User Comments - bodawei
bodawei
Posted on: Making the Move from China
February 13, 2014 at 4:42 AMMate, good on you hearing the difference. But seriously, this is the very least of your problems in learning Chinese. Jenny has a very clear accent; this 'n' instead of 'ng' is a regional difference. Everywhere you go in China there are 'non-standard' pronunciations; it is part of life's rich tapestry.
Posted on: The Paper Chase
February 8, 2014 at 11:28 AMI agree that we should consider sexist stereotypes as bonus content (like the stuff on DVDs that you never watch), but I don't think there is much insight. It is just meant as a joke; a little entertainment. My impression from 4 or 5 years in China is that Chinese husbands frequently do the cooking; the occasions I saw women cooking ... ?? more likely the ayi or nainai rather than the wife.
Posted on: A Hands On Approach
February 3, 2014 at 11:53 AMWe say 手拉手 with our granddaughter crossing the road; I learnt it from our daughter. 拉手 is the verb. Can you also say 拉个手 。。?
Posted on: Train Ticket Scalpers
January 31, 2014 at 5:57 AMThere most certainly is fake blood - Pulp Fiction was not made using real blood, as far as I know. But with 验血 Vera is referring to a blood test.
Posted on: Park Activities in China
January 19, 2014 at 4:36 AMI used to watch the kites flown in the city, following the kite until it was a dot in the sky. 'How far away is the kite?' I asked one day. I could barely see it. '一千米' (a kilometre).
Once one kite was up, others would piggy-back their way up, tied to the first kite until high enough, and then the owner would jerk their kite off the first line.
They fly at night too, carrying lights.
Posted on: On a Wok-About
December 10, 2013 at 10:02 AM‘directly a reference to Austin Powers‘
Correct, maybe it is just used in the circle I move in .. But I think it is fairly high frequency, I'm not the only buffoon in the city that liked Austin Powers. :)
That Chinese 小 is probably not that close to Junior (in my opinion), in that there is no necessary presence of a 老; it's not a family thing. I sometimes call people 小 this and that simply because I am older than them, and ok, yes, you don't have to remember their given name with this shortcut. That, and it is a spoken rather than written convention. Thurston Howell, III - remember Gilligan's Island?
Posted on: Dart Match
December 10, 2013 at 9:40 AM逐字的翻译， 直译， 都可以说，
使用谷歌，第一个2，740，000点击数，第二个1，750，000
Posted on: On a Wok-About
December 9, 2013 at 12:10 PMHi Baba - thanks for that link, http://answers.google.com/answers/threadview?id=385889#sthash.Y24hM5B0.dpuf. Funny, they need to consult the British royal family for conventions, they seem to be confused about it themselves. Wasn't Richie Rich one of those like Richard Rich III or something like that? I don't think I have ever met personally anyone named after their father, or mother, but naming after a 'favourite uncle', or the midwife, or something like that seems fairly common.
Posted on: On a Wok-About
December 9, 2013 at 11:52 AMRather than 'Junior' in the slightly derogative use you mention, I think we (some of us anyway) might say 'mini-me', as in "that's Baba mini-me over there'. But thinking again, we do use junior to refer to the son (eg. Jamie is Packer junior) but it is rarely written, certainly not with upper case J. As Baba said, it does sound posh and posh just gets a laugh in Australia. Someone Senior might be said more respectfully. But not written. So in America I'm guessing there is actually a field for Junior in an on-line form; I think ive seen that.
Posted on: The Paper Chase
February 14, 2014 at 11:06 AMHi RJ, paper towel is common in China, in large rolls. it's useful around ghe kitchen.
My first Chknese teacher in China used to pin a cloth handerchief to her blouse.