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Same thing, different names


skylee

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澳大利亚 (Ào​dà​lì​yà​) IS "Australia".

Note: 澳洲 = short for "Australia" in Chinese, which is used colloquially & written also, but 澳大利亚 is used in somewhat like a term paper or research paper.

Yep, I agree- 澳大利亚 is more like how you should write Australia, especially in an exam, and 澳洲 is probably what people usually say for speed.

Searching google images does seem to show that 大白菜 is used for what I call napa cabbage, and 白菜 is used for what I call bok choy. There is also a 小白菜.

Yeah, I thought there was a difference between the 大小 and normal sized 白菜.. so now I really know.. thanks! :D

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spoon - 匙。匙。調羹。勺子。

How about ? would be called a "ladle" in English by the usage in ancient China. Ladle = 勺子 by modern usage, which when compared might be called a "large type of spoon".

I'm going a little off track here, but please bear with me: was not used as a utensil like we call a spoon today.

I read somewhere that wasn't used as a spoon in ancient China. In Shang times, was only a ladle for broths & sauces, to be poured over the rice. Chopsticks were ONLY used to "chop" food onto the rice, but not to be used with the rice, and the rice is eaten by hand [it was later on, when people started becoming civilized, that spoons and chopsticks are used the way we do today, maybe by Qin or Han times or later.].

Note: also has a specialized meaning in the Sinosphere: a type of specialized medicinal broth used to revitalize the body, etc...

Edited by trien27
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I dont think that anyone's mentioned the miriad of names we give to Chinese in terms of the country, the written and the spoken language.. etc.. and there are SOO many, for example:

中国人, probably the most official way of saying a Chinese person- which literally means "middle country person" can also be called:

汉人 (Han person has a few interesting associations- It's the same Han as the Han empire and the same Han as the Han "race" which I think was one of the traditional "races" which belonged to the "Chinese" region.. though I'm not clear on the details.)

华人 (this is usually talking about overseas ethnic Chinese people, as opposed to people who live IN China proper).

I think you can also say 中华人 sometimes too, which is probably very rare.

中文, probably the most official way of saying Chinese language. This usually denotes the writing of, but can also be for the "whole" language too.

Then there are a collection of things which mean both spoken language (话 and 语):

中国话, 普通话, 国语, 官话.. etc.. there are many, not all of which I profess to know.

中国 is the most common way of saying "China" too, but there are loads of ways of saying this too:

大陆 refers to China when you're not in China because this means "continental", but it can be used to describe the whole country too.

华 is probably not commonly used, but I think this means "China" too.

More replies on this would be fun! :)

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I dont think that anyone's mentioned the miriad of names we give to Chinese in terms of the country, the written and the spoken language.. etc.. and there are SOO many, for example:

中国人, probably the most official way of saying a Chinese person- which literally means "middle country person" can also be called:

汉人 (Han person has a few interesting associations- It's the same Han as the Han empire and the same Han as the Han "race" which I think was one of the traditional "races" which belonged to the "Chinese" region.. though I'm not clear on the details.)

华人 (this is usually talking about overseas ethnic Chinese people, as opposed to people who live IN China proper).

I think you can also say 中华人 sometimes too, which is probably very rare.

中文, probably the most official way of saying Chinese language. This usually denotes the writing of, but can also be for the "whole" language too.

Then there are a collection of things which mean both spoken language (话 and 语):

中国话, 普通话, 国语, 官话.. etc.. there are many, not all of which I profess to know.

中国 is the most common way of saying "China" too, but there are loads of ways of saying this too:

大陆 refers to China when you're not in China because this means "continental", but it can be used to describe the whole country too.

华 is probably not commonly used, but I think this means "China" too.

More replies on this would be fun! :)

中国人 = You or your ancestors were from China and now settled in a place outside of China or could still live in China.

中华人 doesn't exist.

中华人民 = The people of China Proper + those from autonomous regions, etc..., in other words, all the people in China.

To mean "China" = 中华, is where you get 中华人民共和国, which is shortened to 中国. Long before Mao, 中華民國 is used for the China after the abolishment of the Chinese monarchy, which Sun Yat-sen already had shortened to 中國.

Don't forget 唐人, even if rarely used, deserves honorable mention. Without 唐人, there'd be no 唐人街. Even though 街 = street, 唐人街 = Chinatown [from Cantonese].

华人 = any Chinese person.

Overseas Chinese = 华侨 or 海外华人.

华裔 / 华裔人士 = any Chinese descendant.

汉人 = anyone who is of Chinese ancestry, and therefore first learned to write Chinese at home. The Chinese language has been unchanged for several hundred years, after the rulers and people of the Han dynasty created the Kaishu script, and has been used as a standard ever since. That's until Mao decided to take away the Traditional script, made many changes and added variants and vulgar forms of characters via calligraphy, that Simplified script started becoming popular. Their excuse is to eliminate illiteracy: Most people who speak southern dialects also happens to know the Traditional script, though various sources: ancestors who were calligraphers perhaps?,etc...

