Dog radical (犭) for non-Han ethnic groups As far as I understand, the dog radical (犭) was used for all non-Han ethnic groups before the Chinese Communist Party took power on the mainland. Is there truth to that? If so:

Why did the CCP stop the use of 犭?
Why do we still see the the 犭 radical in some ethnic descriptors, like 犹太 (Jewish)?

I can only provide a partial answer:

Many of the characters used in the names of non-Han ethnic groups were originally derogatory. After the founding of the PRC, the government conceptualized New China as a multiethnic state (多民族国家), and they changed many of the characters that were perceived as derogatory. I don't know if this process started under the KMT (国民党), as you suggest, and I also don't know why no one bothered to fix the one for the Jews.

Edit: The character for the Jews is a little different from those for other ethnic groups. For one, it was not an invented character. Rather, (in modern-ish times), existing characters were picked for the transliteration. Also, although it does have the dog radical, the other meanings of the character are not negative (or related at all to animals). The only extant meanings (besides being part of 犹太) are seem (好像；如同) and still (还；仍然).


How to say "increase the food price" in Chinese? 学校餐厅的开支增加了，这样一来，餐厅就会 increase the food price.

How do I say "increase the food price" in Chinese?

Thank you!

Word by word, the translation is:

increase(提高/增加 ti gao / zeng jia);

the food(食物shi wu);

的(pinyin: de, meaning the food'S price, or price OF the food.  The character is added to express that the price is the food's);

price (价格jia ge)

So the whole sentence would be, 提高食物的价格

Although in short, you can simply say 涨价(zhang jia) meaning to increase price as @user-487 answered above.


If Pinyin (or Other Romanization) can be Translated Back into Chinese Characters From what it sounds like (also here):

  Chinese characters cannot be faithfully constructed backwards from a tone+syllable combination -- the mapping only goes one way (and even then, sometimes characters have multiple pronunciations).

And

  There is no way to automatically convert pinyin into Chinese characters, especially if you don't have the tones. You can look them up individually on nciku, but you'll have no way of knowing which of the dozens of characters with the same pronunciation are the right ones.

I'm wondering if there is any way to write Chinese characters using the Latin alphabet (a-zA-Z) with/without accents of any sort, and then convert it into Chinese characters. Even if it is considered a bad idea for a new learner, I would still like to know if it is possible in any way.

If find it interesting when they say:

  As you amass a vocabulary, you will start to notice patterns that will give you an intuition for which character is meant by the English pinyin, with or without tone markings.

And even:

  In fact, even words like 终止 and 中止 sound identical with tones, so you only distinguish them in writing.

But in speech, you don't have access to writing, so this either means you need to learn how to read Chinese in order to understand these words in speech, or you can understand them in speech without learning to read Chinese, because of context of some sort.

If humans are able to tell how the sound of words translates into meaning, then I would wonder how we do that, because that would also answer the question.

I'm wondering if there is any way to write Chinese characters using the Latin alphabet (a-zA-Z) with/without accents of any sort, and then convert it into Chinese characters. Even if it is considered a bad idea for a new learner, I would still like to know if it is possible in any way.

Every Chinese character is associated with Unicode identification numbers. Not sure if this is what you are looking for. Nothing phonetic is available of this sort.

  But in speech, you don't have access to writing, so this either means you need to learn how to read Chinese in order to understand these words in speech, or you can understand them in speech without learning to read Chinese, because of context of some sort. If humans are able to tell how the sound of words translates into meaning, then I would wonder how we do that, because that would also answer the question.

These sorts of words are distinguished in the same way that we do in English for two/too/to. A kindergartner can use these three words just fine and distinguish them all without knowing they have different spellings.


Use of 龙 in the idiom 车水马龙 With the idiom 车水马龙 which is used to describe somewhere that is bustling and crowded, why was 龙 included considering it is a mythical creature?

Does it represent something other than a creature in this context?

Does it have some special meaning when paired with 马, are there other idioms where 马龙 is a pairing?

I quote some words from my dictionary specified for idiom(成语)

  成语，形容车像流水，马像游龙。形容来往车马很多，连续不断的热闹情景。

Let me try to translate

  idiom,it describe the scenery that the wagon and the horse come and go just like the stream and the dragon.

  马--->horse,龙--->dragon,they have no relationships with each other.In Chinese language,we often use metaphor ,here,we use dragon(龙) to describe the busy horse（马）.

There is no word called 马龙 in Chinese,but it is of great possibility to have someone called 马龙,because this year is the year of dragon,if someone has the family name 马，then his parents may call him 马龙。

there is another idiom 龙马精神，it describe  one man with great passion.


What is the exact meaning of 奻? Today i saw the expression: "奻" and "女女女" are they connected is some way?

And what they mean exactly?

Thanks

Firstly, What do you mean you say "女女女"? Just as a string like that, or is it 3 女 combined to form the character 姦 (Jiān) : fornicate/rape? Could you possibly share the expression you encountered?

Anyway,

新华字典 gives:

奻 (nuán) =

  争吵 (Zhēngchǎo): Quarrel

  or

  愚 (Yú): Ignorance

I'll need an answer to the first part (what is "女女女") before I can say if they're connected or not.


What does 你要买点儿什么？ mean exactly? (吗 question vs. Wh- question) I already learned that Chinese wh- questions don't require a 吗 particle but I got stuck on this sentence: 你要买点儿什么？

Which does the sentence mean, "what will you buy?" or "will you buy something/anything?"

The 点儿 confuses me a bit. That's why I'm not sure if the question 你要买点儿什么？ is asking whether or not to buy or what to buy.

Also if I add a 吗 to the end of the sentence, thus 你要买点儿什么吗？, what will it mean?

Thanks for your help in advance!

Yes, with or without 吗 could be different.

你要买点儿什么？ -> What would you buy?

你要买点儿什么吗？ -> Would you buy anything?

点儿 doesn't change the basic meaning here. It just means a bit/a little, and makes the mood soft.


What is the "Chinese Dream?" (中国梦) Sorry if this is getting too non-language specific, but I think it still has language merits that fit the sites requirements.

中国梦 we really don't need a translation as it's clearly just a play on 美国梦 (the "American Dream), so we have: the "Chinese Dream."

What we do need is a definition. What is the Chinese Dream?

There are, of course, certain connotations that come with the American Dream: freedom, prosperity, etc. but I'm at a loss as to what the Chinese Dream means or even denotes.

Chinese Dream is mostly a political slogan of Chinese President Xi Jinping. It's the Communist Party's official vision for China since the 18th National Congress.

  大家都在讨论中国梦，我以为，实现中华民族伟大复兴，就是中华民族近代以来最伟大的梦想

  Everybody is discussing the Chinese Dream. I believe that accomplishing the great revival of the Chinese race, is the greatest dream of the Chinese nation in recent times.

   -- President Xi Jinping, 29 November 2012

Secondly, Xi has outlined his plan of Chinese Dream to be:

Achieving a moderately prosperous society by 2021 (the 100th anniversary of the Communist Party of China's founding).
Achieving the dream of the Chinese nation's great revival by 2049 (the 100th anniversary of the People's Republic of China's founding), by putting in place the socialist utopia.

Lastly, the Communist Party subsequently issued a list of ways in which the Chinese Dream is supposed to differ from the American Dream. Conversely this establishes the definitions of the Chinese Dream to be:

Achieve national wealth - as opposed to private, personal wealth of American Dream
Achieve national success - as opposed to the individual success of American Dream
Limited to Chinese persons - as opposed to American Dream being for foreigners too
Harmonious joy of the group - as opposed to American individual liberty/happiness
Based on the depth of history - as opposed to American materialism of now
Focus on the power of the masses - as opposed to American individualism
For the sake of national glory - as opposed to American belief for individual prestige

I leave whether to believe any of their ideas for "Chinese Dream" up to you... You can read more about it on the wikipedia article.


What does the 呢 in "你听什么呢？" mean? I know that it means "What are you listening to?" but I'm curious as to what the 呢 is supposed to do.

呢 is a final particle. It denotes interrogative form in your example sentence. (it has other usages in other context)

You can just use a question mark e.g. "你在听什么？" (what are you listening ) to mark the sentence as a question

"呢" in "你在听什么呢？” asks the question of "what" are you listening to

"嗎" in "你在听什么嗎？” asks the question of "are" you listening to something


What does "更生" in "自力更生" mean? I've seen the phrase 自力更生 used to mean self-reliance, but am confused by what the function of the last 2 characters is.

更生 means on its own to revitalize, or to revive. In this context, 自力更生 idiomatically means "revitalize through our own efforts".

An example of its usage is in the communist saying "独立自主、自力更生". iCiba translates this as "build socialism independently and with the initiative in our own hands and through self-reliance" (which I find awkward, but it gets the point across). Ultimately, 更生 states that you're revitalizing something, in this case a country.


How do you translate “复盘”？ In the board game of 围棋 (Go), many players tend to analyse skills and techniques used in a game right after they have completed it. This review is known as 复盘 in Chinese.
Is there a specific term in English which refers to the act of reviewing past games for skill acquisition?

复盘：

  To rearrange pieces according to the previous sequence when a board game is over in order to study the merits and faults of the game.

As metters said, replay seems good, or review or as it says: study the merits and faults of the game


Difference between 搂抱, 喂抱, 拥抱, 抱抱? What's the difference between :

搂抱 (I guess this one refers to hugging/cuddling in general)
喂抱 (I tried to look for this word and a lot of pictures of mother hugging their babies appeared as a result. So I'm guessing this one is used mostly for parents hugging/cuddling with her kids)
拥抱 (I also tried to look for this one and it's said that it's hugging/cuddling because of love and friendship)
抱抱 (I guess this one has the feeling that the action of hugging happens momentarily)

???

Which one between 搂抱 and 拥抱 is more commonly used to refer to hugging/cuddling between lovers?
Which one can be used to refer to hugging/cuddling with your pets?

I don't know and I'm not sure if my guesses are correct though. Really looking forward to your explanation.

搂抱 is more sexually oriented
拥抱  is more emotionally oriented.
Here are some examples:

他搂抱着美女又是摸又是吻。（He's grabbing the beauty in his arm to touch and kiss.)

不敢相信女神搂抱着我热情的吻我（Can't believe the Goddess is hugging me and kissing me passionately.)

他拥抱着突然出现在他面前多年不见的妻子哭了起来。(He grabbed his wife who he hasn't seen in year and cried.)

母亲看到拿到冠军的孩子激动的拥抱着他哭了。(The mother who just witnessed his child becoming the champion hugged him in tears.)

本以为被抛弃的我看到女神的归来感动的拥抱着她说道：“我错了,我永远不要和你分开啦”。 (Me, who though being abandoned, saw the arrival of the Goddess, is deeply moved and hold her and say :"I'm sorry， I'll never leave you again."


What is the Mandarin equivalent of Cantonese's 一係 A 一係 B? In Cantonese, you can use 一係 to present two options. For instance, you can say:

"Either eat or go" => 一係食一係走

In Mandarin, someone said 或者 is similar but lacks the same emphasis and force.

In other words, Mandarin speakers wouldn't say 或者吃或者走

So what's the Mandarin equivalent for 一係?

An equivalent expression is:
要麽 before each option

要麽吃，要麽走

Either eat or go.

要麽你去，要麽他去，我不能去。

Either you go or he goes; I can't.


Why is Oxford called 牛津? Most chinese words about the name of foreign places are mapped phonetically, such as 华沙, 纽约 or 首尔, I believe. But in some cases it is from the historical incident, such as 旧金山 (I don't know how many are from this rule). Also, Japanese places are directly from the equivalent Japanese characters, such as 东京 or 北海道.

But why is Oxford called 牛津?

Also, in general is there any rule regarding that the word should be mapped phonetically or not?

The related question focuses on who decides the names but I would like to ask how they are decided.

This is a rare example of Chinese translation for foreign cities or the similar, there's no rule to govern this type. In short it translates literally the meaning of Oxford:
Ox: 公牛， 牛
Ford: ferry, 津,水渡也。——《说文》
Hence, Oxford == 牛津

The meaning of ferry in 津 is not seen often in modern Chinese, here are a few examples:
天津， 天子之津渡。
城阙辅三秦 风烟望五津  ----送杜少府之任蜀川   王勃
无人问津 ---成语

Also two examples of naming:
Little Rock, 小石城
Springfield， 春田市， 斯普林菲尔德 also work.


