User Comments - frances
frances
Posted on: June Will Be CPod's Greatest Month Yet!
June 9, 2009 at 2:58 PMI have to say that I'm with Jenny on the banana-watermelon smoothie. When it comes to melon, "eat it alone, or leave it alone." I know some very health-conscious people won't even mix watermelon with canteloupe, which I think is getting a little carried away, but I think banana-watermelon would cause intestinal distress. I wouldn't have the courage.
Posted on: Heading Home
May 15, 2009 at 6:58 PM@bodawei
It may be the 老(lǎo)/"old" that makes you feel that way. In English, a man might refer to his wife as his "old lady". Since this is usually far from romantic in English, maybe that impressed transfered to your interpretation of the Chinese titles.
(Also, the fact that in English "old man" is more likely to refer to a father, not a husband, can lend a certain creepiness to an English-speaker's understanding of 老公(lǎogōng) as well.)
Posted on: To bag or not to bag?
December 2, 2008 at 1:57 PMIs 2 mao a typical price for the plastic bag? Since charging for the bag is required by law, is the price also mandated? Does the store keep the money?
Posted on: To bag or not to bag?
December 2, 2008 at 1:54 PMWhere I am (central NY) no one is charging for bags, though one environmentally-concerned store has had a policy for years of giving a 5¢ credit if you bring your own bag.
Recently, most of the local stores have started to carry cheap re-usable bags for $1-$2. Even stores with absolutely no environmental commitment have started to sell them because they get to make the sale on the bag, and since each bag has the store logo on it, they get free adverts if the customers actually re-use them.
Posted on: Clearing the Table
October 7, 2008 at 3:17 PMOkay, so I get that "帮我们收走吧?" doesn't mean "Can you help us to clear?". So... how would you talk about helping someone to do something rather than helping them by doing something?
Can you help me carry this?
vs.
Can you help me out and carry this?
or
He will help us to learn Chinese.
vs.
He will help us by learning Chinese.
Posted on: A Month as a Monk and Chinese Business Meetings
October 4, 2008 at 5:30 PMIt was an interesting juxtaposition between the discussion of the monks who seem to value neither the emotion nor the communal aspects of eating, and the businessmen who seem to rarely conclude any business without food and wine!
Posted on: I want to buy this one
October 3, 2008 at 7:10 PMHi Jesslyn, there are different accents that you'll see, and they represent different tones. It's important when you start speaking Chinese to use the correct tones. For instance, mǎi means "buy", but mài means "sell". If you want to learn the tones, I suggest listening to these lessons:
- Newbie - The First Tone
- Newbie - The Second Tone
- Newbie - The Third Tone
- Newbie - The Fourth Tone
- Newbie - The Neutral Tone
Ask if you have any questions. People here are very helpful.
Posted on: Around the Office
October 3, 2008 at 3:29 PMJenny seemed surprisingly shy this week!
Posted on: Around the Office
October 3, 2008 at 2:32 PMlight - jī (機/机) is a great word component. It means "machine", so it's appropriate to so many things, like the yǐnshuǐjī (飲水機/饮水机): "drinking water machine".
I wonder, given the Chinese idea that one shouldn't drink water cold, how cold is the water that is despensed by the yǐnshuǐjī? The term “water cooler” might be less reasonable if the thing doesn't cool water！
Posted on: Juiced!
June 9, 2009 at 8:07 PMThe common saying about melon is, "eat it alone, or leave it alone". Watermelon juice is yummy, but I would recommend against combining it with anything at all.