大陆 = refers to Mainland China = China proper minus the territories/islands.

中文 = Written Chinese language. To use it to refer to the spoken language is incorrect. It's been used incorrectly ever since whoever said it. Should be 汉语, 唐话, etc...

Note: 清文 DOES NOT mean "Written Chinese language stemming from the Qing dynasty" but rather the shortened Chinese way of saying "Manchu language" based on the rulers of the Qing being of Manchu descent.

中国话, 普通话, 国语, 官话:

话 = speech/ colloquial / spoken Chinese

语 = refers to the grammar of Chinese language, especially the tones. 语 shortened from 语言 = language or when referring to non-Mandarin dialects by their abbreviated provincial names. 方言 from 地方语言 is now used to mean "dialects".

华 = glorious; luxurious, or a short form of 中华 = China.

华语 = Chinese language too in Malaysia / Singapore. 華語 is used in Taiwan also.

In Taiwan, they also use 華文 to mean Chinese language.

China is also called 华夏 = (中)华 + 夏 [regarded as China's first dynasty].

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  • 2 weeks later...

potato - 薯仔。馬鈴薯。土豆。

I have just read Yezze's post here where the term 洋芋 is used. This one is hardly used in my vocab and I have totally forgotten it.

So,

potato - 薯仔。馬鈴薯。土豆。山藥蛋。洋芋。

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  • 2 months later...
  • 9 months later...

ohh, this is a fun thread, why didn't I notice it before?! Off the top of my head...hmm:

bicycle - 單車。腳踏車。自行車。
洋车子
spoon - 匙。匙羹。調羹。勺子。
汤匙
hotel - 酒店。飯店。。。。。
宾馆 (客栈..but I'm assuming that's just in wushu novels--no one actually says this now I am assuming :P )
toilet/WC/lavatory/washroom/restroom etc - 廁所。衛生間。洗手間。盥洗室。化妝室
茅房

microphone: 话筒,麦克风

Corn: 玉米, 棒子

foot: 脚,脚丫子,

Ankle: 脚踝, 脚脖子

corner: 角落,旮旯

Engine: 发动机, 引擎

Taxi: 出租车,计程车,的士 Oops, taken!

pineapple 菠萝,凤梨

pearl milk tea: 珍珠奶茶,波霸奶茶

China: 中国, 神州

kidney bean: 红腰豆, 红芸豆

glaucoma: 绿内障, 青光眼

Koala: 无尾熊,考拉熊

Guinea Pig 荷兰猪,天竺鼠

Phew, that was random....and similiar to the game I play when I go the dentist (to prevent the waterworks) called think of as many animals (or foods or diseases) as possible :P

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Oh ok, interesting! (By the way I like the whole bit about the attempted change given in the form of candy :P .)

Although now that I think about it more I probably shouldn't have listed 客栈 under hotel since it seems to fall more under the inn, lodge, or even hostel category...hmmm. What other words are similar to a travel lodge...

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ugh, I finally remembered the other name for a rose (it's been on the tip of my tongue all day since I saw the carnation entry :P )

Rose: 蔷薇 玫瑰

and in a totally unrelated direction:

condom: 避孕套,安全套,套套

---

瓢 sounds very elegant and romantic (think 弱水三千).
My first thought after seeing 瓢 was ladybug....but maybe I'm just weird (Break into nursery rhyme time: Lady-bug, lady-bug, Fly away home, Your house is on fire, Your children will burn.)
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Rose: 蔷薇 玫瑰

I wonder if 薔薇 and 玫瑰 are the same thing ... I thing 薔薇 has more petals ...? But it seems that there is only one name in Japanese - ばら/薔薇

condom - 避孕套。安全套。保險套。套套。套。

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Rose: 蔷薇 玫瑰

I wonder if 薔薇 and 玫瑰 are the same thing ... I thing 薔薇 has more petals ...? But it seems that there is only one name in Japanese - ばら/薔薇

蔷薇 for me conjures up the Old World roses (damask type' date=' strong perfume, Moroccan + Turkish + Iranian + mediaeval European cuisine), as well as the biological name of the Roseaceae. It seems to be used for all the different kinds of roses that aren't any of the below by the botanists because of this. Chinese Wikipedia gives 蔷薇 on its own as [i']Rosa multiflora[/i], with small flowers.

玫瑰 I think of as the modern rose, the hybrid, and very tightly petalled. It's what I hear most commonly. But from what I see on Wikipedia, it seems to specify Rosa rugosa (in Japanese, ハマナス), which is a very open rose, large diameter, and native to East Asia.

月季 is what I think of as the 'original' Chinese rose [from the West's perspective], Rosa chinensis: a tightly petalled flower.

Here's the 百度解释: http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/10263721

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