User Comments - changye
changye
Posted on: Applying for a Loan
November 3, 2009 at 11:29 AMHi bodawei
全球金融海啸 - quánqiu 2jīnróng hǎixiào (Global Financial Crisis)
This expression is more "literary" than 金融危机. In the phrase, 海啸 (tsunami) is used figuratively, and at the same time, this term carries a very ironic connotation, that is to say, the epicenter of the quake that caused the giant tsunami is, of course, located in the USA.
Posted on: Applying for a Loan
November 3, 2009 at 11:13 AMHi dogupatree
Not so bad. Looks like the bribe worked beautifully.
China was at No. 72, out of 180 surveyed.
Posted on: Applying for a Loan
November 3, 2009 at 11:10 AMHi bodawei
The last line in my previous post is a parody of the Chinese proverb “有钱能使鬼推磨”. Below is its English translation from the webpage shown by zhenlijiang.
If you have money you can make the devil push your grind stone.
In short, MONEY TALKS.
Posted on: How have you been?
November 3, 2009 at 9:02 AMHi bodawei
I always think that using "还好/还可以" is not appropriate to "praise" someone/something. Just saying "很好" would be more recommended even if you actually think it's "还好" (or 不好), hehe. "Face-saving" is vital especially here in China.
还好 hai2hao3, not so bad
还可以 hai2ke3yi3, not so bad
很好 hen3hao3, good
不好 bu4hao3, not good
Posted on: Applying for a Loan
November 3, 2009 at 8:39 AM外国人爱批评中国的贿赂文化，但其实如果中国真的没有了这个传统陋习，恐怕有中国特色的官僚主义一定会变更难对付，好像什么都办不了。最好还是用钱让鬼好好推磨吧！
Posted on: Picking Up a Friend at the Airport
November 3, 2009 at 3:24 AMHi John
I always felt that this phrase is a very Japanese/Korean thing to say, and those two countries are closer to northern China.
Your guess is just interesting. That might be due to the influence of Japan and Japanese during the era of 伪满洲国 (manchukuo), the puppet government established by Empire of Japan. haha
Posted on: How have you been?
November 3, 2009 at 3:07 AMHi miantiao
This is just interesting. If this is the case, I guess that people in Sichuan don't say "你最近还好吗？" as a greeting. Am I right?
还好 meant good, not bad, but here in sichuan it carries a negative connotation: not real good, below average.
Posted on: How have you been?
November 2, 2009 at 2:01 PMHi hebertinchina
Both "还可以" (hai2ke3yi3) and "还好" (hai2hao3) means "OK", or more exactly, they connote "not so bad". The two phrases are basically interchangeable. I think that "还好" is more commonly used for a greeting, like "最近你还好吗？"
Incidentally, you don't use capital letters for "pinyin", even when writing place/person names with pinyin.
Posted on: Anybody home?
November 2, 2009 at 11:46 AMHi mudphud
Honestly, the authentic etymology of the character "怕" is just dull and uninteresting. I think your mnemonic/etymology is much more plausable and frightening!
Posted on: 郑和七下西洋
November 4, 2009 at 2:46 AMHi ricknog
So, "无事不登三宝殿" is a Chinese version of "Danger past, god forgotten". I guess every language has a similar saying. Of course, Japanese also has one.