In 我去北京旅行, is 北京 the object? If not, what *is* it? I am a native speaker who is learning about how Chinese grammar works. I know that a simple sentence contains a subject (主语), a verb (谓语?) and an object (宾语).

  我(subject)吃(verb)饭(object)。

I am also aware that there are other "X语" like 状语, 表语, 补语 etc. I have little to no understanding of how they come into play.

I came across this sentence:

  我去北京旅行。

Obviously, 我 is the subject, 去 is the verb. But which is the object? 北京 or 旅行? If either of them is the object, then what is the other one? 补语?

This is an example of a serial verb construction. Mandarin Chinese can have a transitive verb-object followed by an intransitive verb. The object of the transitive verb can become the subject of the intransitive verb. Or, in this case, the intransitive verb can share the subject with the transitive verb. (Note: In English, 'go' is an intransitive verb. In Mandarin, it's transitive.)

我去北京 is clearly a subject-verb-object. 旅行 is an intransitive verb. As such, it can be a 'serial' (i.e. added in a series) after a transitive verb and its complement.


How does 十分/不十分 work？ 十分 is an adverb used just as 非常, but while 十分 can be negated (不十分), 非常 can't. (不非常 is unacceptable.)
That's the explanation given by my book, which also gives me these sentences as examples:

他不十分聪明。
他十分不满。
他不十分满 --> NO他不十分满意 --> OK

Why is this last sentence (他不十分满) wrong, if the book said I can negate 十分？And why do I need to say 满意 to use 不十分?
Thank you!

Good question.

不满 is a single word. It means unhappy or unsatisfied. It cannot be separated into 不 + 十分 + 满. It's like you can't say "un-very-happy".

不满意 is a phrase, 不 + 满意 = not satisfied. It can be modified by 十分: 不 ＋ 十分 + 满意。


As an allegory, what is implied by 《三打白骨精》 A girl asked me to help translate her introduction. I'm wondering, what is implied by 《三打白骨精》? Is this phrase used as an allegory or metaphor?

《西游记》想必都是大家的童年回忆,
Journey to the West must be a childhood memory for all of us,
《三打白骨精》更是最经典的场景之一，
The scene "Three blows to the White Bone Spirit" is perhaps one of the most classic scenes in the book,
今天我们将以喜剧的形式又重现在舞台上，
today, in comedy form, we will make this scene reappear on stage,
接下来请欣赏话剧《三打白骨精》
please enjoy the following play "Three blows to the White Bone Spirit."

I don't believe there's any special implication. I bet it's just a fun story to watch, as it involves a beautiful female demon(妖精) trying to eat the monk(唐僧)'s meat to achieve immortality.

However, 白骨精 does have a modern interpretation which is short for 白领 + 骨干 + 精英, which is not related to this, but does (usually) refer to beautiful women, who are white collar elite worker, with high level education and income. Refer to definition here: Baidu


What's the difference between 懒惰 and 懒? What's the difference in the usage between 懒惰 and 懒? Both can be translated as "lazy".

懒 (lazy) is mainly an adjective (less often as a noun)

Example:

懒人 (lazy person)

人懒 (the person is lazy)

  懒惰 (lazy/ laziness) can be an adjective or a noun.

Example:

由于他懒惰，他的花园里充满了杂草 (Due to he being lazy, his garden is full of weeds )

由于他的懒惰，他的花园里充满了杂草 (Due to his laziness, his garden is full of weeds )

  The adjective 懒惰 preceding a noun usually requires the adjectival prefix '的'

Example: 懒惰的人 (lazy person)

  The adjective 懒惰 after a noun doesn't require adjectival prefix '的'

Example:人懒惰 (the person being lazy)


Phone provider Plenti -> Router write 汥湴槿 When I plug the SIMcard from Danish provider Plenti, my Huawei router writes the provider name as 汥湴槿

Google translate translates it into 汥 Ban hibiscus. This doesn't seem right to me... What can it mean? "Unknown provider?"

Unicode in hexadecimal:

  汥 6C65
  湴 6E74
  槿 69FF

Then, look up the ASCII chart:

Write them down:

  6C: l
  65: e
  6E: n
  74: t
  69: i

Now, We get "lenti". Don't ask why "P" is missing or why it's displayed like that. Maybe it's just a bug.


In 我只是为了让你觉得我在关心你，然后以此在逃避, who is escaping? Does it refer to an escape route? 我只是为了让你觉得我在关心你，然后以此在逃避

I would translate it like: I just want you to think I care about you, and use this to escape.

My questions:

Who is escaping, the person talking or the person she's talking to?

然后以此在逃避 Could be referring to an escape route? Does the word route appear?

You are almost there.

  我只是为了让你觉得我在关心你，然后以此在逃避

I just want you to think I care about you,
and use this(refer the act"you think I care about you" or "I care about you", both could be right. Can not know since the information is not given)

to escape(from something. [Escape from what? it's not given]).


How the meaning is derived for 得意忘形? How the meaning is derived for 得意忘形?
得意忘形 déyìwàngxíng grow dizzy with success; be carried away by one's success so pleased as to lose one's sense of measure

It is always good practice to look up the etymology of an idiom whenever you are learning one:

（阮籍）嗜酒能嘯，善彈琴。當其得意，忽忘形骸。《晉書．卷四九．阮籍列傳》(教育部成語字典)
Ruan Ji enjoys wine and a good wail; he is also skilled in playing the guqin. Whenever he derives joy (from these), without warning, he forgets his physical form.

Ruan Ji was one of the Seven Sages of the Bamboo Grove (竹林七賢). They developed a particularly hedonistic lifestyle – it is important to understand the original (positive) meaning of the idiom with this context.
While in modern Chinese, we see 得意 as an indivisible word that means 'to be proud of oneself; to be complacent', it is separable in classical Chinese (and has a different meaning too), which is arguably more accurate when we are interpreting idioms with a literal approach.
得 is a verb meaning 'to get; to acquire'.
意 is obscurely polysemous. It can mean 'idea' (e.g., 意義, 意在言外 in modern Chinese) and 'intention' (e.g., 意圖, 不懷好意). But here, it should mean 'interest; pleasure'. Consider another similar example:

醉翁之意不在酒，在乎山水之間也。《醉翁亭記》
This joy from the mountains and the water he feels within his mind; he merely ascribes it to the wine.

This suggests, in very crude terms, that the enjoyment of a drinker is not derived from the wine itself, but the environment in which the wine is drunk. In modern Chinese, we say someone is having an ulterior motive if we say 醉翁之意不在酒.

However, idioms are known to be especially prone to semantic shift. 得意忘形 is no longer used to describe someone as being hedonistic (which is neutral, perhaps somewhat approving), but careless due to extreme glee (which is definitely disapproving).

References
Lian, Xianda. “The Old Drunkard Who Finds Joy in His Own Joy -Elitist Ideas in Ouyang Xiu's Informal Writings.” Chinese Literature: Essays, Articles, Reviews (CLEAR), vol. 23, 2001, pp. 1–29. JSTOR, www.jstor.org/stable/495498. Accessed 20 Apr. 2021.
Hegel, Robert E. "A Record of the Pavilion of an Intoxicated Old Man," in The Columbia Anthology of Traditional Chinese Literature, ed. Victor H. Mair (New York: Columbia University Press, 1994), pp. 590–591.


What is the meaning of 庸 in the phrase 毋庸置疑? 毋庸置疑 is a chengyu. Its meaning is "beyound any doubt", but what is its verbatim meaning in literary Chinese?

毋 is like "don't"
置 is "to place, to put"
疑 is "doubt"
庸 I am not sure of the correct meaning for

Please, if possible, explain the grammatical structure of the sentence.

庸 means 需要 (need) here.

  (1) (会意。小篆字形。从用,从庚。“庚更”同音,表更换。先做某事,然后更换做别的事。本义:用;需要)

  (2) 同本义 [need;adopt]

  (4) 常与否定副词“无”、“勿”、“弗”连用

  (5) 又如:无庸讳言;无庸细述;毋庸讳言;

So 毋庸 means 无须/不必 (no need to).


"Banking" alternatives for digit characters? I heard, that there are more complex "banking" alternatives for digit characters:

  一二三四五六七八九十

provided in order to fraud protect.

Is this true and how can I find a table for them?

May be 零 is and example replacement for 〇 but I am not sure.

0、1、2、3、4、5、6、7、8、9、10、100、1,000(1K)、10,000(10K)、100,000,000(100M)

Traditional Chinese
零、壹、 貳、參、肆、伍、陸、柒、捌、玖、拾、佰、仟、萬、億

or

Simplified Chinese
零、壹、 贰、叁、肆、伍、陆、柒、捌、玖、拾、佰、仟、万、亿


How did 背后 come to mean "behind one's back" both literally and figuratively, like in English? 背后 is used to mean "behind one's back" both literally:

  你要是口渴，在门背后你能找到水。
  If you're thirsty, behind the door you can find water.
  Jukuu.com

and figuratively (in the sense of backstabbing):

  她伪称喜欢你,但在背后批评你。
  She falsely states she likes you, but behind [your] back criticizes you.
  Jukuu.com

I'm not sure if this is purely coincidental.

Question: How did 背后 come to mean "behind one's back" both literally and figuratively, like in English?

背后(behind) is a compound word made up of [背 = back/ back side (n)] + [后 = behind (preposition)]

背 in 背后 can refer to "the back" (背脊) of a person
e.g. 在你背后批评你
背 here refers to your back (背脊)
Although 背 here literally mean one's back, it is used as a metaphor for "place you cannot see = instances unknown to you "

~

背 in 背后 can also refer to "the back side"(背面) of an object
e.g. 在门背后
背 here refers to the back side of the door (门背面)
In this case, the meaning of "背" (the back side) is completely literal


What is the idiomatic way to say "clothing fits"? There are various ways to express the verb "fit" in Mandarin, such as 適合，配合，對 and so on. I'm not sure which one to use when expressing sentences like:

  The clothes no longer fit me.
  I need clothes that fit me.

The idea is that the clothes are the wrong size now, there is nothing else wrong with them. (不)適合我 seems like it could also mean "I (don't) like the style".

Would I even use a word like "適合" here, or an expression like 穿不上? Is it different if the clothes are too big instead of too small?

I am a native Chinese speaker and glad to help you.
In Chinese, there is a more idiomatic way to express that the clothes do not fit.
You can simply say "合身".
As an example: 这件衣服不合身, 它太大(或小)了.
(Translation: These clothes do not fit me because they are too large (or small).

When you use "适合", a misunderstanding may occur. This word can also be used to describe how the clothes look on you. (Just as your example: you use it to say you don't like the style.
As an example: 这件衣服不适合我, 它显得太年轻了.
This means these clothes are often preferred by younger people.

When you say: 这件衣服穿不上
You only emphasize that these clothes are too small for you.


How strict is pronoun gender applied in writing I noticed that my sougou pinyin program doesn't even have 她们的 in the choices, how strict is this gender difference applied in writing, Maybe some specific questions.

If I refer to a group of people of both genders. would "their"be 他们的， does the male form take precedence here?

If I refer to a group of females, is 他们的 acceptable or does it have to be 她们的 ？

If I refer to a group of animals, should it always be 它们的 ？

Thank you.

If I refer to a group of people of both genders. would "their"be 他们的， does the male form take precedence here?

Yup.

If I refer to a group of females, is 他们的 acceptable or does it have to be 她们的 ？

Both are acceptable but if you really wanted to be specific then 她们的 would be better.

If I refer to a group of animals, should it always be 它们的 ？

Maybe  牠 would be more appropriate.

there are a few different 'ta's depending on what you want to say -- even one for 'gods' or deities


What is the subject of 其他的都很满意? I found the following translated example:

除了没有电梯，其他的都很满意。
Chúle méiyǒu diàntī, qítā de dōu hěn mǎnyì.
I am satisfied with everything except for there is no elevator.

I have a question about the subject of the second part of the sentence. Which of the following interpretations is correct?

The subject 我 is omitted, 满意 means satisfied (such as in Yabla) and 其他的...都 is the topic. It literally means:

其他的(我)都很满意。
I am satisfied of every other thing.

The subject is 其他的都 and 满意 means satisfying (though I could not find this entry in any dictionary). It literally means:

其他的都很满意。
Every other thing is satisfying.

