Drip. Drip. Drip... we've got a leaky faucet today - time to call the plumber! Learn some great plumbing terms that will help you get your bathroom and kitchen in working order again.
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Good lesson. I'm curious as to how the repair dude fixed the toilet without some dialog about a trusty plunger, snake and/or crescent wrench.
Also, it would have been helpful to have the repairman say, "next time, don't flush these things down the toilet". Or do the Chinese not use the equivalent word for "flush"?
And future cpodders should thank you for the warning about the toilet paper.
This lesson is good timing for me. Recently our toilet blocked up, and my Chinese housemates insisted it was because I flush toilet paper down it. But I argued that this is never the case for Australian suburban toilet systems. Finally a visit from a plumber solved the problem with the removal of a mass of tree roots from the down pipes.
Brendaninaus, did you guys live in a six floor apartment building? Interesting to see tree roots climb up a few floors (I'm sure they can).
We got the lecture about the toilet paper down the toilet as well. I don't think any tree roots were found in our system.
This lesson makes me as happy as a hog in a mud wallow.
I need more lessons like this, this is vocab I can use down the road.
Good lesson. I concur, what's the (verb) used with the (noun) toilet in Chinese to convey the meaning of "flush "? e.g 打马桶？
The verb that means "flush" is 冲 (chōng), or, more specifically, 冲水 (chōngshuǐ).
If you need to say specifically, "flush the toilet," you can use either 冲厕所 (chōng cèsuǒ) or 冲马桶 (chōng mǎtǒng).
Seems that we have a few plumbing aficionados.
it sounded like there's a new voice actor in this lesson. I've heard the male actor voice in a lot of the other lessons, but the female's voice sounded new to me. It was nice to hear another person's voice and another accent
@mankos This lesson features our coworkers Gucheng and Wulin. The female actress could usually be found behind the scenes editing audio on most days :) She is from Shandong Province.
Sounds good! My wife is from Shandong as well.
The best sentence in this audio is 呃，知道了。
This is a very useful lesson! Can I mooch a few more sentences from you more advanced speakers? I have a toilet that tends to overflow, so I often tell a guest:
Be careful, that toilet overflows.
Be careful, that toilet tends to overflow.
The toilet overflowed and I had a big mess to clean up.
That toilet clogs easily.
The toilet in the guest room. (The guest room toilet)
emergency shut-off valve (here is the emergency shut-off valve)
plunger (here is the plunger -- I don't know the measure word...)
So...can anyone help me say any of these things accurately?
First, I personally seldom describe that the toilet overflows. I usually only tell others "那个马桶塞住了( nà ge mǎtǒng sāizhù le) - that toilet has clogged" because it implies that the toilet will overflow.
But if you really want to use "overflow" I guess we can say:
小心，那个马桶的水满出来了。 (xiǎoxīn, nàge mǎtǒng de shuǐ mǎn chū lái le.) -Be careful, that toilet overflows.
小心，那个马桶的水快满出来了。(xiǎoxīn, nàge mǎtǒng de shuǐ kuài mǎn chū lái le.) -Be careful, that toilet tends to overflow.
马桶的水满出来了，我得清理清理。（mǎtǒng de shuǐ mǎn chū lái le，wǒ děi qīnglǐqīnglǐ) -The toilet overflowed and I had a big mess to clean up. -- I don't know where to put "a big mess". It's just very awkward add it into the Chinese sentence.
那个马桶很容易堵塞 (nà ge mǎtǒng hěn róngyì dǔsè) - That toilet clogs easily.
客人房里的厕所 (kèrén fáng lǐ de cèsuǒ) The toilet in the guest room. (When you say "the guest room," do you mean the room where your friends or family stay when they come to visit?)
紧急切断阀 (jǐnjí qiēduàn fa) - emergency shut-off valve
plunger--This one, I never know how to say it in Chinese. I just say 那个吸马桶的东西 (nàge xī mǎtǒng de dōngxi) - the thing that sucks the toilet....
