User Comments - calicartel
calicartel
Posted on: 谋杀案
June 20, 2009 at 5:09 AMLast line: "我们经过对现场细致的检查". Shouldn't this be "我们经过对现场细致地检查"? In other words the adverbial "地" instead of the possessive "的" particle? If "检查" is regarded as the verb (the pop-up in the dialogue section says "to inspect") "细致" must be an adverb: "We thouroughly inspected..."
Posted on: Buying a House
June 17, 2009 at 8:21 AMconnie said 
6 hours ago
“条” is the measure word for "光棍儿".
I see, but why does it stand after the word it modifies? Measure words usually precede the noun. i would expect the sequence to read 我是一条光棍儿".
Posted on: Buying a House
June 16, 2009 at 3:45 PM"而且我光棍儿一条" : I'm still not clear what this "一条" is doing here? It's a measure word for apartments. The translation is "I'm single", but that would be "我光棍儿", period. Is he saying "I'm single and I live in an apartment" ? Or "I'm single and I'm an apartment kind of guy" ?
Posted on: Funny Business, Part Two
June 15, 2009 at 9:28 AMSome more look-ups, from MDBG as usual:
乒乓 ping1 pang1 ping-pong
怀疑 huai2 yi2 to doubt / to suspect
便宜 bian4 yi2 convenient
故意 gu4 yi4 deliberately / on purpose
喝醉 he1 zui4 to get drunk
粗语 cu1 yu3 rude words / dirty talk
充满 chong1 man3 full of / brimming with / very full
签证 qian1 zheng4 visa / certificate / to certify
限制 xian4 zhi4 to restrict; to limit; to confine / restriction
自由 zi4 you2 freedom / free
考查 kao3 cha2 investigate / study
领事馆 ling3 shi4 guan3 consulate
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 11: Wang in the Doghouse
May 28, 2009 at 8:49 AMrjberki says "the appropriateness of any expression and the situations it can be used in are often revealed by the literal translations. You are doing me no favors by being cute with translations." I would like to qualify this. It depends of course on what you mean by "litteral". If it means "word-for-word" it's bad. I think CP translations should reflect the full meaning of the original (ie they should not shorten the original like film subtitles do). However in no circumstance should they be litteral translations! Many podders don't have English as their native language and the last thing they want when learning Chinese is to ingest incorrect English generated by a litteral rendering of Chinese syntax. Chinese syntax should be understood and disentangled but doing so through litteral translations is not the way to go. On a similar note, user comments on CP translations are constructive and useful for they help pinpoint subtleties. Regarding the debate of US vs other types of English, I think the best way around this is to use standard, even stilted English if need be, rather than try to hit the bull's eye with idiomatic expressions all the time.
P.S. There are slight volume problems in this podcast but they are nowhere near as bad as in some other recent podcasts (eg "Depression").
Posted on: Health Check
May 26, 2009 at 3:34 PMThe lesson, or at least the doc in the lesson, gives the impression that increased uric acid levels in the blood are due to booze or high-calorie intake. In fact (uric acid being nitrogenous waste from protein break-down) it is due to a high-protein diet, something Chinese people haven't been genetically primed for. Never mind, here are some additional look-ups. As usual from MDBG. Terms between brackets are given for context and do not appear as such in the lesson.
(检 jian3 to check / to examine / to inspect)
(体格检查 ti3 ge2 jian3 cha2 physical examination / health check-up)
(碍 ai4 obstruct, hinder, block, deter)
(谘询员 zi1 xun2 yuan2 consultant)
标准 biao1 zhun3 (an official) standard
过于 guo4 yu2 too much / excessively
(脂肪酸 zhi1 fang2 suan1 fatty acid)
(不饱和脂肪酸 bu4 bao3 he2 zhi1 fang2 suan1 unsaturated fatty acid)
后果 hou4 guo3 consequences / aftermath
骨头 gu3 tou5 bone
(酬 chou2 toast; reward, recompense)
食物 shi2 wu4 food
富贵 fu4 gui4 riches and honor
穷 qiong2 poor
随即 sui2 ji2 immediately / presently / following which
摸 mo1 to feel with the hand / to touch
吓 xia4 to frighten / to scare
Posted on: Funny Business
May 15, 2009 at 2:58 PMP.S. : My penny dropped regarding the switch to simplified !
Posted on: Funny Business
May 10, 2009 at 8:45 AMI've started using the dowloadable audio review and I must say it does a great job reinforcing key points. Especially so the sentences. I'd rather have had the sentences seperate from the vocab but fastforwarding to the desired spot is not that difficult on my Zen Nano Plus (a Chinese brand I think). Repeating selected sentences rather than covering them all was the right choice. Well done CP !
Posted on: Funny Business
May 8, 2009 at 7:39 PMFrom MDBG. Terms between brackets are terms I added for context.
- 正规 zheng4 gui1 regular / according to standards
- 金融 jin1 rong2 banking / finance / financial
- (融 rong2 harmonious melt / mild)
- 出差 chu1 chai1 to go on a business trip
- 场合 chang3 he2 situation / occasion
- 支出 zhi1 chu1 to spend / to pay out / expense
- 人口 ren2 kou3 population
- 全世界 quan2 shi4 jie4 worldwide / entire world
- 诚实 cheng2 shi2 honest / honesty / honorable / truthful
- 减 jian3 to lower / to decrease / to reduce / to subtract
- 削 xue1 to reduce / to pare (away) / to cut (down)
- 刀 dao1 knife
- 正确 zheng4 que4 correct / proper
- 脉 mai4 arteries and veins
- 维持 wei2 chi2 to keep / to maintain / to preserve
- 放弃 fang4 qi4 to renounce / to abandon / to give up
- 锋利 feng1 li4 sharp (e.g. knife blade)
- 关键 guan1 jian4 crucial / key / pivotal
- 代替 dai4 ti4 instead / to replace / to substitute
- 状况 zhuang4 kuang4 condition / state
- 整个 zheng3 ge4 whole / entire / total
- 方向 fang1 xiang4 direction / orientation / path to follow
- 隐瞒 yin3 man2 to conceal / to hide (a taboo subject) / to cover up the truth
- 天真 tian1 zhen1 naive / innocent / artless
- 毕竟 bi4 jing4 after all / all in all
- (毕业 bi4 ye4 graduation / to graduate / to finish school)
- 类 lei4 kind / type / class / category
- 生动 sheng1 dong4 vivid
Posted on: 谋杀案
June 20, 2009 at 11:17 AMIn the dialogue pop-up, 朝天 is defined as "towards" while it seems that only 朝 has that meaning, 朝天 meaning instead "looking skywards".