am I misunderstanding the interpretation?

My local MacOSX dictionaries tell me that 哇 (wā) is

哇 (Simplified/Traditional)
| wā |
sound of child's crying

哇 wā
拟声模拟呕吐、哭等的声音。
哇的一声吐了出来 | 小孩子哇 哇地哭。
另见 wa。
哇 wa
助“啊（a）”受前一个字韵母u、ao、ou 的影响产生音变而采用的不同写法。
你让我找得好苦（kǔ）哇 | 这样多好（hǎo）哇 | 快走（zǒu）哇。
另见 wā。

wā
哇

Wow!; sound of child's crying; sound of vomiting
哇

BTW - This line is from the following song/artist:

歌名:   好汉歌
演唱:   刘   欢

哇, in this case interchangeable with 啊 or 呀, does not change the meaning but can affect the intonation and atmosphere.

The way you pronounce will totally change how your utterance is perceived.

For example, with a powerful sound (as in the song). It provides a background of the rest of the song. Since the song is about history/hero/war etc. It has a sense of the flow of time and history. In Chinese, river are often used as a symbol of time and history.

On the other hand, with a soft, emotional tone like a sigh (of course the rhythm of the whole sentence should be adjusted accordingly, e.g. slower), it could be perceived as full of regret and sorrow.


Why isn't 到 (dào) used in 某天我去北京? Earlier while chatting, I wrote a sentence and a native speaker told me it was correct. The sentence was:

  某天我去北京。= Someday I'll go to Beijing.
  (mǒu tiān wǒ qù Běi jīng)

I noticed that no prepositions are used here. It's probably because I'm still a beginner, but then I wondered: if it's true that 到 can mean "to (a place)", why isn't it used in that sentence? Are there some rules I'm not aware of or something I'm missing?

Also: when should we use 到? What are the situations/contexts that need it?

First, grammars of Chinese and English are totally different, you don't need the preposition like in English.
Second, in my opinion, 去 indicates that you start the action of "going to a place",and "到" indicates that you have finished that action, so you "reach a place " or "arrive at a place".
An example:

本周二我会坐火车去北京，周三到。
I will  go to Beijing by train this Tuesday and I will arrive on Wednesday.


Does 给你 mean "Here you go?" I found a very short sentence on tatoeba.org. All it says is, "给你。"

That literally means "Give you," but what does it really mean? My best guess is that I could say it as I give something to you, kind of like, "Here you go."

Your guess is correct. You use it when you hand over or give something. You can translate it as "there you are, here you are, here you go".

For example a teacher might say it while handing out some study material. A student of course should use 给您 when handing in his exam papers.

You can also add what you are giving. For example 给你一本书.


In daily casual conversations in Mandarin are silent initials often ommitted or spoken? So, I know a fair amount of Mandarin speaking people, and I notice that for some of them they do not pronounce the silent initials like:

'y'i
'y'ing
'y'in

however, my other Mandarin speaking friends actually do pronounce the initials.

I've read through my textbooks and it says they should be silent so I'm a bit confused here.

I am then assuming that for example that it is correct to pronounce 意思 is

"ee se"

not

"yee se"?

Pinyin is just a guide and cannot be taken literally. Most initials should be taken fairly straightforwardly though.

Y on the other hand shouldn’t.

If you look at the ipa for 意:

  /i⁵¹/

there is only an: i.

Y basically equals i.

Next look at the ipa for 因:

  /in⁵⁵/

Again y basically equals i.

So, yi is easily said that the y is silent but if you take something where the final doesn’t start with i like 羊/阳/洋 ipa becomes:

  /i̯ɑŋ³⁵/

It still maintains this i sounding initial.


Difference between 如果 and 要是? In the Pimsleur Mandarin course it uses 如果 (rúguǒ) to mean 'if', but the dictionary shows 要是 (yàoshì) to have a similar meaning:

  如果: if; in case; in the event that
  要是: if

Are there any differences between the meanings of the two, and how should I choose which to use?

In my opinion, they mean the same:"if". "要是" is a little informal and more common in oral speaking, while "如果" is formal, I think, but you will see both of them in books.
I could only catch up with one differences in use between them. For "要是“, because there is a "是" inside, when the verb in the "if-clause" is "是(to be)", "是" can be ommitted, however, "是" can't be ommitted when using "如果”.
Some examples:

要是我，[我]就不会那么做。 If [it were] me, [I] won't do that way.
如果是我，[我]就不会那么做。If [it were] me, [I] won't do that way.

Also, I don't agree with Tom Au that only "要是" has a "wish" mood. I think "如果" can be used in this case too.

要是我有100万就好了。 It's good if I have 1 million,really means I wish I could have 1 million
如果我有100万就好了。 It's good if I have 1 million,really means I wish I could have 1 million


Is there just one word, 哈密瓜, for both honeydew melons and cantaloupes? I couldn't find distinct words referring to green and orange melons. Would it just be 橙色的 and 绿色的哈密瓜?

Honeydew is also known as:

  蜜露甜瓜

which can be shortened to:

  蜜瓜

Wikipedia also proposes the following terms:

罗马甜瓜 (Cantaloupe)
白兰瓜 (Honeydew)

哈密瓜 all the meanwhile is also interchangeable with Hami Melon.

蜜瓜 can also be a term for muskmelons in general.

Chinese is very malleable so YMMV & you might just be better off with something like 绿哈密瓜.


了 position with 把 construction Good Morning.
Today reading my chinese textbook i found the following sentence.

刚才上音乐课时把书包放在了教室的外面。

I have never seen the 了 after a preposition 在. ¿is it right or a mistake? I think the right position would be at the end of the sentence.

Both are correct. And I don't see much difference whether to put 了 after 在 or at the end of the sentence.

However, if I had to find a difference I'd say they stress on different parts of the sentence.

