User Comments - changye
changye
Posted on: Picking things up: 拿、带、取
November 29, 2009 at 3:34 AMHaving read xiaohu's comment, now it seems to me that some Shanghainese staff members have to leave Chinesepod, including Jenny, in order to realise "perfect" learning for us. Just a joke, of course, hehe.
Posted on: Picking things up: 拿、带、取
November 28, 2009 at 12:54 PMHi orangina
Believe it or not, there is the Chinese character that exclusively means "cut a left ear of enemy soldiers and count them" in Chinese, which is "聝" (= 馘) (耳+或, guo2). Probably they cut a left ear with the right hand pinching it.
Posted on: A Chinese Bachelor Party
November 28, 2009 at 12:36 PMI guess that some young Chinese guys just say "party" (not pai4dui4) in conversation but use "派对" when they write. "派对" is listed in 《现代汉语词典》 and its definition is "小型聚会".
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生日派对 1,950,000
生日聚会 1,790,000
Posted on: Taxi Conversations: Destination
November 28, 2009 at 12:29 PMOne of my dictionaries says that 师傅 (shi1fu) was originally the general name of some offical ranks, who are in charge of education, such as 太师、太傅、少师、少傅.
There is another "shi fu", i.e. "师父", which has the same meaning as "师傅". "师父" is easier to understand as it simply means "master + father", which is obviously a honorific title of "teacher/master". I groundlessly suspect that the word "师父" might precedes "师傅".
Posted on: Picking things up: 拿、带、取
November 28, 2009 at 11:28 AMThe structure of "拿", "合 + 手" (close/join + hands), beautifully represents its meaning "hold".
The lower part of "带", i.e. "巾", indicates a strip of cloth, which was used when carrying something.
You can't hear the etymology of "取" (pick) without tears. The character consisits of "耳" (ear) and "又" (= a right hand), and this tells that soldiers cut an ear of enemy bodies as proof of their achievements in battles in ancient China.
Posted on: Picking things up: 拿、带、取
November 28, 2009 at 10:59 AMI really envy you guys for being able to tell non-native English speakers from native English speakers! I just can't tell difference, so it makes no difference to me, hehe.
Posted on: A Chinese Bachelor Party
November 28, 2009 at 10:20 AMP/S. 日语词“お宅族”一般指的是迷上某种次文化的人。
Posted on: A Chinese Bachelor Party
November 28, 2009 at 8:34 AMHi liac 老师
你猜得对，“宅男”原来是“御宅族男人”的缩写，而“御宅族”这个说法起源于日语词汇“お宅族”(otaku-zoku)。
Posted on: Expressing Location with 边 and 面
November 28, 2009 at 4:24 AMHi orangina
I've also been waiting for an answer from native Chinese speakers. My understanding is that "边" is basically interchangeable with "面" when talking about directions. That said, I understand well what you want to say, since the character "面" indicates "surface", so I also want to know if there is an occation when "右面" is more appropriate than "右边", for example.
Posted on: Picking things up: 拿、带、取
November 29, 2009 at 4:23 AMHi mistrejess
Your help is much appreciated, but please just pull punches, hehe. After all, as far as I know, the guy is definitely the best Chinese speaker/writer here in the Chinesepod forum, who has a profound insight into Mandarin learning. Flattery aside, I'm always impressed with his passion for learning Chinese.