User Comments - darylk

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darylk

Posted on: Abducted by Aliens
August 18, 2007 at 3:02 AM

This lesson deserves a 5 for sure. No other lesson has made me laugh so much You guys are truly "pod people."

Posted on: Abducted by Aliens
August 18, 2007 at 2:34 AM

Can't wait to listen to this one. It sounds deliciously weird!

Posted on: To Bow or Not to Bow
August 16, 2007 at 3:21 PM

Interesting words in today's less: the character for gong1 looks like it's composed of the character for body and the character for bending like a bow, which is a pretty good description of a formal bow. Also, it looks as if jianmian literally means "see the face"--so that'll be an easy word to remember.

Posted on: Someone needs a shower
August 14, 2007 at 1:15 PM

Not sure what to think. Maybe the original meaning of the character wan2 was, as John suggests, "ball" and that has been adapted over time? In the dictionary I use, wan2 appears in gao1wan2 (testicles) and yao4wan2 (medicine pill). These words likely predate the modern invention of the bullet (smile).

Posted on: Someone needs a shower
August 14, 2007 at 12:25 AM

Are you sure that the one character is a bullet Bazza? My dictionary doesn't give that particular character as a possible way of writing "bullet".

Posted on: Someone needs a shower
August 13, 2007 at 3:24 PM

Thanks for the helpful clarification Jenny. Going to my Chinese zidian, I see that "yu4" does indeed figure in the word for bathtub yu4gang1 and bathroom yu4shi4. The character for yu4 apparently means "water in the valley", which is, if one thinks about it, a pretty good description of a bathtub!

Posted on: Someone needs a shower
August 13, 2007 at 2:01 PM

I wish I had known this word xi3zao3 last summer. In Taiwan, they use a different word--xia4yu4. At least I think those are the right tones. I was forever being laughed at by my Chinese friends because they thought I was saying xia4yu3, which means "to rain." Do mainland Chinese also use this alternate form xiayu to say "shower"? If so, is the word pronounced with 2 fourth tones?

Posted on: Really Good Food
August 10, 2007 at 2:25 AM

How do you say "really ok"? Do you say "Zhen de hao le"?

Posted on: Free Association
July 31, 2007 at 1:54 PM

I should have known that Chinese psychologists begin by talking about food--bao1zi. This woman gives off rather negative vibes--is this Lili??

Posted on: What meat is this?
July 30, 2007 at 9:06 PM

I've eaten both snake and dog meat in southern China. I was warned to be especially careful when eating snake because the bones are shaped like little pointy "v's" and easily get caught in the throat.