In mathematics, how to express "两者不能同时成立"? Is there any reference book from which I can learn the basic usages applied to the proofs in mathematics?
I met several problems these days, for instance, "两者不能同时成立" seems hard for me.
Thank you!

are you looking for "contradictory", in mathematic, it would be:

"contradictory opposite"　"矛盾否定"

"contradictory propositions"　"矛盾命題"

教育研究院, of taiwan has documentations of bilingual academic terms, the mathematical one is here, you may download it:

http://terms.naer.edu.tw/download/301/


Where can the phrase 给点面子 be used? I was wondering if it has a cultural element that I’m missing 我在抖音上看到一部视频说这段话的意思是“Cut me some slack”但是我觉得有点我尚未不知的文化精神，而英语翻译不完全掌握那个感觉。请说明一下这段话是否有什么特殊！谢谢～

给点面子 and Cut me some slack are very similar.
But I think 给点面子 is slightly more harsh, and implies that the person isn't being respectful enough. that vs. cut me some lack, which is a plea for others to go easy on you. it doesn't assume any wrong doing on the part of audience.


How to say "I don't want you to be sad" in Taiwanese Mandarin? Let's use 難過 to translate "sad", then, in Mandarin as spoken in Taiwan, what would be the most common way to say:

  I don't want you to be sad.

As you might say when you notice that someone is sad who you would like to be happy instead.

"I don't want you to be sad."

We say 別難過了 in Taiwan. The most common one.

我們說「別難過了」。這是最常用的講法。


How may "Donald" be rendered in Chinese? Would 董 be a possibility?  (Thinking a great deal about rulers in the context of conduct and character lately, and 董卓 keeps jumping to mind;)

I don't see any reason to rule out choosing 董 as part of a name. People may be impressed by your historical interest, which can be a good conversation starter.

As for more "conventional" options, one way to see different ways of rendering a name (such as "Donald") is to look at how names of famous (or infamous) people with the name are transliterated.

E.g. Donald Knuth (a famous computer scientist) is 高德纳 Gāo Dénà;

Donald Tusk (a Polish politician) is 唐纳德·图斯克 Tángnàdé Túsīkè

To make one's name sound more "Chinese", some people will try to keep 1 surname character, and then 1-2 given name characters, to have a 2-3 syllable name like most Chinese people. So Knuth's Chinese name will sound much more "Chinese" than Tusk's, comparing the examples above.


Etymology of glyph 袭 = dragon + clothes? I am new here, recently discovered this site to learn more about glyph origins of certain characters.

I often see this character 袭 when related to terrorist attacks in the news. 袭 means raid or attack as far as I know.
At first I thought it was phono-semantic, like a dragon attacking, and clothes 衣 as phonetic. But zdic states that it's original meaning means grave clothes, so 衣 is the semantic here. Shuowen says the dragon is doubled 龖 and acts as the phonetic. However 龖 is dá which sounds nothing like xí.

Where did 袭 originate from, was it related to dragons, or clothes, or both? And if it used to mean grave clothes, how did it end up meaning raid/attack?

Phonology

「龖」is indeed thought to be the phonetic.

Since these characters were created very early on, we need to use our best guesses of the sounds of these characters when they were created to make sense of the phonetic components. Zhengzhang's Old Chinese reconstructions gives

龖: /*l'ɯːb/

Middle Chinese: /dʌp̚/, Mandarin: /tä³⁵/

襲: /*ljɯb/

Middle Chinese: /ziɪp̚/, Mandarin: /ɕi³⁵/

Bypassing a detailed treatment of the phonology involved, a very simplified explanation is that consonants pronounced at a similar place of articulation and vowels articulated with similar tongue positions tend to change into each other over time.

  To see the relationships between the consonants according to their different places and manner of articulation, you can view the columns and rows of the IPA table given in Wikipedia:

  Please note:

  The palatal approximant /j/ (in /*ljɯb/) is related to the vowel /i/:

    The palatal approximant can in many cases be considered the semivocalic equivalent of the close front unrounded vowel [i].

  the /-p/ ending (/dʌp̚/, /ziɪp̚/), in Middle Chinese is classified as a checked tone, and this "tone" (meaning the /-p/, /-t/, and /-k/ endings) has been lost in Mandarin and redistributed to Mandarin's four tones.

Paleography and semantics

In the modern form, the two「龍」have been reduced to one in「襲」.

西周金⿹戈冬方鼎集成2824秦簡法105睡虎地秦簡今楷

The original meaning is indeed to do with fabric on clothing for dead people, extended to mean layer upon layer of clothing, then finally carry on and on; following customs, traditions. This meaning is written as「沿襲」.

The link between clothing and attack is obscure, if any, and is more likely to be a rebus borrowing.

  If you must link clothing with attack, a rather far-fetched way to analyse it is through the following series of extensions (the meanings of which have actually all existed in literature):

  Layers upon layers of clothing > to hide or conceal something > surprise raid/attack > attack.


What does "总价,以分为单位" mean? I'm working in a software project and the documentation for some component I need to integrate is only in Chinese. There's a table that has a field named "Amount" and its description is "总价,以分为单位".

Google translate gives me "Total price, divided into units", and some other page says it's something like "Total Price , in minutes".

The problem is that I feel like the part after the comma is important, and neither of them seem like they fit. The "Amount" field is about money.

The point is when 分 is used as the unit(单位) of money, it means cent, i.e. one hundredth of 元 (the basic monetary unit of China).

  价值等于某货币单位百分之一的单位 [cent]

So 总价,以分为单位 means total price in cents.


What is the difference between 怕，害怕 and 恐怕 Is 害怕 only used in the literal sense of "be afraid of, be scared", meaning "to be afraid of snakes", etc. and 恐怕, on the other Hand, for abstract worries? and can 怕 be used in both senses?

The context in which I would use 恐怕 is something similar to "I'm worried this  might be the case". I'd say it is used to describe a predicition or extrapolation, sometimes can be translated to be just "probably".

這池恐怕有三公尺深 :　 The pool here is probably 3 meter deep (and that worries me)
我恐怕會被留校 : I guess I'm going to be in detention

怕 alone can be translated to "be afraid of":

我怕蛇 : I am afriad of snakes
我怕高 : I am afraid of height

... or "be weak against / be bad at"

我怕燙 : I'm weak against hot (food/drink)
我怕冷 : I'm weak against cold (weather)

... or "being a chicken and not willing to face it".

害怕 is more of a mental state and perhaps less of a verb. If it is, it's probably a intranstive verb.

我對這裡的交通感到害怕 : I feel scared by the traffic here
這電影院令人害怕 : The movie theather make me scared

The use of "害" usually implies "bad effect".

Now... there could be use cases in which 害怕 and 恐怕 are shortend to be just 怕. In this sense, perhaps 怕 is more abstract than the other two. In summary:

區別的方法只怕很難說明 : Describing how to disambiguate is probably going to be difficult.

:-)


What is the etymology of "嗨"? What is the etymology of "嗨"? Is it used because it sounds like the English word "Hi"?

I tried looking it up, but Wiktionary doesn't have any etymology information in either the English or Chinese edition, and it's not listed in Wiktionary's category Chinese terms derived from English.

I wouldn't call 嗨 onomatopoeic, since it doesn't seem to be imitating any particular sound.

According to the Ministry of Education's 國語辭典, 嗨 is an interjection that expresses discouragement, regret, surprise, etc. It is sometimes written as 咳, (in this sense also read hai, not ke).

This use goes back to Yuan dynasty drama.  It can also be used in chanting sort of expressions such as 嗨唷, which is what everyone was yelling when I was on the tug-of-war team.  Acc. to 國語辭典, this use can also be found in Yuan dynasty plays.

Unlike some dictionaries, 國語辭典 does specifically mention the use of 嗨 as 音譯 for English Hi.  This use must be quite modern.  Acc. to the Oxford English Dictionary, the use of 'hi' as 'a word of greeting' (=hello) is primarily North American in origin, apparently late 19th cent. I wouldn't be surprised if 嗨 = Hi, was a post WW2 innovation in Chinese.


The stroke order for the component 辶 (Chuo) https://www.mdbg.net/chinese/dictionary?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=zhe

If you click on the character zhe here, you will get an option to figure out what the stroke order is.  For some reason this zhe follows a different stroke order than the number/order of strokes of other characters that contain this component.

Is this the website's mistake, or is this an exception to the stroke order rule?  Are there other characters that take that many strokes to complete their chuo component part?

Do you talk about the method of writing 辶?

The difference is caused by the typeface or font.

明体

楷书


Why is 饰界 used to mean "hinges" in a 1908 book? I've got this translation here:

The door turns on its hinges.

门靠着饰界转

I'm assuming 饰界 matches up with hinges. It's not a word I've encountered before or that's readily searchable online. The translation is old; 1908. The book also looks topolectical; Southwestern Mandarin.
It's looking unverifiable for me at the moment.
Ideas?

It means "hinge" in old Chengdu dialect.
The source is the same the one I mentioned in the other post, a 2006 research thesis from Waseda University Graduate School of Letters:
成都方言の文法研究 A study of Chengdu dialect grammar
The third file "Honbun-4423.pdf" from this download page is the paper I'm referring to.
Same as in the other post, in Appendix 4 you can see the following footnote in Japanese:

括弧内の文は現代成都方言の言い方である
The statements between brackets are in the modern Chengdu dialect

The at page 236 you can find an exact match of your example number 13 you posted here.

13． 門靠着飾界轉 （門靠倒飾界轉）
Men2 kao4 dzo2 si4 jien4 dzuan3

Between brackets, the modern version.


Why is my Microsoft Pinyin IME suddenly making traditional characters instead of simplified? I tried to type 什么, but I got 什麽! It was working just a minute ago.  What happened?

The Simplified Chinese Microsoft Pinyin IME is capable of both simplified and traditional characters. When you install it, it will be set for simplified characters. It is set up to toggle between simplified and traditional with the keybinding ctrlshiftF. It is easy to do this accidentally if the IME is active and you do a "Find All" in Visual Studio or a similar program with the same keybinding.

You can toggle back by activating the IME (if necessary, using WinSpace) and then toggling back with ctrlshiftF.

You can disable this key or change it to another letter (note, ctrlshift is not optional!) by navigating to the keyboard options:

Press WinS and start typing "language" and select:

Click on the language and it will expand and offer an "options" button:

Now find the keyboards, click on the "Microsoft Pinyin" keyboard (probably the only one):

From there you can toggle back to simplified under "General" and modify the toggle binding at the bottom of "Keys"


Is 家婆 the term for a woman's "mother in law" in Mandarin too? In Cantonese, a woman would call her mother in law her "家婆" or her "奶奶", and address her only as "奶奶".

My understanding of the same terms in Mandarin is, a woman would call her mother in law her "婆婆" and address her as "婆婆" as well (Cantonese do not do that, because "婆婆" can mean 外婆 - 'mother's mother ' in Cantonese)

My question is, do Mandarin speakers use the term "家婆" to refer to a woman's mother in law?

I also suspect Mandarin speaking women do not address their mother in law as "奶奶" because "奶奶" could also mean grand mother (father's mother) in Mandarin. (Cantonese do not use "奶奶" for "father's mother", Father's mother is 嫲嫲 or 阿嫲 in Cantonese)

Note: when Cantonese people mention Mandarin, we are referring 普通話, the official standard Mandarin dialect. Sub- dialects within Mandarin are not considered.

I guess we should first remember that "Mandarin" is a related group with many dialects.

使用者分佈圖；深綠: 官話, 淺綠: 晉語

「家婆」is topolectical (方言詞). In certain Mandarin dialects,「家婆」is a valid term for the husband's mother.

黃飛卿　《五伯娘和新兒媳》：＂五伯娘，你剛做家婆就這麼嘴碎。＂

Have a look at dialectical synonyms of husband's mother for the Mandarin dialects which use「家婆」for this meaning. Note: no Mandarin dialect appears to use「奶奶」for this meaning.

In Standard Chinese (普通話, 國語, 華語), which (with minor variations) is the national written and spoken standards of PRC, ROC (Taiwan), and Singapore, the word referring to husband's mother is unambiguously「婆婆」.「家婆」is non-standard.


不要多给： not a single cent more? I'm reading a weird story about a myna (八哥儿，是一种鸟儿） that speaks and is quoting the price for himself, since he's a talking bird. Is what he adds after his price idiomatically translated as something along the lines of "and not a single cent more," or something less emphatic?

