User Comments - pearltowerpete
pearltowerpete
Posted on: Saved by the Gong: Music Class
April 16, 2009 at 1:40 AMHi minymouse,
酷 means "cool, stylish," just like the English word.
Of course, you cannot say 今天天气很酷 "the weather is cool today." Chinese uses 凉快 to express "cool" as a temperature range.
But you can say "天气酷热”--- it's incredibly hot。 This is because 酷 originally meant "very."
Complicated and maybe a little weird, but it ultimately makes sense.
Posted on: Zombies!
April 16, 2009 at 1:35 AMHi triplelatte
The official translation of "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" is 吸血鬼猎人巴菲-- literally, "Vampire Hunter Buffy."
I translated 道长 as "Vampire Slayer," but the title originally referred to a Daoist priest. Stopping the undead was just one of their many roles.
Posted on: Two Poems about Music -- 弹琴 and 听筝
April 16, 2009 at 1:31 AMHi ezweig
Thank you very much for sharing the link. Mr. Thompson seems like a fascinating person.
Another (much more mysterious and difficult) poem about a musical instrument is coming up soon.
Posted on: Guilin Mifen
April 16, 2009 at 1:26 AMHi sushan,
Thanks for sharing your blog. I am very interested in this American Chop Suey-- a "Chinese" dish that was Americanized and has now been re-sinified.
There is nothing new under the sun.
Hi bodawei
No gluten-- that's probably a tough order if you eat out.
If you're coming to China but not planning to roam around too much, I think a serviced apartment would be a great idea. Of course you've got to do your own cooking, but it would give you absolute control over what you eat.
Posted on: The Bride Makes Soup - 新嫁娘
April 16, 2009 at 1:16 AMHi bill and rjberki
Very interesting takes on the poem. I'm working on an episode about one of my favorite poems. It deals with the idea of anamnesis.
Stay tuned for more on this fascinatingly complex topic.
Posted on: 谋杀案
April 15, 2009 at 6:58 AMHi henning,
Oh, thanks! You learn something every day. More than one thing, if you're lucky.
BTW, my surname is Braden ;-)
Posted on: 谋杀案
April 15, 2009 at 6:20 AMHi henning
Chief Engineer Braden has climbed into the Jeffries tube to repair your internal parser.
你很希望人是陈瑶杀的啊
We can break this sentence apart literally as "You really hope that the person (人) was killed by Chen Yao"
是 xxx 杀的 can be translated as "was killed by xxx"
I have shifted from the passive to the active voice in the translation, but the meaning is the same.
Posted on: 谋杀案
April 15, 2009 at 3:06 AMHi bababardwan
I like your creative version, but there are a few better ways to talk about making peace in Chinese.
停火 is literally a "cease fire," used in military situations.
For people who have quarrelled and then made up, we say 他们和好了. (I have also seen this written 合好了）.
Posted on: Rise and Shine!
April 16, 2009 at 1:56 AMAnother way to say "lunch" is 午饭 wǔfàn.
This literally means "midday meal." Morning is 上午 shàngwǔ and afternoon is 下午 xiàwǔ.
Chinese is pretty logical this way.