User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: Hate is a Very Strong Word

@user1283

Just scan half way up the board (two days ago) and you will find go_manly's link. 

@go-manly

I didn't think I'd ever TALK to a Manly supporter in a civilized way,  :-)

but thanks for posting your PDF - v. good work. 

Go Raiders!

Posted on: Pinyin Sections 1-2

@barbs

Thanks for the reminiscences of JS-M -  I love your work.  Remember Cadbury Chocolate?...  'A glass and a half of milk in every block!'  Okay, that was a bit sad, he was past his prime.

Posted on: Pregnancy Series 8: About to Give Birth

@pete,raygo

Macduff was 'from his mother's womb untimely ripp'd' .. so while the procedure no doubt dates way back it probably hurt more then than it does now?

Posted on: Pinyin Sections 1-2

@barbs, john

Barbs, you make a good point - I am dying to find out the answers too..[John: do we really have to wait?]  

'y' is often barely pronounced or not at all, but 'w' ..?

What about

吴先生问我为什么。。

It's hard to say that without a 'w' sound! 

So, granted it may not be a separate sound in pinyin, WHY IS IT SO?  (I was putting on my Julius Sumner Miller voice there.)  Is this one of the limitations of pinyin in describing Chinese sounds?

Posted on: Kungpao Chicken

Just a side comment on the 斤 matter, as a frequenter of wet markets in various provinces I have noticed that the standardization of 斤 as the unit of weight has some way to go. I found people, in 2007, would still quote product in various ways including 近， 公斤 and 一半公斤.  And as you say, for some product the 两 is still used.  So you need to be alert to what units are being used.  

For Westerners it is also alarming to have your cooking wine and your eggs sold in flimsy plastic bags!  I always tried to buy the cooking wine out of the metre high ceramic stone jars just for the fun of it - but I wasn't up to debating the quality of the wines on display.  Can you imagine debating the quality of cooking wine with the manager at the Western supermarket?  :-)

Posted on: Kungpao Chicken

@pete

Thanks for your reference, again.  (Sure would like to take a peek at your library!) 

Your run-down on the 斤 brings to mind the first textbook I saw that defined 斤 as a 'catty'.  'What's a catty?' we all asked, and no-one knew although it sounded like the word caddy, and old kind of measure. Anyway,it turns out there is a connection with catty being an old word for caddy (as in 'tea caddy', a word we still use in Australia.)  In my dictionary it says that a catty was a measurement of weight, actually one and one third pounds.  So the word 'catty' (a unit of weight) became a 'caddy' (a unit of volume.)  BTW, the word 'catty' is said to come from kati in Malay.  A mystery for me is how did 'catty' come to appear as an English translation in a modern text book?  The word caddy must be at least one hundred years old, possibly more, and catty must pre-date that.  No doubt you have a sympathetic word for the hard-working translator?  But why wouldn't you just translate 斤 as half a kilo?

Posted on: My Scooter Won't Start

@mikeinewshot

this lesson is well before my time but I feel like an 'expert', although I am not a scooter person .., I like a bit more grunt :-)   I noticed your 三轮摩托车 （motorbike and sidecar) - I don't know your source but this translation would confuse some people.  A side-car would be called a 摩托车的边车。  A lot of motor cycles in China are threewheelers but  without a side car - these would be called 三轮摩托车.  I like the ones that have a kitchen mounted on the back - they roam around providing meals.  Another common variant is the taxi that seats about five or six people.  Of course there are a range of 三轮车 ranging up in size to buses that would accommodate maybe 60 - 70 people.

I don't mean to be picky, I appreciate your research of expressions from the lessons as many poddies do.  This is an interest of mine and I did a small research project in China, surveying people about their personal transport choices.

Posted on: Are You Free?

Hi Changye & Zhenlijiang

There is so much to learn about those little particles that mean absolutely nothing! 对不对？ Thanks Changye, that I hadn't learnt before and forgotten.  You know when I went to China it is amazing how DISTRACTED I was by alll those sounds that are not given enough attention in formal lessons.  What is that 'ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha' sound that man is making on his mobile phone?  It took me a while to cotton on to the fact that he was just saying 'yep, yep, yep, yep, yep, yep'!  That and duiaaaaaaaaaaa! nah.. nah.. nah... nah.. nah.. nah...  tianaaaaaaaaaaa!

Posted on: Love Tangle 1: A Suspicious Text Message

@barbs

your example 女儿 is a good one - 儿 is definitely a clear second tone in this case (emphasised by the ' stop) so it would be written nu3'er2.  I am  misunderstood saying this word unless I give the 儿 a distinct second tone.  By comparison, 这儿 zher is just one syllable and it is written zher4.  

Posted on: Are You Free?

@zhenlijiang

天啊！  This does open a can of worms!  All I can say that there are a lot of burly men in the city I lived in for a year who use this 'girly' suffix.  But I guess I could be a little more circumspect in my use in future, or use 啊 with a gruff manly tone?