User Comments - pearltowerpete
pearltowerpete
Posted on: Dinosaurs
August 24, 2009 at 2:11 AMHi xiaophil,
Well, our PDFs are different. 时光穿梭机 and 移动 match up perfectly with the dialogue in my PDF and Connie's. I will tell the rest of the team about this right away.
Posted on: Dinosaurs
August 24, 2009 at 1:58 AMHi xiaophil,
I just listened to the dialogue again, and it seems to match up.
The only thing is that we wrote 肉食动物 instead of 肉食 as it appears in the dialogue. Am I missing something?
Posted on: Funny Business 4 -- Farewell, Xiao Zhao
August 24, 2009 at 1:44 AMHi tal
I had to chuckle at that anecdote. If the old lady were resourceful, she could fold the fake into an origami frog or something, and sell it to a gullible American yokel.
Hi huayuanmu
Interesting question. The signific radical in 践 is the 足 on the left side, indicating a foot. The word 践 indicates trampling, as you said, but also stepping forward, setting out. This is the connection to 践行.
Incidentally, the right side of the character (戋） provides the sound, and also appears in characters like 钱, 浅, etc.
Hi conditions2005
Don't go away. Xiao Zhao's next exciting adventure is right around the corner. Will he die in a ball of fire? Tune in next time!
Posted on: 把 Humbug
August 23, 2009 at 12:23 AMHi rj,
Thank you for the kind tribute. It was a big relief not to have to fool around with the PDF in the morning. Sadly I wasn't able to party with any monks this time but I did celebrate with a stir-fry.And maybe a bit of whisky... ;-0
Hi ryanchild,
Good point, but 裏 ａｎｄ 裡 are both acceptable variations of the same character, 里 in simplified. If you look at the bottom of 裏 there is a clothing radical 衣 which appears instead on the left hand side of 裡.
Hi li4wei3 and others who remarked on trio is/are:
Thank you all for weighing in. Both are correct, and I know that our British friends (and Commonwealth nations?) are more likely to say "are" than "is." This intro was an attempt to foster international peace and toleration.
I'm still disappointed that no one noticed the "ice lollies" in a recent lesson. The first time one of my British buddies used that in conversation, I thought he was joking.
Posted on: Grab Some Veggies From the Store
August 21, 2009 at 3:05 AMHi xiaophil,
Weigh 就是“称一下.” 文林有解释：
The left side is 禾 (hé) 'grain'. In the full form 稱, the right side is 爯: a 爫 hand holding 冉 scales, weighing the grain.
顺便说一下，吃素不一定能减肥-- 很多很好吃的素菜比如素鸡，等油脂含量有一点高。
不过总比“肉食工厂”生产出来的东西好，那种肉又脏，又不健康，牲畜的生活环境也太可怕了。
把动物杀了吃我其实不反对，但要挑剔一点，不要吃什么乱七八糟的肯德基，麦当劳，恶心死了。
Posted on: Washing Dishes
August 20, 2009 at 12:40 PMHi paulinurus,
洗洁精 and 清洁剂 (and 洗洁剂, for that matter) can be translated as cleansers or detergents.
In fact, both 洗洁剂 and 清洁剂 can be used in compounds like 皮肤清洁剂 skin cleaner/cleanser where the English word "detergent" would not be appropriate.
精 means "essence" or "spirit" and this is the source of the connection to sperm 精子 and semen 精液.
Posted on: Washing Dishes
August 19, 2009 at 2:54 AMHi user498
Actually, both 干嘛 and 干吗 are OK.
But be careful, as 干妈 could be interpreted in a crude way ;-)
Posted on: Measure Words for Food
August 19, 2009 at 2:47 AMHi go_manly
First, thank you for taking the trouble to make a PDF.
The word 片 is a 多音字, that is, it has multiple readings. Where it means "film or photo," it should be in the first tone(照片 zhao4pianr1- photograph, 毛片mao2pianr1--porn movie).The tricky thing is, you will also see and hear this use as a fourth tone, with or without the 儿。
But when we're talking about "slices (of bread, etc.)," it is a fourth tone.
Posted on: Excited About Traveling
August 19, 2009 at 2:39 AMHi bababardwan,
Regarding your question about "traveling in/traveling"--
I see your point. To be honest, if this call were being made in English, I think we'd be more likely to say something like "I'm going on vacation in Hainan!" But I didn't want to get 度假 involved in this sentence. At the same time, since this is a lower level lesson, I wanted a slightly literal translation that incorporated the "旅行," which has implications of traveling around and touring as opposed to just sitting on the beach enjoying a drink with an umbrella ;-)
Thank you, cuiyuxuan for your helpful remarks about the kinds of travel. The Chinese method of putting the reason for going to a place after the 去 is a little un-intuitive for learners, but it makes sense once you understand it.
Hi magnus,
In addition to sebire's fine explanation, I'd like to add that you could express a desire to go someplace by saying "我想要去..."
Posted on: Weather, Man
August 24, 2009 at 2:55 AMHi stanimal,
Good question. 现代化 can refer to “modernization,” the verb "to modernize" and, (usually preceded by a 很) to things that are very "modernized" i.e. modern.
The 化 family follow this pattern. For example, you can say 上海市一座很国际化的城市。