User Comments - Tal
Tal
Posted on: Originally Original
October 31, 2009 at 2:43 AM血 is one of those characters that may be pronounced in 2 ways, 3rd tone or 4th tone.
When pronounced with a 4th tone it can also mean 'courage'.
Posted on: Kaixin Wang Farm Thieves
October 29, 2009 at 10:55 AMa particularly large island off of continental Europe
My dear chap, for many years that 'large island' might be best considered simply as America's largest aircraft carrier! Airstrip One perhaps. 
Sorry sebire, but our colonial friend is on the ball, however it's shaped. I heard about that Virginia accent. I thought it was Elizabeth I and Shakespeare they were most supposed to sound like though. Queen Victoria? Who the hell would want to like that crazy old bat?
Rugby is a beastly game played by gentlemen, soccer is a gentlemen's game played by beasts and US football is a beastly game played by beasts.
Henry Blaha
Posted on: Kaixin Wang Farm Thieves
October 28, 2009 at 10:34 PM加油 brick! (Don't mind if I call you brick I hope?!) In fact I was born in Lancashire, but when I was about 11, they moved the whole town into Cheshire, err... brick by brick! My mother (sorry, I mean me mam) has still got old school exercise books with 'Lancashire County Council' written on the front.
@sebire - Or as meaningful as talking about an 'American' accent! (Which presumably encompasses the wide range of voices to be heard across the North American continent.)
Posted on: Kaixin Wang Farm Thieves
October 28, 2009 at 8:47 PMWell, I was not disgruntled by the term British accent because I was trying to be... you know, all-inclusive. ;)
Of course there's such a thing as a 'British accent'. It's English spoken with any of the regional variations to be heard in the British Isles.
Posted on: Kaixin Wang Farm Thieves
October 28, 2009 at 10:20 AM"Critique" simon? Too grand a word methinks! To me it seems odd how often the person(s) who pop(s) up to whinge about regular users enjoying a little of such banter seem to be making their first post, (often it turns out to be their only post.) In this "guise" they will usually offer no Chinese related questions, comments, or input, but may come back for a bit more sniping and moaning before they are never seen again. The tone of voice though is usually familiar. Some people never tire of petty mind games perhaps.
Posted on: Kaixin Wang Farm Thieves
October 28, 2009 at 9:15 AMA personal anecdote hellotherebrick? Do I detect the ring of truth?
Actually though I admire your transcription I wonder whether a translation into err... standard English might not be welcomed by those here not fortunate enough to be children of Albion.
Indeed the accuracy (or otherwise 
) of some of your dipthongs prompts me to speculate on the need for some (user friendly) and internationally recognized system for transcribing the accents of Britain. Maybe Pinyin could be adapted for this purpose!!
Posted on: Funny Business 5
October 28, 2009 at 8:55 AMI was a huge admirer of Bill Murray back in the day, but for my money his best movie was Quick Change. He robs a bank dressed as a clown, and the security guard asks him "what kind of clown are you anyway?"
"The crying on the inside kind, I guess," he answers, a line I have longed all my life to have a chance of delivering.
Posted on: Funny Business 5
October 28, 2009 at 4:27 AMHmm... that's right, that would have been an excellent ending. Far too subtle and satisfying to be a CPod ending.
I used to love the movie Groundhog Day.
Me too. Now I can't bear it.
Posted on: Love Tangle 3: One Night Stand
October 27, 2009 at 9:08 AMHey there ouyili, you're welcome. Pete's voice? Err... you must mean John's voice. Pete's seat in the hall of warriors is sadly empty now, how I miss him.
目的 and 目标？ Hmm... pretty interchangeable I would say. Plenty of examples of 目的 at the link I posted above.
As for 目标, how about:
她的目标是五年内存十万元。Her goal is to save a hundred thousand yuan in 5 years.
Posted on: Picking Up a Friend at the Airport
November 2, 2009 at 9:47 AMI may be wrong here, but I've got the impression that 辛苦你了 （xīnkǔ nǐ le）is really not synonomous with 谢谢 (xièxie) and may actually carry a different shade of meaning in different parts of China.
Down here in Guangdong you don't hear it so often, (of course people from further north tend to look down on the Mandarin spoken here.) Once I said it to the guy who drives the school bus which delivers me to my work each day. He seemed quite indignant! "不辛苦了！Bù xīnkǔ le!" he snapped! That's the right kind of manly denial of course, very Chinese!
A: 昨天晚上我们工作了一个通宵。
B: 辛苦了！ 快回去休息吧。
A: Zuótiān wǎnshang wǒmen gōngzuò le yí gè tōngxiāo.
B: Xīnkǔ le! Kuài huíqù xiūxi ba.
A: We worked all through the night last night.
B: So much toil for you! Go back and have a rest now.
___________________________________________
A: 老师， 这个学期您辛苦了。
B: 哦， 别这么说， 应该的。
A: Lǎoshī, zhège xuéqī nín xīnkǔ le.
B: Ò, bié zhème shuō, yīnggāi de.
A: Teacher, it's been so much toil for you this semester.
B: It's nothing really. I've done what I'm supposed to.