I need to learn what?

Here is a joke told by someone. I thought it might be somehow related to this topic.

今天地铁上，一男的打电话：

此男： 请帮忙查下渐中公司。

对方：。。。

此男： 逐渐的渐，中华的中。

对方：。。。

此男： 逐渐你不会写么？逐渐。

对方：。。。

此男：三点水一个斩的渐。

对方：。。。

此男：三点水，一个斩，斩头的斩。

对方：。。。

此男： 逐渐的渐。渐渐的树变绿了。

对方：。。。

此男： 渐渐的渐。逐渐你难道不会写？

对方：。。。

此男： 渐渐的树变绿了，渐渐的花变红了。渐渐。

对方：。。。

此男：渐渐的渐，渐渐的渐。

后来，我下车了。不知道电话那头的人听懂没有。

So if we analyse this particular case, there is no "secret pattern" that I could tell and it is not always successful.

Nice joke.

I've found a couple of things help.

First, make sure it's the first character in your example. Don't use something like 齐白石的白.

Second, longer examples seem more quickly grasped than short ones, so try something like 白石桥路的白. At least if you're in Beijing. Even better if you can demonstrate some political sensitivity: 白貓黑貓的白.

@xiaocai, that's funny. If my Chinese were better, that could have been me B)

@889, that's for your suggestions. What do you think about "不管白貓黑貓,抓住老鼠的就是好貓的白"? It's long, but the 白 isn't quite the first character.

It's just help people know which character he want to speak , for example , he said "wo jiao li bai" ,maybe you don't know which bai it is.He will say "白色的白"， we all know phrase "白色"， and we will know which "bai" he had speak.

First, make sure it's the first character in your example. Don't use something like 齐白石的白.

That's not correct. We also can say "桃李满天下的李".

I wasn't implying that that was wrong usage; I was suggesting that you'll be more quickly understood if 白 comes at the beginning, especially if you don't know a "secret pattern" commonly used by native speakers.

There isn't any other character pronounced bai2. If you were unsuccessful describing 白, it's not the word you use it in.

Good point. I used that 白 example as it is one of the few characters I can describe with a near 100% success rate! But, alas, maybe your explanation is the better one...

For example, "白色的白", when giving my Chinese family name.

I can relate. My Chinese name is 柏峰。When meeting new people, I usually explain “柏树的柏；松柏的柏” and try to emphasize the third tone of the 柏 to distinguish it from 白色的白。If that isn't enough, then I add “左边有个木子旁” as I draw the 柏 on my palm.