roddy Posted May 16, 2010 at 02:27 AM Author Report Share Posted May 16, 2010 at 02:27 AM 贴己, tiējǐ - close, intimate. I think that's a nice word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jbradfor Posted May 16, 2010 at 03:09 AM Report Share Posted May 16, 2010 at 03:09 AM 仔 doesn't = zǎi in Mandarin. "zǎi" = borrowed from Cantonese. Normally, 仔 = zǐ, most possibly taken from 子. It's zǎi in MDBG, and for 牛仔 as well. From MDBG, 仔 is also a variant for 崽, which is pronounced zǎi, and also means child / young animal. trien27, do you have a reference for which way it should be pronounced before you said it is wrong? If so, I'll submit a correction. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daan Posted May 16, 2010 at 03:16 AM Report Share Posted May 16, 2010 at 03:16 AM In Mandarin, 仔 is certainly pronounced as zǎi in both niúzǎi 牛仔 and niúzǎikù 牛仔裤, as well as in gǒuzǎiduì 狗仔队 'paparazzi'. MDBG is completely right. I've never heard anyone say *niúzǐ, *niúzǐkù or *gǒuzǐduì. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted May 17, 2010 at 02:12 AM Author Report Share Posted May 17, 2010 at 02:12 AM 凑字, còuzì - not sure this should strictly speaking count as a word, but it's what you can type when you haven't reached the necessary character count for, eg, a forum post or blog comment. Example. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted May 18, 2010 at 07:17 AM Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2010 at 07:17 AM 整体主义, zhěngtǐzhǔyì - holism. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
renzhe Posted May 25, 2010 at 07:06 PM Report Share Posted May 25, 2010 at 07:06 PM Some more computer jargon: 默认 = default 协议 = (software) license 补丁 = (software) patch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daan Posted May 26, 2010 at 01:10 PM Report Share Posted May 26, 2010 at 01:10 PM 休憩 xiūqì 'to take a rest' The second character seems to be rare enough that a Taiwanese native speaker I asked didn't have a clue how to pronounce it. It was on a sign right next to her stall, so I presume she sees it every day, but she still had to ask another native speaker before she could tell me it was pronounced qì. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted May 27, 2010 at 04:55 AM Author Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 at 04:55 AM 露富, lòufù, to give away that you have riches you would rather keep secret. From this article, which is part of a double page spread in today's 新京报 on the absolutely-not-prostitution-at-all sector. Main one is here if you want it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HedgePig Posted May 27, 2010 at 06:23 AM Report Share Posted May 27, 2010 at 06:23 AM 水痘 shuǐdòu - chickenpox This vocabulary acquired the hard way. I definitely have 水痘. (Yes, adults can get 水痘 too!) Bonus word: 麻疹 mázhěn - measles. At least I do not have this as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted June 9, 2010 at 07:29 AM Author Report Share Posted June 9, 2010 at 07:29 AM 港府, gǎngfǔ - abbreviation for 香港政府, the Hong Kong government. Anyone want to explain why it's not 香政? Get well soon (already?) Hedgepig. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guoke Posted June 9, 2010 at 07:49 AM Report Share Posted June 9, 2010 at 07:49 AM 菅直人 - Kan Naoto, the new Prime Minister of Japan. 菅 jiān 多年生草本植物，叶子多毛，细长而尖，茎、叶可以作造纸原料 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted June 9, 2010 at 01:07 PM Report Share Posted June 9, 2010 at 01:07 PM 菅 jiān 多年生草本植物，叶子多毛，细长而尖，茎、叶可以作造纸原料 菅 also appears in 草菅人命. 港府, gǎngfǔ - abbreviation for 香港政府, the Hong Kong government. Anyone want to explain why it's not 香政? The US government is also called 華府. I suppose no one could explain why it is not 頓政 ... or 盛政 ..., or perhaps someone could ...? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trien27 Posted June 10, 2010 at 02:49 AM Report Share Posted June 10, 2010 at 02:49 AM The US government is also called 華府. I suppose no one could explain why it is not 頓政 ... or 盛政 ..., or perhaps someone could ...? The US capital = Washington, D.C. [= District of Columbia]. 