User Comments - SF_Rachel

Posted on: Losing and Forgetting

The power of the Internet indeed. Been following this story?

http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2010/11/web-decries-infringement/

Note that what all three stories have in common is not necessarily that a company made a mistake but the immediate indifference and arrogance with which the individuals' inquiries were met.

Moral of the stories -- a little sensitivity and a timely apology will go a long way to prevent "nerd rage" from going viral.

Posted on: Reserving a Taxi Cab by Telephone

In the expansion, what's up with 与 as in 请与我们联系? How similar is it to 跟?

Posted on: Reserving a Taxi Cab by Telephone

拿我来说，欢迎新来外星球霸主！

Thanks to CPod, I can now (clumsily) talk about the nerd trifecta (that would be aliens, zombies, and killer robots). Goal achieved!

But when I can casually make reference to velociraptors I'll know I'm ready for upper intermediate. :-)

Posted on: Losing and Forgetting

You found the easter egg in my post! :-)

I lost my temper; United Airlines lost my luggage.

Posted on: Losing and Forgetting

I like the idea that with 丢 it's no one's fault that the item is lost.

A few years ago, coming back from vacation, my checked bags didn't make it home with me. After patiently waiting at the baggage carousel for 10 more minutes after the thing stopped moving, I approached the lost luggage office to file the paperwork.

I was still mentally congratulating myself on my patience for not melting down, when the attendant behind the desk addressed me: "So, did you lose your luggage?"

And that's when I lost it. "No, you lost my luggage! I know exactly where I left it last, thank you."

See, if she'd only said it in Chinese nobody would have needed to get yelled at. 您的行李丢了吗？

Posted on: Utensils in the New Kitchen

It was great to learn 餐具 and 厨具 and see that they are both "tools" together. Now I look back on 玩具 (wánjù) and am absolutely charmed by the idea that toys are "leisure tools" or "fun tools." Of course they are, how logical!

Seeing these kinds of connections is one of my favorite things about learning languages, and I think Mandarin is special for me in this regard.

Posted on: Music Corner in the Park

Any classically-trained western musician can tell you the answer to this riddle: What's the best way to tell a violin and a viola apart?

The viola will take longer to burn.

Surely this translates with some of these instruments.

Posted on: Cats Are Cool

I used to have two cats. Well -- one cat was there primarily to keep at Cat #1 entertained while he was otherwise home alone all day. I used to say that Cat #2 was not my cat, he was Cat #1's cat. ("My cat has a cat." )

Can you even say that in Chinese -- "that is my cat's cat"? Wǒ de māo yǎng māo doesn't feel quite right, because yǎng 养 feels like it's a bit of a nurturing relationship. And I can assure you that Cat #1 did not nurture Cat #2 in any way, shape or form. Cat #2 was clearly chattel. Although Cat #2 seems oblivious to his second cat status.

I can see I'm overthinking this. In this situation I was "raising" both cats clearly because I was responsible for their care and feeding. The English form suggests possession, more than responsibility, and this doesn't really translate. Bummer, because this was my way of denying membership in the crazy multiple-cat lady club.

By the way, my current single cat Faustus does not entirely approve of language learning. It's hearing me shouting to myself all day in Chinese that makes him give me the hard stare. He does seem to prefer ChinesePod to the Beastie Boys, though.

Posted on: Cats Are Cool

Evidently, all your cat had to say was "where all the ladies at?"

Posted on: Thank You Note

Lujiaojie, thank you for the explanation.