User Comments - barryb
barryb
Posted on: Wang Wei's Diary: The Importance of Brains
November 13, 2007 at 6:48 PMAn (even more) embarrassing pun: dogs use scent to send messages, their texting. Sometimes they do this on your leg, unfortunately (not Changye's dog, of course). So, 短信 - duan(3) xin(4) - do on shin - text message.
Posted on: Wang Wei's Diary: The Importance of Brains
November 13, 2007 at 6:18 PMA mnemonic pun: a popular way for girls to bully, I'm told, is to completely ignore the victim. So, 不理 - bu(4) li(3) - bully - ignore. As a middle-aged man, I feel a bit creepy reading teenaged girls' diaries. I'm getting the people mixed up already. Jenny, I hope you're going to let loose your baroque imagination, soon, and give this story a surreal twist. Your Superman lesson was my favourite lesson, ever. By the way, what's a "dork"? Is it the same as "nerd"? Or, is a dork someone who needs to ask what a dork is?
Posted on: How is business?
November 5, 2007 at 12:19 PMFascinating, thanks. My guess is that sheng(1) yi(4) = "birth meaning" = meaning of life = business. After all, the English word business is derived from busy+ness, and it seems that being busy is central to Chinese life: busy working, busy playing, busy eating... I'm not being flippant. A Chinese friend didn't know the English word "depression". I explained as well as I could and she thought for a moment. "But what's it for?" she asked. Astonishing! (Or, maybe my explanation was rubbish.) "Cultivate your own garden." Keep busy and mind your own business. The riddle of life asked and answered in two characters. How's that for efficiency!
Posted on: Describing Athletes
October 11, 2007 at 12:07 PMBuff can mean strong or muscular? Really? I've never heard this before. Interestingly, ninja.com has BUFF as an acronym used by the US Airforce for the B52 bomber. It's derived from "Big Ugly Fat Fellow" (or, more likely, the last letter is from another 6 letter word beginning with F and ending in ER). To remember 胖 pang4, I think of fat people suffering hunger PANGs, while thin people SHOW off, 瘦 shou4. (Though the Chinese character for "thin" seems to contain the radical for "sickness", nothing to show off about.)
Posted on: Eating Tofu
September 29, 2007 at 1:15 PMI suppose the regional variations in Chinese slang are as treacherous the English variations. In Britain "fag" means cigarette, but not in the US! In the US "fanny" means buttocks (I think), but not in the UK! Working in the Personal Pensions training dept. of a large London insurance co., I once answered the phone in our standard way, "Hello, PP Training". The caller was helpless with laughter. She was an American, overcome by the dicovery that British financial institutions need "potty training" departments.
Posted on: Eating Tofu
September 26, 2007 at 1:43 PMI've just remembered she lived in Shenzhen for several years, so maybe it is a Shenzhen expression.
Posted on: Eating Tofu
September 26, 2007 at 1:34 PMA friend from western China confirms what eshanks says - "chi doufu" means oral sex!
Posted on: Jaywalking
August 2, 2007 at 9:31 AMChe(1) sounds like the beginning of "chariot". A white-haired, white-bearded god shooting across the sky in his heavenly chariot for a tone 1. (By the way, what happens if you simply ignore one of these supervisors?)
Posted on: My Dog
July 22, 2007 at 10:16 AMI try to remember tone 1 characters by linking them to things at the top level, in the heavens, the sky (helpfully, tian1kong1). We often call obedient children "little angels", and angels come from heaven. These obedient little angels make their parents go all gooey-eyed and "goo eye" sounds like "guai".
Posted on: Wang Wei's Diary: The Importance of Brains
November 13, 2007 at 9:33 PMThanks for the link, lydia1981. I'm far too much a dork to tell anyone my result.