skylee Posted October 20, 2014 at 07:30 PM Report Share Posted October 20, 2014 at 07:30 PM IIRC alabaster is frequently used in Anne Rice's novels to describe the complexion of vampires. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kenny同志 Posted October 21, 2014 at 01:51 AM Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 at 01:51 AM What the hell does alabaster mean? Now you see! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
imron Posted October 21, 2014 at 07:10 AM Report Share Posted October 21, 2014 at 07:10 AM I haven't seen that word in a long time Then it's been too long since you've watched The Shawshank Redemption. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted October 29, 2014 at 09:49 AM Author Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 at 09:49 AM 习奥会 - shiny 50 pence piece for anyone who can figure out what it means without Googling. Or prior knowledge... no cheating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted October 29, 2014 at 10:15 AM Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 at 10:15 AM I googled, and once you know it it's totally obvious and clear and why didn't I think of that. Random word: 耳温枪 ěrwēnqiāng ear-warmth-gun? No, an ear thermometer. In the book I've been reading for far too long but am fortunately close to finishing, the nucleair disaster has happened, but Ms 彦 doesn't know yet, so she doesn't know why she suddenly has such a headache, and uses an 耳温枪 to take her temperature. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted October 29, 2014 at 10:48 AM Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 at 10:48 AM 矍铄 juéshuò : hale and hearty Often used together with 精神 : 精神矍铄 Example sentence from 金山词霸 : 祖父就要80高龄了，但仍精神矍铄。 Grandfather will be 80 years old, but he is hale and heartly. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demonic_Duck Posted October 29, 2014 at 01:05 PM Report Share Posted October 29, 2014 at 01:05 PM 那没准是因为他每天都用防衰老产品。 My word of the day: 防衰老 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobo-Daishi Posted October 30, 2014 at 03:42 PM Report Share Posted October 30, 2014 at 03:42 PM Regarding post #1664 The character 蠻 does mean southern barbarians. In the context you saw, it has the same meaning as 滿. I see a lot of people using 蠻 instead of 滿 on the internet. The proper (and more appropriate) character should be 滿, as explained https://www.moedict.tw/%E8%A0%BB at the bottom, under the heading 辨似. It seems 滿(蛮) also means "very, quite" on the mainland as well. The entry for 蠻(蛮) from a scanned copy of the现代汉语大词典 where they have a regional definition of "很, 挺, 滿" for the character. Note this is the 现代汉语大词典 and not the 现代汉语词典. And here is their definition for 滿(满) to mean 很. And this is a scan from the 汉字英释大辞典 put out by the Shanghai Jiaotong Daxue Chubanshe. It has the same headword definition as their 汉英大辞典, a massive two-volume set. Of which I've a paper copy. Kobo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted October 31, 2014 at 01:17 AM Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 at 01:17 AM It seems 滿(蛮) also means "very, quite" on the mainland as well. But it does say that it's 方言. In fact, one hears this quite a lot in Shanghai (even in Mandarin) as 蛮 is used extensively in Shanghainese. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobo-Daishi Posted October 31, 2014 at 01:14 PM Report Share Posted October 31, 2014 at 01:14 PM @ Anonymoose, It seems 滿(蛮) also means "very, quite" on the mainland as well. But it does say that it's 方言. In fact, one hears this quite a lot in Shanghai (even in Mandarin) as 蛮 is used extensively in Shanghainese. That's a typo on my part. It should really read "It seems 滿(满) also means "very, quite" on the mainland as well". I'm on Linux and still haven't got the ibus input method editor to work correctly after several months of trying and screwed up in my cutting and pasting. I was trying to say that YST's 滿(满) is also used to mean “very, quite” on the mainland as well and not just in Taiwan, according to these dictionaries anyway. For which it isn't considered regional whereas 蠻(蛮) is according to one of the dictionaries at any rate. How many mainlanders actually use 滿(满) to mean “very” is another matter. Would probably have to do an Internet search and read through the hits to see how it's used. That it's actually being used to mean “very” and not being used to mean the “Manchu people” or “Manchurian things”, or “full” or “complete”, etc.. For me it doesn't matter which they use as long as I recognize the characters 蠻(蛮), 滿(满), 很, and 挺 and know they all have as one of their definitions the definition of “very, quite” when I come across them. Lately I find I come across them more and more in my idol drama viewings. Kobo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted November 8, 2014 at 04:14 PM Report Share Posted November 8, 2014 at 04:14 PM I was at the hairdresser's watching a cartoon dubbed in Cantonese on the TV. One of the characters was called 阿糸. The word 糸 was new to me. If it wasn't for the slightly rare Cantonese pronunciation (mik6, same as 覓) I wouldn't have realised that it was different from 系. 