User Comments - aeflow
aeflow
Posted on: The Drug Dealer
July 11, 2007 at 4:11 AMThe Vocabulary list omits: 冰毒 -- meth K粉 -- ketamine ("special K") An article in mainstream media about drug use: http://health.enorth.com.cn/system/2007/06/29/001744816.shtml PS, I can't hear the phrase "one of us" without thinking of http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0022913/quotes
Posted on: A Chinese-Style Contradiction
July 7, 2007 at 1:12 AMThis is one of those words where the standard English-language translation in dictionaries ("contradiction") seems inadequate. In other words, in many contexts where it's used in Chinese, an idiomatic translation into English wouldn't use the word "contradiction". Sometimes it seems to be a euphemistic way to say "we have a problem/disagreement". Another example would be 影响, which is usually translated in dictionaries by the neutral term "influence", whereas it often seems to be used in the sense of "affect in a negative way". Back in the days when I first learned this word I was forever reading it as "予质"!
Posted on: She's Easy
June 29, 2007 at 12:48 AMAuntie, Now you've got me wondering just what I missed out on when I gave those touts on Nanjing Donglu the brush off. For some reason the lyrics to Warren Zevon's "Lawyers, Guns and Money" come to mind. "Went home with a waitress The way I always do Well how was I to know? She was with the Gong'anbu"
Posted on: She's Easy
June 29, 2007 at 12:45 AMReality check. Foreign-owned companies headquartered in China can't really push the envelope, and it's self-defeating to invite blocking by corporate and school firewalls.
Posted on: Calling a Supplier for a Quote
June 25, 2007 at 12:05 PMShouldn't 销售部 be more like "sales department"? I've seen 营销 used for "marketing".
Posted on: Global Warming
June 20, 2007 at 10:49 PMThe Vocabulary page uses traditional characters for hǎixiào rather than simplified. Also, a more correct translation is "tsunami" rather than "tidal wave".
Posted on: Christmas
June 1, 2007 at 9:36 PMThe Exercises section has some display problems (on Internet Explorer 7). Section 1/3 "Pick the correct sentence" is mostly garbled (lines overlapping each other or not displaying at all), and section 3/3 has blank sentences for lines 2 through 5.
Posted on: Introducing Oneself to the Family
July 31, 2007 at 9:43 PM"X times removed" refers to how many generations separate you and the other person. If your grandparent is their grandparent, or your great-grandparent is their great-grandparent, etc. then it's "zero times removed". Ie, not "removed" at all. You belong to the same generation. If your grandparent is their great-grandparent or vice versa, then it's "once removed". Your sibling is your "zeroth cousin" and your niece/nephew is your "zeroth cousin once removed". You're your own "negative-first cousin". I hope that clears things up. :)