User Comments - pearltowerpete
pearltowerpete
Posted on: Kungpao Chicken
July 5, 2009 at 8:22 AMHi svik and rjberki
You are correct-- as it is currently used in the mainland, a 斤 is a half kilogram, 500 g.
But the exact value of the jin hopped around a lot over the years. Until fairly recently, a jin consisted of 16 liang 两, a unit of measure you usually see used with alcohol or dumplings, now equal to 50 g. But now of course it's equal to 10 两。 We get a reminder of the old measure in the phrase 半斤八两, equivalent to the English "six of one, half a dozen of the other."
Here's an interesting article on the regional differences between Mainland China and the renegade province.
This may be more information than you'd like, but if you're interested:
From Endymion Wilkinson's invaluable Chinese History：A Manual
In 1930, the Nanjing government accepted a proposal to link existing measures to the metric system by the so-called one-two-three system:
1 市升 ｍａｒｋｅｔ ｐｅｃｋ = 1 公升 Liｔｅｒ
２ 市斤 ｍａｒｋｅｔ ｃａｔｔｙ ＝ １ 公斤 ｋｉｌｏｇｒａｍ
３ 市尺 ｍａｒｋｅｔ ｆｏｏｔ ＝ １ 公尺 ｍｅｔｅｒ
He goes on to note that "There was little headway. The metric system was again promulgated in 1959." It was made the only official system in 1990 but the market system remains widely popular.
But to add to svik's remark, many Americans may recognize the rough equivalency between 3 "market feet" and one meter. It is indeed a nice way to go metric.
Finally, I cannot recommend Wilkinson's book highly enough. If you are serious about doing research in Chinese history, it is essential.
Posted on: Hate is a Very Strong Word
July 4, 2009 at 9:00 AMHi raygo
Ha, I had never heard of that song! Very interesting. Actually the "fear/love" thing was something that my mom said to me a long time ago. I'm not sure where she got the idea, or if she came up with it herself.
Hi henning
嫌 is close to the English "to be bothered by (some negative adjective.)” So you can say something like 我嫌这件衣服贵 or 他嫌这道菜太淡 etc. It's not as strong as "to hate."
Hi go_manly
It would be best to put it in a Google Doc and then share the link with everyone-- you could start your own conversation on the "Community Page" where you announce it.
Thank you for putting in the time to compile that list.
Posted on: Hate is a Very Strong Word
July 4, 2009 at 1:30 AMHi all,
Courtesy of Connie, here are today's sentences.
我讨厌吃香菜。
Wǒ tǎoyàn chī xiāngcài.
I strongly dislike cilantro.
我最讨厌一种人。
Wǒ zuì tǎoyàn yī zhǒng rén.
I really dislike a kind of person.
我最讨厌在车上吸烟的人。
Wǒ zuì tǎoyàn zài chē shàng xīyān de rén.
I really can't stand people who smoke on the bus.
你最讨厌什么？
Nǐ zuì tǎoyàn shénme?
What do you dislike the most?
我最讨厌滥用资源的那些人。
Wǒ zuì tǎoyàn lànyòng zīyuán de nàxiē rén.
I really can't stand people who waste a lot of resources.
最讨厌拍马屁的人。
Zuì tǎoyàn pāi mǎpì de rén.
I most dislike people who kiss up a lot.
马屁精
mǎpìjīng
a flatterer
我的电脑老是死机，哎呀，真讨厌！
Wǒ de diànnǎo lǎoshi sǐ jī, āiyā, zhēn tǎoyàn!
My computer is always freezing up. It's such a pain!
我是觉得，每天开电脑的时候，msn messenger就会popup,真讨厌！
Wǒ shì juéde, měitiān kāi diànnǎo de shíhou, msn messenger jiù huì popup, zhēn tǎoyàn!
I think, everyday when I turn on my computer, msn messenger pops up. What a pain!
我觉得这是一件很讨厌的事情。
Wǒ juéde zhè shì yī jiàn hěn tǎoyàn de shìqing.
I think it's really annoying.
你的中文比我好太好了，讨厌！讨厌！
Nǐ de Zhōngwén bǐ wǒ hǎo tài hǎole, tǎoyàn! tǎoyàn!
Your Chinese is so much better than mine! I can't stand it!
撒娇sājiāo
acting like you dislike someone in a flirty way.
哎呀，你真讨厌，又不给我打电话。
āiyā, nǐ zhēn tǎoyàn, yòu bùjǐ wǒ dǎ diànhuà.
Ah, you're such a pain, you didn't call me again!
我不喜欢吃香菜。
Wǒ bù xǐhuan chī xiāngcài.
I don't like cilantro.
我不喜欢吃牛肉。
Wǒ bù xǐhuan chī niúròu.
I don't like to eat beef.
我不爱你。
Wǒ bù ài nǐ.
I don't love you.