鸟儿又说：「你给十两银子，不要多给。」县长一听，更高兴了。
The myna spoke again: "10 silver pieces, no more." The magistrate was elated.

In my opinion, the key to strengthening your Chinese is to have confidence in your intuition within the context of Chinese. Not saying you aren't already confident, but more so to apply the following method to approach future confusing sentences.

Break them apart by word:

不 don't
要 want, do
多 more
给 give

You can infer from 不 + 要 = don't want, don't do something

As well as from 多 + 给 = give more

不要 + 多给 = don't give more.

From there, you can understand nuances of the sentence given the context derived from the preceding or proceeding sentence.

Preceding sentence: 你给十两银子 : Talking about giving 10 silver coins...

Then the proceeding 不要多给 probably has something to do with not giving any more of what the preceding sentence was talking about. In this case, coins.

An aside:

I would be careful not to rely on literally translating Chinese text into English expressions, but rather focus on developing intuition within the context of Chinese language; this ability to use the target language to dissect more complex meanings in the target language will strengthen your fluency. It will also develop feelings/connections with the Chinese word itself... so you can feel emotion from the Chinese words/texts... rather than getting that emotion from the English expression you've translated it to.

This is because many Chinese words are simply untranslatable to English given their cultural origins.

For example:

  关系: in traditional Chinese society, you would build up good guanxi by
  giving gifts to people, taking them to dinner, or doing them a favor,
  but you can also use up your guanxi by asking for a favor to be
  repaid.

This concept is pretty foreign to English.

So when thinking about 关系, think about it in Chinese context, and not to translate it to the next best word in English.

Or perhaps 风水.

The list goes on.


What's the correct word division of this sentence? I don't understand how I should understand this sentence word by word: 农夫过去一看. Without "guo4" everything is clear for me, since "qu4 yi2 kan4" means "to take a look".

But with "guo4" I don't know if it's "Nong2fu1 guo4qu4 yi2kan4" - in this case I don't understand what "yi2" is doing here - or "Nong2fu1 guo4 qu4yi2kan4" - then I don't understand the role and meaning of "guo4". The whole sentence must mean "The farmer came to take a look"... The whole context:

  老虎倒在了芦苇丛里。农夫过去一看，老虎前胸插着箭。

The sentence describes a two parts action.

"农夫过去一看" means "the farmer went over and took a look"

农夫 the farmer

过去 went over

一看 took a look

过 is a verb for "go over"  e.g. 过美国 (go over to The United States)
去 is the directional verb particle that indicates which direction the subject is going over
"过去美国" (go over to The United States) is different from "过来美国" (come over to The United States); it is "农夫过去一看" (the farmer goes over and take a look), not "农夫过来一看" (the farmer comes over and take a look)

一看 is a more literary style of saying 看看 or 看一看
Note:
过去 (v): go over
过去 (n): past


Using 也 (ye3) vs. 又 (you4)? What's the difference between 也 (ye3) vs. 又 (you4)?

These two links, link1 and link2, discuss them individually but do not contrast them.

This last link contrasts 又 with 再 (zai4).

也 means "too", "also": 我也是. Me too.

又 means "again": 今天又下雨了. It rained again today.

In informal speech, 也 is more neutral. It simply conveys the information that something is the same as something else. 他也是一个学生。He is also a student.

又 can have a negative connotation. 他又这样! He is doing it again!


Hokkien `綴` vs. `共`: compare and contrast According to my reference, both 綴 (tuè/tè) and 共 (kā) can translate from Hokkien (alias Min Nan) to 跟. What is the difference between the two?

The word tuè/tè in Taiwanese Hokkien is used in contexts where 跟 in Mandarin more explicitly refers to the action of "following"; in the 台灣閩南語常用詞辭典 you can find the word kin-tuè/kun-tè, as written 跟綴. In the 台文/華文線頂辭典, a fuller list of words with 綴 can be found. Perhaps most indicative of its use is the Taiwanese Hokkien equivalent of 跟得上, which is 綴會著 tòe/tè-ē-tio̍h.

The function of 共 kā is more grammatical, and often marks an "additional valency" as expressed on page 23 of Written Taiwanese; in practice this means another verb must follow 共 + noun phrase at some point, for example in that most famous of Hokkien utterances 我共你講.


When is a degree required? or: hai6 vs hou2 vs gei I am trying to learn Cantonese.

I want to be able to say (speak, not write) after a meal:

  I am full.

Which I could translate directory to:

  Ngo5 hai6 baau2

But, my local (student in HK) friend says this is incorrect and that the following is preferred:

  Ngo5 hou2 baau2

Which I would read as

  I very full

Sentences like this come up quite often, where sometimes I need to say the verb hai6, or sometimes a "degree" such as hou2 and additionally gei(unsure of tone or meaning) has been suggested.

What is the correct structure of a sentence where you want to tell somebody your current state of being?

ngo5 hai6 baau2

--> 我係飽 is "unnatural", hmmm, non-native way to express.

  ngo5 hou2 baau2

--> 我好飽

native way to say it :)

just like the english "being", in other language, the verb changes:

i'm 70 years old

(being is used to describe age), which is translated to:

j'ai 70 ans

(avoir [to have], is used, not être [to be]; then, in cantonese, it should be:

我七十歲

technically, the verb is omitted

  gei(unsure of tone or meaning)

it is 嘅(u+5605), roughly "my, his, her, their"; ask you friend how to pronounce it ;-)

last, i would suggest learning cantonese from dramas, videos, and news, forget grammar books.

have fun :)


Chinese Idiom puzzle 19 (中文填字遊戲) Another puzzle for May-2021

One of the three dynasties in the Three Kingdoms period ruled by the 曹 family

A poem that was written by Cao Zhi (曹植). Fictionalized the author's encounter with a goddess  and their love

Extremely urgent

全真派始創人

相傳關羽曾接受( )( )療毒

Withdraw bravely from the rapid current. It is a metaphor for people who are able to retreat in a timely manner

Only good at theoretical military talks, but can’t actually use them on the battlefield

A mother's status raises because of her son's birth or her son's success

A Strategy/ plot comes into mind

輕於鴻毛的相反

太極拳其中一個要旨
 (borrow force to counter force)

Executioner

Do one's best

Do it yourself

Make the same mistake

Tender love like water

Vividly like in front of one's eyes

In a dark place, with no sunlight

To remedy

Very touching

Craftsman

Understand

Once in a lifetime chance

(Send troops to fight the guilty) -- to announce the crimes of others and severely condemned them )

Run into good luck

Legalism

The Great Wall

A. Be the model for all mothers -- description of a queen's duty
B. Good as new, not become old and obsolete after a long period of time
C. 11:00 PM - 1:00 AM
D. 曹操的爵位
E. When a son wanted to support his parents, they have already passed away
F. Ingenious craftsmanship
G. A literary work becomes popular and spreads far and wide
H. Arrogant and despise others
I. Do things according to one's own strength
J. Join the good guys
K. Conscription
L. Build a business from the ground up by yourself
M. Strategies and strength are exhausted
N. See the sky and the sun again (out of the darkness)
O. A name of the beheading sentence in ancient times
P. Deep memory, unforgettable
Q. Entire army is completely annihilated
R. "A man is not guilty" --「懷璧其罪」上句
S. Tens of thousands (a great number of)
T. (Affairs can be classified as) Deferrable or urgent, unimportant or important
U. Soft
V. Not attacking with the intention of causing serious harm (not be too harsh on someone)
W. Force someone to do something that he couldn't do
X. Heroic; brave
Y. 曹操「短歌行」其中兩句 (Mountains don't mind being high, water doesn't mind being deep)

Corrected according to Tang Ho's comment.

曹魏
洛神赋
刻不容缓
王重阳
刮骨
急流勇退
纸上谈兵
母凭子贵
计上心头
重于泰山
借力打力
刽子手
竭尽全力
亲力亲为
重蹈覆辙
柔情似水
历历在目
暗无天日
弥补
感人至深
匠人
明白
千载难逢
兴师问罪
时来运转
法家
万里长城

A. 母仪天下
B. 历久弥新
C. 子时
D. 魏王
E. 子欲养而亲不在
F. 匠心独运
G. 洛阳纸贵
H. 目中无人
I. 量力而行
J. 弃暗投明
K. 征兵
L. 白手兴家
M. 计穷力竭
N. 重见天日
O. 问斩
P. 刻骨铭心
Q. 全军覆没
R. 匹夫无罪
S. 千千万万
T. 缓急轻重
U. 柔软
V. 手下留情
W. 强人所难
X. 英勇
Y. 山不厌高，水不厌深
Some notes:

Not an idiom. It is a four-character word coined in a costume drama. (According to Tang Ho it is a common expression.)

E. The original text in 韩诗外传 should be 子欲养而亲不待也.
J. It means 'leave the reactionary camp and cross over to the side of progress'. Often used to describe someone leaves the enemy and joins (surrenders to) 'us' (from the narrator's point of view).
L. For me 白手起家 is more often heard. 白手兴家 seems to be Cantonese. Here it can only be 白手兴家, for in question 16 起师问罪 is used very seldom (it is even not in an idiom dictionary).
O. I think it should be understood as 'sentence to (问) capital penalty (斩)'.
T. 轻重缓急 is more often heard.
Y. Another version gives 海不厌深. Here it can only be 水不厌深 due to question 16.


What's the difference between 说 and 讲? It seems that in most cases, the two are interchangeable. For example: Is it 說 /说 / shuō or 講 / 讲 / jiǎng for "to speak a language"?

Apart from fixed phrases, when would you use one rather than the other? When is only one suitable? Are there regional differences to this preference and what are they?

Generally, both are the same meaning of "speak". But still have a little difference:

"讲" usually used in oral Chinese,and sometimes it means speak by one person without others' opinion on the topic he talked about

"说" different from "讲", it always used in written chinese and refers to many people,they are discussing and expressing their different opinions or one express his opinion with others agree with that.

"讲"--(as a verb) to speak, to give a speech, to say something in a logical way
"说"--(as a verb) to say, to talk

"说" and "讲" can be tricky, when both 说 and 讲 are interchangeable, 讲 feels a little more colloquial whereas 说 is usually used on formal occasions.

Example: 说谎 = To tell a lie
         说明 = to explain (literally, say clear).
         说不定 = perhaps/maybe.

Example when both are interchangeable
         说话／讲话 = speak/talk
         说故事／讲故事 = tell a story
         你说什么？／你讲什么？ = What are you saying?


What is the moral of the short story 三块巧克力? I was trying out 听故事学中文 and read the story about 三块巧克力 (another version is here).  I'll add my translation below:

有个孩子放学后，在客厅里玩篮球，不慎打落书架上的一个花瓶。孩子慌忙用胶水把碎片粘起来，胆战心惊地放回原位。
After school a child was playing basketball in the living room, and carelessly broke a vase on a bookshelf.  The child hurriedly glued the pieces together, and scared he returned it back to its original position.
当天晚上，母亲发现花瓶有些“变化”，就问孩子：“是不是你打碎了花瓶？”
That evening, his mother found the vase had "changed", and asked him "did you break the vase?"
孩子灵机一动，说：“有一只野猫从窗外跳进来，碰倒了花瓶。”母亲很清楚，孩子在撒谎，但她没有说什么。
The boy had a bright idea and said "a stray cat came in through the window and knocked off the vase".  His mother was clear that he was lying, but didn't say anything.
睡觉前，母亲从抽屉里拿出一块巧克力递给孩子说：“这块巧克力奖给你。因为你运用神奇的想象力，杜撰出一只会开窗户的猫，以后，你一定可以写出好看的侦探小说。”
After sleeping, the mother took a chocolate bare from a drawer and said "this chocolate is your prize, because you used our mythical imagination to make up a cat coming in through the window, and afterwards you can write good detective novels."
接着，她又在孩子手里放了一块巧克力：“这块巧克力奖给你。因为你有杰出的修复能力，裂缝黏合得几乎完美无缺。”
Continuing, she gave him another bar of chocolate, saying "this is a prize, because of your outstanding restoration; the cracks are glued together almost flawlessly."
母亲又拿出第三块巧克力，说：“最后一块巧克力，代表我对你深深的歉意。作为母亲，我不应该把花瓶放在容易摔落的地方，希望你没有被砸到或者吓到。”
The mother took out another bar of chocolate, and said "this last bar of chocolate expresses my deep regret towards you.  As your mother, I should not have left a vase in a place where it can be easily broken, and hope you are not smashed or frightened."
孩子听了，羞愧地低下了头。从此以后，他再也没有撒过一次谎。
The boy listened, and ashamed he lowered his head; he never lied again.
这是比惩罚更深刻的奖励。
Compared to a punishment, this is a profound reward.