I am glad to see this interesting question. The omission is really one of the most confusing but fascinating parts of the Chinese language. My explanation would be almost similar to your first one.
There are two omissions in this example. One is the omission of the subject. The other is the omission of the verb.
除了价格以外，（我）（对）其他的都（感觉）很满意。
Except for the price, I feel very satisfied with every other thing.

除了...以外 - except for
价格 - price
我 - I
对...感觉 - feel
其他的都 - every other thing
很满意 - very satisfied


What is the meaning of 冲着 冲 is a word with many nuances. In my sentence, does this 冲着 have any sense of 'rush'? I take '冲着 ...... 去' to mean 'because' here, although maybe 'intent on', 'aiming at' might be better.

当初，你考美元的时候，是冲着美院油画系，但是您现在画的都是国画。

当初，
Originally,
你考美院的时候，
when you took the Arts College entrance exam,
是冲着美院油画系去的，
a) (that) was because you wanted to study oil painting,
b) you were intent on the Faculty of Oil Painting,
c) you were aiming at the Faculty of Oil Painting,
但是您现在画的都是国画。
but now all you paint is Chinese Painting.

请别冲着我大喊大叫！冲着 = at
海潮冲着峭壁。冲着 = dash against
那幢房子冲着大海。冲着 = faces
其实我就是冲着她来的。冲着 = for
是冲着美院油画系去的，冲着 = because?

冲 is merged from two different characters, 沖 and 衝, notice that 衝 was merged to 沖 and then simplified to 冲 in simplified Chinese. It is very common that using a simple homophone Chinese character replace another complex one in classic Chinese among ordinary people, this is one of the Chinese simplifying rules. We can see the meanings of the characters 冲 or 沖 is about water, yes, it means water (verb), flush, etc. But 衝 is another verb, it means toward (for somebody or something) generally. e.g.: 衝向/冲向: run toward, 衝動/冲动: impulse, 衝着/冲着: for (something).

请别冲着我大喊大叫/請別衝著我大喊大叫:Please don't shout at me.
海潮冲着峭壁/海潮沖著峭壁:The tide is eroding (flushing) the cliff.
那幢房子冲着大海/那幢房子衝著大海:The house face to the sea.
其实我就是冲着她来的/其實我就是衝著她來的:Actually I'm coming for her.
是冲着美院油画系去的/是衝著美院油畫系去的:(Someone) is going for oil painting department of fine arts academy.

The second 冲 is corresponding to 沖 in traditional Chinese, the others are 衝.


What's the meaning of 下来 in 把它写下来？ In the sentence "把它写下来", what's the meaning of “下来”？
Can I just say "把它写"?

下来 is a result complement for the verb 写
把它写(下来) = write it (down)
把它写 is an incomplete sentence because the verb 写 doesn't sound complete
把它写在纸上 (write it on paper) would be a complete sentence
Please read result complement at Chinese Grammar Wiki


How do I avoid repetitions when combining two sentences with the same subject and verb? Consider the following two English sentences:

The song is called "Name 1" on "Website 1".
The song is called "Name 2" on "Website 2".

I can combine these two sentences to read:

  The song is called "Name 1" on "Website 1" and "Name 2" on "Website 2".

The subject and verb are dropped.

Now consider the same two sentences in Chinese:

這首歌在「Website 1」上線被稱為「Name 1」。
這首歌在「Website 2」上線被稱為「Name 2」。

How do I similarly join clauses in Chinese if a different location is specified in the two clauses? Does it work the same as if no location was specified (i.e., just use 和)?

  這首歌在「Website 1」上線被稱為「Name 1」和在「Website 2」上線「Name 2」。

The preceding text seems like it may be incorrect to me because the omitted verb occurs between the location and object.

It seems that I can also use 也, but that apparently requires repeating the verb, which I’d like to avoid to reduce verbosity:

  這首歌在「Website 1」上線被稱為「Name 1」, 也在「Website 2」上線被稱為「Name 2」。

Use 同时 (at the same time) if you just want to state that the two are equally true.

  这首歌在「Website 1」上被称为「Name 1」，同时在「Website 2」上被称为「Name 2」。

Use 反而 (instead) or 而 (and/but) if you want to stress the opposition between the two.

  这首歌在「Website 1」上被称为「Name 1」，而在「Website 2」上被称为「Name 2」。

You can avoid further repetitions by simplifying the second verb or using a synonym. I think you can also omit the location verb after the second 在:

  而在 [ Website 1 ] （上）（它）叫 / 是 / 被称 [ Name 2 ]


Translation of 飞架 in 港珠澳大桥飞架三地 How do you make grammatical sense of 飞架 in the expression 港珠澳大桥飞架三地? Is it "the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge flies a three-city frame"? Or "the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge: flying and supporting three cities"? Or something else?

If the sentence was "港珠澳大桥高架三地", we can understand "高架" means "rise high"

Imagine the bridge was like a dragon, and this dragon flying high above the sea through three territories

港珠澳大桥飞架三地 would mean "the Hong Kong-Zhuhai-Macao Bridge rises high above the sea like dragon fly through three territories"

飞架 would mean "rises high and extends far"

飞架三地 would mean "rises high and extends across three territories"

Or

simply "fly across" -- describe the bridge as a metaphorical dragon


Can 持续 have these 2 meanings? I found these 2 example sentences, with English translations, for 持续。They are very different in meaning. Are both ok?

高温天气持续了几天。 The hot weather went on for some days. 持续 = continued
这足以持续到周末。It is enough to go on the weekend. 'go when?' 'on the weekend'

In 2., 'go on' does not really belong together, nor is there any sense of 'continue to do sth'.

Yes. It seems you understand the first sentence pretty well.

Regarding the second sentence, I think you're confusing 持续 and 足以. 足以 is the word that means "enough".

这足以持续到周末 = This is enough to last until the weekend.

The key here is that 持续 indicates a persistence, something that continues on.


Why did my teacher say 判断 is wrong in 她意识到朋友判断她 ("she's aware that her friends judge her") and what's a better choice of word? This is a sentence of my writing:

  她意识到朋友判断她、对她的感觉变了、不再想跟她在一起。

It's meant to mean something like:

  She's aware that her friends judge her, have changed feelings about her, and don't want to spend time with her.

(Think someone with depression.)

My teacher said 判断 was the wrong word here, but we didn't immediately figure out a better choice, and forgot to get back to it.  I'm not sure what the problem even is.

Question: Why did my teacher say 判断 is wrong in the above sentence and what's a better choice of word?

The idiom 评头论足 is a normal phrase for this setting and has a negative connotation as well.  E. g.  他总是对别人评头论足。


Any difference between 损害,损伤,伤害? I am having a hard time to decide which to use between the three options (损害，损伤 and 伤害)...

Anyone can teach me the difference?

The literal meanings of the three words share much in common: to cause damage or harm. Usages can sometimes be distinguished by the intention and effect of the action.

损害: to damage, to undermine

损伤: to injure or harm

伤害: to hurt

The drum player says he feels hurt by his neighbours‘ complaint that his loud music harms people's hearing and damages the image of the peaceful neighbourhood.

鼓手说他感到伤害，因为邻居们投诉他大声的音乐损伤听觉，并且损害社区安宁的形象。


How to formally say : "I am yyy calling from xxx company, how can I help you ?" From a customer service standpoint , how to formally say : "I am yyy calling from xxx company, how can I help you ?".
1：“我是客服 yyy，从 xxx 公司 打过来的。请问有什么可以帮助您 ？”
2： “我叫 yyy , 从 xxx 公司给您打电话了。请问怎么能帮助您 ？”
Any corrections/improvements/ other suggestions ?

Say 你好 (Hello) first

It sounds more formal to state what company you are from before stating your name. "我是 xxx 公司的客服 yyy" or "我是 xxx 公司的客服, 我的名字是 yyy"

Since you are speaking with the customer on the phone, "打过来的" or "给您打电话了" is redundant. Just like you wouldn't need to say "I am talking to you in person" if you are face to face with the customer.

Either 请问有什么可以帮助您 or 请问怎么能帮助您 is fine for "how may I help you?"

add final particle (呢) to soften tone, express keenness

Say "请问有什么我可以帮助您呢?"  instead of "请问有什么可以帮助您呢?" to stress 'it is I who will help you'

"你好, 我是 xxx 公司的客服, 我的名字是 yyy, 请问有什么我可以帮助您呢?"
or
"你好, 我是 xxx 公司的客服 yyy, 请问有什么我可以帮助您呢?"


Are these greens 苦木？ My garden neighbor gave me these greens. Is this 苦木？ My neighbor said it is ku3mu4. Did I spell it correctly? What is it called in English?

EDIT: In response to the given answers, here are some entries from my dictionary, but I'm still unsure...

I don't cook much.

This looks like 油麦菜.

It is a variation of lettuce (Lactuca sativa). From a search on the web (wikipedia), I don't think there is a specific English name for it.

百度百科 gives a Latin name "Lactuca sativa var longifoliaf. Lam" for it. The site also says it can be called "莜麦菜", "苦菜" or "生菜" (note: there is also another kind of vegetable called "生菜"). But I've never heard anyone calling it "苦木". And as it is a kind of vegetable, I think it should be unlikely for it to be called "苦木".


My Chinese Story, need correction, any suggestion? Are you guys aware of any website service or any language exchange platform where one can post their stories or essays and get them checked?

Also, below is my story, if anyone finds a very striking error, please do let me know. Of course it's not possible to go through the entire story and correct it word by word, I understand.

我一个小孩子的时候住在美国。 我是在那儿出生的。 我爸爸妈妈一些年以后座飞机来到美国的。
他们买到了一个很大的公寓。 我在那家公寓长大。 附近我有很多朋友。 我们在美国住五-六年。 然后，我们建搬家到印度。由于很大堵车，污染环境，和人口密集，印度给我留下了不太好的印象。然而什么时候以后，我开始了喜欢印度和印度的文化。 印度和美国并不一样。他们见间有很多差异。
我岁十一年龄以后，我们再搬家回到美国。这次我根本不喜欢美国。 当我终于适应印度的周围我父母宣布了我们要回去美国。原因才是他们都不喜欢印度有点儿。
现在我们还住在华盛顿，美国。我喜欢在这儿。但是我很想印度。有一天我一定要搬家去印度。

-美理
2016.07.12

We don't use too much period, only when you finish saying a short piece of contents. In general your Chinese is good, you know a lot Chinese words. (My English is not good enough, not sure you understand all of my saying)
我还是一个小孩子的时候住在美国。 我是在那儿出生的， 我爸爸妈妈几年后坐飞机来到美国， 他们买到了一个很大的公寓， 我在那家公寓长大， 附近有很多我的朋友。 我们在美国住五六年，然后，我们搬家到印度，由于很大堵车，环境污染，和人口密集，印度给我留下了不太好的印象，然而不知道什么时候开始，我喜欢印度和印度的文化。 印度和美国并不一样，他们之间有很多差异。 我十一岁以后，我们再搬家回美国。这次我根本不喜欢美国，当我终于适应印度的环境的时候我父母宣布了我们要回美国，原因是他们都有点儿不喜欢印度。 现在我们还住在美国华盛顿，我喜欢在这儿，但是我很想印度，有一天我一定要搬家去印度。


When do we use 没(mei3) and 不(bu4) before verbs in sentences? I have read some articles Chinese, my question is about above subject, because if I want to say:
我没喝 (it is wrong)
我不喝 (it is right)

are there list of verb can be followed by 没(mei3) and 不(bu4)?

没 and 不 are fundamentally different.

没 means "didn't"

不 means "won't" or "don't"

Actually your two sentences are perfectly normal Chinese sentences:

我没喝 means I didn't drink (it) -or- I haven't drank

我不喝 means I don't want to drink -or- I won't drink

A Chinese English Dictionary

没

  ADVERB INFORMAL
  have not or did not

  他来没来？——还没来呢。

  Tā lái méi lái？ —— hái méi lái ne.

  Has he come yet?--Not yet.

不

  1 (used before verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs; never before 有) not; won't; not want to

  我不去。

  Wǒ bù qù.

  I'm not going. or I won't go.

  他昨天不来,可是今天来了。

  Tā zuótiān bù lái, kěshì jīntiān lái le.

  He didn't want to come yesterday,but he came today.

