User Comments - bababardwan

Posted on: Introducing a Friend

pretzellogic,

Using the word "riff" in this context is only vaguely familiar to me here in Oz[perhaps light or some other Aussie will step forward and show that I'm just outta touch;something that can also happen to dads].Think I have heard it before but not too commonly.But I'm pretty sure I get your sense on this .I presume it's something vaguely similar to sledging.Does it originate from the term riff-raff? Or do you mean we're all going to be singing the same tune on this one.Anyhow I think I know where you're coming from.Yes,the fact that years ago we were the melonheads and now can see it from both sides is one reason it is so funny.But I was being deliberately a bit harsh on CPod re doing more with the poor unfortunate chap just for the sake of a joke.This is newbie level after all and your level is obviously much higher than that.Thanks heaps for translating your statement into Chinese.I'll definitely have to try and memorise that one to the point where it will just roll off my tongue.I hope you have not copyrighted it.Thanks for the laugh anyway.Cheers :)

Posted on: I'm pregnant!

chanelle77,

aha;of course.I feel a bit daft now 'cos I was off on the wrong tangent.Following on from a previous conversation above I was wondering whether she was also having a reaction to the morning sickness,etc.This also explains your reticence at asking her opinion.You could almost hear the cogs turning in her mind as she was putting 2 and 2 together [I'm sure you are reading this correctly]...and then the news spreading.Very funny situation.Thanks for sharing.

Posted on: Introducing a Friend

pretzellogic,

We must have been writing our posts at the same time and I've just noticed yours.Your comment about melon head is spot on and made me laugh;very funny.

Posted on: Introducing a Friend

As a father I would have liked to hear more shaking in his boots/trepidation from the boyfriend [but of course this would be hard to convey in his one word part],but was satisfied at least with the nin hao ,and loved the way he was called Xiao3...lol. Another great and very useful lesson.Glad to hear there will be a series on this as it's always good to get off to a good start with introductions and make a good impression.I'm sure the business folk will particularly appreciate it.

I was interested in the word for introduce as the first syllable jie reminded me of jie2 hun1 for marriage [an introduction to married life?] but I note both the tone and character are different.Is there ever an etymologic relationship between such homophones [if we put the tones aside for a sec...otherwise of course you'd say strictly speaking they're not homophones at all ]?

Posted on: I'm pregnant!

Google image search on 话梅 gives:

Posted on: I'm pregnant!

chanelle77,

Now you've got me curious.What do you think she might be thinking? Also ,if it's not obvious,is there a reason you can't just ask her what she's thinking? We might all gain some cultural insights from this.

Posted on: I'm pregnant!

maliya,

I would also have to respectfully disagree with you here.I could be wrong ,but I got the impression that this lesson was the start of a series here.Most commonly there are 2 ways that a woman usually first suspects she is pregant;firstly missing  her period;and secondly having morning sickness.So  this  lesson would be a  natural start to such a series and I thought was a highly relevent typical type discussion.Morning sickness is a natural part of pregnancy for most women to a greater or lesser degree and I don't think this lesson was in bad taste or making any negative value judgement on pregnancy.In fact,the only comment I recall in that regard was made by Jenny when she excitedly was saying "I'm pregnant" which made it sound to be the very joyous event that it is.However I'm sure we all agree with the following parts of what you said:

"It's great and wonderful, it's packed with responsibility...it changes a person's whole life".

and:

"pregnancy.... the dignity of the state"

...which I thought you put beautifully.

With respect :)

Posted on: I'm pregnant!

Mike,

Just to expand on this.You probably realise this by now with the above explanations but for those for whom English is not 1st language the reason that "zone out" would be included in the supplementary vocabulary is that it is a well noted phenomenon that once pregnancy hormones kick in many women can become a bit vague as they go into nesting mode,often forgetting things.Most women who have been pregnant will attest to this and be able to regale you with funny stories that exemplify such forgetfulness/vagueness.

Posted on: Welcome to ChinesePod

astoa,

It's working fine on my end.Perhaps if you could set out what the problem is and what you have tried so far then hopefully someone will be able to help you.

Posted on: Chinglish in Reverse and University Culture

AoDa,

What an excellent post.Thanks for going to so much trouble to explain in detail and share your insights.Several points were particularly interesting.Your point about plagiarism was interesting on a couple of levels.Firstly it followed on from your point about classmates repeating exactly what the professor had told them or else it's wrong.I can see it would potentially be difficult to avoid plagiarism in such an environment.Secondly ,one of the DA shows on setting up a business in China warned that your business would be copied within 6months [and in fact henning has a post "when cloning goes awry" which shows that even CPod has been copied ].I'm not sure if this even partially stems from a lax attitude to plagiarism but it's just an observation I'd ponder.Also your point about enroling in a program for international students may be different but then again that would miss out on the full immersion thing was well made.Thanks for the useful website link and advice that followed.