(1)  To stress the action

你刚刚干啥去了 = what were you doing just now

我刚刚把书包放在了教室的外面 = I was just putting my schoolbag outside the classroom

(2) To stress where the person put the bag

你的包呢 = where is your bag

我刚刚把书包放在教室的外面了 = I just put my bag outside the classroom

Still, the difference is hardly noticed.


very old chinese language I need help to determine this brand

How old is the brand?
Is it a stamp or a tax stamp?
Does it have something to do with the silk tax?

imo, the other answer is significantly "inventive" :)

, as @tang ho indicated, the correct reading should be "蠶種改濟之章".

and, these're kanji, japanese related (it's 繭印紙 蚕種印紙)

here's relevant pic & link:

https://buyee.jp/item/yahoo/auction/j511816810?lang=en

i would suggest the op ask again in japanese stack exchange.

https://japanese.stackexchange.com

have fun :)


Meaning of 的 in 我十岁才到的美国 I do not understand the meaning of 的 in the following sentence:

我爸爸是美国人，妈妈是意大利人，我十岁才到的美国。

This sentence is in my Chinese textbook. At first, I had thought it may be wrong. Afterward, I run into another sentence with the same structure and need to check grammar.
Please explain it to me.

[...] after reading my grammar notebook, I think that 的 belongs to "是...的" structure, though 是 is omitted in this sentence. Take a look at [this resource] and focus on the part of "Position of 的". It is said that 的 can be put between the verb and the object.

Your grammar notebook  correctly addressed the use of 的 in your example.
Compare to 我(是)七点到的学校,  我(是)5点下的班，etc.
Those are often heard in day-to-day conversations.
Here is more quote from dictionary definition:

（用在谓语动词后面， 强调动作的施事者、时间、地点等）:

I made the sketch; he filled in the colours.
是我打的稿子， 他上的色。
It was the year before last that he went to Xizang [Tibet].
他前年去的西藏。


What does 等 mean in ...产业结构优化等优势逐步显现? From the economic observer:

  前两个背离可以理解为经济结构调整过程中，产业结构优化等优势逐步显现

As far as I know, 等 means either wait or it is either used to end a list of objects.

This sentence is also quite technical itself, so it's possible that the reason I didn't understand this sentence lies in another word.

This answer belongs to Stan. Since he is not able to post, I'll write it up for him.

In the phrase 产业结构优化等优势, the word 等 indicates that 产业结构优化 is just one of several 优势.  The word 等 does not require several items to be listed before you use it; instead, it can illustrate one of a range of possibilities.

Translating this into English, I might try using a 非限定子句 'non-defining relative clause':

"The first two divergences can be interpreted as a gradual manifestation of competitive advantages, such as optimized industry structure."

NS.X explains in the comments above that 背離 is some sort of investment jargon for the word "divergence".  Be wary of my translation; I can't understand the technical side of the article at all.


What does the woman know when she says 后来才知道 (hòulái cái zhīdào)? (Edit: It looks like I originally excluded some important content, so I expanded the snippet below.)

This question is about 后来才知道 in the following sentence, where a woman describes her developing relationship with a man:

  　　起初我是不同意的，可是他很会表现，不仅对我好，对我父母也极尽照顾，有一次为了帮我送父亲进医院，冒着大雨开车去省城，后来才知道，他为了帮我，把6岁大的儿子一个人锁在家里整整一夜，彻底感动了我，交往不到一年，我们结婚了。
  嫁给离婚带孩子的男人 我的生活只剩下两个字, guaixun.com

(The second part was part of my earlier question Did the man lock up his 6-year old son at home overnight? (把6岁大的儿子一个人锁在家里整整一夜).)

I translate this to something like:

  At first, I did not agree, but he performs well [i.e., impressed me], not only did he treat me well, he did his best to look after my parents, one time to help me admit my father to a hospital, he braved the rain and drove to the provincial capital, afterwards only then I knew, to help me, he took his 6-year old son and locked him in the house by himself for the whole night, which thoroughly touched me, and being in contact for less than a year, we married.

Perhaps this means that is when she knew she was in love with him.  Or maybe it means she only found out the man about helping her father after he was in hospital.  I'm not sure.

Question: What does the woman know when she says 后来才知道?

what the woman know afterwards is he locked his six-year-old son in the house for a whole night, just for taking her father to the hospital. Beacuase it is dangerous that locked a child in the house about a whole night, so the woman was  thoroughly touched.


What is the function of the complement 下来 in 买下来? I know 下来 so far as complement for verbs of motion, e.g. 跳下来，走下来，攀下来，掉下来. In them, the first character of the complement conveys the meaning "downwards", the second the point of view of the speaker "towards him".

Obviously,下来 in 买下来 has a different meaning than obove,
how is it used and how is 买下来 different from simply 买 ?

Do these sentence differ in meaning?:

把这些书买下来.待会送到我家去
把这些书买.待会送到我家去

下来 puts an emphasis on the fact that the action is completed.

雨停下来了。The rain (has) stopped. （It's over, it's not raining anymore).
我们把休假的地方决定下来了。We have decided where to go on holiday. (The decision is completed, it's done/settled)
他慌乱平静下来了。His frenzy calmed DOWN. (May be this is the closest example in English where we use the same directional complement. Once he calmed down, his frenzy was over, so this 'happening' got completed.

It's difficult to translate your example sentences in a way that points out the difference, since buying something is an action that is always completed (you either buy something or not).


再次 and 再: are they different? Here is the context: 我于是去了这家餐厅，点了一盘蘑菇菜心，果然好吃。我对服务员说: 我再次要一盘。

The sentence "我再次要一盘" is wrong. But "我再要一盘" is correct. Can anyone explain why?

The answer by  Camila Ting Chen is close. We don't use 再次 in an present active sentence. We use 再次 with some perfectness or passiveness. Such passiveness is not necessarily related to the conjunctive 被 however. A simple rule is when we can say 再 alone, say it alone.

我再次来到这家餐厅。

我时隔数年再次遇到一位朋友。

这盘菜再次被我吃掉了。 while this sentence is not logical at a first glace, it sound good in this specific situation.


Any Chinese-English economics and business related vocab list online? Apologies to those who are irritated by resource request questions.

What would you recommend to brush up and expand economics and business related vocabulary? Ideally I am looking for something that covers a few hundred terms in the area of business, economics and related topics. It doesn't need to include pinyin, and a Chinese-German or a Chinese-French list would also fit my needs. The format is irrelevant (pdf, html, txt, etc.)

I think these are the somewhat basic terms and you probably will hear them quite often.

