Ian_Lee Posted February 17, 2004 at 08:52 PM Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 at 08:52 PM In Mainland China, the metric system has replaced the Chinese system completely. In HK, even though the government officially adopted the metric system a long time ago, the Chinese (and the British) system is still the king. In terms of weight, you go buy vegetable/seafood in the market according to catty/pound. The scales show the weight in catty/pound and hardly any foodstall understands how much if you try to buy one kilogram. In all the jewelry stores, their sign shows the daily buy/sell price of Gold and Silver in term of tael. All those customers from Mainland have to refigure out how much one tael is equivalent to grams. In fact, in early '80s there had been a comical movie called "Half Catty Eight Taels" which meant break-even in HK idiom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted February 17, 2004 at 11:28 PM Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 at 11:28 PM I am quite comfortable with the metric system but here in HK people use all types of system. Recently I bought a silk quilt in Chongqing and the measurement used was 市斤. I was totally confused (so sometimes somewhere in China some traditional measurement units are still in use). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_Lee Posted February 17, 2004 at 11:34 PM Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2004 at 11:34 PM Skylee: Well, people in HK live in a 800-sq ft apt, buy a liter of Coke in Wellcome Supermarket while another two catties of Choi Sum in the foodstall a block away. I also feel amazing how they can interchange all the different systems. But lately when I bought drapery in the Lowu Commercial Center in Shenzhen, the salesgirl from Chaozhou kept telling me how many yards of cloth I needed. The ruler she used was marked by inches and feet but not meter. I heard the 市斤 that some use in Mainland just consists of 14 taels instead of 16. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted February 18, 2004 at 12:16 AM Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 at 12:16 AM 1克＝1gram 50克＝一市两 10市两＝1市斤 1公斤＝2市斤＝20市两＝1000克 半斤只有五两 We use 斤 and 两 in the Mainland, but they are not the same as the 一斤十六两 in Hongkong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted February 18, 2004 at 01:46 AM Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 at 01:46 AM Sam Hui sings - "出o左半斤力 想話籮番足八兩 家陣惡搵食 邊有半斤八兩咁理想" So it is even worse in Mainland 'cos 半斤 = 五兩 BTW, do people say "半斤八兩" in mainland to mean "不相伯仲"? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ian_Lee Posted February 18, 2004 at 02:23 AM Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 at 02:23 AM I would say Mainland system is very confused -- even more confused than that of HK. After adopting the metric system, probably people were getting unused to the large unit -- kilogram -- which is much more than either pound or catty. So they invented the "shi-catty" which is half the kilogram. Such move fits HK idiom: "Take down your pants to fart". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted February 18, 2004 at 02:29 AM Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 at 02:29 AM I would say Mainland system is very confused -- even more confused than that of HK.After adopting the metric system' date=' probably people were getting unused to the large unit -- kilogram -- which is much more than either pound or catty. So they invented the "shi-catty" which is half the kilogram. Such move fits HK idiom: "Take down your pants to fart".[/quote'] I wouldn't say that. People use what fits their needs. That's all. (But different systems could be confusing to outsiders.) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quest Posted February 18, 2004 at 02:45 AM Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 at 02:45 AM 半斤八兩 is used everywhere. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keikei Posted February 18, 2004 at 05:44 AM Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 at 05:44 AM In the past one 斤 was equal to 16 两 in China. so people say 半斤八两. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithsgj Posted February 18, 2004 at 07:19 AM Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 at 07:19 AM What does 半斤八兩 (and 不相伯仲) mean? Is it like 6 of 1 and half a doz of the other? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Cipher Posted February 18, 2004 at 07:42 AM Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 at 07:42 AM What does 半斤八兩 (and 不相伯仲) mean? Is it like 6 of 1 and half a doz of the other? exactly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skylee Posted February 18, 2004 at 07:57 AM Report Share Posted February 18, 2004 at 07:57 AM 半斤八兩/不相伯仲 = 差不多 (to describe items/people which are similarely good/bad etc) e.g. 兩位候選人的實力不相伯仲/半斤八兩/差不多。 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smithsgj Posted February 19, 2004 at 02:25 AM Report Share Posted February 19, 2004 at 02:25 AM Thanks both of you. As Cipher says, = the English expression I gave. It's satisfying when an idiom is so similar in two languages (though it makes one wonder about the origin). A thread for this, one fine day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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