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Signs taken at hometown


xiaocai

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Now enjoying my 1 month break back to where I grew up, there are some pictures that I would like to share. Many things have changed, but sadly, some of those which need changes desperately may have not. I was surprised to see signs like what I took in the first picture (file 001.jpg) through out my trip. Hopefully I will see much less of this kind in the future. Well, question time:

1: What kind of message the first sign is trying to convey?

2: Can you think of one 成语 or 四字俗语 which is related to this sign?

To relax a bit after the somewhat heavy topic, please take a look at the second sign (file 002.jpg), and try to answer these simple questions:

1: I can think of at least two ways to interpret the sign, how about you?

2: There is a joke related to this sign, can you find it?

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The questions about the 2nd sign are too hard to me.

1 month break, how nice! How many public holidays and paid vacation days do you have in a typical HK company?

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HK? Typical length of annual leave in HK ranges from 7 days (legal minimum) to 12/14 days, depending on the package. Usually you get more paid leave when you rise higher. In HK, there are 17 public holidays per year, not counting 52 sundays.

Why did you ask about HK?

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Well I work for a small private firm so what I did was just working for one whole year non-stop (apart from a few short breaks and public holidays) and taking all my leave of the whole year at once... Not so much after all of you compare mine to many others here. As for non-paid leave, I can ask for as long as I want if the boss is happy! :P But my company is not based in HK. :)

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Oh I thought the post was from skylee. Since when xiaocai has joined the blog too? Sign me up please!

HK has so many holidays. You guys celebrate both Chinese and Western holidays.

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Sign 1:

Women hold up half the sky. [bTW, what's the original in Chinese?]

Sign 2:

My two readings were "careful, the floor is slippery" (what I presume is the intended meaning) and "careful, the floor goes gliding / skiing" (is that a valid reading?).

Since when xiaocai has joined the blog too? Sign me up please!

Just send a PM to roddy, and promise to buy him a sixpack some day.

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It was meant to be an "open" question since the answer is obviously more than one because of the long history of this discrimination type in China. All of you have got the idea as I can see so far. I'm very grateful that my parents and grandparents treated all the kids equally in the family even though we all grew up in countryside, or my life now might have been completely different.

As for the second one, I think I have seen the answer I was expecting.

xiao3 xin1 de hua2 vs. xiao3 xin1 di4 hua2

But it can be an open question too. If you have any other way to read it, please do not be hesitate to share with us.

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I don't think anyone was saying it was intended as a pun. More a question about whether it is ambiguous, similar to signs in English such as "Slow children at play" or "runaway truck ramp" or "giant sofa sale".

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