So the deal is: do you want to say haven't (yet), didn't (yet) = 没 -or- won't, don't (want to) = 不. Pretty much any verb can follow 没 and 不 everything just depends on what you want to express.

有 might be the only exception I can think of at the moment but that's been covered here:
Why is 有 (yǒu) the only verb that requires 没 while other verbs can use 不?


Stylistic assessment of a Western first name as the basis for a Chinese name I need some help from native speakers who can provide critique of the following practice.
Imagine that someone is called Martin Schneider (fictional example) and is the head of the China department at the ministry of foreign affairs of a European country. As he is regularly contacted by Chinese partners, and v.v., he decides to adopt a Chinese name and picks 马丁, which is just a rendering of his first name Martin with common "transliteration" characters.
While 马丁 is, of course, obviously foreign sounding, it is still a "valid" Chinese name (姓名) since it consists of a valid surname (马) and one other character suggesting a given name part (名).
The question is: Is it stylistically appropriate for someone, especially in a high-ranking diplomatic position, to basically use his first name as his (full) Chinese name? Imagine if Martin Schneider/马丁 meets the Chinese ambassador who is 吴XX. The latter will be referred to as 吴大使 (Ambassador Wu), but won't the ambassador have a strange feeling referring to the host country's diplomat as 马丁先生 (lit. Mr. Martin), especially if he (undoubtedly) understands some English (or another European language), and knows that he's using the host diplomat's first name.
The general reason I ask is because I see this phenomenon of 'first name as Chinese name' among a lot of China focused journalists, "China experts", etc. The more concrete reason is that I need to assess the competence of an actual head of China Dept. in a European country (who is, of course, not named Martin Schneider or 马丁, but follows this 'first name as Chinese name' practice.)
I understand that some Western names (first + last name) are hard to render in Chinese because of complex consonant clusters, and a transliteration like 马丁·施耐德 is neither very imaginative nor easy to type, remember, etc. for a Chinese native speaker. But I find it bizarre for someone to just go by his/her first name as a diplomat.
Note: I understand that this question can't be answered in an exact way, please suggest edits, or other possible ways to find a solution.

first name as Chinese name' practice

imo, it’s unacceptable. name is extremely important in chinese culture, a good one helps in every aspects in life.
because, the practice of transliteration one’s first name as chinese full name; most of the time, cannot generate a good enough chinese name.
the proper way is: first, transliterates the initial of a surname, then add characters semantically, to compose a good one (according to chinese culture).
example 1:
Bonnie S. Glaser, her chinese name is 葛來儀.
葛 - in cantonese, it’s got3; which preserve the initial of glaser
儀 - it sounds similar to “ie” in bonnie
來 - derived from the idiom “有鳳來儀” (roughly, a phoenix comes with grace to rest)
bingo, “來儀” as a given name is, strongly connected to phoenix (a female legendary creature), and 葛 is a common chinese surname.
every time i read this name in the news, i would salute to the guy who choose it
example 2:
the last governor of hong kong, chris pattern 彭定康
彭 - again, in cantonese, paang preserves the initial p of pattern
定 - ding6, derived from t of tern —> d (aspirated alveolar t —-> unaspirated alveolar d)
康 - means “ease; vigour; health; peace; repose; well-being” in chinese
this name is quite good, imo. actually, most chinese name of the governors of hong kong are good, if not excellent.

find it bizarre for someone to just go by his/her first name as a diplomat.

absolutely. any high ranking officials should have a good chinese name, if they need to “deal” with . . .

some Western names (first + last name) are hard to render in Chinese because of complex consonant clusters

use cantonese, which has more initial, final & tone than mandarin; that it’s more likely you can find a suitable syllable
have fun :)


Why does the grandma jump up and shout "杀了俺俺也不信！"? 我小的时候，有一段很特别的时期。有一天，我父亲对我姥姥说，一亩地里能打三十万斤粮食，而我的姥姥，一位农村来的老实老太太，跳着小脚叫了起来：“杀了俺俺也不信！”她还算了一本细账，说一亩地上堆三十万斤粮，大概平地有两尺厚的一层。当时我们家里的人都攻击我姥姥觉悟太低，不明事理。我当时只有六岁，但也得出了自己的结论：我姥姥是错误的。……
王小波，积极的结论，一只特立独行的猪

Here is my translation of the part in bold:

杀了俺俺也不信!
My translation: [Even if] you kill me, I won't believe [you]!
Google Translate (v1):  I didn't believe it if I killed it!
Google Translate (v2): I don’t believe you killed me!

This seems like an peculiar reaction to the price of grain, particularly from an old lady (even if she is familiar with the price of grain, and is a bit crazy).  I feel like there is some significance here I'm completely missing.
Question: Why does the grandma jump up and shout "杀了俺俺也不信！"?

there is some significance here I'm completely missing

well, you mis-interpreted the charatcter “打”  to price.

一亩地里能打三十万斤粮食

“打” is “打榖”, it means harvest
the quoted verse was a common “fake news” in china, during great leap forward (~1958-1962), roughly,
[in] one 畝 (about 667 sq meter) field, one can harvest 300,000 斤 (500 grams x 300000 —>  150,000 kg) grain.
the sad fact was, most people believed it.
btw, the highest record of such fake news is 130435 斤
https://zh.wikipedia.org/zh-hk/放卫星


Is it a solvable Idiom Crossword Puzzle? Native Chinese speakers should be able to solve this puzzle. Just want to know if the hints I give are too hard or too easy. And how long it take for you to solve it.

Shock heaven and move earth
pitiful; deserving or arousing pity.
having common goal
be successfully completed once condition is met (when water arrive, a water pathway will form)
back against the castle and make a stand
wonderful world
mutual destruction
great number of people spill out to the street
calm and corrected
chilly night
hopeless situation; at the end of one's rope
Pine, bamboo and plum

A. No going back (the origin of 覆水難收)

B. party every night

C. united we stand; people's power

D. great distance (many mountains and bodies of water)

E. overnight sensation; awe inspiring

F. match made in heaven

G. red light district

H. tomorrow's yellow flower; old news

I. it is a cruel cold world

J. clear border

K. tough to be at the top

L. be tender to the ladies

M. break rock and shock the heaven

N. total despair

I will post the answer later

Edit:

If you want more hints, you can start from the one below

~

~

~

~

~

Edit:

The Answer in traditional Chinese

Shock heaven and move earth - 驚天動地
pitiful; deserving or arousing pity. - 楚楚可憐
having common goal -志同道合
be successfully completed once condition is met (when water arrive, a water pathway will form) - 水到渠成
back against the castle and make a stand - 背城借一
wonderful world - 花花世界
mutual destruction - 玉石俱焚
great number of people spill out to the street - 萬人空巷
calm and corrected - 處變不驚
chilly night - 夜涼如水
hopeless situation; at the end of one's rope - 山窮水盡
Pine, bamboo and plum - 嵗寒三友

A. No going back (the origin of 覆水難收)-馬前覆水

B. party every night - 夜夜笙歌

C. united we stand; people's power - 眾志成城

D. great distance (many mountains and bodies of water)- 萬水千山

E. overnight sensation; awe inspiring - 一鳴驚人

F. match made in heaven - 天作之合

G. red light district - 花街柳巷

H. tomorrow's yellow flower; old news - 明日黃花

I. it is a cruel cold world - 世態炎涼

J. clear border - 楚河漢界

K. tough to be at the top - 高處不勝寒

L. be tender to the ladies - 憐香惜玉

M. break rock and shock the heaven - 石破天驚

N. total despair - 萬念俱灰

this is what I got without hints:

and after the hints:

my personal feelings:

万水千山&山穷水尽 is a bit hard without hints, I was thinking about 万里之遥&遥不可及/遥遥无期.
背城借一，I didn't even know this word until I googled "带城和一的成语".
A and 4, I still don't know what they are.

UPDATE after new hints:


啊，诶，喔，哦：compare and contrast The characters in the title are, FWIK, all exclamatory sentence-final particles, though I'm not too sure about ei. So I was wondering what the difference was between the three. Is there a difference in the first place? And if so, what is it?

哦 (Ò), I see!

哦 (O), is that really so?

喔 (Ō), I see!

诶 (唉, Āi), good heavens!

啊 (Á), you are kidding me, right?

啊 (Ǎ), is that really so?

啊 (À), OK.


How to pronounce several consecutive '“三声” characters? It is known that the first character in a two-"三声"-character word is prounounced as "二声"。For example,

勇敢 （ㄩㄥˇ　ㄍㄢˇ）is usually pronounced as "（ㄩㄥˊ　ㄍㄢˇ）".

How about when in a sentence there are some consecutative "三声" characters?

Say the following sentence:

请你给李雪主讲讲勇敢的打死老虎者。

How to pronounce the tones?

I thought about such questions before as well, it turns out in this case, you would just pronounce the way it flows better for you, for example

qíng nǐ géi lǐ xué zhǔ jiáng jiǎng yóng gǎn dē dá sǐ láo hú zhě
qǐng ní gěi (pause) lǐ xué zhǔ jiáng jiǎng yóng gǎn dē dá sǐ láo hú zhě

You can imagine you are trying to speak out a number whose value is

3.55555555555555555555555...

You would naturally alternate second and third tone.


Give further examples of morphological alternation patterns such as Verb/Noun (处 chu3 / chu4) and Active/Inactive Verb (好 hao4 / hao3) In this answer, a few examples of morphological alternation patterns are provided, like Verb/Noun (e.g. 处 chu3 "to dwell" / chu4 "a place") and Active/Inactive Verb (e.g. 好 hao4 "to like" / hao3 "to be good").

Are more complete lists available somewhere? Alternatively, could someone provide more examples? Actually this question has three parts.

1) Are there more characters which are Verb or Noun depending on the pronunciation?

2) Are there more characters which Active/Inactive Verb depending on the pronunciation?

3) Are there other sorts of morphological alternation patterns?

With as many examples as possible. :)

This is a question about modern standard Chinese/普通话.
Thanks.

好(hǎo hào)
正(chēng zhèng)
应(yīng yìng)
奔(bēn bèn)
卷(juǎn juàn)
调(tiáo diào)
转(zhuǎn zhuàn)
兴(xīng xìng)
模(mó mú)
系(xì jì)
挨(āi ái)
挑(tiāo tiǎo)
盛(chéng shèng)
冠(guān guàn)
壳(ké qiào)
载(zǎi zài)
散(sǎn sàn)
强(qiáng qiǎng)
供(gōng gòng)
薄(báo bó)
尽(jǐn jìn)
难(nán nàn)
种(zhǒng zhòng)
更(gēng gèng)
处(chǔ chù)
乐(lè yuè)


What belongs together here '年产数百万顿的'? How should I read this: ,形成了年产数百万吨的强大产能。

Is it: A ,形成了  (年产数) 百万吨的  强大产能。or

B ,形成了年产  (数百万吨的)  强大产能。

I believe '数百万‘ = 'several million', but I think '年产数‘ could be 'annual production figure'.

Thanks!

It should be B. If you want to use 年产数 as a phrase, it shoule be

形成了年产数为数百万吨的强大产能

or

形成了年产数达到数百万吨的强大产能

BTW: 顿 should be 吨.


Chinese Contractions (缩约) While speaking to Chinese Speakers, I sometimes notice that words are left out of a sentence. I have also read this thread on Chinese Contractions. When longer phrases are shortened in Chinese is this the same thing as a contraction? I know I have heard of this but I cannot seem to recall one at the moment. Are there some common examples of 缩约?

Some examples would be:

全国人民代表大会 is shortened as "人大"
超級女聲 is shortened as "超女"
中央電視台 is shorten as "央視"


How do you say "mentor" in Chinese? I've been trying to figure out if Chinese has a similar concept to the idea of "mentor" in english. I know 导师 and 良师 are both options that have been thrown out. But, I'm not sure if they imply the type of relationship that I'm trying to express.
If anyone has any ideas (or can see a way of expressing that "I am receiving mentorship from someone"). I would really appreciate the help!

