User Comments - pearltowerpete

Posted on: Do You Know That Girl?

Hi tal,

Above is the 山寨 version of the song! Almost as good as the real thing, eh? I didn't feel right just ripping off the entire line word for word.

*glorious tongue roll*

Posted on: Do You Know That Girl?

Hi fukufukuaug2009

That's an interesting point. I will discuss it with the rest of the team.

Posted on: Hot and Cool 热, 烫 , 凉 , 冷

Hi liwei,

老乡！Plattsburgh-- now that's really upstate!

It's a small world after all.

Hi changbiyuan,

I agree-- in most parts of the world, boiling water is a necessity. Interestingly, tea has also been shown to have some germ-killing capabilities. Maybe it's the tannins?

Posted on: Is China Scary?

Hi all,

Congratulations on the basically respectful tone of the discussion of a fairly heated topic. Such discussions easily deteriorate into chaos. I hope everyone continues to exchange their views.

But please remember that we are trying to keep the discussion boards lesson-focused. On this board we are talking about China. Also, as is is an Upper Int. lesson, it would be great to see more comments in Chinese.

Please start a separate discussion post for the issues of nuclear warfare, conspiracy theories, and the evils of various governments.

Posted on: Pair, Set, Match 双, 副, 对 , 套

Hello all,

Courtesy of Connie, here are today's sentences.

一对夫妻yī duì fūqī
A husband and wife

一对情侣yī duì qínglǚ
A pair of lovers

一对爱人yī duì àiren
A pair of lovers

一对双胞胎yī duì shuāngbāotāi
A pair of twins

一双眼睛yī shuāng yǎnjing
A pair of eyes

一双耳朵yī shuāng ěrduo
A pair of ears

一双脚yī shuāng jiǎo
A pair of feet

一双手yī shuāng shǒu
A pair of hands

双手双脚shuāng shǒu shuāng jiǎo
Both hands and both feet

一双鞋子yī shuāng xiézi
A pair of shoes

一双袜子yī shuāng wàzi
A pair of socks

一条裤子yī tiáo kùzi
A pair of pants

一双筷子yī shuāng kuàizi
A pair of chopsticks

一副眼镜yī fù yǎnjìng
A pair of glasses

一副手套yī fù shǒutào
A pair of gloves

一副对联yī fù duìlián
A pair of couplets (hung beside the door on Chinese New Year)

一套《哈利波特》yī tào “Hālì bōtè”
A set of "Harry Potter"

我家里有一套《哈利波特》的书。
Wǒ jiā lǐ yǒu yī tào “Hālì bōtè” de shū.
I have a set of "Harry Potter" books at home.

一套房子yī tào fángzi
A house

一套西服（西装）yī tào xīfú (xīzhuāng)
A suit
 
一套家具yī tào jiāju
A set of furniture

一套瓷器yī tào cíqì
A set of china (porcelain)

一套套娃yī tào tàowá
A set of carved nesting dolls (matryoshka)
 
一只耳朵yī zhī ěrduo
An ear

一只眼睛yī zhī yǎnjing
An eye

一只手yī zhī shǒu
A hand

两只耳朵liǎng zhī ěrduo
Two ears

两只眼睛liǎng zhī yǎnjing
Two eyes

Hi dabaitu,

You can use 双 with 腿. Correction: People do say this but it's non-standard. Use 条 instead.

Hi xueny

Both forms are OK. Many verbs allow you to form questions in this way. For example, you will often hear people say 你喜不喜欢...

As this way is quicker and feels like less of an obstacle course for your tongue, it is more common (in my experience.)

Posted on: Is China Scary?

Hi kramonda,

负面的意思就是“坏的，消极的一面；反面：负面效果，负面影响 ”(现代汉语词典2002）. 而“贬义”的意思是“字句里含有不赞成或坏的意思。”

两个词都有一点像“negative," 但用法不一样。负面是说 effects, portrayal, news, 而贬义是讲 connotation 的。

As a side note, the movies that Chinese audiences see aren't exactly like the ones Westerners get to see. 政府会在背后做手脚。拿“色,戒”来讲,中国大陆的版本里面“戒"多，"色"比较少。

Posted on: Pop Music and Pop Culture

Hi martinphipps,

I think they are talking about Pop Rocks!

Posted on: 80后民工开博炮轰城里人

Hi changye,

其实我从来没丢过手机。而且我的观点跟你一样，只要能收发短信，就行了，不用它来争面子， 呵呵。

Posted on: Bank Hours

Hi stevebroderick,

Thanks for this feedback. I am forwarding it to John. It helps us plan and improve our lessons.

Posted on: Amusement Park

Hi Kimiik,

As far as I knew, 狗胆包天 just meant "extremely nervy or bold (in a bad way)." I had no idea there was a dish named after it! :-0

As for the gall bladder, there is a cruel practice in parts of Asia of "milking" the bile from a living bear. People will pay big money for this product, which they believe will help their immune systems and do all kinds of miraculous things.

There is a famous proverb that you are probably familiar with: 吃什么，补什么-- you fortify/bolster what you eat, i.e. eat a lot of brains and you'll get smarter, etc. Guess what body parts people are most interested in 补-ing?