Listed in http://www.hxen.com/word/changyong/2009-01-04/65060.html
经济学词汇

A

accounting:会计

accounting cost :会计成本

accounting profit :会计利润

adverse selection :逆向选择

allocation 配置

allocation of resources :资源配置

allocative efficiency :配置效率

antitrust legislation :反托拉斯法

arc elasticity :弧弹性

Arrow's impossibility theorem :阿罗不可能定理

Assumption :假设

asymetric information :非对称性信息

average :平均

average cost :平均成本

average cost pricing :平均成本定价法

average fixed cost :平均固定成本

average product of capital :资本平均产量

average product of labour :劳动平均产量

average revenue :平均收益

average total cost :平均总成本

average variable cost :平均可变成本

B

barriers to entry :进入壁垒

base year :基年

bilateral monopoly :双边垄断

benefit :收益

black market :黑市

bliss point :极乐点

boundary point :边界点

break even point :收支相抵点

budget :预算

budget constraint :预算约束

budget line :预算线

budget set 预算集

C

capital :资本

capital stock :资本存量

capital output ratio :资本产出比率

capitalism :资本主义

cardinal utility theory :基数效用论

cartel :卡特尔

ceteris puribus assumption :“其他条件不变”的假设

ceteris puribus demand curve :其他因素不变的需求曲线

Chamberlin model :张伯伦模型

change in demand :需求变化

change in quantity demanded :需求量变化

change in quantity supplied :供给量变化

change in supply :供给变化

choice :选择

closed set :闭集

Coase theorem :科斯定理

Cobb—Douglas production function :柯布--道格拉斯生产函数

cobweb model :蛛网模型

collective bargaining :集体协议工资

collusion :合谋

command economy :指令经济

commodity :商品

commodity combination :商品组合

commodity market :商品市场

commodity space :商品空间

common property :公用财产

comparative static analysis :比较静态分析

compensated budget line :补偿预算线

compensated demand function :补偿需求函数

compensation principles :补偿原则

compensating variation in income :收入补偿变量

competition :竞争

competitive market :竞争性市场

complement goods :互补品

complete information :完全信息

completeness :完备性

condition for efficiency in exchange :交换的最优条件

condition for efficiency in production :生产的最优条件

concave :凹

concave function :凹函数

concave preference :凹偏好

consistence :一致性

constant cost industry :成本不变产业

constant returns to scale :规模报酬不变

constraints :约束

consumer :消费者

consumer behavior :消费者行为

consumer choice :消费者选择

consumer equilibrium :消费者均衡

consumer optimization :消费者优化

consumer preference :消费者偏好

consumer surplus :消费者剩余

consumer theory :消费者理论

consumption :消费

consumption bundle :消费束

consumption combination :消费组合

consumption possibility curve :消费可能曲线

consumption possibility frontier :消费可能性前沿

consumption set :消费集

consumption space :消费空间

continuity :连续性

continuous function :连续函数

contract curve :契约曲线

convex :凸

convex function :凸函数

convex preference :凸偏好

convex set :凸集

corporatlon :公司

cost :成本

cost benefit analysis :成本收益分

cost function :成本函数

cost minimization :成本极小化

Cournot equilihrium :古诺均衡

Cournot model :古诺模型

Cross—price elasticity :交叉价格弹性

D

dead—weights loss :重负损失

decreasing cost industry :成本递减产业

decreasing returns to scale :规模报酬递减

deduction :演绎法

demand :需求

demand curve :需求曲线

demand elasticity :需求弹性

demand function :需求函数

demand price :需求价格

demand schedule :需求表

depreciation :折旧

derivative :导数

derive demand :派生需求

difference equation :差分方程

differential equation :微分方程

differentiated good :差异商品

differentiated oligoply :差异寡头

diminishing marginal substitution :边际替代率递减

diminishing marginal return :收益递减

diminishing marginal utility :边际效用递减

direct approach :直接法

direct taxes :直接税

discounting :贴税、折扣

diseconomies of scale :规模不经济

disequilibrium :非均衡

distribution :分配

division of labour :劳动分工

distribution theory of marginal productivity :边际生产率分配论

duoupoly :双头垄断、双寡

duality :对偶

durable goods :耐用品

dynamic analysis :动态分析

dynamic models :动态模型

E

Economic agents :经济行为者

economic cost :经济成本

economic efficiency :经济效率

economic goods :经济物品

economic man :经济人

economic mode :经济模型

economic profit :经济利润

economic region of production :生产的经济区域

economic regulation :经济调节

economic rent :经济租金

exchange :交换

economics :经济学

exchange efficiency :交换效率

economy :经济

exchange contract curve :交换契约曲线

economy of scale :规模经济

Edgeworth box diagram :埃奇沃思图

exclusion :排斥性、排他性

Edgeworth contract curve :埃奇沃思契约线

Edgeworth model :埃奇沃思模型

efficiency :效率，效益

efficiency parameter :效率参数

elasticity :弹性

elasticity of substitution :替代弹性

endogenous variable :内生变量

endowment :禀赋

endowment of resources :资源禀赋

Engel curve :恩格尔曲线

entrepreneur :企业家

entrepreneurship :企业家才能

entry barriers :进入壁垒

entry/exit decision :进出决策

envolope curve :包络线

equilibrium :均衡

equilibrium condition :均衡条件

equilibrium price :均衡价格

equilibrium quantity :均衡产量

eqity :公平

equivalent variation in income :收入等价变量

excess—capacity theorem :过度生产能力定理

excess supply :过度供给

exchange :交换

exchange contract curve :交换契约曲线

exclusion :排斥性、排他性

exclusion principle :排他性原则

existence :存在性

existence of general equilibrium :总体均衡的存在性

exogenous variables :外生变量

expansion paths :扩展径

expectation :期望

expected utility :期望效用

expected value :期望值

expenditure :支出

explicit cost :显性成本

external benefit :外部收益

external cost :外部成本

external economy :外部经济

external diseconomy :外部不经济

externalities :外部性

F

Factor :要素

factor demand :要素需求

factor market :要素市场

factors of production :生产要素

factor substitution :要素替代

factor supply :要素供给

fallacy of composition :合成谬误

final goods :最终产品

firm :企业

firms’demand curve for labor :企业劳动需求曲线

firm supply curve :企业供给曲线

first-degree price discrimination :第一级价格歧视

first—order condition :一阶条件

fixed costs :固定成本

