User Comments - pearltowerpete
pearltowerpete
Posted on: Funny Business, Part Two
June 23, 2009 at 1:39 AMHi christine30550
My quick baidu search did not turn up a satisfactory answer.
But I believe one explanation could lie in an alternate meaning of 活 -- "exactly." We see this in words like 活像 an exact replica or 活样板 a realistic model.
该 could mean "should" here. So we get the sense that this is just (exactly) what should have happened. You did something foolish, 自找苦吃. Anything bad that happened to you is 活该倒霉-- you had it coming.
Please note that I'm not 100% sure about this explanation. I'm sure we're all very curious to see if 长夜叔叔 can provide a more definitive interpretation.
Posted on: Two Poems about Music -- 弹琴 and 听筝
June 23, 2009 at 1:28 AMHi gadab,
Welcome!
Don't worry if you can't understand the poems just by listening. Classical Chinese is very different from modern Chinese. Even native speakers benefit from seeing the text. The first comment for each poetry lesson is the poem and the pinyin. I'm sure that if you follow along in the text, the lesson will make more sense.
I'm looking forward to your questions and comments.
Posted on: 易中天《读城记》
June 22, 2009 at 7:21 AMHi bodawei,
Personally, I agree with your friend on this. The logic of the statement is a little bit like saying "The ant, although it is small, is not blue." I don't feel that a 虽然...但是 is justified here, based purely on logic.
And with all due respect to the distinguished professor, I don't think this is something that most ordinary mortals would say. The entire passage contains a lot of sweeping generalizations that often come from the mouths of those who feel that the essence of a place can be distilled into a few trite bons mots. I have always thought that 易中天 was a pompous blowhard. It takes one to know one, I suppose ;-)
Let's see if we can get a definitive comment from a Shanghai native, though.
Posted on: Pin Number
June 22, 2009 at 5:53 AMHi misterjess,
The voice of experience is 经验之谈.
The voice from the North, my favorite show on Canadian Public Radio, is 北国之声.
The Silk Road is 丝绸之路.
之 is a word from classical Chinese which roughly corresponds to the modern 的.
Posted on: Big Bed
June 22, 2009 at 3:38 AMHowdy redbeard,
Thanks for an interesting question. The 了 in the dialogue implies that they don't have any standard rooms left. They used to have them, but they're all full. If the hotel just didn't have them, you would not need the 了.
However, as a cultural point, many people will be reluctant to tell you that they never were able to provide the good or service you are seeking. Many times I have asked a DVD salesman if he or she has a particular movie, only to hear 没了. It is very likely that they never did have the movie (or that the restaurant never did have that ingredient, etc.) but they think if you knew that, you might not come back.
Plus, sometimes 了 (or even 啦） is added just as a way of making the tone seem softer and less abrupt. I would say that's what's going on in the last sentence.
Posted on: Going to Church
June 22, 2009 at 3:20 AMHi ymbt,
Please take your evangelism elsewhere. This board is for studying Chinese.
Posted on: Pin Number
June 22, 2009 at 3:11 AMHi all,
Another interesting character point:
输 has several meanings. In the lesson, we see it in the context of 输入, to type in, to enter (text or numbers into a computer system). Google Pinyin is a 输入法.
But in the expansion we have one sentence where it is used as you probably first learned it-- "to lose."
It can also be used to mean "to transport," as in 运输. This meaning makes sense when we consider the 车 on the left side, implying "transportation."
Posted on: 沙漠寻踪三
June 22, 2009 at 2:58 AMHi tvan and changye,
这边的缝字是缝衣服的缝, seam 的意思。 可以从左边的丝字旁看出一点意思。The seam between your teeth.
Posted on: Two Poems about Music -- 弹琴 and 听筝
June 23, 2009 at 1:42 AMHi wilsonwan,
这首词非常感动。谢谢你在我们forum 留言。