I think I've basically translated it okay, and get the general mechanics of the situation, but I'm failing to see anything profound about this story: after all, the mother rewards him for lying, and seems to blame herself for him breaking the vase while playing basketball.  It seems like he would continue to lie, after benefiting from it.  However, it's possible I'm missing some subtleties here.
Question: What is the moral of the short story 三块巧克力?

Possible explanations (some of which are found on the Internet):

(1) The mother responds to the boy's rebelliousness with forgiveness, love and understanding, thus made him ashamed of having intended to lie and deny everything.

(2) If the mother had punished him, the boy might become even more determined to lie the next time he does something wrong, in order to escape punishment.

(3) The mother saw the good side  (that the boy repaired the vase), which I believe symbolizes encouraging him to fix a mistake rather than to lie about one.

(4) The mother tried to find problems from herself (third chocolate) rather than simply blaming his son for breaking the vase. Maybe this sets a example for her son, teaching him to try to find his own problem rather than shifting responsibility.

But still, such things usually don't have a standard answer so you're welcome to interpret it in any way that is acceptable. And since such stories often describe idealistic situation, it is perfectly normal for us to find them unrealistic.

Also, I found a more complete version, which contains more descriptions of their emotions and stuff, and might help you with the understanding.

一天，男孩儿贝克放学后在客厅里玩篮球。正玩得起劲的时候，篮球不慎打落书架上的一个花瓶，花瓶“咚”地一声摔到地板上，瓶口顿时摔掉一大块碎片。更令孩子大为惊骇的是，这个花瓶不是普通的摆设品，而是家里祖辈相传的一件古董。为了掩盖自己闯下的弥天大祸，孩子慌乱地把碎片用胶水粘起来，胆战心惊地放回原位。

由于每天都会亲自擦拭花瓶上的灰尘，所以当天晚上，细心的母亲就发现了花瓶的“变化”。吃晚餐时，她问孩子：“是不是你打碎了花瓶？”害怕受到惩罚的孩子灵机一动说，一只野猫从窗外跳进来，怎么赶也赶不走，它在客厅里上窜下跳，最后碰倒了架子上的花瓶。母亲很清楚，孩子在撒谎，因为每天都是她在上班前把窗户一扇扇关好，下班回来再一一打开的。然而面对孩子胆怯的眼神和家人疑惑的目光，母亲只是不动声色地说，看来是我疏忽了，没有关好窗户。

就寝前，孩子在床前发现了一张便条，母亲让他马上到书房去。本以为蒙混过关的孩子顿时心里一沉，看来还是难逃一劫。既然已经撒了谎，他打定主意，无论母亲说什么，都据死不承认，这样他就是发再大的火也拿他无可奈何了。

书房里，橘红色的灯光柔柔地弥散开来，母亲的脸平静地沉浸在光晕中，没有一丝波澜。看到孩子忐忑不安地推门进来，她从抽屉里拿出一个巧克力盒子，把其中一块巧克力递给孩子：“贝克，这块巧克力奖你，因为你运用神奇的想象力创造出一只会开窗户的小猫，以后你一定可以写出很好看的侦探小说。”接着，她又在孩子手里放了一块巧克力：“这块巧克力奖给你杰出的修复能力。虽然用的是胶水，但是裂缝吻合得几乎完美无缺呢。不过记住，你用的胶水是用于修复纸质物品的，修复花瓶不仅需要更强有力的胶水，还需要更高的专业技术。明天我们把花瓶拿到艺术家那里，看看他们是怎样使一件工艺品完好如初的。”母亲一边说，一边又拿起第三块巧克力：“这最后的一块巧克力代表我对你的深深歉意。作为母亲，我不应该把花瓶放在那么容易摔落的地方，尤其是当家里有一个热衷体育的男孩子的时候。希望你没有被砸到或者吓到，我的小甜心。”

“可是，妈妈，我……”孩子之前那颗叛逆的心早就飞到了九霄云外，他努力解释什么，然而只笨拙地吐出几个单词。母亲用手指轻轻挡在孩子唇上：“我的巧克力盒子已经空了，所以我们的谈话已经结束了，现在去睡觉吧，晚安贝克。”她温柔地吻了吻贝克的前额，然后走出了书房。

之后的日子，一切照旧，唯一的变化是，孩子再也没有撒过一次谎，每当他不由自主地想要撒谎时，那三块巧克力就会立即浮在眼前。

没有一句责骂，没有一点非难，明明犯了错误，却得到了三块巧克力的奖励。表面看起来匪夷所思，实际上正是这三块巧克力告诫孩子做人要诚实，它们时时刻刻都是孩子心灵上的警醒。


Key Grammatical Phrases including 对，再说，还，要不然，还。。。呢，没有。。。那么， 一。。。就 in Sentence Usage I have a list of sentences with important grammar phrases. I was wondering if someone could check if they were grammatically correct or not.
Thank you very much!

他对数学很感兴趣。
这么早，别去了，再说外面也很冷。
教室里越来越吵，你们要安静一点儿，要不然我会很生气的。
他还没回家。
你是什么时候来的？
妈妈：你为什么还没做功课？
我：因为我还在吃饭呢。
我没有她那么多钱，可是他没有我那么多朋友。
我一到东京就打电话给你。

Again, thank you very much for your time and help!

These sentences look like exactly the ones I hear from people around me and the ones I would use to speak to them, and most important of all, no misunderstanding caused.  There might be minor rhetoric modification but nothing grammatical.  If there is any grammatical flaw, maybe all of us should go back to Grammar 101.


日子 vs 日期 - what is the difference between the two? So, these two words both mean 'day', but 日期 seems to give much fewer answers than 日子。One dictionary says that both mean 'day' (e.g. Tuesday). Another dictionary says that they both mean 'date' (e.g. 9th April).

Is there an obvious difference between the two, or are they interchangeable?

Thanks all!

日期 = "date", whereas 日子 = "day".  Although in Chinese (as in English) they are sometimes interchangeable.

Ordinarily you'd expect a 日期 to have a numerical form:

  今天是什么日期？  今天是2020年4月15号。
  What is the date today?  Today is the 15-th April, 2020.

However, a 日子 isn't necessarily numerical:

  今天是什么日子？  今天是我的生日。
  What day is it today?  Today is my birthday.

We typically think of changing the 日期 ("date") rather than the 日子 ("day").

  你好，真不好意思，我要改一下日期，可以吗?
  Hello, I'm very sorry, I have to change my dates. Is that all right?
  ChinesePod

We also typically think of having a good 日子 ("day"), rather than a good 日期 ("date").

  今天是个好日子。
  Today is a good day.


How to say those mouth-watering Chinese dishes names in Chinese? Chinese food is delicious. For example, beef noodles (牛肉面) is one of my favorites. Fried noodle (炒面) and fried rice with shrimp（虾仁炒饭）are also yummy.

Q: How to say other mouth-watering Chinese dishes in Chinese? (What are other favorite food names in a restaurant menu.)

Q: What are the proper sentences to order food in a Chinese restaurant?

Q: How to say other mouth-watering Chinese dishes in Chinese?

In Chinese you can say something like “垂涎欲滴”、“垂涎三尺”……This means foods are too nice for you to eat so that you are now drooling.

  Q:What are the proper sentences to order food in a Chinese restaurant?

Some steps of ordering dishes, you can watch the torturial of Chinese video: 点菜，幻灯片教学版


Alternatives to say "顾名思义＂ I am reading a book to explain factorial.

n! = n*(n-1)*(n-2)....3*2*1

Decompose word factorial阶乘, I am enlightened to see its meaning literally.

Since Factor is 乘数, So factorial should 阶乘.

How to describe such a situation?

"顾名思义"? 从字面上理解? 从拼写上理解?

I assume 顾明思议 a bit better but merely not grasp the idea thoroughly.

Are there some better phases?

What I can think of is: 逐字理解 or 按字面意思理解.


What is the meaning of 忽爾間 in the song "說散就散"? I just learn Mandarin from songs whenever I find the time. I have recently discovered this JC's song called Shuo San Jiu San. In the last sentence of the last paragraph of the song, which goes"因為成長 我們忽爾間說散就散", I understand most of the characters' meanings except 忽爾間. Google translate says "time flies" but I don't think that's the case. My personal translation of that line would be " because we have all grown up, let's break up if you say break up". I have no idea where that 忽爾間 would interact with other characters.

Lyrics link - https://musicacrossasia.blogspot.com/2017/10/jc-shuo-san-jiu-san-lyrics-with-pinyin.html

I think it is more common to say 忽然间 than 忽尔间，but it is a song!

忽然间他看见了我,就往回走, 伸出手来.
Suddenly he saw me, and walked towards me, holding out his hand.

因為成長, 我們忽爾間說散就散
Because (we had) grown, changed, we suddenly said break up then broke up.

There is also 忽而 。。。 忽而，but that is a different kettle of fish!


Connotations of 兔子它爹/兔子的爹? I was watching episode 2 of 戳锅漏 when I came across this sentence

  兔子的爹跑得还快

This question on Baidu Zhidao also talks about something similar, asking:

  我的团长我的团中 有一句话叫 王连胜 你就是兔子他爹 是什麽意思啊[？]

One answer says:

  骂人说：“你比兔子的爹还跑的快。“
  该明白了吧？

The variant 兔子它爹 also seems somewhat common.

The book《转世英豪》has the line:

  他在心裏慶倖自己比兔子它爹還跑的快

and the book《符剑录》has the line:

  妈的!那臭小子跑哪儿去了,比兔子它爹跑的还快。

There is also this entry on Jianshu which has a comment at the bottom that reads:

  我们刚上四楼走廊，后来不知道怎么了，那两个女生突然跑得比兔子它爹还快！一边跑还一边叫，我正纳闷呢，然后我一回头——我们后面跟着一个黑...

The TV show is in Sichuanese, but the phrase itself seems very Northeastern, yet I'm not sure.

The fact that people claim that you can use this to 骂人 is also somewhat confusing.

What connotations does 兔子它爹/兔子的爹 have?

你比兔子跑得还快 is a common expression, since we all know 兔子 are fast.

他爹 is acting like a 'damn' without cursing.

You run even faster than a damn rabbit.

Another meaning:

Rabbit are fast, the father of rabbit would be treated as faster, this similar expression are very common in Chinese.

Compare 你比老母猪还能吃. to 你比猪还能吃.

A pig mom sounds like 更能吃.


Why is hot water called 开水? Why is hot water sometimes called 开水? What is the meaning of "open" in this context? How is this different than saying 热水 or 烧水?

Is it something to do with how the water was made hot, kind of like how there are sometimes different words for frying something (炸，炒，etc.)?

One of the meanings of 開 is 沸騰 (boiling) in 《漢語大辭典》開32.
It's nothing to do with "open" or "how".

開水 boiled water
熱水 hot water
燒水 to boil water

When the water is still very hot, we can use 開水 or 熱開水 as hot water.
When it is warm, we use 溫水 or 溫開水.
When it's at room temperature, we use 冷水 or 冷開水.
When it's below, say, 10℃, we use 冰水 or 冰開水.

開 can indicate that the water has been boiled. Without 開, it may or may not have been boiled.

The above Chinese words are used in Taiwan. They are probably different in the mainland.


How to properly say "World's fair" I've read that there are a couple of different ways to say "World's fair" including "世界博览会" "世博会“ or “万博”。 Would anyone like to comment on common these terms actual are？ Is saying 世纪博览会 in conversation too formal？

Cheers guys，

Wikipedia:

世界博览会（英语：Universal Exposition, World's Fair），又称国际博览会及万国博览会，简称世博会、世博、万博，是一个具国际规模的集会。参展者向世界各国展示当代的文化、科技和产业上正面影响各种生活范畴的成果。

Basically just full term vs. 简称.
世界博览会 get's shortened to 世博会, 世博
万国博览会 get's shortened to 万博
here's some quick data from baidu: (baidu hits, you know...like g-hits)

世博会: 百度为您找到相关结果约94,100,000个
世界博览会: 百度为您找到相关结果约41,300,000个
万博: 百度为您找到相关结果约68,900,000个 (but seems to have a lot of different meanings)
万国博览会: 百度为您找到相关结果约2,710,000个
国际博览会: 百度为您找到相关结果约51,800,000个

世博会 is obviously your best bet. (that's what everyone was calling it when it was in Shanghai...09(?))
Going around saying 世纪博览会 instead of 世博会 would be like someone going around saying the World Wrestling Entertainment instead of WWE or National Football League instead of NFL...