我不爱吃牛肉。
Wǒ bù ài chī niúròu.
I don't care for beef.
深仇大恨shēnchóudàhèn
Deep hatred
对他们恨之入骨。
duì tāmen hènzhīrùgǔ.
To hate them in your bones.
有人抢了我的男朋友，我恨死她。
Yǒurén qiǎng le wǒ de nánpéngyou, wǒ hènsǐ tā.
Someone stole my boyfriend. I hate her!
你应该两个都恨。
Nǐ yīnggāi liǎng ge dōu hèn.
You should hate both of them.
很多人很恨他。
Hěn duō rén hěn hèn tā.
我恨战争，爱和平。
Wǒ hèn zhànzhēng, ài hépíng.
I hate war and love peace.
Jenny是个很有正义感的人。
Jenny shì ge hěn yǒu zhèngyìgǎn de rén.
Jenny has a great sense of justice.
我的电脑老是死机，我恨死我的电脑了。
Wǒ de diànnǎo lǎoshi sǐ jī, wǒ hènsǐ wǒ de diànnǎo le.
My computer always freezes up. I just can't stand my computer!
手机充值，每次充值要按几十个数字，恨死这个充值了。
Shǒujī chōngzhí, měicì chōngzhí yào àn jǐshí ge shùzì, hènsǐ zhège chōngzhí le.
When you want to recharge your cellphone, you have to type in a few dozen numbers. I really can't stand recharging my balance.
恨死这个系统了。
Hènsǐ zhège xìtǒng le.
I really can't stand this system.
我讨厌吃番茄。
Wǒ tǎoyàn chī fānqié.
I can't stand tomatoes.
Pete最讨厌浪费资源的人。
Pete zuì tǎoyàn làngfèi zīyuán de rén.
Pete can't stand people who waste resources.
身份证丢了，非常讨厌。
Shēnfènzhèng diū le, fēicháng tǎoyàn.
What a pain it is when you lose your ID card!
我恨小偷。
Wǒ hèn xiǎotōu.
I hate thieves.
Posted on: 武松打虎
July 3, 2009 at 1:36 AM”小二” 就是我们现代的“服务员。” 在中国大陆的一些饭馆，叫“服务员”没人理你，只好说“小二，” 他们是故意的搞古老风情，挺有意思。 有一点像西方的“theme restaurants.”
Posted on: Buying a Custom-Built Computer
July 1, 2009 at 1:25 AMHi calicartel,
You are right. A more accurate version would be “If you buy this laptop now, you can get a free upgrade to 1G. It's a very good deal."
Posted on: Love Tangle 1: A Suspicious Text Message
July 1, 2009 at 1:16 AMHi bababardwan,
That mystery intro writer must be a big fan of the King of Rock and Roll. Couldn't say for sure who he (or she) could be, though...
Posted on: The Olympic Marathon
July 1, 2009 at 1:13 AMHowdy redbeard,
呢 is an flexible word that appears in a couple different kinds of constructions. You probably first learned it as a way of returning a question-- 我姓王，你呢？ My surname is Wang-- how about you?
Here, the 呢 is expressing affirmation. It is reinforcing the sense that the speaker thinks that marathons are difficult, and that the fact should be pretty obvious. You could leave the 呢 off but the sentence would sound a bit abrupt.
Posted on: Job Interview
June 30, 2009 at 3:32 AMHi raygo,
The word 精神 is very interesting. It can mean your mental energy--- when you need to concentrate or focus your mind, you have to 集中精神.
But it can also be used in the even more abstract way that you illustrated with 团队精神.
A lot of propaganda reminds people to "carry out the spirit of (some place where a great decision or meeting took place). Probably the most famous is "the Spirit of Yanan,"延安精神. This was where the CCP built itself up after the disastrous Long March. The Spirit of Yanan refers to hard work, discipline, and communist vigor.
Posted on: Are You Free?
June 30, 2009 at 2:07 AMHi sydcarten and namename1011
You're right, the pronunciation does vary a bit from the standard "wei." But these kinds of variations do happen in China. Many people say something closer to "vei" or "lei" as you suggest.
And while the picture is colorful and lively, I think the dialogue makes it clear that nothing sexy is going to happen here ;-)
Posted on: Kungpao Chicken
July 5, 2009 at 11:50 AMHi bodawei,
For modern learners, the most useful way of translating 斤 is definitely "half a kilogram or about a pound (for Yanks.)"
The word "catty" has a wonderful old-timey feel to it. It makes me think of musty, sepia toned postcards from exotic places like Peking and Sinkiang ;-） There are all kinds of exotic weights and measures, some still widely used in China. For example, if you work in factories or real estate or farming, you'll get familiar with the 亩 mu, a unit of area.
But I agree, the most useful way to think of these, at least until you have enough real world experience to know how many apples in a 斤, is as by their Western equivalents.