User Comments - bodawei
bodawei
Posted on: Eating Dead Flesh 猪吃死人肉
February 22, 2009 at 4:28 AMPete
As a newcomer to ChinesePod it seems I joined at the right time - I look forward to each new poem. I'm very new to Chinese poetry too but I have an informal (native speaker) 'teacher' introducing me. For what it's worth she is appalled by this poem! 'Disgusting. It is not a poem! I will show you beautiful poems'. I wonder how general this attitude is in China? My 'teacher' does say she should have been born in the 宋代。 Anyway。。can you give us your take on the transition from 宋诗 to 宋词？ Why is the latter considered a 'higher' form of literature (by my 'teacher'!)? BTW I wouldn't ask this if I was able to understand her explanation.
Posted on: Pregnancy Series 3: Prenatal Checkup
February 18, 2009 at 11:39 AMBTW .. I love these lessons on medical or hospital subjects - I'm a Chinese hospital junkie. I don't know what other people think but in my experience there is a lot to learn from the way they organise healthcare, from big name hospitals down to the local community health centres. Admittedly some of the methods seem archaic & some of the drugs are a generation behind. But I have found the Chinese public system both caring and functional. Besides major procedures (I haven't had heart surgery in China) and avoiding the VIP rooms I have been left with considerable confidence in the system. Maybe this is more a comment on the rather sorry state of the Australian system ..
Posted on: Pregnancy Series 3: Prenatal Checkup
February 18, 2009 at 11:20 AMDear Pete
Thanks for the 'B超' explanation but I think I'm out of my depth.. Is that 'B' type ultrasound in English - B standing for brightness modulation. Or should I stop trying to translate?
Posted on: Pregnancy Series 3: Prenatal Checkup
February 18, 2009 at 9:36 AMwhat's the B in B超？ Is it a reference to 波的音波 yinbo (sound waves)? (Long shot). Ultra sound waves?
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 8: Trimming the Fat at the Office
February 18, 2009 at 4:22 AM@Pete - 'trimming the fat'
I did work that one out - but it is interesting that the world of metaphor is highly regional.
Then again the world of business is pretty global - & managers love pulling the wool over your eyes don't they? A manager in the real world would blanch at the visceral term 'trimming the fat'; she'd call it restructuring or downsizing. She'd blame the GFC.
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 8: Trimming the Fat at the Office
February 17, 2009 at 2:22 AMrjberki and tomtomtom
thanks for the defintions of 'where do you get off' in Americahua. I assumed it meant that pleasure was obtained through the sacking .. but that would be an unlikely translation of the Chinese.
Which just shows that despite the best efforts of Microsoft and Hollywood English retains its dialects.
BTW Melvyn Bragg points out that the English used to go the US to study a pure form of the language (before the US also developed its dialects)
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 8: Trimming the Fat at the Office
February 16, 2009 at 5:51 AMEnjoyed the lesson - very handy. The 'English' translations are as fascinating as the Chinese - speaking as an Australian 'Where do you get off firing me?' would mean ..?? I don't really know, it sounds sexual to me. Ah.. the American turn of phrase, I'll never understand it.
Posted on: 学术抄袭
February 12, 2009 at 11:32 AMTeachers have to decide what is plagiarism - in academia there are 'rules' like if something has been stated in five different sources without referencing it is considered 'common knowledge' (which doesn't have to be cited). Anything quoted or paraphrased (unless original) needs a reference. So at some stage things/facts/situations/findings become common knowledge.
Posted on: Dreams of the Departed 陇西行
February 24, 2009 at 6:42 AMHi Pete
I'm loving the poems - beautifully read and interpreted. This one has a title 陇西行- should it be read right to left in the old way? travel west to Long?