Random Character of the Day

[Publius 1,610]

3 hours ago, Jim said:

衢 means thoroughfare, though I encountered it in a place name.

Is it 衢州?

通衢 is the most likely word where you'll find this character outside of a place name. It's quite a literary word.

 

《說文解字》：

四達謂之衢。从行瞿聲。其俱切。

[Jim 460]

1 hour ago, Publius said:

Is it 衢州?

Yes, that was the one! Old client of mine I still have in WeChat contacts was giving a lecture there.

[roddy 4,639]

湁， chì， to well up, bubble up. 

[Publius 1,610]

15 minutes ago, roddy said:

湁， chì， to well up, bubble up. 

漲姿勢了

[roddy 4,639]

And in a second bit of learning for me today...

[@Claire 0]

@Shelley

wù yúan婺源 it is a place.nowadays it sounds wù.but in ancient times it also has some other sounds.And it isn't a important word .you just need to know how to read it.thats enough.

[Tomsima 694]

臍

Spoiler

qí - naval, umbilicus, appears in

臍帶 'umbilical cord'

肚臍 'belly button'

团脐 = 母蟹

尖脐 = 公蟹

 

Edited April 3 by Tomsima
edited for additional common usages

[Jim 460]

And 肚脐 for belly button! Comes up fairly often in conversation if you give your kids their bath!

[Publius 1,610]

And to tell the sex of a crab:

团脐 = 母蟹

尖脐 = 公蟹

[Shelley 1,674]

4 hours ago, Publius said:

And to tell the sex of a crab:

and this comes up conversation?

Made me laugh, thank you.

[Publius 1,610]

2 hours ago, Shelley said:

and this comes up conversation?

Sure, here's proof: https://youtu.be/q6AmQ3KbgY0?t=85

 

P.S. Only female crabs have 蟹黄, long considered a delicacy. Being able to tell the females from the males is important when haggling in the wet market.

[Shelley 1,674]

I will have to take your word for it as I find it hard to follow cross talk. 

[imron 4,876]

3 hours ago, Shelley said:

and this comes up conversation?

It does if you're eating crabs.

[Shelley 1,674]

Is it important to know the sex of the crab you eating? Never eat them - yuck.

[imron 4,876]

14 minutes ago, Shelley said:

Is it important to know the sex of the crab you eating?

Depends if you like roe.

[Shelley 1,674]

Ah yes, the inexperienced crab eater shows through.

[Tomsima 694]

鎳
 

Spoiler

niè ‘nickel'. I still havent got round to learning my periodic table off by heart yet. Whenever characters like this crop up its a strong reminder to stop procrastinating and get it done!

turned up in 鉄鎳蓄電池 'nickel-iron battery'

 

[Tomsima 694]

癯

Spoiler

qú ‘thin, emaciated'. apparently very common to see in 武俠小説, appeared in the word 清癯 'thin, lean', the character is effectively a literary version of 瘦

 

[roddy 4,639]

Quick, what's this surname?

Spoiler

佘

 

I have a long-standing policy, which I've maybe mentioned before, of quickly pasting names into Wenlin when translating, as it's easy to get caught out by a character that looks very like one you know. I'm not sure I do it every time nowadays as I probably don't need to so much, but luckily I did with this one. 

Spoiler

佘 [Shé] (surname) (!余)

 

[imron 4,876]

1 hour ago, roddy said:

as it's easy to get caught out by a character that looks very like one you know

Even if it's exactly the same as one you know it's worth doing this, because there are quite a few characters that have different pronunciations when used in names - especially surnames e.g. 单, 曾 and others.