Be aware when talking about Newbie lessons....

henning
May 26, 2008, 02:24 PM posted in General Discussion
This weekend I wanted to tell my wife about that strange "Newbie" lesson on Confucius...

 

But she took the term "Newbie" as a Chinese word and was mildly terrified. "How can you use that word in front of the kids?".

Think about it: It sounds exactly the same if you use the proper tones.

 

We seriously need an (optional) Chinese Interface that trains us in using the proper terms again, like the once dreaded 菜鸟...

;)

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kencarroll
May 26, 2008, 03:06 PM

Ouch! Never thought about this.

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sophie20461
May 27, 2008, 08:37 AM

我觉得那两个字虽然是粗话但是并没有骂人的意思,呵呵,它的意思偏向“牛”字。我听到很多男生都讲那两个字,他们觉得那样很man,哈哈可是在小孩面前还是不说为妙。

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bazza
May 26, 2008, 03:29 PM

I'm guessing 牛屄.

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bazza
May 26, 2008, 03:31 PM

Apologises, if that's swearing.

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nitrox
May 26, 2008, 09:37 PM

Henning, I had the same experience already twice when speaking about "newbie" lessons to chinese people. Although both were amused and laughed...(there were no kids around).

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bazza
May 26, 2008, 09:41 PM

Wikipedia does have 菜鸟 as the 中文 equivalent of Newbie: http://zh.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%E8%8F%9C%E9%B3%A5&variant=zh-hans

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changye
May 27, 2008, 01:09 AM

Hi henning, How hilarious it is! Anyway, it won't hurt you to know about THIS fact if you learn Chinese. Btw, it took me a while to get the meaning of "newbie" when I first came to Chinesepod, but the Chinese word "菜鸟" is much more difficult to guess its meaning for foreign learners, I suppose.

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changye
May 27, 2008, 01:23 AM

Hi bazza, I respect your courage, and let me take over the dirty work. I 've just found the character "妞" (niu1) in a dictionary. It seems that you cannot avoid being laughed at by native Chinese ANYWAY.

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auntie68
May 27, 2008, 01:41 AM

Hello uncle changye. I think the character can also be 牛 (niu2; "cow"), giving "newbie" (Stunt Toddler, cover your ears and avert your eyes!) the alternative meaning of: "cow's whatsit" (= "holy crap!").

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wildyaks
May 26, 2008, 03:25 PM

You leave us in suspense? no further explanation as to its meaning?

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changye
May 27, 2008, 01:53 AM

It might be a good idea to offer "a newbie lesson" featuring THIS. I believe that a lot of foreign learners would definitely thank Chinesepod!

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changye
May 27, 2008, 02:20 AM

Hi henning, Your excellent thread just reminds me of the place name “eromanga (エロマンガ)”, which is one of the most famous places among male Japanese. Most junior high school boys in Japan try to find the “legendary” place name in a world atlas. If you would like to know the reason, please click the link. http://proxylet.net/index.php?hl=f5&q=uggc%3A%2F%2Fra.jvxvcrqvn.bet%2Fjvxv%2FReebznatn

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changye
May 27, 2008, 02:23 AM

Sorry, the link doesn't work. The answer is as follow, Eromanga From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Eromanga or Erromanga may refer to: ·Eromanga, Queensland, Australia ·Eromanga Basin, Australia oEromanga Sea, an epicontinental sea that covered the Eromanga Basin in the Cenozoic ·Eromanga, from "Erotic" + "manga", one of the original Japanese terms for Hentai manga

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henning
May 27, 2008, 08:01 AM

My (Chinese) collegue just told me that he always believed the "Newbie" level to be the hardest and roughest of all...

;)

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changye
May 27, 2008, 08:16 AM

And maybe "laugh"est of all.....

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changye
May 27, 2008, 08:19 AM

test

 

test

test

test

 

test

 

test

 

test

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amber
May 27, 2008, 08:20 AM

hi

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auntie68
May 27, 2008, 01:42 AM

Oops, I just noticed that bazza already covered that above... and yes, Bazza, it's definitely swearing!