fixed input :固定投入

fixed proportions production function :固定比例的生产函数

flow :流量

fluctuation :波动

for whom to produce :为谁生产

free entry :自由进入

free goods :自由品，免费品

free mobility of resources :资源自由流动

free rider :搭便车，免费搭车

function :函数

future value :未来值

G

game theory :对策论、博弈论

general equilibrium :总体均衡

general goods :一般商品

Giffen goods :吉芬晶 收入补偿需求曲线

Giffen's Paradox :吉芬之谜

Gini coefficient :吉尼系数

goldenrule :黄金规则

goods :货物

government failure :政府失败

government regulation :政府调控

grand utility possibility curve :总效用可能曲线

grand utility possibility frontier :总效用可能前沿

H

heterogeneous product :异质产品

Hicks—kaldor welfare criterion :希克斯一卡尔多福利标准

homogeneity :齐次性

homogeneous demand function :齐次需求函数

homogeneous product :同质产品

homogeneous production function :齐次生产函数

horizontal summation :水平和

household :家庭

how to produce :如何生产

human capital :人力资本

hypothesis :假说

I

identity :恒等式

imperfect competion :不完全竞争

implicitcost :隐性成本

income :收入

income compensated demand curve :收入补偿需求曲线

income constraint :收入约束

income consumption curve :收入消费曲线

income distribution :收入分配

income effect :收入效应

income elasticity of demand :需求收入弹性

increasing cost industry :成本递增产业

increasing returns to scale :规模报酬递增

inefficiency :缺乏效率

index number :指数

indifference :无差异

indifference curve :无差异曲线

indifference map :无差异族

indifference relation :无差异关系

indifference set :无差异集

indirect approach :间接法

individual analysis :个量分析

individual demand curve :个人需求曲线

individual demand function :个人需求函数

induced variable :引致变量

induction :归纳法

industry :产业

industry equilibrium :产业均衡

industry supply curve :产业供给曲线

inelastic :缺乏弹性的

inferior goods :劣品

inflection point :拐点

information :信息

information cost :信息成本

initial condition :初始条件

initial endowment :初始禀赋

innovation :创新

input :投入

input—output :投入—产出

institution :制度

institutional economics :制度经济学

insurance :保险

intercept :截距

interest :利息

interest rate :利息率

intermediate goods :中间产品

internatization of externalities :外部性内部化

invention :发明

inverse demand function :逆需求函数

investment :投资

invisible hand :看不见的手

isocost line :等成本线，

isoprofit curve :等利润曲线

isoquant curve :等产量曲线

isoquant map :等产量族

K

kinded—demand curve :弯折的需求曲线

L

labour :劳动

labour demand :劳动需求

labour supply :劳动供给

labour theory of value :劳动价值论

labour unions :工会

laissez faire :自由放任

Lagrangian function :拉格朗日函数

Lagrangian multiplier :拉格朗乘数，

land :土地

law :法则

law of demand and supply :供需法

law of diminishing marginal utility :边际效用递减法则

law of diminishing marginal rate of substitution :边际替代率递减法则

law of diminishing marginal rate of technical substitution :边际技术替代率

law of increasing cost :成本递增法则

law of one price :单一价格法则

leader—follower model :领导者--跟随者模型

least—cost combination of inputs :最低成本的投入组合

leisure :闲暇

Leontief production function :列昂节夫生产函数

licenses :许可证

linear demand function :线性需求函数

linear homogeneity :线性齐次性

linear homogeneous production function :线性齐次生产函数

long run :长期

long run average cost :长期平均成本

long run equilibrium :长期均衡

long run industry supply curve :长期产业供给曲线

long run marginal cost :长期边际成本

long run total cost :长期总成本

Lorenz curve :洛伦兹曲线

loss minimization :损失极小化

1ump sum tax :一次性征税

luxury :奢侈品

M

macroeconomics :宏观经济学

marginal :边际的

marginal benefit :边际收益

marginal cost :边际成本

marginal cost pricing :边际成本定价

marginal cost of factor :边际要素成本

marginal physical productivity :实际实物生产率

marginal product :边际产量

marginal product of capital :资本的边际产量

marginal product of 1abour :劳动的边际产量

marginal productivity :边际生产率

marginal rate of substitution :边替代率

marginal rate of transformation 边际转换率

marginal returns :边际回报

marginal revenue :边际收益

marginal revenue product :边际收益产品

marginal revolution :边际革命

marginal social benefit :社会边际收益

marginal social cost :社会边际成本

marginal utility :边际效用

marginal value products :边际价值产品

market :市场

market clearance :市场结清，市场洗清

market demand :市场需求

market economy :市场经济

market equilibrium :市场均衡

market failure :市场失败

market mechanism :市场机制

market structure :市场结构

market separation :市场分割

market regulation :市场调节

market share :市场份额

markup pricing :加减定价法

Marshallian demand function :马歇尔需求函数

maximization :极大化

microeconomics :微观经济学

minimum wage :最低工资

misallocation of resources :资源误置

mixed economy :混合经济

model :模型

money :货币

monopolistic competition :垄断竞争

monopolistic exploitation :垄断剥削

monopoly :垄断，卖方垄断

monopoly equilibrium :垄断均衡

monopoly pricing :垄断定价

monopoly regulation :垄断调控

monopoly rents :垄断租金

monopsony :买方垄断

N

Nash equilibrium :纳什均衡

Natural monopoly :自然垄断

Natural resources :自然资源

Necessary condition :必要条件

necessities :必需品

net demand :净需求

nonconvex preference :非凸性偏好

nonconvexity :非凸性

nonexclusion :非排斥性

nonlinear pricing :非线性定价

nonrivalry :非对抗性

nonprice competition :非价格竞争

nonsatiation :非饱和性

non--zero—sum game :非零和对策

normal goods :正常品

normal profit :正常利润

normative economics :规范经济学

O

objective function :目标函数

oligopoly :寡头垄断

oligopoly market :寡头市场

oligopoly model :寡头模型

opportunity cost :机会成本

optimal choice :最佳选择

optimal consumption bundle :消费束

perfect elasticity :完全有弹性

optimal resource allocation :最佳资源配置

optimal scale :最佳规模

optimal solution :最优解

optimization :优化

ordering of optimization(social) preference :(社会)偏好排序

ordinal utility :序数效用

ordinary goods :一般品

output :产量、产出

output elasticity :产出弹性

output maximization 产出极大化

P

parameter :参数

Pareto criterion :帕累托标准

Pareto efficiency :帕累托效率

Pareto improvement :帕累托改进

