User Comments - Tal
Tal
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 11: Wang in the Doghouse
May 25, 2009 at 1:23 PMThat's a good one too! And then there's 'all sizzle and no steak'! (I've no idea how to express sizzle in Chinese I'm afraid!)
Posted on: Funny Rice
May 25, 2009 at 12:51 PMHere's a joke one of my students told me recently. (I could also mention here that I teach English to medical students in China.)
In the clinic, a young doctor checks a patient's pulse.
"Erm... OK," he says. "Your pulse is normal."
"But doctor," the patient replies, "please can you check my left hand, the right one is an artificial limb."
哈哈！
I've put a fully Chinese version here.
@matthiask - your shoe joke is a favorite of my wife's, but when she tells it it's a young woman who goes out partying and comes home in high heels!
Posted on: Funny Rice
May 25, 2009 at 11:07 AMI think the joke is good mainly because I think learning such jokes (and repeating them to Chinese friends) is a really useful way to learn vocab, reinforce the vocab and practise 'light-hearted' conversation.
But in fact I think you guys who consider this lame don't appreciate the 'cultural difference' between Chinese humour and the western variety.
I'm not saying I'm an expert in that, but I've noticed that Chinese people generally delight in word-play. Not long ago I learned the riddle in this lesson off by heart and tried it out on more than a few Chinese friends and acquaintances. Almost unfailingly the response was an obvious delight in the puns; this alone seemed hugely enjoyable to my 'guinea pigs'.
When I told the same story to western friends (even ones with enough Chinese to see why it could be amusing) there was generally just a certain bafflement and their expressions seemed to suggest that basically they couldn't see why it could be entertaining.
I may be barking up the wrong tree of course, but I conclude that it really doesn't matter that 'peanut' doesn't connect with anything here, that the joke lacks a 'logical perfection'. Just the fact that the words for peanut sound like 'flower gives birth to rice' is enough to make it amusing and delightful to a Chinese person.
And of course if you save up a story like this for when you happen to be at dinner with Chinese friends and both rice and peanuts happen to be on the table, (this is my usual custom - lol), all the better!
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 11: Wang in the Doghouse
May 25, 2009 at 10:54 AMPosted on: Funny Rice
May 25, 2009 at 3:02 AMIncidentally my mnemonic for remembering that huā 花 (meaning flower) has the first tone is simply to say "the flowers grow high" in my head!
Then for huà 画 (paint) I just imagine a paintbrush making a downward stroke.
Works for me anyway!
PS. Thanks for the link John! (I'm trying to learn a range of jokes to impress students and friends!)
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 11: Wang in the Doghouse
May 25, 2009 at 2:31 AMHey rj you're welcome! Good to see you around!
Actually I enjoyed the "fur coat" reference, it's been chasing around my brain! In fact I think there was a stage show in the UK with that title at one time... yep, just googled it!
The meaning is interestingly different from 'all hat and no cattle'.
Posted on: Funny Rice
May 25, 2009 at 2:18 AMThis is a great joke! But what was the onion one? I wanna know that too!
Posted on: I Miss Daddy!
May 25, 2009 at 12:35 AM@Mystic - hi!
fùqin 父亲 and mǔqin 母亲 are more formal terms, much like 'father' and 'mother' are in English.
bàba 爸爸 and māma 妈妈 are much more informal and colloquial, roughly equivalent to mom and dad in English.
Posted on: City: Mumbai
May 25, 2009 at 12:01 AMYou're welcome!! :-)
Posted on: Funny Rice
May 25, 2009 at 1:28 PM@pete - oh boy, 太搞笑了！(tài gǎoxiào le = too funny). You know I actually had to think about that for a moment! Sheesh, it's been a long day.