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他们的LOGO太棒啊!


百變星君

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Thanks for the tip about 啦 and 啊,

My main question was about english words being adopted into chinese. I've heard people actually use the english word "logo" while speaking chinese (even on TV shows), and I was just wondering if other people have heard other foreign words being used in chinese like this.

The english language has a lot of loan words from other languages, like "sushi" "canoe" or even some chinese expressions like "long time no see"... I guess out of linguistic curiousity i'd just like to know if there are other examples of loan words like "logo" in chinese. With the further opening up of the PRC these days, I imagine quite a few foreign words have been filtering into the chinese language.

A friend also told me about a book he read discussing how in the early 20th century a lot of chinese words (especially technical/economic words) were borrowed from their japanese equivalents (based on the characters). I'd like to know more about this interesting topic.

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Re: Long time no see

From the Oxford English Dictionary:

c. Colloq. phr. (orig. U.S.) long time no see, a joc. imitation of broken English, used as a greeting after prolonged separation.

1900 W. F. DRANNAN 31 Yrs. on Plains (1901) xxxvii. 515 When we rode up to him [sc. an American Indian] he said: ‘Good mornin. Long time no see you.’ 1939 R. CHANDLER in Sat. Even. Post 14 Oct. 72/4 Hi, Tony. Long time no see. 1940 [see HIYA int.]. 1959 D. BEATY Cone of Silence viii. 105 ‘Hello, Clive.’ ‘Long time no see.’ 1959 C. MACINNES Absolute Beginners 68 Hail, squire... Long time no see. 1971 D. E. WESTLAKE I gave at the Office (1972) 164 ‘Hello, Arnold,’ I said... ‘Long time no see.’

According to the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms, "Long time no see" is :

"a jocular imitation of broken English originated in the pidgin English used in Chinese and Western exchange. [Late 1800s]"

http://www.englishforums.com/English/LongTimeNoSee/zghg/Post.htm#26424

The first usage was imitative of native Americans, but it's hard to say what part Chinese played in its gaining popularity.

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That is very interesting.

For English words found their way into Chinese languge, there are a few still kept their original pronunciation, like: 沙发 to sofa

There are also some words have eventually changed to Chinese meaning based words. For example, during 20s to 30s, there were two words called 德先生 for democratic, and 塞先生 for science. But eventually they changed to 民主, 科学. The reason is obvious: it's easier to understand and remember by Chinese people.

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