I would like someone to translate the writing on this plate in to english please I would like someone to translate the writing on this plate in to english please

According to the rule here, I cannot translate the text for you as it is.

Here is the sorted out version. You can use Google Translate to try to translate it. You can go line by line first. If the outcome seems wrong, then refine your search and look at individual words that do not seem right.

After you get the rough translation that somewhat makes sense, but not completely, then you can ask specific questions on items that are difficult to understand.

  The original poem, 尋故人 written by 元代 黃清老 is: 適興一尋君，君家在白雲。幽花秋後見，落葉夜深聞。 隨意坐苔石，呼童煮澗芹。不須談世事，詩思正紛紛。 There are three different words. 適興一尋君，君家在白雲。幽花秋後見，落葉夜深聞。 隨喜坐台石，呼童煮澗芹。不須談世事，詩意正紛紛。 The other one is: 言易招尤，對朋友少說幾句。 書能益智，勸兒孫多讀數行。 (I only show the Chinese words here so that other users can use it. I have no time to translate it.) – user-487

適興一尋君, 君家在白雲.

幽花秋後見, 落葉夜深聞.

隨意坐苔石, 呼童煮澗芹.

不須談世事, 詩意正紛紛.

~~

言易招尤, 對朋友少說幾句.

書能益智, 勸兒孫多讀幾行.

Edit:

Since you write that many comments and consider Google Translate is not very good at translating text written in classical style, I would give you the rough meaning of this text.

適興一尋君 (I have a sudden urge to seek you), 君家在白雲 (your home is in the cloud). somewhere remote

幽花秋後見 (Pale flowers are seen after fall arrived, ), 落葉夜深聞 (Falling leaves are heard at late night).

隨意坐苔石(Sit on the mossed rock at will), 呼童煮澗芹 (call the kid to cook some Jian qin). a kind of vegetable

不須談世事 (No need to talk about the world's affair"  , 詩意正紛紛 (One after another, the poetry feelings is coming).

~~

言易招尤 (Spoken words easily cause trouble) , 對朋友少說幾句(speak a few words less to friends).

書能益智 (Books can benefit minds), 勸兒孫多讀幾行 (advise your children and grandchildren to read a few lines more).


Can you combine sentence structures to denote an extremely short duration? So I learned recently that you can do two things in Chinese

repeat the verb (such as in 看看)
append 一下 to the verb to denote a shorter duration (in this case,
look for a moment).

I was just wondering, can you use both at once? For example, could I say "你看看一下我的书,好吗？" to, in this case, ask someone to look at my book for an extremely short period of time?

Short answer: no.

As you explained, 看看 and 看一下 have the same meaning, so use both of them does not make sense.

If you want to emphasize it's a very little bit time, you can say:
你看看我的书,好吗？就(只)看一下


Is this a real Chinese Proverb? (Pumpkins and Time Management) Recently, I read this Chinese proverb. It looked amazing, but I wasn't able to find the Chinese version (or even find out if it actually existed).

"One cannot manage too many affairs: like pumpkins in the water, one pops up while you try to hold down the other.
- Chinese Proverb"

If you know how it translates, that would be a great help!

It's a real proverb and means what your quote says it means.

  按下葫芦浮起瓢  (àn xià hú lú fú qǐ piáo)
  variant: 按下葫芦又起瓢 (... yòu qǐ piáo)

葫芦 and 瓢 are two different words for gourd, similar to a pumpkin. These were used to collect water, so that's why you would want to hold them under water.


I don't understand why 老外 and 洋人 mean what they mean 老外 - foreigner
洋人 - westerner
Why does each individual character mean? When I combine the definitions, it doesn't make much sense. Also, which one is more common?

老 (old) is a common word for making nicknames (indicates casualness, familiarity, or fondness). For example, you met someone and called him 李先生 (Mr. Lee) which is a formal address. Later you two became familiar with each other and you might start calling him 老李 instead, (similar to 'John' became 'Johny'  in English)
外 (outside) 國 (country) 人 (people) people
外國人 = foreigner
老外 is a nickname for the formal term 外國人 (foreigner). It can be people of any race and from any country
洋人 short for 西洋人 (西 = west, 洋 = ocean 人 = people ; 西洋人 = westerner)
When the Europeans came to China, they came from the west by sea and the Chinese called them 西洋人. It could be shortened to 西人 or 洋人. We no longer use the term 洋人 nowadays in day to day speech, but the term 西人 is still in use for 'westerner' (white people from the western world) among Cantonese speakers (Canton is a major entry point to China by sea)


Difference between 诚实 and 老实 (and possibly 天真) 诚实 (HSK 4) has the meaning 'honest', just like 老实 (HSK 5), which also carries the meaning of 'honest'.

I would like to know what the difference between these two words is when they mean 'honest'.

I've found this online: 个人觉得，“诚实”形容人的品质，“老实”形容人的性格, which loosely translates to '诚实' describes a person's quality/characteristic, while '老实' describes a person's personality.

However, I don't really understand the difference; a quality you possess would indirectly be a feature of your personality right?

I've also found that '老实' carries the meaning of 'well-behaved', as well as 'naïve' (not featured in the HSK curriculum).

As a result, I would also like to know the difference between 老实 and 天真 (HSK 5) when they mean "naïve".

诚实 is honest with no further implication.

老实 is honest and possibly easy to trick.

天真 is more like innocent or even naive.


Are these chinese characters understandable? I am designing a logo for my company, starting from a chinese word (which i am not mentioning not to influence you, i am including it below in a spoiler).

I simplified the ideograms a lot and I wonder if in the process the original meaning was lost:

Are both versions undestandable?
The second version, the vertical lower one, is very simplified, would a Chinese person be able to read it?
Is that little stroke on top of the first character needed or can i remove it? It triggers my OCD

The solution to the enigma is down here, if possible answer with a spoiler not to influence other commenters!

It is plain as day that the two characters in both version of the logo are 烏黑 (pitch-black)in native Chinese's eyes.

The top stroke of 烏 doesn't need to touch the frame, but you can't remove it if you want the character to remain legit.

Invert the color can make it stand out more

You have the option of reducing the four dots at the bottom of both 烏 and 黑 to one straight stroke. That make it more abstract looking. (native Chinese would take a second to recognize the characters, but they will recognize them no doubt)

(I was a graphic designer too, I suggest you try different fonts to get different feel. Your current design is basically a seal. I am sure you have more different concepts)


成語 with 鮑魚, grammar structure? I stumbled upon this 成語：

如入鮑魚之肆久而不聞其臭。
it's like staying in a fish market and getting used to the stink
long exposure to bad surroundings or bad company accustoms one to evil ways
(source of translation: pleco dict)

My question is: what is the grammar of the sentence?

Is 入...之 a connecting structure?

如{[(入<鮑魚之肆>)久]而[不(聞<其臭>)]}。
It's like {[(having entered < a market of fish >) for long time] hence [can't (smell < its stink >)]}.

The root level is V-O '如...' (it's like ...), 如 is the verb.
Then 入鮑魚之肆久而不聞其臭 is Phrase-Conj-Phrase '...而...' (... hence ...), where 而 is the conjunction.
入鮑魚之肆久 is S-V, where 入鮑魚之肆 is 'V-O as Subject', 久 is the verb.
In 入鮑魚之肆, 入 is the verb (to enter), 鮑魚之肆 is noun phrase as the Object. 之 means 'of', 鮑魚之肆 means 'market of fishes'.


Traditional alternative to 水寫布 (water-writing paper) for calligraphy practice? I'd like to practice my writing with brush, and came across this textile that I think is used a lot in schools at least in Taiwan:

Image from http://detail.net114.com/chanpin/1018435996.html

It's called 水寫布 (water-writing paper). When wet it becomes black, so that writing in water is highly visible. After drying it returns to white color again. Great, but my thought is that there must be some tradtitional forerunner material to this – something simple that has been used in the same way? Like some chalk paint on black background or something? It seems like a too good an idea to not be older than this material :)

Are there some traditional or readily available materials that can work in a similar way?

Don't know if it counts, but in mainland China, some people write on the street with a huge writing brush, half as long as an adult is tall. And they only dip the brush in water to write. After the water evaporates, the writing vanishes. It's the same principle as 水写布

Beijing - Public calligraphy by Roman Harak licensed according to CC BY-SA 2.0


What does 谈晋倏忽之间勾了下嘴角 mean? I found a novel on my Kindle (喜欢你，我也是) which seem like a teenage romance, and seems fairly readable and interesting.  I'm at the start, and thus far Zhang Kankan 张侃侃 and seems to have been tricked into a blind date with Tan Jin (thinking she's there to 补习); they're both teachers.  Currently, Tan Jin seems to be confusing her.

It has the line:

  “哦？”谈晋倏忽之间勾了下嘴角，“金主让你做什么就做什么，是这个意思吗？”
  喜欢你，我也是

I don't understand the part in bold.  (It seems Tan Jin is also confusing me.)

  "Oh?" Tan Jin suddenly (?) [倏忽之间] hooked the corners of his mouth (?) [勾了下嘴角], "Bankroller makes you do something, you do it, is this the meaning?"

Question: What does 谈晋倏忽之间勾了下嘴角 mean?

哦？”谈晋倏忽之间勾了下嘴角，“金主让你做什么就做什么，是这个意思吗？”

倏忽之间: suddenly

For 勾了下嘴角 you could perhaps write: 轻蔑 or 冷笑

谈晋倏忽之间勾了下嘴角，
Tan Jin suddenly snarled,

“金主让你做什么就做什么，是这个意思吗？
"If the boss wants you to do then do it, is that what you mean?"

You could replace 倏忽之间勾了下嘴角 with either: 冷笑道 or 轻蔑地说道

谈晋冷笑道， : Tan Jin, with a sarcastic smile, said,
谈晋轻蔑地说道，Tan Jin disdainfully spoke,


What is difference between 吃 and 在吃? Both of them mean eat/eating etc. So I am trying to find out purpose of the 在. Lingodeer app uses it almost in every sentence but Duolingo almost never uses it. So what is the right way or what is the right situation to use one or another?

You can look here in the new-look zdic for many uses.

For example sentences you can look here or here.

Often 在 is used with words like 上、下、里 as a double preposition. Watch out for that.

The difference between 吃 and 在吃？Not much and subtle!

你要吃饭还是吃面？
Would you like rice or noodles?
我吃饭。I want rice.
我吃面。I want noodles.

我在厨房里吃晚饭。I'm in the kitchen eating my dinner.
我在吃晚饭。I'm eating my dinner.

你干嘛呢？What are you doing?
我吃饭呢！I'm eating!
你干嘛呢？What are you doing?
我在吃饭呢！I'm eating!


What are the rules for nested sentences? A simple sentence in Chinese looks syntactially like this:
S t p V O.
S(ubject),V(erb),O(bject),t(imephrase),p(lacephrase).
How do i put a further sentence in another sentence?

Sentence as S
There may not be such a thing. In English you might want to say That I came out of the closet surprised them all. While in Chinese you can have

我出柜惊了他们所有人。

Which is normally interpreted as I came out of the closet (and) surprised them all. Not quite the same.
Sentence as O
Plenty.

你知道我出柜了。 You know I've come out of the closet.

And yes, you can have many layers:

你知道他们听说我出柜了。 You know they've heard that I came out of the closet.

But use these in moderation. Long sentences are much more frowned upon in Chinese than they are in English. Keep the nested sentences short.
Sentence as t and p
Not sure if this is what you want, but here you go:

我在他睡觉时出柜了。 I (while he is sleeping) came out of the closet.
我在他睡觉的地方出柜了。 I (at the place where he slept) came out of the closet.

But let's just talk about verb modifiers in general, OK?

我以迅雷不及掩耳之势出柜了。 I (as fast as a lightning strike at close, and you don't even have time to cover your ears) came out of the closet.

