User Comments - bababardwan

Posted on: 中国通

哈哈，我这节课程的对话最喜欢的句子是：

 “现在懂中文的老外越来越多了，在公共场合千万别随便议论外国人，说不定你说什么人家都听得懂，搞不好还要回敬你一句”

。。真幽默。 那，我要知道，在这个情况中国人以前说什么？

Posted on: Old China Hand

不客气【 you're welcome mate] :)

Posted on: Old China Hand

yes, that would be my understanding, though personally I don't like the translation "expert" as much as "old hand" because for mine "expert" is a lot stronger..implies some serious formal qualifications [or at least a very thorough and impeccable knowledge and understanding], not fitting for the way it is apparently bandied about...whereas "old hand" to me just suggests a lot of experience.

Posted on: Old China Hand

不用谢朋友 ：）

Posted on: 中国通

哈哈，“鸡蛋里挑骨头”。。真的是中文特色的，经典

..the image it conjures up is that someone finds [chooses to take issue with] a little bone inside their egg [presumably indicating it's a fertilized egg??] and is wimpy enough to complain about it, when they should just get on and eat it? ..stop nitpicking? I'm I reading this the right way? If so, firstly you'd have to wonder how common that is...surely it would at least be worthy of comment if you found a bone in your egg. Secondly I wonder how many westerners would soldier on unperturbed, would consider it nitpicking of someone to take issue with eating it....I think this could well be a cultural difference. But hangon...maybe I've got the wrong take on this completely. Can someone set me straight on the origin of this expression?

Posted on: 中国通

I guess this might be a case of overanalysing, but I'm wondering about how 搞不好 evolved to mean "perhaps/otherwise". I can't help but wonder if  came from "do no good" in one thing, then perhaps we could try this, or otherwise [if that's no good] we could go for this shenme shenme. I can see it being used in that way, wondering if I'm right, and if so, whether it still retains a sense of that in the way it is currently used?

Posted on: Old China Hand

"How would you feel if you were them - it is hard to put yourself in their shoes"

..good point mate and one worth bearing in mind..I think it's important to be sensitive to their feelings and in one's approach in general.

Of course you also know that I totally agree with what you say about it varying from person to person. I'm a big believer in taking each as they come.

Posted on: Old China Hand

"unexpectedly produce a clever thought in Chinese, tones and all, they sometimes break out the "China hand" thing"

。。Woohoo ! 听起来我们这里有一位居民中国通。。欢迎欢迎，请坐吧

“Its always in good spirit, even if they are ribbing you , just a little”

..gotcha. This I could buy. I like it.

"letting them know in general the answer to all the standard questions in one fell swoop"

..interesting..I like this too.

RJ, this has been most instructive mate. I think I've learnt a lot . Thanks for sharing this. :)

Posted on: License Plate Characters

Yeah, thanks bodawei, that's pretty much my take on it too mate, but I just wanted to double check. I just found the word "assumed" a little confusing I guess. I couldn't see what there was that would make one assume something as specific as being Korean.

Posted on: License Plate Characters

hehe, yeah you nailed it mate. You know me mate, I thought you probably couldn't use 云 that way to mean clouded [though I did find a 云豹。。clouded leopard, so who knows] and I'm none too confident on my grammar, but I couldn't help myself to have a bit of fun with the language. Yeah, specifically I was trying to say:

"you could say the pronunciation of 云 is clouded in mystery"

..in the sense of veiled or wrapped as you have said above. Well done...to deal with my poor Chinese. You know me well enough to not heed the correctness, but I do enjoy my Engnese, hehe. :)