User Comments - godeak
godeak
Posted on: Help with Luggage
August 12, 2011 at 12:49 AMGreat question about xiaojie; I wonder the same thing. Whe I use it I sometimes get odd looks or slightly wry smiles. So I've mostly stopped, except for young women (e.g., cashier). For more senior women working in restaurants or stores I say laoban, which I hear *all* the time in Sichuan/Chongqing. But laoban isn't always appropriate. Neither is taitai, which I've heard is respectful, but seems equivalent to "ma'am" (i.e., maybe not so nice to say a woman in her 30s). So, *is* xiaojie insulting? How DO you refer to a woman stranger, if she's not the boss? Who can you call taitai? Is laoban used everywhere in Chine? Maybe these are questions for a Qingwen episode.
Posted on: 都......了Already
September 17, 2009 at 5:14 PMI think the "full stature" "great age" "ripe age" translations only work in a sarcastic or joking register. The most natural way to say it in English is "He's already..." with the emphasis on already, as thomasf said.
BTW, thanks for the artificial insemination analysis! Not sure exactly when I'll have a chance to use that, but you never know when an emergency might arise. Maybe "快快 医生！这个女人的 ’biological clock‘ 做声’滴答滴答‘了！她就需要人工授精！“
(hm, now that I think about it, would 'biological clock' just translate to 身体的钟?)
Posted on: Help with Luggage
August 12, 2011 at 3:23 AM谢谢你。我要听那集呵。附带，“小姐” 是不是一点儿古老的？
(and, yes, I *do* know how to spell China. I just don't know how to proofread, apparently.) ;)