Here are some words which are all related to the idea you are trying to express with pinyin and approximate English glosses:

曼托爾 [Màntuō'ěr] "Mentor - the actual historical figure from whom the English word 'mentor' is derived" (proper name)
老師 [lǎoshī] "teacher" (generic, can be distant, but usually intimate)
師父 [shīfu] "tutor, master, teacher" (usually for something that is practiced)
師傅 [shīfu] "master worker" (usually manual labor)
良師 [liángshī] "good teacher" (rarely used in this sense outside the context of 良師益友 as far as I know)
顧問 [gùwèn] "consultant, adviser" (has the same feel as in English, a bit more distant)
導師 [dǎoshī] "tutor, mentor, teacher, supervisor" (can be both distant and intimate)
指導者 [zhǐdǎozhě] "coach, mentor, counselor" (distant)

On the whole, it doesn't seem that Chinese has a particular term which is a perfect, exact match to the English sense of "mentor". However, the one that feels most right to me is 導師 [dǎoshī], given that I have also seen used the related term 導生 [dǎoshēng] "mentee".

導 [dǎo] means "to guide" or "to lead" with related terms: 指導 [zhǐdǎo] "direction, guidance, supervision", 教導 [jiàodǎo] "teaching, guidance", and 領導 [lǐngdǎo] "leadership, leader".

Given how "mentor" and "mentorship" are used in English, especially in the business sense, 導師 seems the most appropriate. In which case, you could say, "我受他的指導" ["wǒ shòu tā de zhǐdǎo"] "I am receiving his mentorship". This would make it seem that 指導者 [zhǐdǎozhě] might be a better choice for "mentor"; however, 指導者 [zhǐdǎozhě] seems more distant than 導師 [dǎoshī], which feels more intimate.


Why "Lie to me" is translated as "别对我说谎"? The movie name Lie to me, should be directly translated to 对我说谎. But the Chinese translation is 别对我说谎, which is opposite to the expected translation.

Is this common? When should we opposite the meaning when translating English to Chinese?

"Lie to Me" sounds like a challenge (feel free to lie to me and I will see through you).

"别对我说谎" sounds like a warning (Never lie to me or I will see through you).

They are not that contrary but actually quite close in this particular context,  since both convey the subtext "I will see through you".

In Chinese, "对我说谎" isn't as strong as "Lie to me" in English, unless you say "来，对我说谎" or "对我说谎试试" to stress that it's an imperative sentence. I guess this is why the translator chose 别对我说谎 rather than 对我说谎.


What is the equivalent in English for 喷子？ This expression is not the conventional one found in a normal dictionary, but in a large number of posts online. In my guess, it means somebody who is unsatisfied with the real world, right? I am not sure. Perhaps you can share your understanding of it.

troll

One who posts a deliberately provocative message to a newsgroup or message board with the intention of causing maximum disruption and argument

by Alien Entity September 22, 2002

Source: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=troll


How did 黑鍋 "black wok" semantically shift to mean "blame for a crime"? https://chinese.stackexchange.com/a/38716 spurred this question. 黑鍋 - Wiktionary

  (literally) black wok
  (figuratively) blame for a crime

How did "black wok" semantically shift to mean definition 2 above? In 2020, Chinese cooking require woks that are usually black, so I can't imagine how it appertains to 'blame for a crime'?

As a verb, 背 'carry on the back' or 'bear'. Source for picture below. 背黑鍋 - Wiktionary

  (idiomatic) to take the blame (for someone else); to be a scapegoat

The Cantonese equivalent of 背黑鍋 is 替人孭鑊
鑊 is a slang for 'incident' e.g. 大鑊 (big wok = big incident). 孭鑊 (to carry the wok) means 'to take the responsibility/ blame (for an incident or mistake)' . "替人孭鑊" = "take blame for someone else" = "背黑鍋" in  Mandarin


An extremely rare same name used by two people The rare name 澹台灭明 is used by two people:

A disciple of Confucious.
A character is one of Liang Yusheng's novels.

As I understand, the surname 澹台 and the given name 灭明 are both extremely rare in China. I am shocked to see this ever rarer combination 澹台灭明 being used twice by complete two different people. Any explanation? Can 灭明 be a decent (though rare but perhaps poetic?) given name today?

As you mentioned, the second occurrence of this name is from a novel, for instance the novelist Liange Yusheng 梁羽生 (1924－2009) was born in a traditional scholar family, thus gained very solid traditional Chinese education background. So I don't believe it is a coincident that the name of one of the 72 students of Confucious 孔子 is being used in his fictions. It is not rare in Chinese that novelist uses some names in history as their fiction character name.

And now let's look at the somehow "strange" or even "bad" name 澹台灭明. Again for instance the person 澹台灭明 in history was born around 500 B.C during the the "Chunqiu" 春秋 (770 B.C - 403 B.C) era, which can help us a lot understanding the name.

First the surname 澹台, it is actually a surname came from location, to be more precise the mountain 澹台山 (Mount Tan Tai). It is unclear whether he inherited the surname from his father or he might be the very origin of this surname because he lived in 澹台山 for a significant part of his life. But either way, name under location name (especially if person isn't from one of the few royal families) is quite a common practice during that era.

Now is the given name 灭明. First of all you probably won't see anyone name their children with this nowadays, or even in the past 1000 years in China. The most direct meaning of these two words can be "eliminate lights", thus it's very much like a curse. In fact the word 灭 (eliminate) itself is rarely used in names (fictions aside). Also notable that there's a dynasty in Chinese history 明 Ming (1368 A.D - 1644 A.D), and 灭明 basically can be meaning "eliminate the Ming dynasty". I am pretty sure you will get serious trouble if you named like that during the Ming's ruling era.

Interestingly, that's exactly what happened to the fiction character 澹台灭明 in Liang Yusheng's novels, who spent basically all his life trying to revenge the Ming dynasty. Reason Liang Yusheng pick this name is probably simple and straight forward, it is quite a badass name (i.e Thanos in avenger is translated to 灭霸 a.k.a lord of elimination) and pretty matching to the character.

Now let's get back to the 澹台灭明 in history. First of all unless there's some time traveling device that we don't know of, there's no way anyone in Chunqiu era would know there's a dynasty called 明 2000 years later. And I don't believe 澹台灭明's parents will give him this name just to curse their child to be blind or something. So what's the reason? Note that time when 澹台灭明 is born, it was still centuries before the 秦 Qin dynasty (221 B.C -207 B.C). Before 秦 Qin dynasty, the ancient China region has been split into handful small countries for centuries, and even though they are nominal vassal of the 周 Zhou dynasty, they are in fact independent, and have very different culture, using different currency, and have very different way of literate or speech. It was only after 秦 Qin brought down the 周 Zhou dynasty and re-unified the whole region, that currency and common writing letters became unified as one for Chinese. Also worth noting that even with unified letter, way of speaking those letter are still significantly different (and that's still happening even nowadays!).

With the historical reason mentioned above, combining with the relatively low literate rate during that era, a significant number of names during the the "Chunqiu" 春秋 era are in after-translate version in unified Chinese words/letter by pronunciation, which may mean very different things than it's origin. I believe 澹台灭明 is one of these cases.


How to say "slang" in Cantonese and Mandarin? This excellent answer explains the differences between 成语, 俗语, and 谚语.

However, it doesn't discuss which one -- if any -- translates into "slang."

Do any of these mean "slang" in Cantonese and Mandarin? The dictionary definitions are not clear.

成语
俗语
谚语
俗話
熟語
俚語

For "slang"

俚語- Mandarin

俗称- 'slang' (n) Cantonese e.g.「孖煙囪係男裝短內褲嘅俗称」('Double chimney' is a slang for men's short under pants)

俗称 (v) 'commonly called' e.g, 「男裝短內褲俗称孖煙囪」 (men's short under pants is commonly called 'Double chimney'

俗语 = 'folk saying/ as the saying goes' e.g. 俗語都有話：「牛唔飲水點㩒得牛頭低」( As the saying goes: " If a bull doesn't want to drink water, there's no way you can force its head down")


"There was no attitude of poverty in his poetry" 絶無窮態 more Joseon dynasty classical Chinese.

In the poetry he had written, in the end, there was no attitude of poverty. How was it he never became well-known?

其所爲詩絶無窮態。竟不振。何哉。

Does this make sense? Can it be more loosely translated as this person's poetry was really good, or something like that?

穷 shouldn't be taken literally as poverty, instead, it is figurative exhaustion of one's talent; reaching the limit of one's capability. Also I am not sure 振 necessarily means becoming well-known, it could be simply hanging on steadily.

Without further context I would interpret the sentence as

  The poetry he wrote showed no sign of exhaustion, why didn't he keep going?


What is the sense/meaning of this 着？ 我希望你们都有一个愉快的假期！ 国庆节快乐！

When I read this, I assumed 扎着 was zha1zhe, but when I listened she says zha1zhao2.

快结束时我看你微微甩了甩手，你平时被东西扎着时就是这个样子。
Near the end I saw you give a little flick of the hand; when something pricks you, you always react like that.

What effect does 着 zhao2 have on 扎？ Is it translatable?

I got this from mdbg.net
着 zhao2 (after a verb) hitting the mark / succeeding in

When 着 was read zhao2, it means:
 1. 接触，挨上：着边。上不着天，下不着地。//one thing touches the other thing
 2. 感受，受到：着凉。着急。着忙。着风。着迷。 //be affected by something
 3. 使，派，用：别着手摸。 //using(slang)
 4. 燃烧，亦指灯发光：着火。灯着了。 //light up;
 5. 入睡：躺下就着。 //fall asleep
 6. 用在动词后，表示达到目的或有了结果：打着了。没见着。//if used after a  verb: the motion has reached its purpose or has an result
In your sentence, I believe it takes the 6.
So when you say 扎着, it means being pricked.


What to use instead of em-dash (U+2014), etc em-dash: — (U+2014) looks a lot like 一 (U+4E00) in many fonts.  What is typically used instead in Chinese print?  Or do they just rely on context?

What other punctuation alternatives should I learn?

I guess by "in print", you mean in (normal) computers, as you also mentioned Unicode code point.

We use 破折号 for this. And in computers, it is not one Unicode character, but two.

The symbol used is still U+2014, as I tested with my IME in Word. Two consecutive U+2014 form one 破折号 in Chinese. When Chinese fonts are applied, there usually no gap between the two U+2014 symbols, and it is two times longer than a normal character. (However, you might see a gap in between if non-Chinese fonts are used).

When Chinese fonts are used: To distinguish with 一 (one, U+4E00), double U+2014 is two times longer. And there is almost always a gap between two U+4E00 characters.

It might be a different story if specialized printing systems (computers), character sets, fonts, ... are used.


is google correct translate for me? i have translated these 5 sentences with help of google translator is these are correct?

Hello from XYZ! {0} Your verification code is {1}                       = 你好从XYZ！ {0}您的验证码是 {1}。
This link of your XYZ Account, click on this link to confirm your email = 这 链接 您 XYZ 帐户, 点击 上 这 链接 至 确认 您的电子邮件.
Your new password is {0}                                                = 您的新密码是{0}
confirm your email                                                      = 确认您的电子邮件
No Reply                                                                = 无回复

来自XYZ的问候！ {0}您的验证码是 {1}。
这是您的 XYZ 账户链接, 点击此链接确认您的邮箱。

No problem remaining


What does 弹性 refer to in this sentence? This text discusses '人体运动到底有没有极限？‘

人的心理因素弹性很大，积极的精神状态可以激发身体潜能，从而让运动员在竞赛中超水平发挥。

弹性： 物体受外力作用发生形变、除去作用力能恢复原来形状的性质 （zdic.net)
弹性： flexibility, elasticity

However, I don't think they want to say 'the mind is flexible' or 'psychological factors are flexible'.

I think 弹性 means here 'ability to stretch, make elastic, increase', but I'm not really sure.

人的心理因素弹性很大,
Psychological factors have a great ability (性） to 'stretch, increase'（弹 (our sporting ability)),
积极的精神状态可以激发身体潜能
a positive outlook can unleash our body's hidden power,
从而让运动员在竞赛中超水平发挥。
and so allow the athlete in competition to display greater than normal ability.

《汉语大词典》

  2.比喻事物的可多可少、可大可小等伸缩性。

《懒虫简明汉英词典》

  flexibility

人的心理因素(的)弹性很大
The flexibility of human's psychological factors is great.

If a doctor tells a healthy man that he has cancer, he will get sick very soon.
If a woman has cancer, and the doctor tells her that she is healthy, she can live longer and healthier.

This is the psychological effect.

人的心理因素弹性很大 also talks about this effect.