Pareto optimality :帕累托优化

Pareto set :帕累托集

partial derivative :偏导数

partial equilibrium :局部均衡

patent :专利

pay off matrix :收益矩阵、支付矩阵

perceived demand curve :感觉到的需求曲线

perfect competition :完全竞争

perfect complement :完全互补品

perfect monopoly :完全垄断

perfect price discrimination :完全价格歧视

perfect substitution :完全替代品

perfect inelasticity :完全无弹性

perfectly elastic :完全有弹性

perfectly inelastic :完全无弹性

plant size :工厂规模

point elasticity :点弹性

post Hoc Fallacy :后此谬误

prediction :预测

preference :偏好

preference relation :偏好关系

present value :现值

price :价格

price adjustment model :价格调整模型

price ceiling :最高限价

price consumption curve :价格费曲线

price control :价格管制

price difference :价格差别

price discrimination :价格歧视

price elasticity of demand :需求价格弹性

price elasticity of supply :供给价格弹性

price floor :最低限价

price maker :价格制定者

price rigidity :价格刚性

price seeker :价格搜求者

price taker :价格接受者

price tax :从价税

private benefit :私人收益

principal—agent issues :委托--代理问题

private cost :私人成本

private goods :私人用品

private property :私人财产

producer equilibrium :生产者均衡

producer theory :生产者理论

product :产品

product transformation curve :产品转换曲线

product differentiation :产品差异

product group :产品集团

production :生产

production contract curve :生产契约曲线

production efficiency :生产效率

production function :生产函数

production possibility curve :生产可能性曲线

productivity :生产率

productivity of capital :资本生产率

productivity of labor :劳动生产率

profit :利润

profit function :利润函数

profit maximization :利润极大化

property rights :产权

property rights economics :产权经济学

proposition :定理

proportional demand curve :成比例的需求曲线

public benefits :公共收益

public choice :公共选择

public goods :公共商品

pure competition :纯粹竞争

rivalry :对抗性、竞争

pure exchange :纯交换

pure monopoly :纯粹垄断

Q

quantity—adjustment model :数量调整模型

quantity tax :从量税

quasi—rent :准租金

R

rate of product transformation :产品转换率

rationality :理性

reaction function :反应函数

regulation :调节，调控

relative price 相对价格

rent :租金

rent control :规模报酬

rent seeking :寻租

rent seeking economics :寻租经济学

resource :资源

resource allocation :资源配置

returns :报酬、回报

returns to scale :规模报酬

revealed preference :显示性偏好

revenue :收益

revenue curve :收益曲线

revenue function :收益函数

revenue maximization :收益极大化

ridge line :脊线

risk :风险

satiation :饱和，满足

saving :储蓄

scarcity :稀缺性

law of scarcity :稀缺法则

second—degree price discrimination :二级价格歧视

second derivative :--阶导数

second—order condition :二阶条件

service :劳务

set :集

shadow prices :影子价格

short—run :短期

short—run cost curve :短期成本曲线

short—run equilibrium :短期均衡

short—run supply curve :短期供给曲线

shut down decision :关闭决策

shortage 短缺

shut down point :关闭点

single price monopoly :单一定价垄断

slope :斜率

social benefit :社会收益

social cost :社会成本

social indifference curve :社会无差异曲线

social preference :社会偏好

social security :社会保障

social welfare function :社会福利函数

socialism :社会主义

solution :解

space :空间

stability :稳定性

stable equilibrium :稳定的均衡

Stackelberg model :斯塔克尔贝格模型

static analysis :静态分析

stock :存量

stock market :股票市场

strategy :策略

subsidy :津贴

substitutes :替代品

substitution effect :替代效应

substitution parameter :替代参数

sufficient condition :充分条件

supply :供给

supply curve :供给曲线

supply function :供给函数

supply schedule :供给表

Sweezy model :斯威齐模型

symmetry :对称性

symmetry of information :信息对称

T

tangency :相切

taste :兴致

technical efficiency :技术效率

technological constraints ；技术约束

technological progress :技术进步

technology :技术

third—degree price discrimination :第三级价格歧视

total cost :总成本

total effect :总效应

total expenditure :总支出

total fixed cost :总固定成本

total product :总产量

total revenue :总收益

total utility :总效用

total variable cost :总可变成本

traditional economy :传统经济

transitivity :传递性

transaction cost :交易费用

uncertainty :不确定性

uniqueness :唯一性

unit elasticity :单位弹性

unstable equilibrium :不稳定均衡

utility :效用

utility function :效用函数

utility index :效用指数

utility maximization :效用极大化

utility possibility curve :效用可能性曲线

utility possibility frontier :效用可能性前沿

V

value :价值

value judge :价值判断

value of marginal product :边际产量价值

variable cost :可变成本

variable input :可变投入

variables :变量

vector :向量

visible hand :看得见的手

vulgur economics :庸俗经济学

W

wage :工资

wage rate :工资率

Walras general equilibrium :瓦尔拉斯总体均衡

Walras's law :瓦尔拉斯法则

Wants :需要

Welfare criterion :福利标准

Welfare economics :福利经学

Welfare loss triangle :福利损失三角形

welfare maximization :福利极大化

Z

zero cost :零成本

zero elasticity :零弹性

zero homogeneity :零阶齐次性

zero economic profit :零利润


What is the etymology of 居然? Usually X+然 has some kind of meaning related to X, especially archaic usage. However I do not see any relationship between 居 "to reside" and "unexpectedly". Are there any historical sources that explain where this expression came from?

out of my expection. I have never thought.

There is a famous 对联

  客上天然居,居然天上客

There are customers visiting the Natural House, Unexpectedly, They come from the Heaven.


Is there a dictionary of standard character variants? Is there a (paper or online) dictionary/list that contains standard variants of Chinese characters next to each other? That is, the Kangxi Dictionary forms (正字／康熙字典體), the forms recommended in mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, etc. It would be great if it also showed the characters in different fonts (宋體／明體、黑體、楷書、行書、草書、隸書、⋯⋯), but I'm afraid it may be too much to ask. I know about the Dictionary of Chinese Character Variants, but it doesn't seem to contain that information.

