User Comments - xiaophil

Posted on: So (adjective) that...

So could the 都 be omitted from these examples and still keep the general meaning?

Posted on: It's cold, wear more clothes!

When I first came to China I heard the Carpenters all the time in various public places. That was 5+ years ago now. It seems they aren't cool enough anymore to play in the malls.

Posted on: So (adjective) that...

Thanks for the explanation. I was just talking to a colleague. I asked the difference between 给力 and 牛逼. She said that 给力 can be applied to just about anything. While 牛逼 is usually just for people. Here's a question for someone, would 不给力 be the same as 没劲儿?

Posted on: So (adjective) that...

I never heard of 给力 until now. Is that like 牛逼? Is it common?

Posted on: So (adjective) that...

Haha, I was wondering if I was the one who inspired this one. I just listened to the intro, and yes I am.  Thanks guys!

By the way, some people do say in English, "I'm so hungry I could eat a cow," but google it... it isn't as common as "I'm so hungry I could eat a horse."  No doubt about it, one is much hungrier if one eats a horse.

Posted on: Playing Ice Hockey

I have asked adult students before if they think Chinese Americans are Chinese or American. They seemed to agree that they are both. I doubt if any German would say I am both German and American, although we might chat for a while about how my great grandparents came from Bavaria if given the chance. It does seem to me that there is this idea by many in China that a person with Chinese roots cannot totally jump out of the China club, even if his or her cultural identity has been mostly severed from 华ness.

Posted on: Playing Ice Hockey

Thanks for asking. An interesting analogy, but I must say it only helps her explain her view--it doesn't really make a case. Countries are only mothers, fathers and children in the metaphorical sense, and even if the analogy was somehow valid, children grow up and then have the freedom to leave the house if they want to. I'm sure that's not what she wants!

Posted on: Playing Ice Hockey

What I mean is, most Chinese that I have heard talk about Taiwan seem to think, no matter what angle looked upon, that Taiwan is and should be a part of China--it's a law of nature, as if you could pick up a handful of dirt and read on it, "This belongs to China." I have also heard before Chinese people say that other countries and their peoples want Taiwan to be independent so China will be weaker. I just always wonder why is the feelings of the people who actually live in Taiwan are never considered?

By the way, I really don't have feelings one way or the other on this issue. My interest is mostly curiosity and just wanting to understand.

Posted on: Playing Ice Hockey

I wouldn't ask my wife. I don't think she feels strongly about this and any other political issue except what directly affects her income and personal security (which she cares a lot). But still, I sense that this would be best to be let alone.

Posted on: Playing Ice Hockey

I hope this is not an unwise thing to say, but I always wonder what it is exactly that mainland Chinese are taught about Taiwan. It seems to me a very complicated, gray area topic. But I so rarely find any Chinese mainlanders who have anything but a black and white view of the matter. I wonder why so many Chinese are skeptical of what their government says in general, but this one they pretty much unanimously agree? I have heard some other foreigners give their opinions on this matter, but I have never heard a person explain what Chinese are exactly taught. I always want to ask a mainlander, but it is so often so very sensitive that I just avoid it.