Same thing, different names

[skylee 1,912]

Inspired by this thread -> Crème brûlée

Off the top of my head I can list the following -

bicycle - 單車。腳踏車。自行車。

taxi - 的士。計程車。出租車。

bus - 巴士。公車。

hotel - 酒店。飯店。。。。。

broccoli - 西蘭花。綠菜花。青花菜。

potato - 薯仔。馬鈴薯。土豆。

tomato - 番茄。西紅柿。

cucumber - 青瓜。黃瓜。胡瓜。。。。

lettuce - 生菜。萵苣。

notebook/laptop - 筆記型電腦。筆記簿電腦。筆電。手提電腦。

computer - 電腦。計算機。

mobile phone - 手機。手提電話。流動電話。無綫電話。

salmon - 三文魚。鮭魚。

tuna - 吞拿魚。金槍魚。鮪魚。

sandwich - 三文治。三明治。

butter - 牛油。奶油。黃油。

Your contribution?

Edited April 20, 2010 by skylee

[Shi Tong 33]

taxi - 的士。計程車。出租車。My mum in law calls this a 踏苦喜.. not necessarily using those chinese characters, but using that pronunciation! TBH, I think it's a Japanese contribution!

lettuce - 生菜。萵苣。I've heard "A"菜 a lot too.

mobile phone - 手機。手提電話。流動電話。無綫電話。Strangest one yet.. what about 大哥大

Also, there are a lot of odd ways to say different family members, though I think this is a Taiwanese thing:

奶奶=啊妈

爷爷=啊公

太公=啊作

[Kenny同志 570]

bus - 公汽（公共汽车）、公交车、巴士。

notebook/laptop - 笔记本。

mobile phone - 手機。手提電話。流動電話。無綫電話。

I've never heard 流动电话。Is it 行动电话？

[skylee 1,912]

It is 流動電話. Take a look -> http://www.baidu.com/s?wd=%C1%F7%84%D3%EB%8A%D4%92

行動電話 and 大哥大 are yet two other names for mobile phone.

[skylee 1,912]

ice cream - 雪糕。冰淇淋。冰激凌。

[eatfastnoodle 14]

大哥大 was used back when brick-like analog mobile phones were the mainstay of the market. I don't think people use it now to describe the typical cell phones we use.

Also regarding potato, plenty of less-than-sophisticated northerners call it "山药蛋“

[skylee 1,912]

大哥大 is seldom used now. But in Taiwan there is a mobile service provider called 台灣大哥大. So the term is not really dead.

Yes I have heard about 山藥蛋 for potato.

[trien27 27]

大哥大

I heard it's also called 水壺

[in_lab 2]

ice cream - 雪糕。冰淇淋。冰激凌。

And 霜淇淋.

[Lu 3,190]

大哥大 is seldom used now. But in Taiwan there is a mobile service provider called 台灣大哥大. So the term is not really dead.

It's alive and well in Taiwan. Not used as much as 手機, but everyone would know what you're talking about.

Isn't 無線電話 more a wireless phone than a mobile? To me a wireless phone is a phone that you can walk around the house with, but still has a landline.

[skylee 1,912]

I think 無線電話 is also used to refer to mobile phones. But perhaps I am wrong.

[skylee 1,912]

I think 奶油 is a confusing term. In some places (like Taiwan) it means butter (correct me if I am wrong). But it also means cream as that on a cake (do you call that fresh cream?). In Hong Kong we use 牛油 for butter, 奶油/忌廉 for cream. Soft drink cream soda is called 忌廉梳打 here. What are the other names for cream soda?

[null 11]

Notebook is usually called 笔记本电脑 (short form 笔记本) or 手提电脑 (short form 手提) in Mainland.

[Shi Tong 33]

skylee, in Taiwan they call cream: 生奶油, and butter 奶油. The implication that butter isn't fresh.

Thanks for starting this thread, it's really fun!

PS: This may be a good place to discuss things which are similar, but not exactly the same, by comparing one term with another which may not be exactly the same.

[vampire 12]

I've heard "A"菜 a lot too.

奶奶=啊妈

爷爷=啊公

太公=啊作

I think that's 锅菜(锅 in hokkien is e)

奶奶=阿嬷

爷爷=阿公

太公=阿祖(爷爷的爸爸)

super market 超市 超商

mouse 鼠标 滑鼠

memory 内存 記憶體

[Jose 39]

A few ones I can think of right now:

Pineapple: 菠蘿, 鳳梨

Software: 軟件, 軟體

Cash machine: 自動取款機 / 自動提款機, 自動櫃員機

Return ticket: 往返票, 來回票

Railway platform: 站台, 月台

In these five cases, the first term is the more common one in Mainland China.

[Shi Tong 33]

I think that's 锅菜(锅 in hokkien is e)

Maybe, but the pronunciation is definately an ㄟsound, so that's "ㄟ"菜

mouse 鼠标 滑鼠

Speaking of mice.. how many different types of "real" mice have you heard of because it seems acceptable to say:

老鼠 lǎo​shǔ​ for rat and mouse,

小鼠 xiǎo​shǔ​ for just a mouse, and

黄金鼠 huáng​jīn​shǔ for a guinea pig.

How many other mice are there?!

[in_lab 2]

think 奶油 is a confusing term. In some places (like Taiwan) it means butter (correct me if I am wrong). But it also means cream as that on a cake (do you call that fresh cream?). In Hong Kong we use 牛油 for butter, 奶油/忌廉 for cream.

This is one of the most annoying homonyms (?) in Taiwanese Chinese. One time I ordered 奶油拉麵 thinking the broth would be creamy, but instead it had a giant pat of margarine melting in it. It's possible to be more explicit (use 鮮奶油 for cream) but I think it is common to just use 奶油 for butter, margarine, cream, and whipped cream. Correct me also if I'm wrong.

[Shi Tong 33]

Hello in_lab, I think that 生奶油 is the word for cream specifically. That said, I dont think Taiwanese are so used to using 生奶油 or 奶油 because it's a foreign thing, so they may possibly get mixed. I know that if writing a recepie or trying to remember cream, 生奶油 is the word for cream that I've heard most.

[skylee 1,912]

I think 鮮奶油 is more common than 生奶油.

Anyways now we have 鮮奶油 / 生奶油 / 忌廉 for cream.