It is hell of a long phrase in English. Normally you would consider this unidiomatic in Chinese, but here we have only six (or nine, depends on how you count) Chinese characters and it is an idiom from classical Chinese. so the sentence come out just fine.
Sentence as V
I put this at last because I've run out of closet related examples.
There are some idioms that look like sentences but can function as verbs:

你别王婆卖瓜了。

This directly translates to You stop old-lady-Wang-sells-watermelon-ing, which is to say stop bragging about your goods.
But generally it is very rare. If you create one yourself instead of using idioms, other people may have a hard time understanding.
How to be idiomatic
The English language has this great right branching ability; clauses or nested sentences are like its second nature. The Chinese language can do a bit of right branching as well, but it is not very good at it. So in most cases if you have an English sentence that has a clause, you want to change its style while you are translating.
For example, you say

I have a bird that sings beautifully.

But in Chinese you want to say

我有一只唱歌很好听的鸟。

Notice how you get rid of the clause and make it a simple noun modifier and stick it to the left of the object with “的”. Or you can say

我有一只鸟，（它）唱歌很好听。

Again, you get rid of the clause by making it to two sentences.


Need help with 你们不是向着我的吗？ I found the phrase discussed in the title of this question on the 海贼王 manga (One Piece).  I have not found this phrase anywhere else, and have put this on other forums without much success.

Actually, it can be a real sentence in oral Chinese.

向 can become a verb. It has 2 possible meanings based on the situation.

First one mean "face to ..". The sentence can become "are you all facing to me?".

The other meaning "are you on my side"/"don't you support me".

For your case, I think it probably be the second meaning.


Are the Asian girls in this music video Chinese or Malaysian, and are they singing in Chinese? https://youtu.be/BuAULI7PbRw?t=7

They are obviously Asian, and I seem to recognize some of the letters as being Chinese. Also, the song itself seems to be a famous/classic Chinese song which I've heard in other contexts as well.

However, there is also a "Romanized" or "Latinized" text above the Chinese (?) text, which confuses me.

Also, the video description contains a .my link, which is the TLD for Malaysia.

So, are they Malaysian or Chinese? And if they are Malaysian, why are they singing a Chinese song in Chinese?

Bonus points if you can tell me where and when they recorded the video.

Quote:- "So, are they Malaysian or Chinese? And if they are Malaysian, why are they singing a Chinese song in Chinese?"

The girls are, in terms of nationality, Malaysians.

"...why are they singing a Chinese song in Chinese?"

To understand why this is so, you need to know a bit of history, otherwise you'll be quite confused as you are now.

Malaysia, (i.e. Peninsular Malaysia) was a former British colony which became an independent nation in 1957, and joined later by Singapore, Sabah & Sarawak, (i.e. British North Borneo), in the early-1960s to form Federation of Malaysia (Singapore left the Federation and became an independent city state in the mid-60s)

When Malaysia was a British colony, the British administrators imported, (the technical term was "indentured"), thousands of workers for their rubber plantations, tin mines, factories from China and colonial India. My Hakka grandfather, from Guangdong Province, was among them.

These early 18th, 19th Century wretchedly poor illiterate Chinese and Indian workers had to build Chinese and Indian vernacular schools and imported Chinese and Indian teachers from China and India to teach their children in order not to lose their "Chineseness and Indianness" A small number of these Chinese vernacular schools, (which gives Chinese medium education for the first 6 years), still exist today alongside the "National Type" schools where the medium of instruction is the Malay language.

So, the ethnic Chinese girls in the video obviously attended these vernacular schools for 6 years and "switched over" to the National Type schools for their "High School" education to learn more Malay and some English.

Here's a biodata of one of the girls.

https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=zh-CN&u=https://baike.baidu.com/item/%25E7%258E%258B%25E9%259B%25AA%25E6%2599%25B6&prev=search

Because of the country's colonial history, and the mass importation of Chinese workers principally from Guangdong and Fujian Provinces, the ethnic chinese population, numbering at present about 10% of the total population, (in a total population of about 32 odd million), could speak at least one Chinese dialect, mandarin, Malay and English. I myself in my old household had to speak Cantonese with my mother, Hakka with my grandfather and my English educated father in English.

The video is obviously shot on location somewhere in China and judging from the "deserted" streets and buildings in the background, it was obviously a purpose-built movie set to film period movies.

The "中国上海东海影视乐团" was merely the name of the orchestra. (it wouldn't make economic sense to bring a whole orchestra from Malaysia to China to shoot a music video.


What is the significance of 女娲补天 beyond its literal meaning "Nüwa mends the sky"? 女娲补天 refers to an ancient Chinese myth, and literally means something like "Goddess Nüwa mends the sky".  I'd be interested in creating a CC-CEDICT definition for it, so it'll need the syntax:

女媧補天 女娲补天 [Nu:3 wa1 bu3 tian1] /???/

But I'm not sure if it has significance beyond its literal meaning, which should also be included.

Question: What is the significance of 女娲补天 beyond its literal meaning "Nüwa mends the sky"?

I didn't completely check the Baidu Baike article as it's rather long.  Chinese Garden didn't indicate any kind of moral to the story.

PS: CC-CEDICT definitions need to be high-quality (they're used in dictionaries all over the world).  The whole dictionary is free to download.  Submissions are reviewed prior to modifying the database.  They have a specific syntax, e.g.: 中國 中国 [Zhong1 guo2] /China/Middle Kingdom/

Beside the literal meaning, 女媧補天 can be cited as an example of "ultimate benevolence and heroic feat"
Currently, no human feat can be compared to 女媧補天, which is second only to 盤古開天 (creation of heaven and earth) and greater than even 大禹治水
The following would be a fitting comparison if it happened:

古有女媧補天，今有 (insert someone's name) 阻止全球暖化
In ancient time, Goddess Nüwa mended the sky ; In the present, we have (insert someone's name) stops the global warming


Combining noun and measure word I have read an article which shows this sentence 一本书, and then if want to make it plural, it becomes 书本, so my question is it for all noun and measure word?

Example:

一首歌 becomes 歌首

Stop reading that article - it is totally wrong.

The issue is that 书 and 书本 are both plural and singular at the same time. Which one it is depends solely on the context. For example, it is plural in 我常常讀書: "I read books often". In contrast, it is singular in 把書放下: "Put down the book."

You can specify plurals, however. How that actually works is that 本 is a counter for books (书). For example, 一本书 meaning "one (volume of) book". Therefore, to get plurals, you can use @windrose's example of 几本书, meaning "several (volumes of) books".

It is essentially a coincidence that the counter for books can be appended to the character for books to make 书本. Do not assume you can do this with any noun.


回去回来 回来回去 来来回回 来来去去 Are they the same? In this post, Juckele mention two terms completely new to me : 回去回来 and 回来回去.

I know

来来回回 Things keep going in circle, usually use to describe situation in life
来来去去 Same as above

But what about 回去回来 and 回来回去?

Personally I have never heard of 回去回来 or 回来回去, and they are highly unlikely to be idioms in any part of China.

We do say 来回来去 in Northern China, not sure about Southern China. It means 'back and forth; repeatedly'. E.g.

他自从丢了钱包，就来回来去的说。He was complaining over and over again since he lost his wallet.
整首歌来回来去就一句词。The entire lyrics are just one sentence going back and forth.


How is the 儿 ending pronounced outside Beijing? When Beijingers use words like 一点儿, the ending syllable will be very pronounced as far as I understand, and I'm aware that this is a typical feature of the Beijing dialect. But how is it pronounced in the rest of China? Is there no "er" sound there at all, or is it only there for special cases "e.g. 一点儿"?

In MOST cases... Outside of Beijing, in texts, I believe the 儿 is still pronounced. But you can be sure that in spoken Chinese, it will never be pronounced (unless some kids are trying to mock the access by over accentuating it).
I said in MOST cases because there are some words that have simply been adopted by non-Beijing'ers and will always be pronounced with a 儿, and would sound weird otherwise.
Examples: Some Beijing phrases may be somewhat disseminated outside Beijing:
抠门儿 kōumér – stingy, miserly (may be used even outside Beijing)

So whether you're from Beijing or not, you will always pronounce and write this word as 抠门儿 kōumér.
The closest I can come to describing this in American English is how we pronounce certain areas/things in the actual dialectical origin of that word. For example, we say "New Orleans" as someone from New Orleans would say it: "Norlins" even though we're not from New Orleans necessarily. If you say "New Orleans" and pronounce every syllable, it would sound weird to anyone... native or not to New Orleans.

EDIT: a better example is Louisville Kentucky. EVERYONE pronounces Louisville as "Louville".


What does 牛逼 mean? Can anyone define it? What does 牛逼
 mean?  Someone gave a presentation on it in my school.

Can someone define it?

This word has a very vulgar origin. It literally means cow's sex organ. Paradoxically, I hear it spoken more often among professionals like doctors and professors among themselves. Professional women swear more, and thus speak of it more often.

牛逼

Thriving and formidable. 哈佛是所很 ~ 的大学. Harvard is a thriving and formidable university.
Arrogant, insolent. 没有人敢在那里 ~.  No one dare to be insolent in there.

牛, cow

逼, 屄, female sex organ.

Source: http://baike.baidu.com/view/54728.htm


Proper translation of " 倒页、脱页"？ "凡购买XX出版社的图书，如有缺页、倒页、脱页者，本社发行部负责调换", does this translation "The house will be liable to replace book(s), should any missing, reversing and loosing pages be found in the books published by XX Publishing House" make any sense to you? Thanks!

I think 倒页 means upside down pages. Check out this result from Baidu Image:

As you surmised, 脱页 refers to the pages falling out. Check out this result from Baidu Image:

Note that the translation should probably have loose pages instead of loosing pages.


How to translate properly 还是 and 算了 in this sentence? 唉，以前挖门打洞，清苦死了，还是城市好，干脆留在这儿享福算了.

This is a sentence said by a village mouse which came to the city and realised how wonderful the life in the city is.
还是城市好 - how to translate 还是 here? I believe the whole phrase means "On the other hand, the city is good"?
享福算了 - I THINK I should understand it as 享 (enjoy) + 福 (happiness) + 算了. What's the meaning of 算了 here and, consequently, what's the meaning of 享福算了? Does it mean "enjoying happiness taken for granted" or "forget about enjoying happiness" in the imperative form, or "enjoy happiness and forget the rest" in the imperative form, or something else?
Edit:
In fact, I don't understand how the speaker could get away with not putting 很 in 城市好. Please, help me understand this as well.

In these contexts: 还是 means 'still (after all)' in comparison to a previously mentioned or implied known object; 算了 means 'just (simply)'
还是城市好 = (after all) the city is still better
享福算了 = just (simply) enjoy life
More example:
还是工作重要 = work is still more important (after all)
干脆辞职算了 = simply just resign
Example of 还是 in another context (followed by a verb instead of a noun):
(还是)放弃(算了) - (better off) (just) give up


Is 各式各样 Taiwanese version of 各种各样? I know that 各式各样 = 各种各样, but is one Taiwanese version of the other one? What I mean is: is one more frequently used in China and the other is more frequently in Taiwan?

One crude method for testing Taiwanse vs. Chinese usage is by running a verbatim

site:.cn
site:.tw

Google query.

Here are some results:
各式各样 site:.tw about 761’000 results
各式各样 site:.cn about 24’100’000 results
but maybe Google isn't good with sc vs. tc:
各式各樣 site:.tw about 12’300’000 results
各式各樣 site:.cn about 315’000 results
There doesn't seem to be much of a difference in usage amounts overall.


What does 初期运营速度 mean when we talk about high speed railway? When talking about the definition of high speed railway, it is often said 初期运营速度不小于200公里/小时. I don't understand what 初期运营速度 mean? I come out a few possible meanings, but not sure which is correct.

Option 1: The designed speed (if so, it implies the real running speed might be either faster or slower)
Option 2: the speed of early stage (if so, it implies there will be a later stage of this railway and in later stage the running speed will be either faster or slower.)
Option 3: the starting speed when a train departs from the railway platform.

初期运营速度 means operative speed in early phase. The early phase could be a trial run to see if everything works okay. And later on, they might increase the speed based on the data they collected from that trial run, or they would fix if any issues are identified.


What does 有模有样 mean? Is 模 in this phrase mo2 or mu2? Literally, have mold/model, have appearance/shape. Does it mean something like takes shape?

Context:

Fire TV, which arrives after years of explicit rumors and intense speculation, costs $99.

