User Comments - frances
frances
Posted on: Superstitions and Business Trip Tales
April 11, 2008 at 5:25 PMIn any busy city a whole floor left empty seems like a very expensive way to respect a superstition. I know that in cities in the US, tall buildings sometimes stop at the twelfth floor because a thirteenth floor would be unpopular. When buildings are taller than 13 stories, though, they usually just call the 13th floor the 13th floor and people just have to get over it. That leads me to another question. In my experience in the states, superstitions are things often respected more because they are entertaining than because they are believed. From the conversation in this Dear Amber I got the impression it might be similar in China. (The fact that Chinese people might not be bothered by a breach of superstition if they understand that you're an American and don't know any better, suggests that if they had been offended the offense would have been at the implied lack of respect in ignoring an accepted protocol, not at any actual jinx or dangerous temptation of fate.) I don't know if that was very clear. Assuming that I am being understood, is my impression correct?
Posted on: Superstitions and Business Trip Tales
April 11, 2008 at 5:11 PMI was wondering about the -死了 expressions too. Are they okay because they are a fixed idiomatic usage understood to be purely metaphorical? In the anecdote about the sleepy taxi driver it didn't sound like Amber was necessarily being metaphorical at all!
Posted on: #44
April 11, 2008 at 3:39 PMI don't think he meant a "feel good" ending so much as one that felt like a conclusion. I don't know exactly what they had originally, but I'm guessing test audiences found the ending abrupt, so they felt they had to amend it.
Posted on: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
April 14, 2007 at 8:26 PMThe 嘴/口 confusion is one of the annoying side-effects of trying to teach beginning students to read and write from day one. 口 is so useful as a component of other characters that it is often taught (literally) on day one of Chinese 101. (It was in mine.)
Posted on: Superstitions and Business Trip Tales
April 11, 2008 at 11:46 PMMy understanding is that baijiu is distilled grain alcohol, and may be made out of different grains or combinations of grains depending on the type and quality. I've never tried it, but it's color and the fact that it may be made out of different kinds of crops is similar to vodka, so that's what I picture when I imagine taking straight shots of baijiu.