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A blog by jbradfor in General

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谚语: There's a word for it

jbradfor

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I‘ve been vaguely aware that I misuse the term "成语" a bit. It seems that for many, a 成语 refers only to a classically derived, 4 or 8 character, saying. So other "fixed phrases" are not, strictly speaking, a "成语".

Someone was explaining "跳跳槽槽" (meaning "to change jobs frequently") to me, and was looking for the right (English) word to describe the part of speech it was. I suggested 成语. Although he was a tad impressed that I knew that word (ah, the joys of low expectations....), he didn't think it was right, and said 谚语 was better.

MDBG defines a 谚语 as "proverb". Which doesn't seem quite right. "跳跳槽槽", to me, is not really a "proverb". So "set expression" might be a better translation, or "common phrase".

But at least now I have another word I can use to describe Chinese.

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skylee

How about 俗語?

The term 跳槽 is very common. But I have not encountered the use of 跳跳槽槽. Perhaps it is only used on the Mainland? But I can imagine the use of 跳跳槽, same pattern such as 跳跳舞, 吃吃飯 etc.

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jbradfor

Humm, interesting. The person that told me about 跳跳槽槽 is from Beijing. Wonder if it's just used by him and his friends :P He did say it was a pretty new term.

俗語 is another good one. skylee, how would you distinguish between a 俗語 and a 谚 语?

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Kenny同志

First time I've heard this term (跳跳槽槽)which I don't think is grammatical. BTW, 跳槽 might be better described as to “hop” from a company to another.

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