数年来，关于Fire TV，坊间一直存在着各种*有模有样*的传言和激烈的揣测，如今它终于以99美元（约合620元人民币）的价格面市。

Or here:

最萌对眼猫咪穿哈利·波特制服 有模有样 图

http://edu.people.com.cn/n/2014/0316/c1053-24647134.html

模 is mu2 (some people pronounce it as mo2, but that's incorrect in this instance)

模样 is a common word in Chinese means appearance, especially referring to one's look.

有模有样 means has the look.

In the first context, 有模有样 means vivid and seems-to-be-true.

In the second context,  it means the cat has the look of Harry Porter by waring the Uniform.

Another 成语 with 模样 is
人模狗样.
It means something looks good from outside, but indeed is bad from inside.


Chinese equivalent of "no worries" "No worries" in English is used as a statement expressing that the speaker regards a task / problem / setback as inconsequential, or that a task is easy to complete. For example:

  A: "You're going to be late for work."

  B: "No worries. My boss doesn't get in 'till lunchtime."

or

  A: "Can you have this completed by Wednesday?"

  B: "No worries."

Is there an equivalent phrase in Chinese?

Although not a direct translation, "沒關係/没关系" or  "沒問題/没问题" can also sometimes mean "don't worry" depending on context.

沒關係/没关系 - It doesn't matter (note: not suitable for the 2nd example)
沒問題/没问题 - No problems (ok for both examples)


Why is 持 in the sentence 这些持反对意见的员工表示，……? I read a short news article about Microsoft's internal attitude towards a Tiktok purchase, wherein there is this sentence:

这些持反对意见的员工表示，这可能是他们入职微软以来首次怀疑公司采取措施的正确性。
微软六成员工反对收购TikTok 支持盖茨想法，2020年08月11日

It means something like

[My translation:] These employees with oppositional ideas express [that] this might be the first time since they started employment at Microsoft that they doubt the correctness of the company's adopted measures.

I don't understand why 持 is in this sentence.  It's a bit contradictory since 持 is part of 支持 = "support" while 反对 = "oppose".
Question: Why is 持 in this sentence?

持, here, is shortened form of 持有.
持 has a definition on MDBG that reads:

to hold

持有 is defined on MDBG as:

to hold (passport, views etc)

You, correctly, translated it as with, which also works here.

Another term that might help you wrap your mind around this term and usage is the word:
持方
CedPane defines it as:

side (in debate)


Is there an English translation of "The Legend of Oghuz Khagan"? This tweet kicked off my interest in this topic.

AFAIK, "The Legend of Oghuz Khagan" is one of the classics in Uyghur literature and it has been called one of the great poetic epics of Uyghur history.

I've seen a translation into Chinese by Geng Shimin.

Does an English translation exist of "The Legend of Oghuz Khagan"? The work doesn't seem to be very long, but I can't seem to find much info on it.

Harun Doğruyol has written on the topic and has found similar issues:

  During my research I did not come across any English version of this epic,

but thankfully he also says:

  so I have translated the first and pagan version and have attached it to my article.

The Legendary Turkish Warrior (Alp) Oguz Khan and His Epic

The Birth of Oguz Khan

……They said let it be.
Here is his image:
After that they also got in happy and joyful mood
One day
Their eyes brightened up, became colorful, filled in light
That day Moon Khan gave birth to a boy
Bluish, sky-blue was his face
Redd*ish was his mouth, like a fire was his color of face
Crimson were his eyes, dark was his face
His eyebrows were more beautiful than fairies’, how black!
He came to his mother’s breast he took it and sucked milk
He did not want to suck milk anymore
He wanted raw meat, meal and, food
He wanted wine from his surroundings and, wanted to have fun
Immediately, he started to talk, utter and say
After forty days he started to walk and play
His feet were as if they were ox’s feet
His ankles were as if they were wolf’s ankles
His shoulders were similar to that of sable’s
His chest is identical to that of a big bear’s
He was a human but full of hairs
His body was covered with hairs
He herded the flocks of the horses he caught and rode them
Days passed, so many years passed
Oguz also grew up and became a handsome hero
The youth of Oguz Khan
In that age! In that place!
There was a big forest inside Oguz’s homeland
Lots of rivers and streams flowed through this forest
Lots of game animals live in the forest
Lots of game birds also flew over it
In the forest did a big rhinoceros live
It ate and didn’t let either animal or human live
It attacked herds and always ate horses
It troubled people, took their lives
It never granted humans their lives
Such a monster was it, it was that much frightful
There was a person who was very “Alp” (heroic, sublime, frightful, sacred Turkish warrior) called Oguz Khan
In order to kill that rhinoceros he went to that spot
He took a spear and a sword with a shield and arrows
He challenged the rhinoceros that it would die soon
He hunted a deer while hunting in the forest
He tied it to a tree with a willow branch
He returned to his house before the morning broke
When it was dawn he checked the deer
He realized that the rhinoceros had already swallowed the deer
He caught a bear also instead of a deer
Taking off his golden belt of kingship
He hanged the bear downstairs
It was morning again, it began to dawn
He came and realized that the rhinoceros had taken his bear
Finally this case annoyed him extremely
He approached the tree himself and stayed under it
When the rhinoceros came, it saw Oguz and stopped
It hit Oguz’s shield with its head
Oguz hit its head with his spear
Killing the rhinoceros Oguz saved his homeland
Beheading it with his sword he took its head
e returned his home and delivered the news to his country
One day he saw a white falcon
It perched on the rhinoceros and eating its intestine
He shot an arrow with his bow, the arrow killed the falcon
He beheaded it then, he murmured himself:
“The rhinoceros ate both the deer and the bear”
“My spear killed it, because it was made of iron”
“A little white falcon ate the huge rhinoceros”
“The arrow and the bow killed it because it was made of copper”
One day
Oguz’s marriage with the daughter of the sky
While Oguz was begging of the God
The darkness fell suddenly, a light descended from the sky
Such a light was it, brighter than the moon and the sun
Oguz Khan walked and approached the light
He saw a girl sitting in the middle of the light
There was a beauty spot was on her head, as bright as a fire
She was so beautiful, as if she was the North Star
Such a beautiful girl was she, the sky smiles with her when she similes
When she wants to cry, the sky cries with her
The time Oguz saw the girl, he was overwhelmed
He fell in love with her; he loved her whole heartily
He entered the bride’s chamber, got what he wanted
She became pregnant, after days and nights passed
Her eyes brightened up when her three sons were born
They named the first son “Sun“
They found the name “Moon” for the second son
They were glad that third one’s name was “Star”
Oguz’s marriage with the daughter of the ground
Oguz Khan went to the forest to hunt one day
There was a tree standing in the middle of the lake
A girl was sitting in the cavity of the tree
Her eyes were bluer than the sky, she was a God’s daughter
Her hair was wavy as if a river wave
Her tooth was like a pearl shining in her mouth
Anybody living in the world would say that
Ah! Ah! We are dying! My God! We are dying!
They would say and shout and shout
Like sweet milk’s becoming kumiss (traditional drink)
When Oguz saw the girl, he was out of mind
An ember of fire entered his heart whatsoever
He loved her whole heartily, he took her hand
He entered the bride’s chamber, got what he wanted
They named the first son “Sky“
They found the name “ Mountain” for the second son
They were glad that third one’s name was “Sea”
When Oguz heard this, he had his lineage praised with songs in his homeland
He gave a big feast
He provided wealth to his homeland

Missing part

Oguz-Khan’s becoming the “Supreme Khan” of the Turks

He gave orders to his inner homeland
The people agreed to meet, went to Oguz
Oguz had forty tables prepared
He had different kinds of food cooked with lots of wine
People sat at the tables drank so much kumiss
So much wine was drunk and so much sweet was eaten
After the feast he gave this order
“O! My men! and my nation!”
“I’m now your Khan”
“Never let either the shield or the arrow fall from your hand”
“A seal that would lead us should become our sign
“The Alps should become like wolves howling”
“With iron spears our country should become a forest”
“Our hunting ground should be filled with the wild horses”
“Our country should abound with rivers and seas”
“The sun in the sky should become our nation’s flag”
“The sky should become our tent”
“The world should become my country and my nation should be plenty”
He also delivered his order to all round his country
He informed the ambassadors, everybody learned it
In one of his messages, he addressed his nation as this:
“Since I’m the supreme Khan of the Uighurs” (first settled Turkish tribe)
“I’m supposed to be the Khan of the world”
“Every part of the world is under my rule”
“My wish is that you would obey me”
“My request is that you should be ready for my order”
“Whoever submits to me will be rewarded”
“He will be my comrade, he could always ask for my help”
“Anyone who does not obey me and rebels against me”
“I will prepare my army, he is my enemy”
“I declare that I will attack and run over and suppress him”
“I will destroy him, run over and hang him”
It was also in that age:
There was another Khan called Golden Khan
He sent his messenger to Oguz Khan
He presented the rare rubies and gold and silver
He sent diamonds and showed respect
Presenting the best gift, he made friends with him
He surrendered himself to Oguz and also made him happy
Oguz Khan’s raids in the west along the Idil River
There was a great and majestic Khan called Urum Khan
He was dwelling on the left side of Oguz, he was Oguz’s neighbor
He had lots of cities and innumerable armies
He ignored Oguz’s orders
He never followed Oguz’s orders and resisted him
He said that “I would never obey you”
Oguz sent him a command, he ignored
Oguz decided to destroy him
Oguz set off and raised a flag
He crossed the skirts of the Ice Mountain in forty days
He had the tents set up, he fell asleep
When the morning was about to break, a light entered his tent
A male wolf appeared, breathing
A wolf with a blue mane, such a wolf with a bluish furry
He addressed Oguz as if it was a human being
He began to utter some words as if it was a language
He said “O! Oguz, I know what your wish is”
“You wanted to start a war in Urum’s province”
“O! Oguz I will lead your army”
“I will walk in front of your army”
Hearing this Oguz had his tent rolled up
When he went to his army, he was surprised to see this:
A big male wolf
lf like an advance guard
With its blue mane, and blue hair, like a scout making way
He was walking in front of them
Finally he stopped one day, after many days
Oguz’s army stopped, behind him
There was a river called Idil-Müren
The war started suddenly, by the river bank
With spears and arrows on the skirts of the Black-Mountain
There were lots of fights among the soldiers
The people’s minds were confused, they were worried
Such a hard fight was it that
The color of the water of Idil-Müren became full of red blood
Oguz Khan became successful and Urum Khan escaped
He took his kingdom and his nation
Oguz’s tent was full of loot
Whether dead or alive everything became his slave
Oguz Khan’s raid to Kıpçak
Urum Kağan had a brother called Uruz
Chief Uruz’s son survived too
Chief Uruz sent his son to a city
A city set up on the mountain, by a secret river
Chief Uruz told him “the city should be protected”
“Until the fight is over, the city should be preserved”
He said “Bring your people back after the war”
Hearing this, Oguz stopped eating and drinking anything
Oguz moved his army, and reached the city
Uruz sent a messenger to Oguz
He sent a lot of gold, silver, and pearl as gifts
He declared: “O! Oguz Khan you are my Khan”
“My father gave me this city and said: “You are my son”
“Spare this city for me, it should be protected”
“The city should be preserved until the fight is over”
“After the war, return back with the city under your rule”
Chief Uruz said more
“If my father is an enemy of Oguz Khan”
“Do not blame me, if my ancestor is guilty”
“I’m always with you under your rule”
“I obey your command, I’m devoted to you”
“My state is your state”
“Our generation is your descendant”
“God ordered you to rule the earth”
“I submit to you my head and my country”
“I’m going to sent you my gifts and taxes”
“I will always be your friend”
Oguz became happy with this brave man’s words
Smiling, he bestowed him an authority to rule
He said “you gave me lots of gold and gifts”
“You preserved your city so well”
“For protecting your city so well”
“I gave you the name Saklap” (the preserver)
Oguz became friend with him, he moved his army
He came to Idil River and stayed by the banks
The river called Idil was a big river
Looking at the river, Oguz asked his chiefs:
“How could we pass this river?”
There was a chief, he bowed to Oguz
He was a very clever chief called Uruğ :army chief
He gave Oguz Khan advice
Searching the surrounding, he saw lots of trees and branches
He cut and shaped the branches, he made a raft
Lying on the raft, he passed the Idil River
Oguz became very happy and gave this order:
“Stay here, and be a sanjak (province) chief”
“I declare that you will be called Kıpçak (trunk) from now on”
Oguz returned to his army and they set off again
When they began to march, the wolf appeared
Emergence of Turkish tribes “Karluk”
Such a wolf, a male wolf
With blue hair and blue mane
This wolf said to Oguz
“O! Oguz move your army now”
“Take your people and your army with their horses”
“I will lead you to the right way”
Oguz saw the wolf walking in front
The advance guards of the army were following him
Seeing this scene, Oguz became happy
He rode his multi-colored horse happily
Oguz Loved his multi-colored horse whole heartily
But the horse ran away to the mountain and disappeared
It was a big mountain covered with ice
Its summit is too white because of the severe cold
There was a very brave very Alp chief in the army
He was neither afraid of God nor Satan
He was not bothered with fatigue and cold
He went to the mountain and after nine days
He caught the stallion, and pleased Oguz
He was covered with snow
He looked like a snowman
Seeing him, Oguz smiled at him
Declared “Stay here and be a chief of the chiefs here”
Your name will be Karluk (snowy) forever
He gave him lots of diamonds and gifts
He went on his way bestowing him presents
Emergence of the Turkish tribes “Kalaç”
While Oguz was moving forward, He was surprised too much
He saw a big house, its windows were made up of silver
The walls were made up of gold, the roof made up of iron
There was no key, the door was locked
There was a soldier called Tömürdü Kagul in the army
He was very skilful, Oguz ordered him
“You will stay here and you will open the door”
“After you have entered the house, join the army later”
Oguz told this soldier to stay and open (kal! aç!)
Therefore he named him Kalaç
Curcet raid and emergence of Turkish tribes “Kanglı”
    One day
The wolf with blue hair and with mane disappeared
Oguz realized this and stopped
He decided to have his tent set up there
This was a barren area without fields, good enough to beat the enemy
The province called Curcet which had vast pastures
And lots of wealth, lots of cattle, lots of horses
Curcet Khan had lots of gold and silver
He had lots of diamonds
Curcet Kagan with his army and people
Rebelled against Oguz Khan
Oguz spilled the enemy’s blood with spear and sword
Oguz suppressed and overcame him
Oguz killed him beheading
He divided the loots among his men and made the nation submit to him
Oguz’s officials and soldiers and nation
Took and gathered all the countless goods
The horses, and oxen and mules were not enough
To carry the goods taken in the war
There was a soldier clever and, experienced in the army
His name was Barmaklıg Cosun Billig a very capable man
He designed an oxcart, this skillful man of Oguz
Put everything in taken during the war
In order to pull the oxcart, the living beings were harnessed in front
The loots were put at the back of the oxcart
Oguz’s chiefs and nation were surprised
They designed oxcarts similar to his
When the oxcarts were moving, they shouted: Kanga! Kanga!
Therefore their names became “Kanga” (oxcart)
Seeing this Oguz laughed at
And ordered “The living beings should pull the lifeless”
“Your name is now Kangalug, and the oxcart is your sign”
He left them ad proceeded
Oguz’ raids to the south
The holy wolf with blue hair and blue mane appeared
India, Tangut too became Oguz land
Oguz marched towards Syria
He fought, beheaded, added it to his country
This should be known by everybody
There was a province called Barkan in the south
It was a wealthy area with lots of game bird
The climate was hot; it was a region of the wild animals
It had lots of gold and silver
The People there were dark skinned by divine
The Khan of the Region was called Masar (Egypt)
Oguz went there, fought hard and dominated
When he had a victory, Masar Khan escaped
He took over the land and added it to his country
He took countless properties and horses, his friends became happy
He returned his homeland and his enemies became desperate
Oguz granted the title of Khan to his six sons
This should be mentioned, everybody should know
There was an old man under Oguz’s service
White bearded, gray haired, very experienced
A very noble man, clever and considerate
His title is “Tüşimel” in other words: the vizier of The Khan
His name is Sublime Turk, Oguz’s distinguished man
He had a dream during his sleep.
He saw a golden bow, and three silver arrows
The golden bow was extending from the east to the west
Three silver arrows were flying to the north
He told Oguz about his dream
He interpreted his dream, with inspiration
He said: “My dream should bring you peace and comfort”
“I hope it will bring unity and security to my Khan”
“What I had in my dream, should come to truth
With the help of the God of Sky
The earth should be filled with your tribe
God should grant the earth to your linage
Oguz was pleased with the Sublime Turk’s words
Oguz took his advice and comforted to it
When he woke up in the morning
He had his younger and older sons called
He said: “I want to hunt”
“As I’m old now I do not have the courage”
“Sun, Moon, Star go to the east”
“Sky, Mountain and Sea go to the west”
Hearing this order, three of his son went to the east
Three of them went to the west
Sun, Moon, Star hunted a lot of games and birds
They found a golden bow
They presented it to the Khan, he became happy and smiled
He divided the bow into three parts
He said: “O! my sons the bow is yours
“Your arrows should reach the sky”
Sky, Mountain, Sea hunted lots of games and birds
They found three silver arrows
They presented it to the Khan, he became happy and smiled
He divided the arrows into three parts
He said: “O! my sons this arrow is yours
“Your arrows should reach the sky”
Oguz gave a big feast
After saying all these, Oguz organized a general meeting
The chiefs and the people came and greeted each other
Everybody came and be seated in Oguz tent