For example, I'm looking for a dictionary that would illustrate differences between Hong Kong and Taiwan, such as in this picture (Hong Kong on the top, Taiwan on the bottom, source: CLIAC):

Or something like this:

  From right to left: Kangxi Dictionary forms, Mainland China standard, Hong Kong standard, Taiwan standard, Japanese standard. (Wikipedia)

Or like this (click to enlarge):

(Song/Ming fonts)

(Regular script)

[中文]
http://www.zdic.net/z/18/zy/5B87.htm

[EN]
https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%E5%AE%87

other useful dictionary

http://chinese-linguipedia.org/clk/search/%E5%AE%87/86588/182973?srchType=1
http://humanum.arts.cuhk.edu.hk/Lexis/lexi-mf/search.php?word=%E5%AE%87
http://dict.variants.moe.edu.tw/yitia/fra/fra01006.htm
http://www.chineseetymology.org/CharacterEtymology.aspx?characterInput=%E5%AE%87


Why is 我草 (wǒ cǎo) vs. 我操 (wǒ cāo) funny? This cropped up on my Facebook:

It says:

  you vs the guy she tells you not to worry about...
  我草 我操
  wǒ cǎo wǒ cāo

I get the impression that this is rude, but anyway...

Question: Why is this funny?

Looking at some sources:

我草 (wǒ cǎo) = my grass, but YouDao indicates this might be short for 我要草你 (wǒ yào cǎo nǐ) = I want [to grass] you
我操 (wǒ cāo) = me hold (but Google Translate says this means "I fuck")

So I guess 我草 means "I want you" (in a kind of reassuring way) whereas 我操 means "I fuck" (the guy you're not meant to worry about).  I don't feel too confident with this translation.

Probably a really late comment but none of the above answers truly explained the joke. 我草 literally means 头上长草 (got grass growing on one’s head), an expression used in China to say one is betrayed by one’s partner. So, to say the joke in one sentence, one fk(我操)and one got ‘grassed’(我草), that’s fked.(wo cao)


Why Romatzyh and not Luomatzyh Why is 国语罗马字 romanized as Gwoyeu Romatzyh in Gwoyeu Romatzyh? I mean, I understand the Gwoyeu: basic forms Guo and iu, second tone turns Vu or uV into Vw or wV (right?), hence Gwo, and third tone would turn i to e, but then the y is added because the i is syllable-initial; I understand that from a basic form of tzy an -h is added for fourth tone, giving tzyh. But what about Roma? Shouldn't it be Luoma? Luo has an initial sonorant, so the second tone form is the basic form Luo, and the same goes for ma. So how come it becomes Roma in Romatzyh?

According to David Prager Branner (林德威) in A Guide to Gwoyeu Romatzyh Tonal Spelling of Chinese it is just an ad hoc rule:

  The name of the city of Rome and words derived from it are to be spelled "Roma", even though they are pronounced (and ought to be spelled) Luomaa. Hence the name of this system of Romanization is spelled Romatzyh, not *Luomaatzyh.

Yuen Ren Chao was a great linguist, and in my opinion a great man.  But developing a romanization single handed is too much for anyone.  Apparently, on this point he felt an attachment to  Rome and its cognates.


How to say in that year 2000 Which of this following  expressions is right if i want to say that year 2000. Besides is necessary a , in any of both expressions.

2000年那年   or   2000 那年

It is supposed to be used in sentences such as “2000年那年，姚明获得了成功。” or “2000那年，姚明获得了成功。”

2000年那年，姚明获得了成功。√
2000那年，姚明获得了成功。×


How do I say "share with me" in Chinese? I'd like to know how to form a sentence such as, "He shared this information with me," "She shared her recommendations with me." I believe the "with" here is not 跟，和 or 与, since the "sharing" action is not joint or communal. Instead, it's what one person "gives," in a sense, to another. Would 分享 ever apply to this type of "share," or is it 送, or is it something like "他给我分享。。。"? What would I say in the case of, "He shared this song with me?"

Any help clarifying this would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!

He shared this song with me

All the following translations are correct and common, you can use them interchangeably in a loose environment, say daily conversation, normal text.

Suggest sharing

他跟我分享了这首歌.
他和我分享了这首歌.
他与我分享了这首歌.
他同我分享了这首歌.

Suggest owner

他给我分享了这首歌.


In 这个跟那个不(是)一样 and 我们不(是)一样, is 是 totally redundant? 这个跟那个不一样。   From a native online teacher.

这个跟那个不是一样。  If I formed it myself.

我们不是一样。  If I formed it myself.

我们不一样。  If I followed the similarity of 1 above.

I know the first one got to be correct.  what about the rest?
Edited: I just happened to use the negative  不 in those sentences.  But my question also applied to without the 不.

'不一样' (is not the same) is a set phrase, functions the same as '是不一样的' therefore 是 is redundant in '不是一样'
Either '这个跟那个不一样' or '这个跟那个是不一样的', but not '这个跟那个不是一样'


Literal versus contextual translation of 斷腸 I saw in the translation of a set of Chinese lyrics that 斷腸 was translated into 'heartbroken' or 'broken heart'.

This is a curious case where there is already a common expression for heart broken - 心碎, but in the lyrics the words 斷腸 was used.

Just wondering what the difference or nuances are with using 心碎 rather than 斷腸, or if this is even an accurate translation?

I think 斷腸 should be translated as "gut wrenching (pain/sadness)" but "heart broken" is also correct because 斷腸 and 碎心 basically have the same metaphorical meaning -- "extreme emotional pain"

斷腸 (gut wrenching): an intense sadness/ emotional pain like one's intestine is being twisted apart
心碎 (heart broken): an intense sadness/ emotional pain like one's heart is being broke to pieces

心碎 is more common than 斷腸 when it come to describe emotional pain because "心" also represent "emotion/mind", therefore,"心碎" expresses "emotional damage" in a more literally way, while 斷腸 is completely metaphorical

Another difference between 斷腸 and 心碎 is 斷腸 can be used as an adjective directly, for example: 斷腸人(heart broken one); 斷腸夢 (gut wrenching dream); 斷腸痛楚 (gut wrenching pain)

But we only say "碎心人" (heart broken one), not 心碎人


Do any Chinese languages or dialects contain a rolled/trilled R? From 20:00 to 22:00 of this video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnMeISMY6eM), the speaker appears to pronounce the R sound with standard Mandarin pronunciation in 若 and 仍然. However, he rolls the R in 肉. He also taps his R in 人, but not as strongly. He doesn't pronounce the R at all in 而. For context, he from Malaysia and he says something in Cantonese later on in the video.
Do any native Chinese speakers of any dialect roll/trill their R's, or would this be interference from a non-Chinese language?

According to this map there are some Chinese languages in which the trill r is present.


