User Comments - changye
changye
Posted on: Hiking
October 30, 2008 at 6:25 AMHi penhuizc,
In ancient China, a day was divided into twelve 时辰 ( shi2 chen2), so every 时辰 was equal to "two hours" (两个小时) of our time. In short, an hour is "shorter/smaller" than one 时辰, which is the reason why an hour is called "小时" in modern Chinese. Just a guess.
Posted on: Counterfeit Money
October 30, 2008 at 4:47 AMHi guys,
I’ve just managed to find the original news. To my surprise, there are tons of similar news on the Internet.
“包工头买百万假币发工钱 被黑吃黑买到假的假币”
http://news.fznews.com.cn/guonei/2007-4-17/2007417b-Zi-1bp++20590.shtml
Posted on: 鲁迅
October 30, 2008 at 3:50 AMLooks like I have no need to run to a bookstore to get a Lu Xun. Here is the link to the website called “鲁迅全集” (complete works of Lu Xun ), where you can read all his works in Chinese, with the help of online dictionaries such as Chinese-perakun. I’ve just glanced over one of his short essays, and found it more difficult to read than news articles, but definitely less difficult than 红楼梦！
Posted on: Counterfeit Money
October 30, 2008 at 3:30 AMLet me tell you about one of the most hilarious news articles I have ever read here in China.
The boss of a construction company purchased a lot of counterfeit money for paying migrant workers their salary, but he later discovered what he bought was "fake" counterfeit money, which was made of waste newspaper.
The angry boss immediately reported the illegal activity to the police, and the people concerened were soon all arrested, of course, the evil boss included. What a happy ending it is! This is not an uncommon story in China.
Posted on: 鲁迅
October 29, 2008 at 1:18 PM我没有读过鲁迅的作品。我的书架上有一本鲁迅短篇集（包含《阿Q正传》），但是我现在还没有打算翻开这一本书。说实话，我内心一直很想欣赏鲁迅先生的文学作品，对他小说里描写的中国人和中国旧社会很感兴趣。那我为什么不赶紧行动起来呢？理由很简单，这本书不是中文原著而是日文译本，可我还是想好好品尝原著的滋味。
那我又为什么不赶快去新华书店买一本原著呢？理由很简单，因为我的中文阅读能力远远不够，恐怕我还不能感受到原著的魅力。那我怎么不努力学习汉语呢？哎呀，别提了。最近我的工作比较忙，工作压力也大起来，再说我家的小狗同志常常要求我和她一起出门散步。我怎么也抽不出时间学习语言。哈哈，我这个懒骨头有的是借口！
Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Beijing
October 28, 2008 at 6:28 AM全聚德的烤鸭到底多少钱一只？
quan2ju4de2 de kao3ya1 dao4di3 duo1shao3qian2 yi1zhi1 ?
How much is roasted duck at 全聚德？
P/S. Anyway, I know I can't afford it.
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 4: Communication in the Office
October 27, 2008 at 12:06 PMHi missworldtraveler,
"你想喝什么吗？/你想喝点什么吗？/你想喝点儿什么吗？ would be more appropriate than "你想喝点东西吗？". Adding "点/点儿" may makes it a bit more polite, but "你想喝什么吗?" is not necessarily impolite.
I think you can use "喝东西/喝点东西" in a situation like this, "我每到晚上就想喝东西" (I want to drink something every night) or "体检之前不能喝东西" （you are supposed not to drink before medical checkup）
Posted on: No Walking on the Grass
October 27, 2008 at 6:19 AMHi vicram,
There are some Chinese sayings that are somewhat "similar" to "这山望着那山高", but actually they are almost exclusively used by men when talking about their wives......!
老婆总是别人的好 lao3 po zong3 shi4 bie2 ren2 de hao3
家花没有野花香 jia1 hua1 mei2 you3 ye3 hua1 xiang1
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 4: Communication in the Office
October 27, 2008 at 3:04 AMHi mike,
Haha, the two of us might not be so cuddly, but my chubby dog is very cuddly as teddy bear（泰迪熊, tai4 di2 xiong2）! 我保证！
Posted on: Counterfeit Money
October 30, 2008 at 6:31 AMI believe that the "bu" in Jenny's pet phrase "bu make sense" is definitely second tone.