Missing part

In Oguz’s own big tent

Missing part

He had a forty fathom tall pole erected on the right side of his tent
He put a golden chicken at the top of the pole
He tied a white sheep at the bottom of the pole
He had a forty fathom tall pole erected on the right left of his tent
He put a silver chicken at the top of the pole
He tied a black sheep at the bottom of the pole
On his right side there were Grey Arrows, on the left Three Arrows
They sat down and had fun more than forty days
They ate and drank and attained their desire
Oguz divided his country among his sons and gave it to his sons
He said “O! my sons”
“So many wars have I been through, so many borders have I crossed”
“So many spears and arrows have I thrown”
“So long distances have I traveled on horse, so many enemies did I make cry”
“I have made happy most of my friends”
“Thank God I have paid my debt”
“To the God of Sky”
“I give this country to you, this country is now yours”

Translated by Harun DOGRUYOL (Based on Togan Zeki Velidi, Oğuz Destanı, Enderun Kitapevi, 2. Basım, Istanbul, 1982


Chinese equivalent of "a bad apple spoils the barrel" What is the Chinese equivalent of the English idiom "a bad apple spoils the barrel"?

Chinese has an idiom: 害群之马, it refers to the bad apple which spoils the barrel. Literally, it says : a horse that brings trouble to its herd.

“a bad apple spoils the barrel” also has a Chinese counterpart: 一个老鼠屎坏了一锅汤, but it is kinds of rude, maybe.


When was 华/華 first used as a reference to China? E.g. as in 中华 or 华语, and other similar words.

In 春秋左傳 (722/468 BCE). http://ctext.org/chun-qiu-zuo-zhuan has the statement 楚失華夏.

Huaxia used to denote tribes that later became the Han people, and later the term shifted to symbolize China. Hua is the beautiful clothes worn by the Chinese, xia is for the grandness of the culture.

  「中國有禮儀之大，故稱夏；有服章之美，謂之華。」《春秋左傳正義》

References:

Wikipedia: Huaxia

維基百科：華夏

維基百科：華夏族

Wikipedia: Xia Dynasty

維基百科：夏朝

維基百科：中華


Phrase to describe "wow" or "amazing" (sounds like 'pang') There was a word a friend mentioned which meant something to the effect of "wow" or "amazing" or "impressive" and the english pronunciation was similar to "pang" but I cannot be 100% certain.

Is there a Chinese/Sichuanese phrase that sounds like "pang" used to describe excitement?

(or perhaps if my memory is really hazy, it sounded like "bang" or "pong" or something like that)

Know nothing at all of Sichuanese, but maybe you mean 棒 bang in it's sense of 'great, wonderful'

linedict: 我认为这部电影非常棒！

iciba:wow might be 哇：我想：“哇，多好的主意呀。”


How do I use the character 当, pronounced as a 4th tone? When pronounced as a 4th tone, this character has the meaning "to think/regard as/replace, suitable/adequate, at or in the very same". It's the first meaning I'm interested in. My dictionary gives the example sentence

  你当我不知道吗？ Do you think I've no idea?

The problem is, I can't find any more example sentences or articles or information on how to use this or when it's suitable to use it, because 当 pronounced as a 1st tone is more common and all my search results are for that pronunciation.

So my questions are - can anyone provide me some examples of how to use this character (4th tone)? And can anyone explain when to use it? (what is the difference between 你当我不知道吗 and 你以为我不知道?)

Thanks in advance!

According to《规范》one of the meanings of

  当

  dàng

is

  以为

and they give the sample sentence:

  我当你不来了呢

So it seems the difference between 当 and 以为 is minimal at best.

As for other example sentences, here's a gloss of the PLC dictionary provided by Pleco:

  ADJECTIVE

  1 proper; right; appropriate

  以上意见当否, 请批示。
  Yǐshàng yìjian dàng fǒu, qǐng pīshì.
  We are awaiting your comment on the proposals set forth above.

  2 that very (day, etc.)

  当李的产量
  dàng lǐ de chǎnliàng
  the output of that season

  3 of the same; of one's own

  当村的小伙伴们
  dàng cūn de xiǎo huǒbàn men
  little friends of one's village

  VERB

  1 match; be equal to

  他一个人能当两个人用。
  Tā yī ge rén néng dàng liǎng ge rén yòng.
  He can do the work of two persons put together.

  2 treat as; regard as; take for

  不要把支流当主流。
  Bùyào bǎ zhīliú dàng zhǔliú.
  Don’t take minor aspects for major ones.

  3 think

  我当你不知道呢。
  wǒ dàng nǐ bùzhīdào ne.
  Well, I thought you didn’t know.

  4 pawn

  当衣服
  Dàng yīfu
  pawn one’s clothes; put one’s clothes in pawn

Hopefully that gives you a better idea of how it's used.


Why is 你去了北京吗 less common than 你去北京了吗? Note: My original question was Why is 你去了北京 correct but 你去了北京吗 incorrect? but I was mistaken, so I'll change the question to try to make it more useful (and less confusing) to the future reader.  I'll edit so as to ensure the current answer remains relevant.
There seems to be an important difference between these (completion 了 vs. change-of-state 了):

你去了北京吗？
You went to Beijing?
你去北京了吗？
You went to Beijing?

I had thought it wasn't much of a difference, but the distinction seems very consistent:

”去了北京吗“ (6 hits) ”去北京了吗“ (82,100,000 hits)  [actually, judging from later pages, these counts are incorrect and possibly misleading]
”做了作业吗“ (7 hits) ”做作业了吗“ (6,660 hits)
”吃了午饭吗“ (7 hits) ”吃午饭了吗“ (1,270,000 hits)
Searching for 了 吗 at Jukuu gives 10 pages of sentences ending ...了吗？ and the only examples with 了 after the verb also end in ...了吗 e.g. 他们确定了会议的日子了吗？.
Searching for 了 吗 at YouDao is the same with the exception 你知道我看见了什么吗？
The top answer to 吃午饭了, should 了 be right after 吃？ states 吃了午饭 cannot be turned into a question.

Question: Why is 你去了北京吗 less common than 你去北京了吗?

Both 你去了北京吗 and 你去北京了吗 are possible in practice, but they are used in different situations.

你去了北京吗 is used when you try to confirm the fact that someone really went to Beijing. Let's say you have two friends, Friend A and B. A told you that B has gone to Beijing last week. However, this information surprised you because you didn't expect B would go to Beijing for some reason. So, you might check with B with the question 你去了北京吗. The purpose is to confirm what A had said.

你去北京了吗 is used when you know someone has a plan to go to Beijing, but you don't know whether he has already been to or not. So you might ask him 你去北京了吗 to check if he has already been to Beijing.


Character Pronunciation Clues Is there any way to know what a character's pronunciation or tone is, based on the strokes or radicals that make up the characters?

Yes, for example these characters are taken from a Chinese grammar textbook:

There are obviously others, but as you can see, it's possible to guess the pronunciation. In other cases, according to the radicals, you can understand if they refer to a certain "topic", for example, the third one in that list is the radical for "water", the last one is the radical for "fire", and so on.


What is the meaning of 当仁不让? I was browsing the Chinese internet looking for a bank that supports Mac OS when I came across this site. They list a range of different banks under a range of different headings, the first of which is 当仁不让.

I've looked it up in my dictionary, but I'm really none the wiser. Can anyone tell me what it means in this context? Where does this expression come from? Thanks!