糸 is mi4 in Mandarin. It means fine silk. And it is the name of the radical. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kobo-Daishi Posted November 16, 2014 at 11:17 PM Report Share Posted November 16, 2014 at 11:17 PM This character is kind of rare and kind of not rare. I was looking at the thread titled "Bunch of chinese shows with english/chinese subtitles" (http://www.chinese-forums.com/index.php?/topic/46766-bunch-of-chinese-shows-with-englishchinese-subtitles/). The PRC Chinese news stories didn't really interest me, but, to the side were recommendations for similar channels. It had a link to a series of Taiwanese food segments where I saw an interesting segment on 爌肉飯. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TI4g3ZkGkI&index=1&list=PLpVngkNmlnOx8BEo6tNet0s7UuZZxdv75 https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&site=imghp&tbm=isch&q=%E7%88%8C%E8%82%89%E9%A3%AF It said that people were 排長龍'ing to get it. Don't know how to translate 排長龍. It means that the line or queue (as the Brits would say) was around the block? Anyway I was curious as to the definition of the character 爌 so I inputted it into the Chinese text analyser (finally got it to work on Play on Linux/WINE on Linux after an initial try failed). No dice. I also tried to look it up at the Guoyu Cidian put out by the Republic of China (Taiwan)'s Ministry of Education. Just got a duibuqi for my efforts. I also tried the freeware CQuickTrans to see if they've a definition in the Unihan. No go. Of course this program hasn't been updated in ages so it's an old version of Unihan. Could have tried a newer one, but, didn't. Would have tried Pleco, but, I've only the free basic edition so the dictionary would have been the same CC-CEDICT that the Chinese text analyser uses and would likely have got the same result, unless the Adsotrans dictionary includes it. Anyway, the 爌肉飯 dish is made from slabs of 五花肉 or pork belly. They cut it into chunks, skewer them with wooden or bamboo skewers and then boil with herbs and seasonings until tender. Then they put over rice and serve. http://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/炕肉飯 According to Wikipedia, it's 炕肉飯 a Taiwan dish that they also call 焢肉飯 or 爌肉飯. In the south they also call it 滷肉飯. A guy on the video said he ordered four bowls. And on some occasions he's ordered 8 bowls!?!?! It looks yummy. Cholesterol city but what the hey. You only live once. Kobo might have a go at making it himself. Kobo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Demonic_Duck Posted November 17, 2014 at 12:09 PM Report Share Posted November 17, 2014 at 12:09 PM Pleco's handwriting input recognises it, but the only entry (amongst the dictionaries I have installed) is in the Unihan dictionary, with no definition available, and a phonetic value of "kuàng". The plot thickens... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted November 20, 2014 at 10:18 AM Author Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 at 10:18 AM Here's a sample character from my upcoming book, "The Chinese Have a Character for WHAT!?!?!" 馘, guo2, to cut off the left ear of your enemy (for purposes of keeping count, like a scalp) It's going to need a lot of chapters 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realmayo Posted November 20, 2014 at 10:21 AM Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 at 10:21 AM Antidisestablishmentarianism. How many characters? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
realmayo Posted November 20, 2014 at 10:23 AM Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 at 10:23 AM Also I love that there's pinyin with tone for something like 馘. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anonymoose Posted November 20, 2014 at 01:25 PM Report Share Posted November 20, 2014 at 01:25 PM 馘 xù face As in 槁项黄馘, meaning a shrivelled up neck and yellow face - an ill look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
roddy Posted December 15, 2014 at 02:47 PM Author Report Share Posted December 15, 2014 at 02:47 PM Here's one of the cases where you can know all the characters quite easily, but the meaning could easily elude: 在家人 - in Buddhism, a layperson, contrasting with monk - 出家人。Quite easy to imagine someone translating 'my uncle is a monk' as 'my uncle is not at home' 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
heifeng Posted December 19, 2014 at 09:24 PM Report Share Posted December 19, 2014 at 09:24 PM 相濡以沫 xiāng rú yǐ mò to moisten with spittle (idiom); sharing meager resources / mutual help in humble circumstances Used in...this article: 性学家李银河回应“拉拉”身份的曝光：这不是出柜两人到目前为止已经相濡以沫了17年。因为伴侣喜欢儿女亲情，于是他们从福利院收养了被父母遗弃的智力发育迟缓的男孩壮壮。现在三个人非常美满的生活在一起。 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted January 1, 2015 at 05:24 PM Report Share Posted January 1, 2015 at 05:24 PM 小確幸 I saw this term used when I was in Taipei last week. According to information on the internet, it comes from a book written by Murakami Haruki. The meaning is 小さいけれども、確かな幸福 (微小但確切的幸福). It is not a new idea (think 知足常樂), but it is a nice one. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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