User Comments - bababardwan

Posted on: Using 'Almost'

tvan,

Obviously I couldn't and bu4gan3 to make a comment on the grammar of someone of your level.But I just thought I'd say that I thought it was an excellent sentence {I wish I could express myself as well as that}.Well said.

Posted on: Transliteration into Chinese and the Long Pinky Fingernail

I was taught as a kid that the British had similar beliefs about tanned skin being associated with manual labour historically and that this was the derivation of the word "posh".The story went that this referred to "port out starboard home",and related to the most desirable place to be on ships to and from the British colonies [this was the shaded side of the ship...think about the position of the sun] and thus the place to be if you wanted to avoid a tan.However I believe this may not be the true origin of the word,but I've always remembered it as it was a good story.

Posted on: 起名要小心

Very relevent lesson,particularly for anyone in business or advertising I'd imagine.Interesting that even local companies could find it tricky with avoiding a bad name.But getting back to foreign companies ,I particularly liked the Suzuki example.They say the roads can be dangerous,so how unfortunate to have a name that is a homophone of tomb which is where you don't want to end up after venturing out onto the roads.Ironic.lol.

I was also interested in the derivation of 水土不服 meaning not used to local customs.Interesting that it has both water and earth in there.People often talk of not being used to the local water when travelling to a foreign country [and thus getting la1du4zi ]

Posted on: I'm pregnant!

billm,

I hope this wasn't said to the same vendor as in your first example.He might have started to wonder.[What are those westerners doing with their reproductive technology?].This reminds me of a funny episode from "Monkey Magic" where pigsy gets pregnant after drinking fertility water.

The good thing about embarrassing situations are they are usually good for a laugh later.Though the truly embarrasing things in these type of settings are when it is something believable.Thanks for warning;another trap for young players.We should make a list of all the ways that one can convey that one is pregnant.Do they have an equivalent for "bun in the oven" as in the intro? I'm sure like in English there would be many ways.

Posted on: I'm pregnant!

billm,

Very funny story.I can see it would be a very easy trap to fall into.I'm sure you never made that mistake again.Thanks for warning us as well.Despite this lesson I may still have made that mistake as John had said in the lesson that you can use 有 in other contexts and people won't think you're pregnant.

Posted on: I'm pregnant!

macallus88,

yeah;I was pretty sure he'd said something along those lines [while I was listening to it in a noisy environment yesterday] but didn't get around to going back and verifying to make sure I hadn't got it wrong.I just didn't want to lead someone up the garden path if I had got it wrong.

Posted on: I'm pregnant!

john,

No sweat;that's understandable as once she starts going for antenatal visits etc I can imagine the vocab will be getting quite specific.Even though I won't understand much of Jenny's Mandarin during your analysis part I'm still looking forward to it.The pdf sets out the dialogue anyway so there is still much to be gained and enjoyed no matter what level you're at I reckon.I'm just glad I don't have to sit any tests to be allowed to listen to the higher levels.I love the idea of a series and this topic of course particularly lends itself to a series.Keep up the great work and thankyou for all you do.

Posted on: Introducing a Friend

pretzellogic,

ah yeah;I have heard of that riffing in the musical sense.I just hadn't heard it used in the above context and so wasn't sure if you were  using US slang .But it's all very clear now.Ming2bai2.Thanks.

Agree re being the stuff of good comedy.I always liked that Ben Stiller/Robert de Niro film from 2000 "Meet the Parents".The lie detector scene particularly stands out as being hilarious.I think de Niro gave us the role model here.

Posted on: I'm pregnant!

chanelle77,

..maybe not,but if you notice a supply of 话梅 turns up in your pantry,you'll know where it came from...

Posted on: Introducing a Friend

Once again I love the intro on this one too.Yes,hopefully all these concerns and many more are going through the mind of the poor melonhead.