User Comments - bodawei

Posted on: 易中天《读城记》

@pete and watermelon

My Shanghai friend is genuinely puzzled by the statement.  I'm wondering if this is because it is just something that a Chinese person would never say. He is puzzled even though he has experience outside China (has lived in Boston and Sydney) so has some idea of the kind of things that Westerners might say.

He said something like.. in this context we would never use the term 不粗。 He said 'I understand what the word means, but it does not make sense here'.  Pete, I'm wondering if his problem is the same as yours .. the wrong presumption? If you know that Shanghai is indeed a city of unparalled excellence why would you even say such a thing?  It kind of casts aspersions..

I can tell you that I have witnessed an argument in my own home about the relative merits of Shanghai and another Chinese city - the argument led to shouting and real tears.  This is serious stuff!

Can one of the Shanghai natives in CP comment?

Posted on: 易中天《读城记》

大家好

最近我跟我的上海人的朋友见面，他说上海人从未说： ‘上海虽然大，却不粗‘。 我的朋友觉得‘不粗‘很奇怪。

Posted on: Pregnancy Series 7: Choosing a Name for the Baby

I just had dinner with a Chinese friend who almost never fails to have a joke about our 'given' names; hers 怡婷 yiting (transliteration of EATING) and mine 大胃 dawei (FAT STOMACH).  Actually it is a cheat, on a number of levels, because my name is actually 大伟, which I contend bravely has connotations of a great and powerful person.  :-)  My friend deliberately changes the tone whenever we meet.  Very humorous.      

But it all reminds me of how whole (sometimes painfully repititive) conversations can be sustained on the subject of Chinese names.

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Dongbei

@zhenlijiang, changye

Good post.  Despite what I said about acceptability I would prefer 服务员 in most situations, sometimes 先生 for the dude.  BTW 'dude' has for most of my life been an Americanism, or archaic, but now is used by young people in a jokey way for another person about their own age.  I believe it is a conscious borrowing from American English; an appropriation that signals 'we all know this is American but I'm going to use it anyway because I am amused by the sound'. 

PS.  I would be interested to hear from American poddies on the progressive changes in meaning of the word 'dude' as used by natives.  I doubt that it ever meant anything remotely like 大哥!

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Dongbei

@barbs, rj

As far as I know the alternative use of 小姐 is pretty much all over China, but as RJ says the concern about its use is over-stressed.  If you use it to address a young waitress I don't think it would be considered disrespectful.

This lesson has a strange resonance for me - I feel like the guy.  I spent about three weeks in a certain 东北 city and, because I was ill, and invested so much time and energy in conveying my idiosynchratic meal preferences to the 老板 and cook [eg. tonight I want just an egg, no really, just an egg; tonight I just want vegetable broth] I couldn't be bothered going through it all again at another restuarant.  I ate almost every meal in the same 饺子 restaurant!  They do have a lot of 饺子 variety but after I felt better I managed to work my way through almost every variation of 饺子 on the menu, without really knowing the ingredients.

I do agree that the typical serving size seems to be larger in the north - when I asked for 'just soup' I would get a bowl big enough to serve six people.  And I bought some duck as 小吃 - it was pretty much the whole duck.

Posted on: How Long in China

@cheesypoof

Further to Changye's explanation (which is probably quite complete), this was explained to me in terms of measure words (MW):

一月 yiyue (January) and 一个月 yigeyue (one month)

but

星期一 xingqiyi (Monday) and 一天 yitian (one day)

天 tian & 年 nian act as MWs and 月 yue does not. Because 天 tian does not function as a MW it needs the 个 ge.  This also explains the 几个月， 几天 and 几年 constructions.   

As to why 天 tian (年 nian) acts as a MW and 月 yue does not I cannot help.  Hope this doesn't confuse the matter further.

Posted on: Pregnancy Series 7: Choosing a Name for the Baby

@pete, xuchen, rj

I have also had the 白 foisted on me, sort of.  Some Chinese friends suggested a family name of 柏, arguing that it reflects the sound of my English name, and that this was particularly appropriate because it is a homonym of 白! I resisted the 'white' connotation; I chose to keep the 柏树的柏 character but use the alternative pronunciation bo.

Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Dongbei

@changye

My reason for going 'sightseeing' in Dongbei is precisely because it might not be the first choice for Westerners! 

Anyway, although you are no doubt much more travelled than I am, I am going to disagree a little re. Dongbei - there is beauty to be found in almost every situation.  I have fond memories of lying in an outdoor spa bath gazing up into the rocky mountains in 长白山 (Changbaishan, for those not familiar with what the region has to offer) at dusk - I have not experienced that kind of beauty anywhere else in China.  

Also - the sights in North Korea from the vantage point of Dongbei are also impressive.  While China can be over-developed, the Koreans have not applied the chain-saw to that part of their world yet. :-)

Posted on: 沙漠寻踪三

henning

sadly the explanation is much more prosaic (eg. there are a lot of poddies out there), but global brainwave synch is a very cool idea...

In Australia when this happens (ie. people say the same thing simultaneously in a conversation) we then both say 'SNAP!' - don't ask me why. Might be a reference to the card game called Snap. 

Posted on: 沙漠寻踪三

@changye, pete

Thanks for the background..

The tortoise seems to be the 'odd one out' in the group of four - why is the tortoise considered imaginary?  Is it a torrtoise with some unreal characteristics?  Like the three legged toad used in tea ceremonies?