Ian_Lee Posted March 8, 2006 at 07:17 PM Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 at 07:17 PM I guess most foreigners would get confused between 做人 and 造人. Even though 造人 is not a set phrase, the Entertainment page on many newspapers now frequently use this term to poke fun at some celebrities. In Cantonese, it is even more confusing because 做 and 造 have the same pronunciation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eddiewouldgo Posted March 8, 2006 at 07:57 PM Report Share Posted March 8, 2006 at 07:57 PM 造人 - sometimes can mean making love:wink: - making(producing) human/baby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semantic nuance Posted March 9, 2006 at 01:28 AM Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 at 01:28 AM In The Bible, the translation of 'God creates mankind' is 上帝造人. Apart from making babies, 做人 can mean 'to be a human being' as in 做人很痛苦.(literally meaning--to be a human being is painful.) which means to live is painful. Another phrase combined with these 2 characters, 做 and 造--造做 (or 做作 / 造作 ) mean 'pretension, putting on the air, artificial" . Example: 她很做作, 這湯根本就不燙, 她偏要裝得ㄧ副被燙到的樣子. Hope it helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HashiriKata Posted March 9, 2006 at 07:55 AM Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 at 07:55 AM I can't find any dictionary that gives the sense of "making baby/ making love" for either 做人 or 造人. Do both have this meaning? and are they slang when used in this sense? (PS: I can understand "上帝造人", but this is not really "making baby" ) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
miss_China_so_much Posted March 9, 2006 at 09:58 AM Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 at 09:58 AM It's pretty new. Don't think it has been included in any dictionary. It's just a way of joking. Similar sayings is: (弄)出人命. 出人命 actually means "somebody has been killed". But it also means "accidently get pregnant". I can't find any dictionary that gives the sense of "making baby/ making love" for either 做人 or 造人. Do both have this meaning? and are they slang when used in this sense? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semantic nuance Posted March 9, 2006 at 09:59 AM Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 at 09:59 AM well, 做人 , which means 'make/ create/ produce babies' is used jokingly and it's a bit colloquial. I don't think you'll be able to find it in the dictionary. 做+人=produce/create/make a person. In fact, making love should be 做愛. Instead of 做愛, some would say " 做愛做的事" (to do something you love) as an euphemism. Hope it helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HashiriKata Posted March 9, 2006 at 10:53 AM Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 at 10:53 AM 我懂了，谢谢！ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amego Posted March 9, 2006 at 02:56 PM Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 at 02:56 PM HiHi another meaning of "做人" is "识趣" "通情达理", "to be tactful". A:哇!他这个人这样懒惰,为什么老板却这样喜欢他？ B:哎呀，他懂得做人嘛。。。每次在老板面前装勤劳。。。 喂，等一下他们来的时候要会做人，留下好印象。 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_Lee Posted March 9, 2006 at 07:02 PM Author Report Share Posted March 9, 2006 at 07:02 PM 做人 , which means 'make/ create/ produce babies' is used jokingly and it's a bit colloquial. I don't think you'll be able to find it in the dictionary. 做+人=produce/create/make a person. IMO 做人 does not mean to produce a baby. For instance, if you are 30 yr old, doing only part-time job and stay at your parent's home as a boomerang kid, your father would probably scold you to 學做人, definitely he is not demanding you to produce a baby:roll: The term 做人 should mean something like the proper behavior of a decent person. In fact 做 and 造 is sometimes hard to distinguish because both means "to make" in English. In my opinion, when 做 is applied, it usually has an intangible result, i.e. 做夢 and 做工 while 造 ends in a tangible product, i.e. 閉門造車. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
semantic nuance Posted March 10, 2006 at 05:10 PM Report Share Posted March 10, 2006 at 05:10 PM 做人 does not mean to produce a baby. Ian_Lee, your explanation of 做人 is just one of the many explanations. Colloquially, 做人, as I said earlier, is used jokingly to mean produce a baby. It's pretty common here in Taiwan. I don't know if it's commonly used in any other Chinese speaking areas. Hope it helsp! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
amego Posted March 11, 2006 at 05:23 AM Report Share Posted March 11, 2006 at 05:23 AM Originally Posted by Ian_Lee做人 does not mean to produce a baby. Ian_Lee, your explanation of 做人 is just one of the many explanations. Colloquially, 做人, as I said earlier, is used jokingly to mean produce a baby. It's pretty common here in Taiwan. I don't know if it's commonly used in any other Chinese speaking areas. Hope it helsp! That's right We're talking about slangs and colloquial usages, anyway its also common in Singapore =p "Eh, 你几时要做人？" Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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