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We’ve all had that friend or colleague who just seems to always have everything in order. It’s as if a genie granted each and every wish he or she has commanded. While this is great news for some people, the truth is that it doesn’t come without envious remarks. “Envy” – In China, there is ...
Have you heard of the emerging and trendy internet slang from China called “土味情话 (tǔwèi qínghuà) ”? It can be compared to “cheesy pick-up lines” in English. “土味 (tǔwèi)” usually means outdated or old-school, while “情话 (qínghuà)” refers to the sweet nothings shared between lovers. Thus it’s a funny way to flirt with your partner ...
We live in a time where buying something without a recommendation is uncommon. Consumerism has fueled large corporations to supply the increasing demand for their products, with various ranges. Many times it can be hard to determine whether or not the product or service will actually live up to its claims. The social shopping scene ...
Interjections are commonly used in our daily life which are also known as “叹词 (tàncí)” or “感叹词 (gǎntàncí)” in Mandarin Chinese. These kinds of expressions are used in our daily lives to express exclamations or make various kinds of emotional responses.
It happens every day! We use interjections or exclamations to express our emotional responses to ...
I’m writing about two simple and useful words in Mandarin Chinese that you can use on a daily basis to describe things that are fast or slow. These terms, “龟速 (guīsù) slow” and “神速 (shénsù) fast”, I learned when reading and discussing Children’s stories in my beginner Mandarin class.
Aesop’s fable of The Tortoise and the ...
Have you ever hear the Chinese term 爆表 (bàobiǎo)? Currently this term is extremely popular among young Chinese people and its all over the internet! This fun term originally referred to when a meter “explodes,” or the reader is higher than what the instrument can read, for example, there is an AQI over 500 but ...
“Your Chinese is probably the worst in the class.” A classmate said jokingly to my close friend in a study abroad program. Although her Chinese was not the best, it definitely wasn’t the worse. Yet, she took his teasing very personally and I am pretty sure even cried about it later!
Afterwards, my Chinese roommate taught ...
After looking at the photo above are your eyes feeling spicy? What I mean is, does it feel like a pepper has been squirted in your eye? In Chinese, there is a fabulous internet phrase to describe when you are looking at something awful: 辣眼睛 (làyǎnjīng) or “spicy eyes.” It is a way of commenting ...
Recently, a humorous video titled “Obama hilariously mocks own retirement in skit” gained attention in the US and also in China. What was the occasion for the humorous video and what exactly did Obama do in it? He did something that we call “自黑 (zìhēi) self-mockery” in Chinese.
Each year, at the Washington Hilton, the White ...
Jack: Eric, néng jiè diǎnr qián gěi wǒ ma?
Jack: Eric, 能 借 点儿 钱 给 我 吗？
Jack: Eric, can you lend me some money?
Eric: Nǐ yòu méi qián le?
Eric: 你 又 没 钱 了？
Eric: You ran out of money again?
Jack: Shì a, wǒ xiànzài qióng de zhǐnéng chītǔ le.
Jack: 是啊，我 现在 穷 得 只能 吃土 了。
Jack: Yeah, I’m _____.
What can we learn from the dialogue?
A. Jack wants to ...
Well, summer is here, the hottest time of the year. Do you feel burned by the sun? We do! But we always try to use sun protection. In Chinese, "晒 (shài)" means "to sun" or "to shine." "晒太阳 (shài tàiyang)" means "to bask in the sun." Most people who bask in the sun this year ...
八卦(bāguà) gossip
Origin of the Phrase
Yi Jing, also named The Book of Changes, says: “Yin and Yang form Tai Chi; Tai Chi forms two-stage; two-stage forms four-quadrant and four-quadrant forms Eight Diagrams.” A founder of a gossip magazine in Hong Kong thinks that various gossip in the world are formed from what happened in the ...
CHINESE / MANDARIN VOCABULARY – BEVERAGES (Click in the arrow to listen how to pronounce the word in Mandarin)
English
Chinese
Pinyin
Listen
beer
啤酒
pí jiǔ
CHINESE / MANDARIN VOCABULARY -CAR(Click in the arrow to listen how to pronounce the word in Mandarin)
Kàn pīnyīn xiĕ cíyŭ
1. 看 拼音 写 词语
bĕi jīng jī chăng xíng li
( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ) ( ...
流行词语(liúxíng cíyŭ) Popular Words
物质(wùzhì) Materialistic
Origin and Meaning:
The phrase 物质(wùzhì) materialistic comes from a poem in Jin Dynasty, and it refers to substance and materials. But with the rapid development of material life, many people are paying more attention to materialistic things while ignoring the spiritual life. So now the phrase, as an adjective, ...
宅(zhái) to stay at home all day
Where does it originate from?
The saying of “宅(zhái)” refers to a group of people who indulge in something excessively, such as computer games, and cartoons. These people would rather stay at home than go out.
What does it mean?
This word means house or residence in Chinese. ...
抬杠(táigàng) to argue for the sake of arguing
Where does the phrase originate from?
In the north of China in early times, there existed a custom called “抬杠会(táigànghuì)” argue meeting. On the day of Lantern Festival, some strong men carried the bamboo “杠(gàng), ” on which there is a sedan. ...
碰壁(pèngbì) Be rebuffed
In this word, 碰(pèng) means “bump” and 壁(bì) means “wall.” The whole word 碰壁(pèngbì) literally means “run up against a wall.” But people usually use it to describe a situation in which you are turned down or rebuffed. In Chinese feudal times, a corrupted 衙门(yámen) government was always closed to the common people ...
吃闭门羹 (chī bìméngēng) To be denied entrance
Wáng xiānsheng hé tā de péngyŏu chăojià hòu, měicì xiăng qù héjiě dōu huì chī bìméngēng.
王 先生 和 他 的 朋友 吵架 后，每次 想 去 和解 都 会 吃 闭门羹。
Ever since the quarrel between Mr. Wang and his friends, every time Mr. Wang intended to restore their relationship, he was denied.
In 吃闭门羹(chī bìméngēng), 吃(chī) means “eat,” 闭门(bìmén) means “close the door” and 羹(gēng) ...
