User Comments - christine30550

Posted on: All the Things You Can Hit: 打 (dǎ)

I recently came across a sentence

国王打这里经过 (da3 ze4 li3 jing1 guo4)

and learned that here, 打 has the meaning of 从 (and therefore is not used as a verb), so the sentence sould mean that the king passed through (this street or wherever). In the same way, I was told that one can say

打今天开始 (meaning 从今天开始, from today on).

Posted on: Being Vague: 大概 (dàgài), 左右 (zuǒyòu), 上下 (shàngxià)

I remember learning (age) 来岁 (lai2 sui4) for indicating your age, but I have forgotten the actual meaning.

If I say 我三十来岁, am I

a) turning thirty soon, or

b) around thirty years old (either slightly below or above), or am I

c) over thirty?

Posted on: Chinese Characters and the History of Sex in China

Hi Changye

Wow, that's really interesting (where do you get all this 知识 from?) Many thanks, also to Pete and Crandles, for your explanations.

Personally, I think "強" looks much nicer than "强".

I've never seen Hiragana handwriting, that letter looks beautiful (but how on earth could anyone decipher it...?).

Pete, what a coincidence, I just learned the phrase

不孝有三，無后為大

this afternoon! Yeah, funny how these ancient sayings still are very much alive in modern life.

Posted on: Chinese Characters and the History of Sex in China

Interesting topics! A question about the conversion of traditional characters into simplified ones: I noticed that occasionally, the simplified character would have more strokes than the traditional one, such as with the character "qiang" (strong), which is

強 (trad.), and 强 (simplified).

Why is this, what was the logic behind the simplification, did the "simplifiers" draw on some older- but simplified - forms that already existed in calligraphy?

Also, somewhere in some temple I remember seeing an old calligraphy tablet where the character 德 was written without the 横 (horizontal stroke) above the heart. Could it be that (some) characters were quite flexible and that there was more than one correct form in ancient calligraphy?

..... or did the lao shu fa jia just make a mistake? :-)

Posted on: I can't find my glasses!

Hi user5002

To change your username: choose "Me" on the black menu bar at the top of the page, then choose the grey tab "profile", then "update profile" to edit.

I just recently changed my anonymous "user..."-identity, too.

Posted on: “混在中国”最字榜

Hi elpeggy,

Many thanks for your feedback. Yes, there is a big difference between university educated people and, say, taxi drivers to whom we are usually all *你们*-plural (the latter are great 口语老师, though). The former often surprise me with their knowledge of German, French etc. poets, writers and artists. I know not half as much about Chinese literary works and figures as they do about those from the Western culture.

另外，谢谢你解释中国人对“老外”这个概念的理解。对我来说，foreigner 则只是“非本地（本国家）人”，因此，这不是固定的一种“状态”。比如，我在全球就是个foreigner, 只是在自己国家才作为本地人.

Posted on: “混在中国”最字榜

我想问一下中国朋友们:"老外"到底指所有的外国人吗? 还是光指Caucasians (美欧的)? 来自泰国,越南,印度,非洲的人也叫"老外"吗?

我个人对"老外"这个称呼没有什么介意. 但开始的时候 (the first time I spent time in China in 1997) 我很讨厌.那个时候,我感觉这个称呼不太尊敬人,可能我也有点儿理解错了.但现在觉得没有什么.

不过,中国人经常对外国人 (或再具体地说, 对Caucasians, 就是"老外") 混为一谈 (can I use this one here?). 比如,人家会对我说: "你们(外国人)喜欢吃面包,是把?"等. So whatever I answer, I feel I am representing the entire 外国world to the person asking the question.. whereas I can really only speak for my own little country (or perhaps some of the Western European countries).

而且,很有意思的是,有一些中国人来欧洲旅游的时候也会称周围的本地人"老外"(其实,那时,中国游客就是作为老外).

Posted on: “混在中国”最字榜

谢谢Jenny and Changye，

我看，“刺”这个字很有用! I will add  “刺耳”, “刺眼” and “刺鼻” to my active vocabulary, for all those "piercing" sights, smells and sounds out there :-)

Posted on: “混在中国”最字榜

大家好！

是很有意思的课程。我在中国最不能忍受的是自行车或电动车刹( 煞?)车时的 screeching noise (汉语应该怎么说呢?)。 我觉得真受不了。是不是很多自行车缺了（或者没有换掉） 刹车片?

最喜欢的，除了中餐以外，是在中国随时随地都可以发生很多在意料之外的事情，走路的时候也可以发现和观察很多小事情。而且，我觉得中国人are naturally curious (汉语应该怎么说?)，所以和他们交流，聊天，开玩笑很容易。

至于美女的标准或者概括地说起外貌，我发现中国人一般很注意人的鼻子，而最重要的不一定是眼睛。People comment on my nose much more (and it's not particular in any way) than on my eyes.

Much harder (and slower!) to write in Chinese, but good exercise. Anyone who can correct my mistakes or help with my missing vocab above, please do, I would really appreciate!

Cheers, Christine

Posted on: Birth by Chinese Zodiac

I noticed a lot of pregnant women last year - the Year of the Golden Pig -  and Chinese friends told me that indeed many people believed in the good fortune of having a Golden Pig child (or, for that matter, an 奥运宝宝, Olympic kid, if born in 2008).

Unfortunately, I am a a mere 普通 pig (no gold) - but hope I won't be eaten too soon! Last year, people would often tell me, ah, it's your 本命年 (your year), and I could never figure out whether that was a good or a bad thing. It seems, though, that people would be extra cautious during that year and wear red accessories (belts, bracelets, or underwear) to protect themselves.