User Comments - Tal

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Tal

Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 8: Trimming the Fat at the Office
February 19, 2009 at 8:32 AM

Nothing to do with learning Chinese, (or even with being fired actually!) but the mention of firing the boss first irresistibly put me in mind of the text below which has been going round the internet for a while and which may be familiar to some.

 

Herbert A. Millington
Chair - Search Committee
412A Clarkson Hall
Whitson University
College Hill, MA 34109

Dear Professor Millington,

Thank you for your letter of March 16. After careful consideration, I regret to inform you that I am unable to accept your refusal to offer me an assistant professor position in your department.

This year I have been particularly fortunate in receiving an unusually large number of rejection letters. With such a varied and promising field of candidates it is impossible for me to accept all refusals.

Despite Whitson's outstanding qualifications and previous experience in rejecting applicants, I find that your rejection does not meet my needs at this time. Therefore, I will assume the position of assistant professor in your department this August. I look forward to seeing you then.

Best of luck in rejecting future applicants.

Sincerely,

Chris L. Jensen

 

So many times in my own life when I would have enjoyed using something like this, so in honour of the spirit of the staircase, I pass it on!

Posted on: Funny Business -- 搞笑， 好笑， 可笑
February 12, 2009 at 7:24 AM

Nope, it's not working. The creator does say 'there are no guarantees'!

Firefox extensions can be pernickety things in my experience. I've seen some which will work on one person's machine and not on another's.

真是的！

Posted on: Funny Business -- 搞笑， 好笑， 可笑
February 12, 2009 at 7:06 AM

Hi bababardwan

I see. Actually I haven't tried that Firefox extension, I'll take a look in a moment. I copied and pasted the pinyin above from Wenlin, if you do that the tone marks are displayed. More anon.

Posted on: Funny Business -- 搞笑， 好笑， 可笑
February 12, 2009 at 6:26 AM

Hmm... I may be mistaken, but I don't think the idea of the stand-up comic that we have in the west necessarily translates to a Chinese setting.

A very similar popular comedic entertainment however is 相声 (xiàngsheng), usually translated as 'cross talk'. This involves 2 performers speaking a comic dialogue. It's usually fast-paced and packed with verbal fireworks. Chinese people love it.

There's also the word 单口相声 (dānkǒu xiàngsheng) though. This I think would be something like cross talk, but performed by only one person. Performers who specialise in this might be considered to be Chinese 'stand-ups', maybe?

Posted on: Funny Business -- 搞笑， 好笑， 可笑
February 12, 2009 at 2:05 AM

Just thought I'd add 2 cents worth; possibly not relevant but surely folks have heard of the Google Pinyin IME? It's the best imho for inputting Pinyin and converting it into 汉字.

Posted on: Sheep, Wolves, and Fruit: a Riddle
February 10, 2009 at 9:24 AM

Speaking of 同音, I have heard that there are many fish which will never bite on a hook, even when the lure is set by a master baiter.

Posted on: Sheep, Wolves, and Fruit: a Riddle
February 9, 2009 at 3:35 AM

Hmmm...

Posted on: Sheep, Wolves, and Fruit: a Riddle
February 8, 2009 at 7:09 AM

问你啊！

Posted on: Sheep, Wolves, and Fruit: a Riddle
February 8, 2009 at 6:38 AM

I absolutely love this lesson, in fact I've been impressing lots of Chinese friends with my new knowledge of 同音! One of my colleagues at the school where I work made me teach it to him word for word, the next day he told me how much his young son had enjoyed it.

Please please CPod, can you do more like this? I've been searching the archive for similar ones without success.

Posted on: A Day at the Races
February 8, 2009 at 3:41 AM

tgif

你看中国还是社会主义的国家吗？我不太清楚。社会主义主要的特色是什么？你说怎么样？其实，我以为在中国赌博可是违法的，但要是人去看武汉的马赛呢？