This idiom comes from the famous book of 《论语》, a book recording the Confucius and his disciples' words. Here is the source:

《论语·卫灵公》：“子曰：‘当仁，不让于师’。”

Explanations:

卫灵公 is the name of a chapter of that book.
In that chapter, you can read this sentence(the 36th) "子曰：‘当仁，不让于师’。“ The Confucius said:" when [you are] facing 仁(see note), you should not be modest to decline to do it,even if your teacher is next to you.(Don't leave it to the teacher. Just do it yourself!)."

note: 仁 is the core values in Confucius's thoughts. Here I suggest you simply understand as "justice, morality,universal love", since it's hard to explain, especially in a short paragraph.
Today, we use this idiom to say:

when facing something that deserves you doing or undertaking because it conforms to our good values or will benefit someone else, don't be shy to say no.Just do it!

Example dialogue based on some a real dialogue :D :

Ciaocibai: Huang,我在Meta上提名你来做管理员了。Huang, I nominated you as moderator on Meta.
Huang: 谢谢你的好意，不过我担心我做不好，因为我还不熟悉StackExchange的制度和管理员工具。Thanks for your kindness, but I am afraid that I can't be a good moderator,because I am not familiar with the discipline of StackExchange and the moderator tools
Ciaocibai: Huang, 我觉得你应当“当仁不让”. Huang, I think you should not be too shy to be a moderator. Show yourself!

In your case, the owner of that webpage wants to say"the banks are good, and I am glad to list them here and share with you. ".


Do the Chinese have text speak? Please answer in simplified Chinese characters

I recently met a Chinese person who was right in there with the acronyms, abbreviations and text-slang. Words like:

u
brb
gtg
imo

So as you can see, she was pretty knowledgeable about the text-slang we have in English. So, I was wandering if you had any text speak, slang or abbreviations that are used in Mandarin that are similar to the ones in English. For example, are there ones similar to the ones I listed above?

Obviously, not every English speaker uses these silly abbreviations over text or the internet, certainly not me, so I'm not saying that any Chinese person does this. But, is there any of this that exists in the Chinese language?

Short answer: yes. Skip to the last paragraph for a few examples.
Long answer: it depends.
Firstly, the Chinese language is:

isolating (low morpheme per word ratio)
written with characters

As you said, words used in English text speak are acronyms, i.e. made up from initial letters of some other words:

  brb = be right back

In Chinese, characters are morphemes which are also words, therefore if text speak = acronyms (like imho, wrt), then there's very little room for it.

You do have sort of acronyms, or abbreviations, in Chinese. The most common occurrence is in lengthy names, for instance those of institutions, which comprise several two-character words. These are most of the times abbreviated using the most significant character from each distinct word. Example:

  (食品)药品监督管理局 (food &) drug administration
  becomes: 药监局

If text speak = word contraction, then yes, there are some forms commonly used in colloquial speech that eliminate bound morphemes:

  什么 > 啥
  怎么 > 咋

Finally you can find some slang words used in written language that resemble more closely those you are talking about. Not real acronyms for the reasons stated above, but roman letters used in place of characters with the same pronunciation, which we can construe as examples of slang text speak in Chinese:

  p了 （bullshit!) -> letter p instead of 屁 (pi4)
  sb (idiot) -> first pinyin letters of 傻逼 sha bi
  wp (outsider) -> first pinyin letters of 外屁 wai pi, a distortion of 外地(人) used as a slur for non Shanghainese people in Shanghai.
  ooxx (having sex) -> letters o (read oh) and x (read cha as 叉 cross, same pronunciation as 插, insert/stick）


What phrase do you use to express “don’t use sth” So 用 means use and 不用 means don’t need to. So what phrase do you use to express don’t use
For example: I don’t use mobile phone

Well, 用 can mean both "don’t need to" and "don't use" depending on context. E.g. 我不用 can mean 我不需要, I don't need it；我不用手机 can mean I don't use mobile phone.


How to pronounce 儿 in conjunction with other characters The textbook I'm reading now has liberal sprinklings of the 儿 character suffixing words that I have not previously seen suffixed.

For example: 空儿。

How should this be pronounced? Are there any rules of thumb for pronouncing the 'er' in cases where the previous character doesn't end in a vowel? (Another example would be 馆儿 although I already know that sounds like 'guer')

Wikipedia has a very useful page on Erhua. I don't know how to type IPA here and I'm not sure whether the OP knows IPA, so I'll summarize the rules informally here, writing the approximate erhua pronunciation inside quotations marks. (Note that this does not represent the pinyin spelling of erhua words; those rules are different.):

Final i and n are deleted: 把儿 = ba + er -> "bar"; 伴儿 = ban + er -> "bar"; 盖儿 = gai + er -> "gar"
Main vowels i and ü are retained, and the "er" sound is added at the end of the syllable:  气儿 = qi + er -> "qier"; 劲儿 = jin + er -> "jier" (the n is deleted by the above principle); 裙儿 = qun + er -> "qüer", 驴儿 = lü + er -> "lüer"
Certain vowel sounds merge. These rules are complicated; I refer you to Wikipedia for more details.
Final ng is deleted, but the vowel becomes nasal. I've left this rule until last because (as a native English speaker) I find these sounds difficult to pronounce. Wikipedia, or the sound files mentioned in other answers, will give you a better sense of how these vowels sound.


Difference between 他带来了很多衣服 and 他带很多衣服来 大家好！
I don't really understand the difference between two sentences:
1.他带来了很多衣服;
2. 他带很多衣服来;
The 1st one was found on the Internet, but the 2nd one I have "created" by myself. Is the 2nd one correct, and is there any difference in meaning?
I count on your help.
谢谢！

Essentially, your question concerns the positioning of the auxiliary verb 來[来] in a sentence. There are two meanings of 來:

To indicate an observed movement caused by the main verb (帶[带]) towards the speaker

To indicate the start (or in a more abstract sense, consequence) of the action caused by the main verb

It is good practice to place it immediately next to the main verb of the sentence, especially if it only consists of one character. You may also treat 帶來 as a compound verb.
I am in no position to say that the second sentence is ungrammatical, perhaps just a bit too colloquial. Because there are indeed situations where the 來 can be placed after the object (i.e. 很多衣服 in your sentence). In fact, your second sentence even sounds perfectly fine to my Cantonese ear. Here are three grammatical examples in written Chinese where the 來 is placed after the object:

The famous nursery rhyme 掀起了你的蓋頭來 [掀起了你的盖头来] (lift your veil [lit. head cover])
A primary school text titled 讀出許多東西來 [读出许多东西来] (inferring [lit. read out] a lot of things)
Or this biblical excerpt: 「就像一個家主從他庫裡拿出新舊的東西來。」 [就像一个家主从他库里拿出新旧的东西来] (“Like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” Matthew 13:52)

Note that the main verb of these three examples are already compound in nature: 掀起 (lift up), 讀[读]出 (read out/infer), and 拿出 (bring out). It may then be permissible to put the auxiliary verb 來 after the object, perhaps for the sake of readability.


Is 'Tamen "shi" zai ying guo ma?' a grammatically correct way to express "Are they in Britain?" In Chinese it will be "Tamen zai ying guo ma?" But I studied that we use shi to connect nouns, so can we also say: Tamen "shi" zai ying guo ma? Is it also grammatically correct?

It's just easier for me to understand and remember...

No, unlike the English language which needs "to be" to express this, you don't need the copula shi 是 to describe the location of someone or something.

You just use zai 在 (or, for example, 位于) to express this.

Saying 他们是在英国吗 is possible, but the shi in that sentence has a different function: it adds emphasis.


What is the translation for 打出頭? The three characters are very frequent ones, but nethertheless I find it hard to understand the meaning.

出头 has three usages:

Its literal/narrow meaning is make public appearance. A synonym is the Chengyu 出头露面. Its extended meaning is stand out; show off.
It can be used as short for 出风头 which exclusively means show off.
It can be used as short for 出人头地 which means stand out among peers; become successful. For this meaning, 出人头地 sounds natural but 出头 sounds somewhat vengeful.

In your context, without having watched the movie, I think it is the third meaning 'become successful (in a vengeful tone)'.

打 can be its narrow meaning beat up, or generalized boxing; kong-fu, or metaphorical use one's abilities; struggle. Since it's a Bruce Lee movie I guess it's a mix of the 2nd and 3rd meanings.

So as a whole, 打出头 means Struggle and successfully avenge using kong-fu.

Side note: those words and meanings are not exclusive to Cantonese, they are the same in Mandarin, but the formality is different. In Mandarin those words are considered colloquial and in the past it might not be formal enough for a movie title. In the recent years however, movie titles have become less 'literary' and anything is accepted. Admittedly this is a controversial topic that native Cantonese speakers may disagree; I am only speaking from my own perspective as a native Mandarin speaker from Northern China.


我一字一字地学习汉语 OR 我一个字一个字地学习汉语 Which is the correct use of this grammar pattern?

我一字一字地学习汉语。

我一个字一个字地学习汉语。

The first one feels correct to me. The pattern is:

一{MW,N}一{MW,N} + 地 + V

Both are correct, but the second one sounds more natural to a native speaker.

个 is omitted only in some idiomatic phrases like 一字一句 or 一字排开(though here 一 doesn't mean the number, but the shape of the number).

In Chinese, it's more idiomatic to use a measure word between the number and the noun in most cases.


Which proverb / expression is original? -- 爱及屋乌, 爱乌及屋, 爱屋及乌 In an ealier question (or thread) 爱、采 ( A trivalent verb takes 2 objects )  ...

3 variations/versions of a proverb or expression were mentioned :

爱及屋乌 == he loves her so much that he even loves the CROW perched on the roof of her house.  ( Note: 'crow' rather than 'bird' -- people don't have crows or ravens as pets, do they? ).
爱乌及屋  --- I think this means : (He) loves the pet bird so much that he even loves the cage.
爱屋及乌

I think the original form is 爱及屋乌.

    Confucius would say: a true love (of a man) is trivalent; and
      has two objects: the woman he loves, and everything around her.

Which one is original?

http://www.zdic.net/c/1/3/5022.htm

  愛屋及烏
      因愛一個人連帶的也愛護停留在他屋上的烏鴉。語本尚書大傳．卷三．牧誓．大戰篇：「愛人者，兼其屋上之烏。」後比喻愛一個人也連帶的關愛與他有關的人或物。明．許自昌．水滸記．第八齣：「他們都是你舅舅的相識，你何無愛屋及烏情？」隋唐演義．第八十七回：「楊妃平日愛這雪衣女，雖是那鸚鵡可愛可喜，然亦因是安祿山所獻，有愛屋及烏之意。」亦作「屋上瞻烏」、「屋烏推愛」。

also: http://baike.baidu.com/view/10509.htm


What's the difference between 记录 and 纪录, both pronounced jìlù, and both meaning "record"? 记录 and 纪录 are both pronounced the same, and mean "record".  It looks like both can be used as nouns and verbs.

Question: What's the difference between 记录 and 纪录?

I'm using Zhongwen Chinese Popup Dictionary, and it says

  纪录: variant of 记录 (but in Taiwan, not for the verb sense "to record")

I understand that to mean 记录 and 纪录 mean the same thing, where 记录 is the default, and 纪录 is a variant (except in Taiwan).  However, I'm not sure this is accurate.

Finding some examples online, we have...

纪录

  吉尼斯世界纪录 (source)
  Guinness world record

  破马拉松纪录奖励100万 (source)
  Break China's marathon record reward 1,000,000 [Chinese yuan]

记录

  幼儿教师观察记录 (source)
  Kindergarten teacher observation records

  微信记录怎么彻底删除 (source)
  How [do I] thoroughly delete Weixin records?

They do seem a bit different, but it's very unclear to me.

Both 记录 and 纪录 can be a noun for "record" or a verb for "to record"

  紀 has the meaning of "historical record"; "epoch; period; age"

纪录(n) is more often used for "record" (of historical fact).  e.g. 目前男子一百米短跑世界[紀錄]为 9.58 秒; 多倫多最低氣溫[紀錄]是 −33 °C
纪录(v) is more often used for "to record" (historical item). e.g. "资治通鉴[纪录]了由公元前 403年 至 公元 959年的 1362 年歴史"
记录(n) is appropriate term for any information that's being recorded e.g. 查看通话[记录]
记录(v) applies to recorded information in general. e.g. 打卡机的功能是[记录]員工的上下班時間