All coaches encourage the athletes before the competitions because an athlete may be confident or without confidence.

The 弹性 here refers to this range, active or passive.


"Perverse" for movies and scenes What word can we use to say a movie or scene is perverse? I am thinking of sadistic and violent scenes as this:

perverse scene from game of thrones

I found 邪僻, but it seems it may only describe people. I also found 變態, but CC in Pleco says it’s slang in that meaning.

For something that is hard to watch, you could say 不堪。变态 is okay, but I think it's usually used to describe people, not scenes and things.

For example, i think you could say something like this:

  Joffrey 拷打妓女的场面很不堪！

This is what my Chinese friend told me when I asked her, anyway. In casual conversation, 变态、不堪 should both be okay.


How does 巨 resemble a hand (彐) holding a carpenter's square (工)? Left screenshot is from Yellowbridge; right from Richard Sears (Uncle Hanzi).

I circled in green the lone pictogram that most obviously pictures a hand holding a carpenter's square.

For productivity, I colored in red a semicircle in merely 3 of the pictograms, but this semicircle figures in the other pictogram. Are these semicircles intended to symbolize the human hand?
I still can't picture how these pictograms evolved to 巨.

The forms you're looking at are actually the ancestors of「矩」.「巨」was formed by cutting off the person.

The analysis starts from this form

西周金伯矩盉蓋集成9412

which depicts a person「大」holding a tool「工」.

  Carpenter's square is much too specific, and I would think that it is an over-interpretation.

Exaggerate the person's hand to emphasise that the tool was held:

西周金伯矩卣集成5228
Swap out「大」with the similar-meaning「夫」(man), and permanently detach part of the hand onto the tool:

西周金裘衛盉集成9456

The left hand side of the above character should now heavily resemble「巨」, which is created from omitting「大」or「夫」.

秦簡睡・語5　篆工部說文解字今楷

  「夫」was later semantically corrupted into「矢」(arrow > length, measurement), forming「矩」.

  東漢隸桐柏廟碑　今楷

References:

季旭昇《說文新證》
小學堂
國學大師

中國社會科學院考古研究所《殷周金文集成》


Is 你跟家人一般见面？ a yes-no question? Duolingo translates

你跟家人一般见面？

as

When do you normally see your family?

However, I don't see why it is a question at all. I would translate

你跟家人一般见面

as

You normally see your family.

We can also make a question:

你跟家人一般见面吗？
Do you normally see your family?

or

你跟家人什么时候一般见面？
When do you normally see your family?

which is the translation Duolingo offers.

Who is right?

你跟家人一般见面？ is not a correct sentence.

It should be 你跟家人一般什么时候见面？(When do you normally see your family?)


How do native speakers structure their essays? When analyzing Chinese speeches or essays, I often have difficulty understanding how their the authors organized their ideas.

In North America, for example, a common template for writing an essay is the five-paragraph essay. This organizes the paragraphs and the sentences within each paragraph. Most English-language writing in academia follows a somewhat similar structure to this.

Do Chinese follow any particular structures when planning speeches or essays?
Are there any ancient scholars who heavily influenced this structure?

The Chinese have a device called 起承转合. First you start(起) narrating on some topic. Then you continue(承) to develop the topic with added material. Then you turn(转) the narrative, either by seeking different aspects, or creating conflicts and resolving them. Finally you conclude(合) the topic.

Often it goes like this:

(起) New study shows that spanking is bad for children...
(承) The study is conducted by Harvard and it goes like...
(转) Some may say "I was spanked as a child, and I turn out to be fine." They are wrong because...
(合) So it's better not to spank our children...

It also work in poems and songs. Here is a modern example, a song by by 张玮玮, titled 《织毛衣》

(起)我深深地爱着你
(承)你却爱着一个傻逼
(转)傻逼却不爱你
(合)你比傻逼还傻逼

This idea has its classic roots, so we can see it being used in classical poems as well. For example, 《登高》 by 杜甫, my all time favorite:

(起)风急天高猿啸哀，渚清沙白鸟飞回。
(承)无边落木萧萧下，不尽长江滚滚来。
(转)万里悲秋常作客，百年多病独登台。
(合)艰难苦恨繁霜鬓，潦倒新停浊酒杯。

It's rather akin to the Hollywood three-act structure, where you plan the plot, develop the plot, reach the climax, then draw the happy ending.

Note that it's just one of the common devices that could be used on any type of writing. As for scientific theses, I think most of them try to follow western standards.


Is the frequency of written characters much different from spoken ones? I'm referring to frequency tables such as this one:. To take one example,  it lists words like 商 and 业 in the top 500 characters and words like 买 and 卖 in the second 500 characters.

That's true even though 商 业 and 买卖 both loosely mean "business."

Are these relative frequencies valid across the board or does the average person use 买卖 more in speaking rather than writing?

Of course it is. Interjections are far more common in any spoken language compared to its written counterpart. Chinese also consists of many words and phrases that are very formal and rarely spoken.

https://naccl.osu.edu/sites/naccl.osu.edu/files/NACCL-21_Vol._1--Hongyin_Tao--pp._13-27.pdf could be taken as a starting point.

While the ten most common written characters are 的，一，是，不，了，在，人，有，我 and 他, the most spoken ones are 的，是，我，就，不，你，了，那，啊 and 个。

那个 and 啊 stand out in spoken Chinese, as does 你, since written language usually addresses a collective.

嗯 occupies place 2042 in the written frequency list, but position 30 in the spoken. Similar for 吧 and 哦.


Irregular syllables in Mandarin—how does 二 ("èr") exist? So Mandarin has a pretty regular syllable construction. Usually, it's consonant-vowel. It cheats a little sometimes in a few ways, like ending on an n or an r or beginning with a w or a y and pronouncing the glide in such a way that it sounds somewhat like a vowel sound. These things make pretty good sense. And one of the first things I learned in my classes on Mandarin was that Chinese syllable construction works in this particular strict way.

And then along comes the numeral 2, which is written as the character 二. In the romanized form, it's written as "èr," which sounds like the English word "are" with a descending tone. That's an unambiguous vowel-consonant syllable, and it uses none of the standard tricks. It seems out of place. Is it a vestige of an earlier form of Mandarin that allowed for more lax syllable construction? Are there more words that break the rules? It's a natural language, so that would make sense. Has someone looked into this?

This might be more of a linguistics question than anything, but I'm curious about it and don't know how to Google it properly. Some answers would be appreciated.

there are word have the same pronounciation with 二 like 儿 而 耳 尔.and there are more vowel-consonant constuctions like 昂 肮 盎 pronoinced ang .there are even more vowel-vowel constructions like 奥 凹 袄 pronouced ao and 爱 矮 挨 pronounced ai.it is nothing about ealier and I dont know the reason neither.but I hear some experts said the ancient chonese language is far more difference sounded like now


9 Questions from the movie Red Sorghum (红高粱) My friend bought me a set of four Zhang Yi Mou movies. I watched Red Sorghum (红高粱) today, and there were a few sentences which, after looking up the meanings, I still couldn't quite understand. I'll give the entire sentence for context, and describe the word in the sentence that I'm having trouble with. Anyone mind helping?

1) "颠不出话来还颠不出尿来"

颠 dian1, seems to mean "top", or to "fall forward". It appears in this sentence it means "to let out". What exactly should this word mean?

2) "长出了百十亩高粱"

百十 bai3 shi2, translates out to "a hundred or so", but in other cases means "110". So which is it in this case? It would seem strange for the context of the movie for him to specify exactly "110". So is it always okay to use "百十" as an approximation?

3) "唱戏的，你给我出来！ 你他妈阴不阴，阳不阳的"

阴不阴，阳不阳 yin1 bu4 yin1, yang2 bu4 yang2, Not sure what this means.

4) "掉到福窝窝里， 还整天五眉三道地转不过来"

五眉三道 wu3 mei2 san1 dao4, I know this is some sort of Cheng Yu, but couldn't find a meaning for it.

5) 少若事， 少生非

生非 sheng1 fei1, I know 生 and 非, but this doesn't make much sense to me.

6) 往后看哪，李家的财产都归你。 人活一世图个啥？

图个啥? tu2 ge sha... I think it means something like "people live a life for what?"

7) 我在家排行老九， 是九月初九那天生的

The usage of 初 chu1. I know this means "the beginning" or "early stages". So 九月初 would mean the beginning of September. But what's the point if you end up specifying the exact day anyway (九月初九 - Sept 9th)... Unless my understanding of the "九" after "初" is incorrect.

8) 俏食

俏 qiao4 I know means "pretty" or "smart". So does this mean "high class food"?

9) 不行二旦他爹，你们穿好了

二旦 er4 dan4... 一旦 means "if" or "in case"... but wasn't able to find the meaning of 二旦 for this particular sentence.

1) "颠不出话来还颠不出尿来"

Here 颠 means shake, shaking. "Even I cannot shake you word out, I can shake you ... out"

  2) "长出了百十亩高粱"

110 should be read as "一百一十", neither of the "一" can be omitted.

  3) "唱戏的，你给我出来！ 你他妈阴不阴，阳不阳的"

I guess he's calling him a eunuch, who is considered neither 阳 (male) nor 阴 (female).

  4) "掉到福窝窝里， 还整天五眉三道地转不过来"

It is possibly "五迷三道", meaning people talking nonsense.

  5) 少若事， 少生非

It is 惹是生非 split up. "Don't make trouble"

  6) 往后看哪，李家的财产都归你。 人活一世图个啥？

Your are right, it means "people living a life for what?"

  7) 我在家排行老九， 是九月初九那天生的

He is referring to date in Chinese lunar calender, where dates for the 1st and the 10th are always prefixed with "初", as "初一", "初九", "初十". Here it is September the ninth in the Chinese lunar calender. (Not sure whether I should call it September)

  8) 俏食

I don't know. A search gave me some restaurant names ...

  9) 不行二旦他爹，你们穿好了

"二旦" is probably a person's name ...


When is it appropriate to address a lady as 先生？ Chairman Mao addressed Soong Ching-ling as 宋庆龄先生. Yang Jiang was also addressed as 杨绛先生 by the public. My dad used to tell me to address some of his female colleagues as 先生 too.

I wonder why a lady can be addressed as 先生. Does this 先生 have the same meaning as the commonly used one? When did this kind of practice come into being?

The gender neutral form of the term 先生 is an antiquated Chinese title used for addressing a knowledgeable person who is your senior. This person could be a teacher, a principal, a scholar, a professor or a doctor.

This term, which literally means "born (生) before (先)", has been in use for a very long time. Somebody who is born before you would be your senior, and is deemed to have more experience and knowledge, and therefore should command your respect.

According to 汉典:

  先生 xiānsheng - 年长有学问的人。《孟子·告子下》：“ 宋牼 将之 楚 ， 孟子 遇於 石丘 ，曰：‘先生将何之？’” 赵岐
  注：“学士年长者，故谓之先生。”《战国策·齐策三》：“ 孟尝君 讌坐，谓三先生曰：‘愿闻先生有以补之闕者。’” 姚宏
  注：“先生，长老，先己以生者也。” 宋 叶适 《宋故孟夫人墓志铭》：“精义择语，类先生长者之法言。”

This means that the term has been around for more than two centuries since the warring states period (475–221 BC).

Today, the gender neutral form of the term 先生 has been replaced by other equivalent titles (老師, 校長, 教授, 博士, 醫生, etc). However, it is still very much in use (pronounced as sensei) in Japan.


what's the better translation of "you're out"? like kids are playing an outdoor game and someone gets out.
How to say "you're out"?

If you mean someone is having an unsuccessful finish for the round, the word is 出局. You're out = 你出局了。


Is this the seal of Empress Xiaogheghdan, birth Mother of Qianlong Emperor? This is a large seal, 4" in both height and width, found on a large Chinese Scroll.
The seal seems to refer to the Divine Name given to the Empress Xiaogheghdan, the Birth Mother of Qianlong Emperor (乾隆帝), after her death.

it's "重" X "精藏之寶"

the bottom right character is, not yet recognised.


Can a 为什么 question be rhetorical in Chinese? A rhetorical question is a question that doesn't expect an actual answer. It's said only to make a point, or to convey sarcasm, etc.
In English, a rhetorical question may be (inspired from the linked article):

A: we should vote for democrats this time
B: hah! what have democrats ever done for us?