Glyph origin of 我 - How did 我's radicals 手 and 戈 create the meaning of 我? Tell me, please, how do 我's radicals 手 and 戈 create the meaning of 我  (ie: I)?
  I know that 戈's pictogram (象形) means a rake-like tool or weapon, borrowed for sound to mean "me" (note 'Oracle bone script')." But then how did "rake-like tool or weapon" shift semantically to mean "I"?

Yes, 我 was a kind of weapon.
According to the book 字源谈趣, 我 was a kind of broadax originally in slavery society.

请看图（A），是甲骨文里的“我”字，象个什么东西呢？象把有柄有钩的古代武器——大斧，斧口有一排锋利的锯齿。原来，这是奴隶社会里一种用来行刑杀人和肢解牲口的凶器，叫做wǒ，古代也有人把这种锯斧叫做“錡”。

And then later, 我 was obsoleted by other new weapons little by little. From Han and Tang dynasty, 我 was borrowed to be used as first person, and the pronunciation doesn't change till today.

“我”这种奴隶社会杀人的凶器，到了战国时代，大抵被后起的更优良的凶器所淘汰；于是“我”字在汉唐以后便被普遍借用来作为第一人称使用，还是读作wǒ，字音至今不变。（先秦乃至汉唐以前，第一人称，是用“吾”“予”“余”等字来表示的。）但词性却已由名词变作人称代词，而“我”是杀人凶器的原义便早已不为人所知了。

This phenomenon is called 假借字, means select and use an old word for new expression and meaning, without creating a new word.

许慎：“假借者，本无其字，依声托事，令长是也。”即本来没有那个字，现在为了表达的需要，在不另造新字之情况下借用旧字来充当新义，就成了假借，“令”本义表命令的会意字，后来指县令。

Additional reference: 汉字“我”最早是杀人凶器


Why does the Chinese name for Poland mean "abandoned honour"? I don't speak Mandarin at all, but I have a Chinese coworker who told me that Mandarin doesn't have nouns per se, it prefers to describe things with their most obvious properties.

I was curious how the Chinese call foreign nations. I found that it's mostly the Chinese people's general impression of them. For example they call the English "brave people", the French "people of law and teaching", and the Austrians "people difficult to make business with". Czechs seem to be the ones "who quickly lose the war". Apparently the Chinese weren't aware that Czechia exists before 1938. My own nation, Hungary is something like "white people for profit", which corresponds to how we are frequented by Chinese merchants since the early 20th century. And the Jews are simply referred as "contradiction". Oh you brutally honest people, you.

Then I found that the Chinese name for the Polish means "abandoned honour". Why is that? The Poles are one of the bravest people in the world. Is this because they were so badly defeated in World War II?

Do the name of nations change over time?

When a country's name is a transliteration of their original name (like Canada or Bulgaria), does that somehow carry a meaning too?

It's all joking lah!

The translation of a nation name is often chosen according to its sound, but Chinese characters have their own meanings as well, so you can indeed explain it somehow that way, which has nothing to do with the characteristics of that nation.

英国 Britain：英勇之国 the nation of bravery

法国 France：律法之国 the nation of law

德国 Germany：美德之国 the nation of virtue

捷克 Czech：捷速攻克 who quickly conquered

匈牙利 Hungary：匈＞胡＞白人+牙利
=white with sharp teeth

etc.


Looking for help with knitting machine terms I've been trying to un-puzzle the computerized knitting machine instruction in Chinese for my mom, and I've been doing fine until these two appeared:

花板
起始针

Can't make head or tails of them in this particular sentence:

当起始针+花版最大幅宽大于针床设定总针数时，系统将弹出报警提示.

What are the English equivalents of these two? Especially, 花板?

This is my understanding of the terms:

起始针 - starting stitches (the first row)

花样 - pattern

花板 - most likely pattern template

花版最大幅 - the largest (widest) part of the pattern template

设定总针数 - pre-set total number of stitches

The sentence you quote sounds like an awkward translation of the following:

When the number of stitches at starting + stitches at largest part of the pattern exceeds the total number pre-set by the knitting bed, a warning signal will pop up.

Now I have to admit I've never used a knitting machine before, but I have been knitting since I was nine years old, so I feel I can probably shed some light on this. It makes sense that a machine will need to have a limit on how big a garment and how complicated a pattern it can produce. If my understanding is correct, you probably don't need to worry about this part, unless you're trying to knit something really, really enormous or have an extraordinarily complex pattern.


How would I translate "与君知" Google translate his been giving me straight pinyin as a translation, and pleco doesn't have what I'm looking for. I got the definitions of each individual character, but I'm not sure how to put them together to make them sounds good. If there's not a smooth translation for this title, would it be better to keep it in pinyin?

It's the name of a song.

My translation would be something like "With your knowledge" with the understanding that "your" refers to somebody of a higher status, usually either due to them being royalty or them being immensely respected and of a good moral character (or both!).

To explain, 与 means "with" or "and," a meaning that has not changed much since ancient times. You see it a lot in formal writing, and even in some jargon (e.g. 与门 refers to the AND gate of a logical circuit). In this particular context, it is clear that it probably means "with" as it appears to be a preposition more than a conjunction.

In classical Chinese (文言文), one typically finds the usage of 君 to mean roughly the same as 您 i.e. a polite, honorific pronoun to address somebody of a higher status.

From 有道词典：

  封建时代指帝王、诸侯等，引申为人的尊称，相当于“您”。道德品行良好的人也可称君子。

which, roughly translated, means that during feudal times, 君 referred to kings, princes etc, and others would use it to respectfully address them, equivalent to today's 您. The word 君子 can also be used to refer to somebody with high moral standards and good character.

知 refers to knowledge. You may be familiar with the term 知道 in modern Chinese which means "to know."


Learning abstract "tone contours" for words and phrases I'm having trouble acquiring both Mandarin pronunciation and tones (hampered by the opacity of Pinyin for beginners).

I've learned various languages to various degrees and some people consider me to be "good at languages". I thought I was a pretty good mimic. But I find learning the pronunciations and the tones of polysyllabic words and phrases just too much at once at my beginner level.

I thought it might be worth trying to learn each independently and then combine them. I could do this to some degree when I had a local friend helping coach me but he's gone back to Beijing now.

I'm looking for a way to take a Chinese word or phrase, strip out the consonant and vowel sounds, but leave the "tone contours", something like humming or whistling or replacing every syllable with "da" but in the original tone for that syllable.

