User Comments - jennyzhu
jennyzhu
Posted on: Making Dumplings
January 29, 2009 at 2:30 AMsushan,
面粉/mian4 fen3 is flour (generally made from wheat). We don't distuiguish 粉 (which means powder) by which type of food it makes, e.g. 饺子粉、包子粉。Different types of flour is indicated by the kind of raw material it is made from. For example, 大麦面粉/da4 mai4 mian4 fen3/barley flour, 荞麦面粉/qiao2 mai4 mian4 fen3/buckwheat flour。
Posted on: New Clothes
January 29, 2009 at 2:06 AMGood graphic today as traditionally red was the colour of choice for new year clothes. Now, we are less bound by it and embrace all colours.
Posted on: 麻将风波
January 28, 2009 at 5:11 AM祝大家新年快乐！我今年过年没有打到麻将，比较失望。下面是中国各地的麻将规则，很复杂，我都看不懂。不过麻将这种东西，看不会，一定要打。大家有兴趣可以在网上打，学习一下。
http://zhidao.baidu.com/question/3550396.html
Posted on: Gong Xi Fa Cai!
January 26, 2009 at 7:16 AMHappy new year to you all! And thank you for your new year greetings. 祝大家新年快乐！I celebrated in true Chinese fashion, lighting off loads of fireworks!
Posted on: Slang-ular Momentum
January 25, 2009 at 5:20 AMI still have problem using some of these online language. Too cutesy.
tvan,
886 is 拜拜咯，咯 makes a sentence sounds more uplifting.
snater,
Interesting you used 囧 (jiong3). It's what many call 火星语/huo3 xing1 yu3/Martian language, invented by the generation born in the 90's. They began to use extremely obscure and sometimes self made Chinese characters to communicate online as an expression of group identity.
Posted on: Hanging Up the Phone
January 22, 2009 at 8:34 AMbaihuilin,
就这样了，拜拜/jiu4 zhe4yang le, bai4bai4 is common too. 就这样了 means we leave it there, that's all.
There aren't huge regional differences in phone language. And the ones that do exist are more due to the different speech habit than phone specific. For example, in Shanghai, we use 好了 to mean 'that's all', 'that's it'. People in the North use 行了 to mean the same thing.
Posted on: Hanging Up the Phone
January 22, 2009 at 8:29 AMsushan,
Does the abrupt hanging up happen when your students use English on the phone? I still feel awkward when talking to people I am not very familiar with on the phone using English. My command of English isn't intuitive enough I think.
Posted on: 北京人上海人眼中的中国地图
January 21, 2009 at 8:28 AM我觉得在中国，河南人、安徽人比较被歧视。
Posted on: Plants Need Watering
January 20, 2009 at 2:57 AMSo well explained, azzote! Yes, 快乐 is a more lasting and general state of mind than 高兴。 For example, 我喜欢我的工作，我很快乐。/wo3 xi3 huan1 wo3 de gong1 zuo4, wo3 hen3 kuai4 le4./ I'm very happy with my job.
见到你我真高兴。/ jian4 dao4 ni3 wo3 zhen1 gao1 xin4./I'm so happy to see you.
An even deeper sense of happiness is 幸福/xing4 fu2/, which means blessed.
wangjason,
If the sentence is 你为什么不快乐？It would indicate a more permanent state of unhappiness.
Posted on: New Clothes
January 30, 2009 at 2:46 AMrealqueen,
Do you have the same problem with any other words? It is likely to be a tech glitch. This week, we are all off for Chinese New Year. I'll talk to the tech team next week. Sorry for the inconvenience caused.
Happy 牛 year to you too!