Person B is clearly not expecting an actual answer. Their question is to be intended as "they never did anything for us". It is posed as a question to attain a rhetorical effect.
I'm honestly not sure about English, but in my native language a question in the form:

why would you do X

may be used rhetorically, and it would mean more or less "you shouldn't do X" or "please don't do X".
Does the same effect exist in Chinese with a 为什么 question? Can it be easily understood, given the proper context, or would it sound weird?

你为什么要浪费钱？(actually meaning "don't waste money")

I'm asking this because a native speaker pointed out to me that 为什么 questions primarily have a literal meaning and natives would hardly hear them as rhetorical. I realized I never actually paid attention to this.

你为什么要浪费钱？standalone doesn't look it, whilst 你为什么浪费钱？does.
你为什么浪费钱？can be a blame or scolding, implying that there is no reason for you to waste money hence it's a rhetoric.
Also, Tone and context play important roles.  Your original sentence might be a rhetorical question if the proper tone is applied in a proper context.
However, the native speaker you asked has some point there.  为什么 is kind of on the borderline.  You can interpret both ways sometimes.
It's worth to mention that 为什么不xxx  is a common rhetorical device.  E. g.

A: 你要吃吗？
B: 为什么不呢？

A: 你会去吗？
B: 为什么不去呢？


What are a few alternative ways to say "to expect"? There are many situations I'd like to say the following in Chinese:

"That phone call was unexpected"
"I did not expect that meeting to be so difficult"

The only approach I know of is:

"我没想到那个电话“
”我没想到那个会议会是哪么难“

I know you can also use 突然, but it's not quite parallel. The best way I can think of applying it in this situation is:

那个电话突然来了

Appreciate anyone's thoughts on this!

Thanks

不可预知的情况 not can predict situation = an unexpected situation
出乎意料的形势 unexpected circumstance
不意外 not unexpected
意外 unexpected
竟然 unexpected

’那个打过来的电话是意料之外的。‘ 或者 ‘没想到那个电话会打过来。’
That phone call was unexpected.

会议比我预料中的难很多。
The meeting was much more difficult than I expected.


What does 群峰争奇 mean here? This little text is talking about types of clouds.

夏天，雷雨到来之前，在天空先会看到厚厚的积云。积云如果迅速地向上凸起，形成高大的云山，群峰争奇，耸入天顶，就变成了积雨云。

From zdic.net I see that 争 can mean： 4。 怎么，如何（多见于诗、词、曲）：～不。～知。～奈

形成高大的云山，群峰争奇，
1. form big high cloud mountains, (whose) peaks are very (争, 怎么， 这么） strange

or it means:

form big high cloud mountains, (whose) peaks compete (争） in strangeness (of form)

Or something else entirely?

積雲如果迅速地向上凸起，形成高大的雲山，群峰爭奇，聳入天頂，就變成了積雨雲。

If the cumulus bulged quickly forming huge mountain clouds, the peaks fight for their exquisiteness way up to the sky's zenith, they then become the Cumulonimbus.


What are the common tennis terms in Chinese? Particularly for

advantage set / tiebreaker set
game
set
match
love (the term used for 0 or a no score situation)
15/30/40
deuce
advantage in / advantage out

advantage set 长盘

tiebreaker set 抢七

game 局

set 盘

match 场

love (the term used for 0 or a no score situation) ：0

15/30/40 ： 15/30/40 （the same）

deuce : 平分

advantage in： 发球占先

advantage out : 接发占先

（btw. advantage is 占先）


Mandarin/Cantonese translation of "it depends on your definition of 'good'" Alice takes Bob to a new steak restaurant.

Alice: Do you think the steak here is good?

Bob: It depends on your definition of "good."

1) What is the natural translation for Bob's statement? 要看妳的好吃的定義 and 就看妳的看法是什麼 feel like English grammar.

2) Is the translation different for Cantonese?

“it depends on your definition of 'good'”

The followings could work:

這要看妳對 '好(吃)' 所下的定義是什麼 (M)

噉要睇妳對 '好(食)' 所落嘅定義係乜 (C)

這要看妳心目中 '好(吃)' 的定義是什麼 (M)

噉要睇妳心目中 '好(食)' 嘅定義係乜 (C)


Can I have some Taiwan restaurant sentences? Every time I go to a restaurant in Taiwan I say weird weird stuff. They always understand, but I'm sure I'm saying it unnaturally.

Also, occasionally I don't entirely catch what they're asking. Which definitely wouldn't be a problem if I knew what to expect.

Anyways, there's only a limited number of things to say like what to call a waiter, ("where do I pay?", "table for 3, please" and the other things commonly said or heard) can people who know what they're doing post a few below.

Thanks for helping me not sound like a buffoon!

I'm from the mainland. But I think you can use these in Taiwan:

where do I pay?: 请问在哪里付钱？

Table for 3, please : 3人用餐，谢谢

Can I have a look at the manu？  ： 我能看看菜单么？

Can you bring something to drink? : 能来点喝得么？


What is the difference between 起码 and 至少？ nciku.com states that 起码 is an adjective meaning "minimum" and 至少 is an adverb meaning at least； but the examples seem to use both words interchangeably.  Is one more colloquial than the other? Or is one used only for numerical amounts( It should cost at least $10) and the other for concepts/situations such as "At least the bus isn't late"?

Both 起碼 and 至少 mean "minimum" and "least". They both can be used either as adjectives or as adverbs.

最起碼 is valid, but because 至 means 最. 最至少 is invalid (just like "the least least" and  "the most least" are invalid).

至少 has a rarely-used meaning of "very less", which can not be replaced by 起碼.

至少 is a little more formal than 起碼. But in the legal documents, 以上 ("equals to or more than") is more widely used.


What is an idiom that describes aiming for high achievement or success but not forgetting one's roots? What is an idiom/phrase/saying that describes aiming for high achievement or success but not forgetting one's roots?

Something like 展翅高飞 and 饮水思源 combined

心存高远意守平常好听点，I don't know why I have to type at least 30 letters.


How is 床 related to 临床 and 东床? 床 is bed, on which people sleep or lie.
But 临床 has the connection with medical profession and 东床 seems to be in relation to in-laws, but why is so? Because these two do not have any express features of sleeping or work which needs to be done in bed.

The term '临床' means "in front of the patient's bed or operation bed "

'临' (facing/ in front of)

'床' ( bed) here refers to '手术床'(operation bed) or 病床 (patient's bed)

'临床经验' means 'clinical experience'

The term '东床' came from the idiom 东床快婿,

The story of 东床快婿:

郄鉴 heard the sons of 王导 were all handsome gentleman. So, he wanted to marry his daughter to one of them. For that very reason, 郄鉴 sent a messenger to 王导's house to observe the young men in 王导's household in order to select one of them to be his son-in-law.
The messenger reported to 郄鉴 that all of them were pleasant gentleman and showed him great respect -- except for one.  There was one bare-chested young man lay there in a bed on the east side of the room,  ignoring all the commotion. 郄鉴 decided this bare-chested young man on the East-side bed was the finest young man among 王导's sons, and should be the husband of his daughter.
That bare-chested man on the East bed turned out to be the famous 王羲之 (Wang Xizhi).

That's the story of how '东床' (East bed) became a symbol of "worthy son-in-law"

in '东床快婿', '东床'(East bed)= '快婿'( a pleasant son-in-law)


在一篇台湾小说里的句子“当下、梦和回忆”中，“当下”指的是什么？ 下面摘自一篇台湾的小说（/r/MandarinBookClub当前的小说）：

下了飞机，爸爸还在跟司机讨价还价，我已经坐上计程车。整个人昏昏沉沉的，车窗的风夹带着牛粪味灌进来，我看着奔跑过的树木和柏油路，又有一点分不清楚来往的现实和梦。我有时候怀疑，难道对其它人来说，当下、梦、回忆是这么容易分辨的三样东西吗？窗外以不一样速度移动的前景和远景，会让我想到某个深夜在仁爱路奔跑时，隔着眼泪看到的景象；坐在台东的安养院里，我会想起奶奶在梨山上拄拐杖摘水果的模样，也会想到正在哭泣的妈妈，但是我分不出来我现在想到的那个场景，是在梦中出现的，还是真的发生过。安养院背后的一条小径，我好像在那和我的国小同学追逐过，不过再一眨眼，那可能只是十几年前的回忆跑出来捣乱；念大班的侄女，每次用一种像在偷看带着害羞，又像在瞪人带着生气的眼神看我，偶尔让我胆战心惊，记忆的抽屉就翻出一封，在无聊同学的鼓噪、或是起哄之下，基于恼羞成怒，从来没有到达女孩手上的情书。这来来往往的一切一切让我混乱，但是我在这时候把自己寄托在一个故事上。一个，故事上。
于是，除了当下、梦和回忆，现在又多了一个让我混乱的项目：故事，一个真实的故事。
那些年,我们一起追的女孩, 九把刀, 第1章

我根本不懂这里用的“当下”。小说里的“我”区分不了“当下”、“梦”和“回忆”。我猜“当下”的意思是“目前现实的状况”。
问题：在“当下、梦和回忆”中，“当下”指的是什么？

The clue is "三样东西" (three things)
当下, 梦 and 回忆 are the three things in question. 当下 is a noun for "the present". 梦 (dream) and 回忆 (memory) are the other two.

当下、梦、回忆是这么容易分辨的三样东西吗 -- Are the present (reality), dream and memory the three things that can be easily distinguished?

除了当下、梦和回忆，现在又多了一个让我混乱的项目：故事

故事 (story) is the latest item that is hard to distinguish from the other three

Now he cannot distinguish the difference between reality, dream, memory, and story. His mind is confused
Normally we would use 现实 instead of 当下 for 'reality'. I guess the author just want to add some literary flair to his writing


Translations from TCM (Traditional Chinese medicine) I have asked Chinese co-workers & checked sites such as Iciba & Google Translate to no avail.  I know that this is talking about 2 points used in TCM, but I have no idea how to translate these into English.  I would appreciate help with the translation, but even more, I would appreciate some resource for translating this sort of specialized vocabulary in the future.

The specific sentence in question is:

  贴于翳明或内关双侧穴位

Is it common to just say something like "the yi-ming acupuncture point" or does yi-ming translate into something in English?

There are plenty of places on the web where acupuncture points are mentioned in English like this: NeiGuan or Neiguan. In fact you can even do a plain Google search for "Neiguan" and there are plenty of results.

There are also some listings for Yiming but this doesn't seem to be as well known.

If you want to be precise I would add the Chinese next to it, like Neiguan (内关).

Looking at this chart provided by Wikipedia it shows how each of the points have a code, so it may also be more accurate to provide the code e.g. Neiguan-P6* and Yiming-EX-HN14*.
An example of this format can be seen here.

*Note: Please don't take my answer as a point of reference for the exact codes to be used for these points. I have seen Neiguan listed variously as PE6, PC6 and P6. I am not a doctor.

It is common for terms that have no English equivalent to use the romanisation of the Chinese without the tones. I suggest you try either using the romanisation along with some related terms e.g. "neiguan acupuncture" or use the Chinese and related English words e.g. "内关 acupuncture"


Difference between 留神，留意，留心？ I am now learning 近义词 and got a problem with distinguishing the difference between  留神，留意，留心. The textbook says:

  他干什么特别留心，看书时也常常做笔记 （留神and留意arent allowed here）
  多亏我对他留了一点心，这个情况没有告诉他 （留神 and 留意 arent allowed here）
  你看得出来他吗？ 我没有留意 （留神 and 留心 arent allowed here）

Why are some correct and some wrong?

You should understand the three characters in the words firstly.
心：Mind
意：Sense
神: Focus

So add 留(keep) before them, becomes:

留心：Keep in mind --> remember
留意：Keep in sensitive --> ?
留神：Keep on focus  --> look out / be careful

My translation may not accurate in English, if someone have better translation, please comment below.

In your example,

sentence 1 talking about reading/studying, so 留心 should be the only correct word.
Sentence 2, here 留心 is separated, it's a derivative usage in my opinion. It means "keep defensive (because I remember he did something bad.)".
Sentence 3, I don't understand the meaning... and I don't want to guess (although I could) since it's a tutorial/exam, it should be clear.


Why does 公路 mean highway? If you break it down, 公路 means public road, which does not mean highway. So why does every dictionary say 公路 is highway?

