User Comments - liansuo
liansuo
Posted on: War Zone
August 01, 2008, 07:26 AMFor the first time ever I want to stroke Patricia. She looks so concerned. Is it the 锻炼身体? Tell her Army Day coincides with the national day of Switzerland. Sometimes even the smallest, most pathetic life-forms are given a chance for survival.
Posted on: Cheering
March 21, 2008, 10:36 AMHow old is the expression, 加油！in the function discussed above? Can it be traced back into times before motor-cars?
Posted on: The Neutral Tone
February 11, 2008, 06:27 PMOh dear -- the picture IS lovely and if this lady is over ninety it is bordering on the miraculous. Somehow I was tricked by your wisdom into pushing you up into my own age-group (i.e. your mother's EEEK!!!) although I now remember that I knew better a while ago. Writing my comment I had a dim feeling there was something wrong but I liked that picture so much... Well -- to apologize and imprint the facts on my memory once and for all, I'll tell you this little story: On Chinese New Year 73, I was in Singapore, coming from Bali (where my husband was doing research) for health reasons. It was the first time I was separated from my little daughter, then going on two. Every time I saw a child her age toddling along, I practically burst into tears. OK -- one of those sweet kids, all dressed up for the holidays might have been you! Am I forgiven?
Posted on: The Neutral Tone
February 11, 2008, 05:26 PMSometimes reality is better than imagination -- Auntie68, your new "avatar" is lovely!
Posted on: Iron Your Clothes
February 10, 2008, 09:35 AMJenny's story about her grandmother's ironing technique is really precious. And I am sure -- that does take skill and practice!! Thank you for a glimpse of good old times...
Posted on: The Non-Chinese Speaking Tourist and Toilets
January 18, 2008, 04:30 PMbbjt, thank you so much for your colourful information!! I'll study it carefully.
Posted on: The Non-Chinese Speaking Tourist and Toilets
January 18, 2008, 03:50 PMMy dictionary gives me 馬 桶 as "covered bucket used for calls of nature" (my translation). So this is probably what the granny uses in matt's instance. I once saw it mentioned as a traditional item of a bride's dowry in southern China. Maybe in the old times ladies with bound feet were not too good on the squat either. So far I have not found an explanation of the 馬 part. My guess is that it originally refers to a bucket used for feeding or watering horses which lent itself to the purpose. Has anybody ever come across a device for men only - a bamboo pipe that can be used from inside a house through some opening in the wall ... sounds convenient if not hygienic and was described in 幹 少 功，馬 橋 詞 典 as a feature of rural Hunan.
Posted on: 好莱坞大片
January 14, 2008, 08:39 AMHi, Amber, thank you very much for your explanation - I feel quite apologetic now for making you re-state what you may have said several times before. Maybe a little note on the Advanced pages containing precisely this information might protect you from further trouble. I can confess it now: there is a certain weird charm in reading those "a little off" translations and turning to my dictionary on a rush of adrenaline -- somehow it helps the memory by creating an emotional event! (Is this already among Cpod's learning theories?) And: it is certainly saves time to have the pinyin in the Advanced texts.
Posted on: 好莱坞大片
January 13, 2008, 03:35 PMAfter picking my way through the translations to today's Dialogue and Expansion materials I would like to wholeheartedly second the well-founded and truly positive criticism made by kqueller on Jan.3rd. If there is no way of improving this feature of the Advanced section why not state the reasons and draw the consequences? Unless, of course, what I have come to suspect is true: you are sheltering a fugitive from Jizhou in that department. Then by all means don't break your silence and don't give the poor thing a hard time. Actually, considering s/he knows neither English nor Mandarin s/he is doing a fantastic job! Like kqueller I am finding fault precisely because Chinesepod is the best and a lot of fun. High expectations, you know...
Posted on: Rock, Scissors, Cloth
August 07, 2008, 11:57 PMYes, springmute, I read about this years ago in the novel ﹣"人, 啊 人" - it is played by women there during a party. But it took me until today to understand why the 虫 beats the 老虎. Thanks!