So for "that toilet clogs easily", I would say "."
jjinfrance, that was very kind of you to reply! I will take it all and study and use it. I really do have a problem with the plumbing in the guest room. It's a pain!
Jenny 喜欢跟外国朋友联系她的英文
So can I say " Just throw that spoon into the sink"
可以往那条匙水草里扔
kěyǐ wǎngnà chí shuǐcáo lǐ rēng
把汤匙扔到水槽里就好了。(bǎ tāngchí rēng dào shuǐcáo lǐ jiù hǎo le)
把 is a unique sentence structure in Chinese. I think an intermediate student should already know it.
就 - just
好(了) - ok
Thanks. I did not know it. I have only thought of using "ba" at the end of a sentence to mean "lets".
or " throw some ingredients into a bowl and make a cake"
往一些佐料碗里扔和做一个蛋糕
wǎngyīxie zuǒliàowǎnlǐreānhézuòyīge dāngào
可以说：往碗里放一些佐料，做一个蛋糕。
Anyone have some examples of when to use the word 保险丝?
Is it equivalent to electrical fuse not wire?
可以说：
保险丝断了or 保险丝烧坏了。
bǎoxiǎnsī duànle or bǎoxiǎnsī shāo huàile.
保险丝：fuse wire
Yes, a 保险丝 (bǎoxiǎnsī) is a fuse. [photos]
In English we normally say "to blow a fuse," which we could also say as 保险丝烧断了bao3xian3si1 shao1duan4le in Chinese. This is a super important one for me. I live in an old building and if I use two major appliances (like 2 air conditioners) at the same time, then turn on the microwave,the power goes out and I have to run out into the stairwell to check the fuse box. Such a pain!
Thank you guys! I brought some appliances from the States so I had to use an electrical coverter here in China. It worked great until the fuse burned out and I had a hard time trying to buy a replacement. So now, I'm glad I know how to say "fuse."
On nciku the conversation of the day has to do with a blocked toilet. ;)
To rang or not to rang that is the question to contemplate as I sit or squat.
It's actually not where you rang it, but what you rang that is important.
This habit of the rang-ing in the waste basket comes from the days when only a sandpaper-like toilet paper or newspaper was used -- holly it was rough on behinds and on plumbing.
The key is the paper, not the toilet or the pipes. Modern toilet paper is made to dissolve as it goes down and is actually good for the plumbing system.
So stop with the basket full of poopy used paper -- how gross and unsanitary. Just get modern toilet paper and ban the rest of it. Really, that's all you need; really TP.
Unfortunately, modern toilet paper will not go down all narrow pipes. I've found this out the hard way.
Pretzellogic is right. The problem is not only on the paper, but the plumbing system is not modern enough to accommodate the paper--even it's dissoluble.
Great lesson, and so usefull! I have a leaking pipe as I type this, and my wife has already left for Spring festival.
More "How do I fix it?" lessons please!
Roger
On you pretzellogic ! I wondered that myself. Also, how did the repair dude work out all problems so quickly? Universal Plumbers code "Bang all metal pipes, frown, mutter strange sounds long enough to go over the free first 15 minutes, before saying " I can't fix it now, and it will be very expensive".
Good question. I should have said, "my wife found this out the hard way", with regard to flushing toilet paper down the toilet. I was blissfully unaware of this experiment, being on a trip back to the US at the time. I should ask her, but I think the answer was that the building repair dude got out the trusty plunger.
the second time we had toilet issues, my 2 year old flushed a ball down the toilet. A ball big enough to go down, but too big to go all the way down and not be a problem. That toilet was out of commission for 2 days, as they needed to take the toilet off the mount. It cost 50RMB for the repair. I thought that was incredibly cheap, considering a plumber in the US won't even come to your house for less that USD 50 nowadays. Pulling the toilet and remounting it would have probably cost $250 in the US.