I think this might work for some Chinese learners (probably not all since we have unique ways to learn languages depending on our talents etc) since English does have similar tones at the phrase level that are only about nuances, emotions, etc, and those are easy to mimic, but dealing with the unfamiliar Chinese sounds simultaneously makes them too hard to grasp.

An answer might be how to ask a new Chinese friend to help me do this, or it might be a way I can use my netbook computer to help me with it when studying alone.

There's an  animation named "喜洋洋和灰太狼" might give you a little help. It is usually for Chinese children at 3-4 years old when they start to learn the Chinese.
I am a chinese native speaker, if you have any other problem,I'm glad to help.


What's the difference between 礼仪，惯例，规矩？ In a section of my textbook I recently covered, I came across 3 vocabulary words that are very similar and I'm not sure how and when to use each.
From what I understand:

礼仪： protocol/etiquette. The dictionary I have doesn't give too many examples of this.
惯例： convention; usual practice. Ex:

按照国际惯例;
打破惯例 － break from usual practice/convention

规矩： this one is probably the trickiest of the three because there are two definitions: (a) rules of a community or organization; custom; established practice. (b) customary rules of good behavior; social etiquette (which translates to something similar to 礼仪）

example of (a): 按照中国规矩，写信时日期写在最后
example of (b):
(i) 遵守规矩；
(ii) 这个孩子没有规矩 (this child has bad manners; which seems to mean 礼貌）

So I'm still confused, because they all seem to mean the same: (to follow) some sort of standard etiquette

The three wors are all nouns.

礼仪 What someone's behavior or words gives others a very good expression.for example ,the man is a gentleman

example 礼仪之邦

之：的

邦：国家（country）

礼仪之邦 ：The people in the country are all gentlemen.（indluding women and children）
惯例 the activity has already been done in this way for many years,and others' also in this way.

惯例 mostly is used to describle activity,not behavior.
规矩 规矩 mostly is used to describle someone's words and behavior.

for example,don't make noise in public place.

规矩 describles most people's behaviors should be done like this, not gentleman.


written characters: bèi vs jiàn I have two books displaying different meannings for characters that look the same to me: What is the difference (if any) among the character for "bèi" (shell, money) and "jiàn" (to see)?

If you look more carefully, you can see that the last stroke is different.

贝 bèi ends with a 捺 nà stroke.
见 jiàn ends with a 竖湾钩 shùwāngōu, a 'hook'.

Check this list.


What greetings or sayings are there that are used during the new year, specific to the Year of the Snake? At the New Year, there are some sayings or greetings that are lucky or considered "好听", which are especially fitting since they have to do with the upcoming new year.

For example, at the New Year of the Dragon (or Horse?) one might wish someone "龙马精神".

Are there any that are said when the upcoming year is the Year of the Snake?

You can search "蛇年祝福语" online, but most of the results are artificial and aren't as classy as the 龙 ones. If you look up for Chengyu's that contain 蛇, you'll see the majority of them are negative, due to snake's symbolic meaning in Chinese culture. Even novelists complained that it's very difficult to come up with greeting lines with 蛇.
The last link contains some examples of greeting phrases:

　　从新春祝词的角度，如“龙蛇飞舞”、“笔走龙蛇”、“灵蛇之珠”等寓意美好的成语也可一用。网友“felix77”还创作出了不少祝福语：“龙蛇共舞三春景、蛇舞九州处处新、蛇步锦程业辉煌、蛇游大泽燕游春、蛇含瑞气报年华 、蛇出山穴喜报春、蛇衔瑞草户迎春。”
　　如果实在是想不到跟蛇相关的吉祥话，还有网友剑走偏锋：“只要把蛇称作小龙，一切问题都迎刃而解……”不过，最简单的方法还是用一些万能格式，如“蛇年吉祥、蛇年大吉、金蛇献瑞”。还有网友想出“硬上弓”的法子：“祝新年蛇腾虎跃，蛇飞凤舞，蛇蛇生威，蛇到成功，蛇马精神……”

To explain a few:

龙蛇飞舞 (dragons and snakes are flying): Originally it's used to describe elegant and swift movement in calligraphy. When used as new year greetings, it's blessing the audience an elegant and swift conduct of life/career/business etc.

笔走龙蛇 (dragons and snakes are following one's writing brush): Original meaning is the same as above. Since 笔 (pen) is explicit in this one, it's more appropriate to use it against someone who indeed writes.

灵蛇之珠 (pearl of the snake): Invaluable treasure or unique talent.

蛇舞九州处处新: Snakes are dancing all over China, taking everything to a new start.

蛇步锦程业辉煌: Snakes are stepping towards to a bright future and making outstanding achievements.


Is it incorrect to answer a 是不是 question with 对 or 不对? My Chinese book has this:

This says:

  丁波： 她家离学校是不是不太远？
  (Dīng bō: Tā jiā lí xuéxiào shì bùshì bù tài yuǎn?)
  阿里： 对。 她家就在学校附近。 你怎么知道？
  (Ālǐ: Duì. Tā jiā jiù zài xuéxiào fùjìn. Nǐ zěnme zhīdào?)

This confuses me, as I thought it is incorrect to respond 对 ("correct") to a 是不是 question.  I.e., one should reply 是 or 不是 (or 不), or even possibly 是的 or 不是的.   But maybe I'm wrong about this (or maybe this is a bug in the book).

Question: Is it incorrect to answer a 是不是 question with 对 or 不对?

阿里 took 丁波's question "她家离学校是不是不太远？" (Is her home not too far from school?) as a rhetorical question--  a statement await confirmation.

阿里 presumed 丁波 knew the girl's house was near by the school.  Therefore,  he replied "对"  to confirm 丁波's statement was correct.

If it was a real question that 丁波 did not know the answer, the reply of '是不是' should be either '是' or '不是'

Example:

"她家离学校是远还是不远？" (She wants to know is the girl's house far away from school or near by it)

Then the answer should be either "是很远" or "不是很远"

As for why 阿里 presumed 丁波 knew the girl's house was near by the school, it could be some indication in 丁波's earlier statement,

For example:

丁波: "She told me that she always go home for lunch, but the school lunch time is only one hour, is her house not far from school?"

From the details in the question, we know "is her house not far from school?" is a rhetorical question.

阿里 can then replies : "是"(yes), "她家离学校不是太远" or "对" (correct), "她家离学校不是太远."