User Comments - John
John
Posted on: No Hot Water
February 23, 2011 at 1:55 AM语境 (yǔjìng)
Posted on: Duty-free Products
February 22, 2011 at 6:56 AMI know a few 空姐, and they don't normally do it as a business; they can get in big trouble for that. It's considered an abuse of their special airport security clearance level, and it's punishable by firing.
What they actually do is take turns buying things for each other. It's just another manifestation of the 请客 custom... Whoever goes abroad buys stuff for her friends. If her friends are not also flight attendants, they will typically reimburse her the cost.
This case of "buying abroad and reselling to potential buyers" is not going to be super common, but it's an interesting case of how 代购 can sort of "overstep its bounds."
Posted on: Eating Idioms, Part 2
February 22, 2011 at 2:43 AM吃亏 is not really "swallow a bitter pill." Zhelijiang's explanation above is good.
Posted on: Substitute Teacher
February 22, 2011 at 2:40 AMHi, Cinnamonfern!
1. There are a number of Chinese verbs that regularly do this... Logically speaking, it's not the speaker that's doing the action, so the verb doesn't make sense. But in cases like this, you have to know that who does what is understood based on context, so 做手术 can be translated as "have surgery done." Or if the surgery happened to be a nose job, in English we would say "get a nose job."
2. Both are correct, but the first one means "there's a boy named Wang Xiaomao," and the second one is something like, "There was a boy and his name was Wang Xiaomao." There's no tense inherent in either sentence, but the second one sounds like someone is setting up a story, which is why I translated it as past tense.
Posted on: Which Finger?
February 17, 2011 at 5:26 AM留下 (liúxià) is to remain, or to leave (something) behind. You could use this verb for yourself, to say "I'll stay behind."
剩下 (shèngxià) is to be leftover, to be a remainder. So you can't use it for something a person does. It's often used to talk about leftover food, or other resources, or tasks.
Posted on: Switching Seats on a Plane
February 17, 2011 at 5:21 AMEmergency exit seat: 应急出口座位 (yìngjí chūkǒu zuòwèi)
Posted on: Switching Seats on a Plane
February 17, 2011 at 3:11 AMNice! The Chinese always appreciate a foreigner exhibiting proper Confucian virtue! :)
Posted on: Substitute Teacher
February 17, 2011 at 1:47 AMIf you're talking about a class of students, the measure word you use is 班 (bān).
If you're talking about a class period, you use 节 (jié).
Also, a more correct way to say "代课几个星期" is "代几个星期的课". 代课 is a separable verb, in which 代 is the verb, and 课 is the noun (object).
Posted on: Substitute Teacher
February 17, 2011 at 1:43 AMNo, sorry, but you can't...
The proper response to 你好 is just 你好.
Posted on: Old China Hand
March 1, 2011 at 1:47 AMI believe we've done it a few times. (Sorry, I can't tell you exact titles!)