Important question to our Chinese consultants: Why can't you flush toilet paper down a modern Chinese toilet?
First time I came to China, 1996, I understand, but now...............?
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The toilet paper only slow down the decomposition of the effluent.
If there's a sceptic tank, some reasonable amount of toilet paper is permitted.
But, even if the toilet looks modern, without sceptic tank you shouldn't use toilet paper. The effluent will be used directly in the fields.
Love the idea of a sceptic tank :) " I don't really believe in all this effluent, where's your proof?"
Sorry I used the misspelled "sceptic" of Calicartel.
Septique and sceptique are also different in french.
There are more details on wikipedia :
" Historically at least, not all varieties of toilet paper were suitable for disposal in a septic tank as they did not deteriorate sufficiently (or, at least at some points in history, some toilet paper was specifically marked as suitable for use in septic systems and some was not). "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Septic_tank
and a practical demonstration (in rural India) on Youtube :
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dKkryfdtMNQ
Yea, I know what one is, I was just teasing regarding the spelling :)
Sorry I used the misspelled "sceptic" of Calicartel.
Septique (septic) and sceptique (sceptic) are also different in french.
I love the indifferent attitude of 李师傅. Reminds me of the girl from my guesthouse in Zhada 札达阿里地区 telling me: "Oh, again, right, no problem, this is happening sometimes, does it bother you?" smiling friendly and walking away leaving me with water running down my bathroom wall in streams and dripping from the ceiling.
She was right. It happened sometimes. Sometimes when she forgot to turn off the pump for the reservoir on the roof which had no float assembly. The water came down from the roof to the bathroom 2nd floor, disappeared in the floor, gathered above my ceiling sheathing, ran down my bathroom wall and disappeared in the floor...so why should it bother me? ;-)... but I suppose one day the guesthouse will break down to a pile of wet render, rusty reinforcement and cheap thin pipelines...
Hi gesang
"Water seeks its own level" is very true, specially in China.
P/S Here is its Chinese translation I found on the net.
水自然会找到自己的高度（水往低处流，直到平衡为止）
理之如水也，易為下。水下流則失勢，上流則理不容。充分者，勢高也，必要者，勢下也，充分必要者，勢等也。是故論理如治水。條件者，水之來也，結論者，流之往也，證明者，吾見其流而至也。
Who can help me to translate above? I find it interesting.
source:
http://zh-classical.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E8%AD%89%E6%98%8E
Whilst the water is streaming down the walls, you can always try equanimously contemplating Mengzi's dictum 观水有术 - "there is an art to contemplating water" (see the link here).
I have only encountered valves on drains in boats, where they are there to keep water from coming in from the outside and sinking the boat. Is it different in China? Here I would suspect the plumber of better living through chemistry, if he told me the drain was leaking because a valve was broken. (Sorry, this detail has been bothering since I first listened to this lesson.)
I agree with you on the technical details, but i'm not really relying on Cpod to be the plumbing expert. It's great that they gave us the dialogue, and leave it to people with some more plumbing, engineering, construction backgrounds to pick up the slack.
In fact, I wish they would have gone further on the lesson, like explaining what the plumber was going to do to remove the valve, so we could have Chinese dialogue like, "get an hacksaw and saw it off, then solder a new valve on with an acetylene torch", regardless if its overkill or flat out wrong.
I can't access the lesson because I'm not a subscriber, so I don't know what kind of valve is being referred to. But there are lots of valves used in domestic plumbing and central-heating systems. eg. the fill valve in the flush tank of a toilet prevents flooding due to overflow.
I think here they're just referring to a drainage valve.
Actually, It would have been nice to know the word for "sink". The lesson translated xiàshuǐguǎn as drain pipe under the sink, but my intuition would have suggested to say shuǐguǎn zài sink xià or something.
sink：水池shuǐchí or 水槽shuǐcáo
Thanks Connie!