User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: This Needs to be Dry Cleaned

The zhao you used in the first instance is 找 zhǎo (to give change, money). It also means to look for, or to call in to see someone.

In the sentence 'please give me my suit' I would still use 给 gěi. Unless you were looking for a suit you wouldn't use 找 zhǎo - that would be a special case, implying that it was mislaid or missing.

把我的西服给我. (Please give me my suit.)

Actually, just hand over your ticket. :)

Posted on: This Needs to be Dry Cleaned

Problem in the supplementary vocab - it should be laundromat, not 'laundry mat'.  

In principle I would have thought 自助洗衣店 zìzhùxǐyīdiàn ('self-serve' laundry).  But I don't think I have ever seen one, so I don't think the word exists here out west anyway.  There are places that do your washing (as John mentioned).  they take your clothes and weigh them - you pay X rmb/ 近.   

Posted on: This Needs to be Dry Cleaned

Yeh, different thing. But Jenny's observation is interesting - I have come across this. Even in the one family it happens that Chinese people to not mix up their clothes in the washing machine. In the West we tend to do a load by throwing everyone's clothes in, but Chinese people find this a bit disgusting, especially if underwear is included.

PS weibwo - I didn't mean to be dismissive of your comment; I was pointing to the difference between public and private places. Chinese people are very fussy about personal hygiene but that doesn't imply that go to any trouble (personally) to keep a public place clean. There are lackeys to clean up.

Posted on: Hanukkah

You continue a good discussion but I can't give you any assurances. I feel that 教 does not translate well into the word 'religion' but that is coloured by my own heritage. There seems to me such a distance in religious practice between the Chinese and what I was raised in - the language does not do it justice. If pushed, I would be happier with the word 'teaching'. It sounds a bit bookish, but 'religion' for me comes with the trappings of bureaucracy etc. (Let's not go there.)

It is interesting how often you get to words that don't translate well - discussion tonight about 小众 and 小众人 - I din't there is a suitable English equivalent, you need to get into a discussion. It's because our cultures have different attitudes to groups, and what binds them together.

Posted on: Toothache

'teeth that come in when your wisdom does!'

A lovely idea, thanks a lot. And it explains so much for me personally. I am in that small proportion of the population that has no wisdom teeth at all (not to be confused with those who wait and wait for them to come through.) I have none to come through. And by remarkable coincidence I married a woman who also has no wisdom teeth. The rule doesn't work for her - she is very smart!

But our daughter at least has some wisdom teeth - that's genetics, it can skip a generation.

Posted on: Hanukkah

Hi zhenlijiang

I agree that Judaism has a religious definition, but I am suggesting that it also has something of a cultural definition. Something suggested by a statement like: 'Many Sydney Jews live in the Eastern Suburbs'.. (this is not saying anything about religion.) So, in normal conversation (in my experience) 'Jewish' is a descriptor that has no religious connotations at all; it is more an acknowledgement of an inheritance - a family tree that includes forebears, a people, who identify as Jewish. I have a number of Jewish friends who identify as Jewish even though they are not remotely religious. Perhaps atheist. Then another thing, Jewish people are 'born' Jewish is my understanding; the religion (or culture?) passes down from the mother. Although no doubt you can renounce your religion, I'm not sure if you can renounce your culture. This seems to suggest a set of rules that don't conform to those that apply to many religions. These factors suggest to me that Judaism has a cultural definition, not just a religious definition. But maybe someone expert can put me straight.

Posted on: Hanukkah

This is interesting because the standard way to make an 'ism' is to add 主义; I would have said 犹太主义. But perhaps Judaism is different; I know I have had discussions before about whether it is a religion or something else (a culture?) The 汉语现代词典 has 犹太教 (Jewish religion/faith/Judaism).

Posted on: Heading Home

Imagine both speakers are in China. A is talking about going back to (say) the US. B asks when A is returning (to China). Then B in the final line says 'don't go!' (from China to the US.) The Chinese is correct; the English may be a little confusing because both 回来 and 回去 translate as 'back'. My advice, ignore the English translation and it works fine.

Posted on: Skincare: Moisturizing Cream

Well, yes, I sometimes forget; I live under blue skies in the best climate in China. :)

But it doesn't take much sun anywhere in China to bring out the umbrellas etc. The women in particular use umbrellas to cross between buildings at the campus I work at. Very funny, but maybe also very wise.

Posted on: Skincare: Moisturizing Cream

我同意，还有我刚刚贴了‘我愿意’的歌词在‘ChineseHumour',所以问他。。