華 = Chinese abbreviation of 華盛頓特區 [Washington, D.C.] 政 = could possibly be a Chinese abbreviation of 政治、政府、or 政客 府 = Chinese abbreviation of 政府 possibly from ancient times where it's an abbreviation of 府衙. 府衙 = 衙門 = government office or the imperial court within the government office in feudal China. Usually when abbreviating a place name, the first one or two syllables of the original is / are used. Therefore 華盛頓特區政府 = 華府, and not 盛府 or 頓府. Unless, there's already an established place called 華府, then the other options of 盛府 or 頓府 might be used to avoid confusion. 港府, gǎngfǔ - abbreviation for 香港政府, the Hong Kong government. Anyone want to explain why it's not 香政? 港府 = 香港政府 because 港 is the abbreviated form of 香港. Likewise, geographically, 台 is short for 台灣, 中 = short for 中國[大陸], & 澳 = short for 澳門. 政 = could possibly be a Chinese abbreviation of 政治、政府、or 政客 府 = Chinese abbreviation of 政府 possibly from ancient times where it's an abbreviation of 府衙. 府衙 = 衙門 = government office or the imperial court within the government office in feudal China. Unless, there's already an established place called 港府, otherwise, it won't be changed. 香 as a stand alone character has the meaning of "aromatic, fragrant, perfumery, incense/joss sticks, etc...", so unless you mean anything related to "aromatic, fragrant, perfumery", then it might be confused and become "aromatic government/ aromatic politics", etc... which might be used for comic effect? The question should be "Why isn't it called 維府?", where 維 = short for "Victoria" (Hong Kong's capital) in Chinese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted June 18, 2010 at 06:19 AM Author Report Share Posted June 18, 2010 at 06:19 AM 应验, yìngyàn, to come true - of a prediction, prophecy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted June 21, 2010 at 02:06 AM Author Report Share Posted June 21, 2010 at 02:06 AM 巫巫兹拉、呜呜声喇、呼呼塞拉、呜呜祖拉、非洲笛、呜呜号 Wūwūzīlā, wūwūshēnglǎ, hūhūsāilā, wūwūzǔlā, Fēizhōudí, wūwūháo - take your pick, ladies and gentlemen, of terms for the humble vuvuzela. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted June 23, 2010 at 03:43 AM Author Report Share Posted June 23, 2010 at 03:43 AM 财阀, cáifá, tycoon, but in the context I found it (Russia) you'd probably go for oligarch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted June 23, 2010 at 04:13 AM Report Share Posted June 23, 2010 at 04:13 AM 校门 fly/flies I'd love to know the etymology of that word. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glenn Posted June 23, 2010 at 04:38 AM Report Share Posted June 23, 2010 at 04:38 AM Is that slang or something? From what I could see it means just what the characters indicate it would mean (via a Google image search and a quick Google web search). Or is there perhaps a typo in there? I'm confused. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted June 24, 2010 at 02:15 PM Report Share Posted June 24, 2010 at 02:15 PM 巫巫兹拉、呜呜声喇、呼呼塞拉、呜呜祖拉、非洲笛、呜呜号 Wūwūzīlā, wūwūshēnglǎ, hūhūsāilā, wūwūzǔlā, Fēizhōudí, wūwūháo - take your pick, ladies and gentlemen, of terms for the humble vuvuzela.I actually came to this thread especially to see if this word was here :-) I think 呜呜声喇 (sound and meaning!) and 非洲笛 (localized translation!) are the best ones.Random word: 生搬硬套 sheng1ban1 ying4tao4 to use something indiscriminately without actually knowing what it means, for example, using a method to solve a problem on any problem you encounter, whether it fits or not. From my anki deck, and before that from a Chinese article. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crazy-meiguoren Posted June 25, 2010 at 03:21 AM Report Share Posted June 25, 2010 at 03:21 AM If you get stuck behind a slow driver, maybe he's afraid of 时扩张 if he goes too fast. It could cause him to be late for his appointment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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