Confessions of a Caveman Mandarin Speaker: "不用说了"
mayor_bombolini
June 29, 2008, 01:17 AM posted in General DiscussionI think I was one of the people Ken Carroll referred to when he said certain people show up in China and start saying inappropriate things.
I was informed today that saying "bu2 yong4 shuo1 le " (needless to say) in response to a compliment is considered rude. I thought I was being polite. I don't know how I grabbed this particular phrase, but it came out and seemed right at the time (and unfortunately kept using).
I think I'll stick with "guo4 jiang3" 过奖 or something similar in the future.
I have more mistakes to confess, some worse than above, some on the funny side.
I'm sure there are others that need to confess. Any other stories out there?
zhanglihua
June 29, 2008, 09:56 AMOh, I am familiar with this kind of situation. Learners of Chinese often manage to startle me, especially when it's not clear from the context what they actually intended to say.
Changye, I am curious: What made you think that the expression you used meant "don't be foolish"?
auntie68
June 29, 2008, 10:04 AMHi zhanglihua, this probably belongs in your thread about embarassing Chinese language "clangers": My friend Mary L, who is a Chinese American born in China, once told me that about her brother's clanger on a visit home to China.
He went to China thinking that 马马虎虎 meant "Excellent!". So he spent a couple of weeks in China eating food provided by his relatives, smiling and nodding and eagerly declaring that everything was "马马虎虎"! with as much emphasis as he could give those words. Ouch! Even though I have never met the brother, and my Mandarin isn't much better than his, my face feels hot for his sake!
zhanglihua
June 29, 2008, 10:26 AM;-)
One of my students once confided that when he began to study Chinese, he went through a phase during which he doubted that what his textbook stated was in fact a real language and not just gibberish - after all, he had no way to verify it!
I also know someone who has 傻瓜 (idiot) tattooed across his back, in huge characters (the calligraphy is 真不错!), and even though having been told about this blunder, he keeps insisting that it means "fighter"!
zhanglihua
June 29, 2008, 10:44 AMSpeaking of 傻瓜, I have another weird attempt at using Chinese to share: An ESL teacher from England had come to fill a position at our school. Her Chinese proficiency level was quite high, so I did not hesitate to talk normally with her. One day she told me that she was headed for the market, wanting to try some exotic fruits. She marvelled at the huge number of diffent kinds of melons in China: 苦瓜， 香瓜，哈密瓜, 冬瓜...I jokingly added 傻瓜, thinking she'd appreciate the pun. She smiled and then left. When she returned, she was really flustered and complained about how unpleasant the street vendor had been. Can you guess what she asked the vendor for?
changye
June 29, 2008, 11:56 AMHi zhanglihua,
The reason is very simple. 王八蛋 is generally defined as “馬鹿野郎” (bakayaro) in Chinese - Japanese dictionaries, and unfortunately the word “bakayaro” is one of frequently used Japanese slang especially for men when jokingly criticizing fellows, and that’s just why I casually, and carelessly, used 王八蛋 before my Chinese friends.
I’m afraid this explanation might not be so persuasive considering the slang’s special status in China. I hear that most Chinese people know the word “bakayaro”, which is often spoken by “evil” Japanese soldiers in “resistance against Japan” dramas and movies. In a sense, 馬鹿野郎 may be an exact translation of 王八蛋, at least here in China.
mayor_bombolini
June 29, 2008, 12:38 PMchangye, auntie, zhanglihua: very funny stories.
One of my mispronounciation mistakes that got a big laugh was at a business dinner with suppliers.
One of the first phrases I had learned in Chinese is: 我吃饱了 (wo3 chi1 bao3 le); I'm full meaning :"I'm satisfied, I don't need any more food."
Earlier in the day of the incident I had learned the phrase: 我迟到了 (wo3 chi2 dao4 le): I'm late in arriving.
Toward the end of the dinner I was urged to eat more and I replied: wo3 chi2 bao4 le. Everyone laughed. I said, I know I'm funny, but not that funny. What did I say?
There was some discussion about what each person heard.
Some thought I said: 我吃暴了。"I ate and exploded"...a very embarrassing thing to do ate the dinner table.
I think the other version was 我迟暴了。"I arrived late and expoded".
My 4th tone pronunciation was very strong, so there was no doubt about the explosion.
changye
June 29, 2008, 01:00 PMHi billim,
Your hilarious post has just reminded me of the phrase 暴饮暴食！
mayor_bombolini
June 29, 2008, 01:08 PMchangye,
Thanks. I'll add this phrase to my vocab. Maybe I can work it into the story, or maybe it could be the story title.
mayor_bombolini
July 03, 2008, 10:09 PMLost in translation:
In a business situation, as the superior you are giving direction to a group of Chinese people. You are in the the middle of your direction and the employee says:
"You listen to what I am telling you."
In English this is an affront.
1) What is the employee trying to say?
2) What Chinese phrase is the employee translating word for word?
changye
June 29, 2008, 03:32 AMHi billm,
I usually simply say "还不行", but later I'll try to say "还不行，过奖了！" So could someone please offer me a compliment?
Joking aside, let me confess about my own "modest" mistake. I once jokingly said "王八蛋" (wang2 ba1 dan4) to mean "don't be foolish" over drinks.
All my friends attended there looked a little surprised and cautioned me that the slang was really a nasty word, just like "son of bitch" in English, or "くそったれ" in Japanese.
But, you know, you can't help but use a word you've just learned when you get a chance!
And I often mistake 蜜蜂 (mi4 feng1, honey bee) for 蜂蜜 (feng1 mi4, honey), or 凉 (liang2, cool) for 亮 (liang4, bright). It seems that my Chinese friends have already gotten used to this.