User Comments - pearltowerpete
pearltowerpete
Posted on: Sympathy for the Farmers -- 悯农
May 17, 2009 at 11:54 AMThanks, humanitad. I will check this book out for sure.
Posted on: Hot and Cool 热, 烫 , 凉 , 冷
May 16, 2009 at 4:34 AMHi all,
Courtesy of Connie, here are the sentences:
天气可以说“热”。Tiānqì kěyǐ shuō “rè”.
比如说：今天真热。Bǐrú shuō：jīntiān zhēn rè.
上海的夏天非常非常热。Shànghǎi de xiàtiān fēicháng fēicháng rè.
你们热吗？有点热。Nǐmen rè ma？Yǒudiǎn rè.
几度？我觉得三十度以上。Jǐ dù? Wǒ juéde sānshí dù yǐshàng.
我觉得外国人都是这样，你们都特别怕热。
Wǒ juéde wàiguórén dōu shì zhèyàng, nǐmen dōu tèbié pàrè.
我们中国人都很喜欢喝热的，吃热的。
Wǒmen Zhōngguórén dōu hěn xǐhuan hē rè de, chī rè de.
热菜rè cài
还有一个热的东西，美国朋友应该很喜欢。 热狗。
Háiyǒu yī ge rè de dōngxi, Měiguó péngyou yīnggāi hěn xǐhuan. Règǒu.
需要加热。Xūyào jiārè.
把菜加热。Bǎ cài jiārè.
热水器rèshuǐqì
汤很烫，小心！Tāng hěn tang, xiǎoxīn！
汤很烫，烫到我了。Tāng hěn tàng，tàng dào wǒ le.
我被烫伤了。Wǒ bèi tang shāng le.
烫衣服tàng yīfu
烫头发tàng tóufa
你的额头很烫。Nǐ de étóu hěn tàng.
你去碰的时候，感觉很烫。Nǐ qù pèng de shíhou, gǎnjué hěn tàng.
冷菜lěngcài
你想喝什么水？热水还是冷水？Nǐ xiǎng hē shénme shuǐ? Rèshuǐ háishi lěngshuǐ?
喝冷的茶hē lěng de chá
拉肚子lā dùzi
你要试一下吗？我试过，好像没什么问题。
Nǐ yào shì yīxià ma? Wǒ shì guo, hǎoxiàng méi shénme wèntí.
天气很冷。Tiānqì hěn lěng.
是不是很冷的地方吗？Shìbushì hěn lěng de dìfang ma?
冬天不是很冷。Dōngtiān bù shì hěn lěng.
上海的冬天已经很冷了。Shànghǎi de dōngtiān yǐjing hěn lěng le.
你们两个怕冷吗？我很怕冷。我不怕冷。
Nǐmen liǎng ge pàlěng ma? Wǒ hěn pàlěng. Wǒ bù pà lěng.
冰啤酒bīng píjiǔ
我喜欢喝冰水。Wǒ xǐhuan hē bīngshuǐ.
冰激凌bīngjilíng
冰块儿bīngkuàir
冰箱bīngxiāng
我今天买了一瓶可口可乐。但是很不好喝，因为不冰。
Wǒ jīntiān mǎi le yī píng Kěkǒukělè. Dànshì hěn bù hǎohē，yīnwèi bù bīng.
不是冰箱，所以那个可乐一点儿都不冰。
Bù shì bīngxiāng，suǒyǐ nàge kělè yīdiǎnr dōu bù bīng.
要冰的吗？Yào bīng de ma？
可乐鸡翅kělè jī chì
凉比冷温度要高一点。Liáng bǐ lěng wēndù yào gāo yīdiǎn.
冬天是很冷的。那么，秋天是有点儿凉。
Dōngtiān shì hěn lěng de. Nàme, qiūtiān shì yǒudiǎnr liáng.
凉拌黄瓜liángbàn huánggua
怎么办？凉拌Zěnme bàn? Liángbàn
我们夏天的时候要喝凉水，还要穿凉鞋。
Wǒmen xiàtiān de shíhou yào hē liángshuǐ, háiyào chuān liángxié.
菜凉得很快。Cài liáng de hěn kuài.
可是这不好，凉的菜很难吃。Kěshì zhè bù hǎo, liáng de cài hěn nánchī.
麻辣烫málà tàng
不过，你吃麻辣烫的时候要小心，因为很烫，不要被烫到。
Bùguò, nǐ chī málàtàng de shíhou yào xiǎoxīn, yīnwèi hěn tàng, bùyào bèi tàng dào.
Posted on: Pain and Suffering 伤心, 难受，郁闷 ,不爽，难过
May 15, 2009 at 1:44 AMHi znklein
我们不干坏事，就不告诉你！
Doing evil is against CPod's Code of Ethics! We will not help you to 欺负 your housemates ;-)
Posted on: Dealing With Depression
May 15, 2009 at 1:19 AMHi ozzieozzie,
Thanks for your contributions to the discussion.
他很激動 will never be "he's exciting".
Actually, I translated 激动 as "excited," not as "exciting." This is an important distinction that many non-native English speakers do not understand.
Here, the therapist is telling the patient not to get "worked up" or "antsy" or "too animated."
In the same way, "bored" and "boring" are very different.
Also, your description of 開導 matches perfectly with my description "to talk some sense into."
Posted on: Do You Want a Map?
May 14, 2009 at 9:38 AMHi stevec,
Yes, 捷運 is used just for the Taiwanese MRT (which I can't say enough good things about.)
Interestingly, Connie adds that in Beijing, people call the metro 城铁.
Posted on: Seeing off a Monk, Returning to Japan -- 送僧归日本
May 14, 2009 at 9:36 AMHi wingking,
Thank you for sharing your in-depth insights on this poem.
And I checked out your blog -- impressive.
Posted on: Going to Church
May 14, 2009 at 8:48 AMHi miantiao,
I laughed out loud at your analysis.
Most people today agree with Long Island's greatest son, Billy Joel, who said he'd "rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints -- the sinners are much more fun."
Posted on: Of Beauty Pageants and Plastic Surgery
May 14, 2009 at 2:09 AMHi timsls
I will correct this translation. I'm currently going through translations done before I joined the company. Thank you for bringing this to my attention.
Posted on: Sweet and Sour Spare Ribs
May 14, 2009 at 1:51 AMHi lydia1981
Oh, you found us out! Yes, the voice belongs to David Xu, sound engineer and actor extraordinaire.
Let me remind those who question our movie making techniques that James Earl Jones didn't squeeze himself into Darth Vader's armor. Thank heaven.
Posted on: The Brocade Zither -- 锦瑟
May 17, 2009 at 12:10 PMHi bodawei,
Sounds like life is imitating art!
Hi fdsaferwafda
Thank you for bringing this up. There are indeed a couple of different interpretations of this line. As I mentioned regarding the jade that produces smoke, it's sometimes hard to know which (if any) allusion or tradition an author had in mind when they came up with their own work.
The footnotes in my edition of the 300 Tang poems cites the 博物志:
Roughly, this means that there are mer-folk (鲛人 jiāorén） in the southern seas who don't wear clothes and whose tears are pearls. That jives with your suggestion.
There is another interpretation based on an old superstition which claimed that oysters only produced pearls when the moon was full. I will get that citation tomorrow at work.
I'd argue that whether it's the oysters or the mermaids producing the tears/pearls, the point is that this is an amazing thing that only happens under the right circumstances.
For your viewing pleasure, a picture of a 鲛人 that I got on google images. I think I saw this guy at a carnival one time...