A highway IS a public road, so there is no problem calling it a 公 (public) 路 (road).
Let's step back a little and consider this: If you break down the English word "highway" into "high" and "way", a learner coming from a different language background may well be wondering why. Since a highway is not necessarily high in elevation, why call it a "highway"? And why call some roads "freeway", when they are not really free? I have been on many freeways that charge you a toll to use.
When learning a language, it's important to realize that this is an entirely different system that has developed over time into what it is now, mostly independent of other languages. True, some languages are related and have certain things in common, but we must not assume that something that you've accepted in your language has to be true in another, especially when the two languages are as different as Chinese and English.
I think your question itself is a bit Anglo-centric. The fact that highways are called "highways" in English isn't necessarily derived from logic, as I tried to show above. It is just a word that has developed over time to denote a road that is mostly used by motorists, has few traffic lights, allows a higher speed than other city streets ... etc. The fact that this same road is called 公路 in Chinese probably came about in a similar manner. Note I say "probably" because I have not delved into the etymology of the word 公路. The point I am trying to make is, when you learn words in a new language, it's better, and easier, to just accept the term, without analyzing its components from the perspective of your native language.
Finally, a note about the comment you made. You asked: "but aren't most roads public? so wouldn't it be difficult to differentiate between roads?" No, it would not be difficult to differentiate between roads, because other roads have other words designated for them. For example, a city street is 街 or 街道, a back lane is a 巷 or 後巷. When coining a word in a language, it does not have to be a strict logical process in that when I choose the word "public", I need to exclude everything that isn't public. It's great to be curious, but looking at every single word as something to query from the standpoint of your native language will be futile and incredibly frustrating.
Happy learning!


Can someone walk me through 其餘又何論矣? So, the phrase is 其餘又何論矣. I've seen it translated as "The rest is obvious." The way I read it is "Beyond this what is there to discuss?"

On the other hand, I've never seen 矣 as the tag for a rhetorical question.

Can someone walk me through why I'm right or more likely why I'm wrong? It was written by someone born before the Republic and well educated in the Classics, so it's not modern.

judging from the text i searched, the translation of "the rest is obvious" is quite good, at the same time, "beyond this what is there to discuss" is, appropriate.

  於彼微動﹒己先動之着手功夫﹒苟能於此嫻熟﹒則操縱在我不在彼﹒其餘又何論矣

in general, the "style" of mr 鄭's text, is mainly literary chinese, with occasional written vernacular chinese "toppings".

then, to decipher "其餘又何論矣"

其餘 - the rest of . . .

又何論 - 需 is omitted / assumed, so it's 又何需論

又 - and / further

何需 - need to

論 - discuss

矣 is a 虛字 ( chinese particles ), to indicate the end of a clause, in an affirmative manner.

so, put it together with the text:

(in 推手), if you're skillful in "彼微動﹒己先動", you're in charge, not your companion (則操縱在我不在彼)

the rest of this (you're skillful in 彼微動﹒己先動), is not needed to discuss further.

ps: i skip some steps in this explanation, either in literary chinese, or in 太極拳.

have fun :)

edited, in lieu of comment.

well, literary chinese is fuzzy. incorporate the context is important, and easier; to explain particular clause.

imo, the clause "其餘又何論矣" is not fine, it's not "pure" literary chinese. the introduction of "需" is "needed", for easier comprehension.

anyway, this interpretation is, based on my knowledge in literary chinese, and, 太極拳. others might understand the phase differently.


Why are the words 戒 and 戎 written similarly? Why are these words written similarly? Do they descend from a common Chinese character? If so, how do you explain the difference in pronunciations among derived words, especially for 戎?

投笔从戎 róng
盗贼 zéi
绒毛 róng

The characters resemble each other because 「戒」 was subject to a slight amount of structural shuffling and the original lower-left component of 「戎」 is of a simple shape, so most people won't recognise what it actually is.

As far as I can recall, the only other place that the lower-left component of 「戎」 occurs in is the top of 「古」.

「戒」 and 「戎」 aren't the same character, they don't descend from the same character, and the morphemes they represent aren't related (except in the sense of semantics - both are pictographs containing 「戈」, dagger-axe).
It follows that they sound completely different, whether as individual characters or as part of a phonetic hint function in other characters.

商甲乙657合集7060西周金戒叔尊集成5856秦簡為33睡虎地秦簡今楷
「戒」 depicts two hands 「廾」 holding up a dagger-axe 「戈」, indicating the meaning to warn/caution. 「廾」 later migrated to the lower-left of the character and no longer appears to be holding up the weapon anymore; the structural analogy to the original form is 「」.

商甲拾9.12合集6890西周金班簋集成4341今楷
「戎」 depicts a dagger-axe 「戈」 together with a shield, indicating the meaning armaments.

Shield is now written as 「盾」. The original character doesn't exist individually anymore, but remains as the top component of 「古」 (solid, sturdy, now written as 「固」).
商甲林2.24.6合集16347西周金秉毌父乙爵集成8871
This character was later replaced by the new character 「盾」, which depicts a side view of the shield with an eye looking straight 「直」 peering from underneath the cover of the shield.
西周金五年師簋集成4216秦簡效3睡虎地秦簡今楷

As for 「賊」, it doesn't actually contain 「戎」. 「賊」 (Baxter-Sagart OC: /*k.dzˤək/, to ruin/damage/destroy) is comprised of semantic 「戈」 (dagger-axe) and phonetic 「則」 (/*[ts]ˤək/). The 「刂」 part was later corrupted into a 「」 shape, causing the right hand side of 「賊」 to be misinterpreted as 「戎」.
西周金散氏盤集成10176秦簡法76睡虎地秦簡東漢隸韓勑碑陰　今楷


How do you translate "place" in an address into Chinese? I am trying to translate this address

1 Gustave L. Levy Pl, New York, NY 10029

into Chinese. Not only I have trouble with "pl", but also the former part of the address. I am wondering if there are some certain rules in China when translating addresses in English.

In English, as we all know, there are many ways of saying a "way", like road, avenue, street, boulevard and place of course. They all have different and specific meanings. However, in Chinese, we do not use that many different words. Therefore, what you would basically do is to just translate "place" into "街" or "路" and that is it!

Also, as the rule says, in Chinese, address is written from biggest to smallest, thus as for yours, it would be translated to

  美国，纽约市，古斯塔夫·L·利维街一号，邮编：10029

Though the name of the street can be translated into Chinese by its pronunciation, it is suggested to include the English name of the street in order for people to locate the address easier.

For your curiosity, please refer to this link for Chinese correspondence of many types of "way" in English.


分别 vs 分别地 what is the difference? Fairly straightforward. I know -地 is used to turn adjectives into adverbs and that justifies the use of 分别地 (the internet attributes it the meanings "separately" and/or "respectively"), but from a cursory search of the internet I've found just as many examples of "分别" by its lonesome carrying the exact same meaning. Is there any difference at all between these two terms? If not, what considerations should I have for cases such as this where an adverb is valid regardless of whether it uses 地？
分别
分别地

Some words do not require 地 to be an adverb but we can add 地 to them to emphasizes 'the manner' of the subject
Examples:
一致反對 = unanimously oppose (the objection is unanimous)
一致地反對 = unanimously oppose (oppose in a unanimous manner)
猛烈攻擊 = fiercely attack (the attack is fierce)
猛烈地攻擊 = fiercely attack (attack in a fierce manner)
強力支持 = strongly support (the support is strong)
強力地支持 = strongly support (support in a strong manner)
In some cases, adding 地 can remove ambiguity. For examples: "猛烈攻擊" could mean [fierce(adj) attack (n)] or [fiercely (adv) attack (v)] while "猛烈地攻擊" can only mean [fiercely (adv) attack (v)]; "強力支持" could mean [strong (adj) support (n)] or [strongly (adv) support (v)] while "強力地支持" can only mean [strongly (adv) support (v)]
Another way to remove ambiguity is using 的 to indicate adjective and noun, e.g. 猛烈的攻擊, 強力的支持


What is the hidden meaning of "mi mi", the Chinese word for secret? The English word is "secret"
The Chinese word is "秘密"
I found 禾 means grain, 必 means must.
The second character has 宀 (mián) roof,必 (bì) must and 山 (shān) mountain.
How does it all come together? I believe there is a etymological story here.

You're reading too much into it. The only clue to this meaning in the original characters has now been lost.
You can take a look at the following dictionary excerpt to see exactly what information has vanished:
Outlier:

COMPONENTS
禾
In 秘, 禾 is an empty component. It is a corruption of 礻. The original character was 祕 “god; deity,” from which the meanings “secret, covert, undisclosed” are derived.

密 is a phonetic loan if anything, where it contains the idea of "secret."


When should 吧 be used? I understand that it is used at the end of a sentence to indicate suggestion, but I want to know what kinds of everyday situations warrant its use. I'd appreciate two or three examples. Also, does it have any other meanings?

I got this from an online dictionary:

吧 <助>
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 can I say "说差了"? I'd like to know when I can say "说差（了）". My dictionary says the "差" means 错误 which means "wrong" in English but I'm still not clear on the usage of 说差. Is it the same as 说错? It would be appreciated if you give me some examples like short conversations that show how 说差 is used. Thanks in advance.

Usually we just say 说错了 if we found we made a mistake in a talk or statement. 说差了 is not a common usage for 'I made a mistake' regarding to what you said. I wonder if you actually want to discuss about 说岔了 instead of 说差了. 说岔了 usually means 'misunderstanding on either the topic or the opinion caused by confusing words/expression/context'. For example, when a group of friends are discussing about 吃醋 in a context to compare which vinegar is the best; you jumped in and told them that your girl friend likes 吃醋 (be envy of other girls you know). They may told you that 你说岔了!


What does 大秀香肩美背mean? Got this off Weibo. What does 大秀香肩美背 mean? Particularly that 大 seems odd there..

【熊乃瑾秀香肩美背 性感造型女人味十足】女星@熊乃瑾xiong 近日在意大利为某杂志拍摄了一组复古时尚大片，大秀香肩美背。

Thank you

We all know that 大 means big. It can be used on things like 大香蕉（big banana). 大 can also be used to verb. When used to verb it means this action is really big. So 大 + verb means doing something really hard or doing something in a high profile or doing something very much(like thank you very much )

So here 熊乃瑾 was trying so hard to "秀香肩美背" in a high profile.

Similar examples:

大展宏图， 大赦天下, 大快人心


How to pronounce Zengyang? My friend's Chinese name is Zengyang and I want to surprise her by being able to pronounce it properly when she visits me in a few weeks.

Well this is a bit of a wild guess - but we don't really have much to work with do we now...

for the first part of your friends name you can take a look here:
曾 and click the audio button next to [zēng]
(this most likely is the correct pronunciation for the first part of your friends name)

Yang is most likely a second-tone (again best guess)
so you can have a look here:
阳 and click the audio button next to [yáng]

This is the best I can do you for.


What is a suitable Chinese name for a fictional company called "The Unity Group"? I'm currently writing a novel featuring Chinese characters, with one being among the protagonists.

Some of them are employees of a corporation, and I simply don't trust Google translate enough.  The name of the company is "The Unity Group".  Not the Unity Corporation, but specifically Group.

Google translate says it is Tuanjie Tuanti, is that correct?  I tried it in various alternatives which confused the matter.

Well, I would say that depends on the nuances in The Unity Group.

"Some of them are employees of a Corporation"

Assume Group means 'Group of Companies，corporate group', a kind of financial wizardry for holding more than one company as separate tax entities.

corporate group: 公司 集团 gōngsī jítuán

Unity? Maybe: 团结 tuánjié

团结 就是 力量 tuánjié jiùshì lìliáng = Unity is strength

But maybe you mean unity as 'the only, we brook no challengers'? Like here:

德国 统一 社会 党 déguó tǒngyī shèhuì dǎng Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands  (Socialist Unity Party of Germany 1949-1990)

Here, unity is 统一 tǒngyī This means 'united' but actually they meant: the only party

(I've split the words for your clarity. Normally, everything is written together.)

Choose one: 统一 公司 团结 tǒngyī gōngsī tuánjié or 团结 公司 集团 tuánjié gōngsī jítuán

团体 also means 'organized group, team, organization'

Then there is 单位 work unit and 组织 organize, organization

Maybe you better clarify how you mean 'The Unity Group'.