User Comments - pearltowerpete
pearltowerpete
Posted on: Do You Know That Girl?
August 11, 2009 at 9:10 AMHi bababardwan,
Thank you for answering stevemisch's questions. Here are the answers to the first batch:
- I'm not sure about the "meet" problem, it's a pretty basic verb.
- Yes, there are two ways to say 那个, na4ge and nei4ge. In my experience, nei4ge is a Northern thing.
- This is an experience that many Americans have experienced, including myself. Na4ge is a place holder word like the English "um," and it pops up a lot. When you first start hearing it, it definitely sets off red flags.
Posted on: Pregnancy Series 9: Here Comes the Baby!
August 11, 2009 at 5:04 AMHi abcfish,
你说得很对。在用客观的眼光来分析社会现象的弊端和优点的同时，我们也应该求同存异。
Posted on: Pregnancy Series 9: Here Comes the Baby!
August 11, 2009 at 3:45 AMHi theherbdoctor
好主意！谁来带个头呢！快给他起个名儿！又吉祥又好听！
Posted on: Pregnancy Series 9: Here Comes the Baby!
August 11, 2009 at 3:36 AMHi abcfish,
我讲的不是“重男轻女”的事儿，而是人们希望能把自己的姓氏传下去。姓氏完全是人造的一种抽象概念，传不传都没关系。再说，少了下一辈的一个姓“李”的人还是无所谓，反正姓李的人多的不得了，这个姓氏是不会消灭了。
当然，人们使劲的生下一辈的人也基于更现实的考虑-- 养儿防老。如果一个国家的社会福利不够健全的话，这种因素就更重要了。我完全可以理解。
Posted on: Pregnancy Series 9: Here Comes the Baby!
August 11, 2009 at 2:56 AMHi juzi,
恭喜你，写的相当的好。
我也觉得中国人那么重视传宗接代挺奇怪。我跟很多人讨论过。 比方说，朋友姓 “李". 我就会问他，难道你要是不生小孩儿，以后就没有人姓“李”了吗? 姓李的人多了去了呀！
这就反映人们的一种错觉。 干什么都得以自己为主。全世界人们解脱这种自恋才有希望。
Posted on: Pregnancy Series 9: Here Comes the Baby!
August 11, 2009 at 1:51 AMHi all,
There are a few different ways to combine 平安 into short phrases in Chinese. The lesson includes the line 母子平安. We can call this format "A + B are both safe and sound."
Another examlpe of this form: Many people hang a sign on their door reading 出入平安-- "Safe and sound, both coming and going out."
Another is the classic redundant and emphatic form of four-character phrase, such as 平安无恙 （safe and healthy). We could break this into "safe and sound" and "free of disease."The two components 平安 and 无恙 supplement each other.
Finally, there is 一路平安-- Bon voyage, or more literally, "may your entire journey be safe and smooth."
Finally, please note that 平 depicts a scale, for weighing things. This implies balance and equilibrium.
Posted on: Delegating Tasks
August 10, 2009 at 7:28 AMHi stevebroderick,
Let me answer your questions in sequence.
1-- gan3kuai4 means "hurry up (and)..." whereas "ma3shang4" means "immediately." So they can't be used interchangeably. For instance, you might say 我马上就到了 I'll be there right away but you couldn't substitute in "gankuai.”
2--You can leave out the 是 from 可是 or 但是， and the meaning is the same.
3--就要 jiu4yao4 means "it's about to..." whereas zheng4zai4 means "currently."
4--The questions have some difficulties with neutral tones. The standard way to write the neutral tone is with a 5, but I'm not sure what the tech issue here is. I will look into it.
5-- 开会 is to attend or hold a meeting, whereas 会议 is the meeting itself. Please note that the Chinese use 会议 for large conferences such as Party conferences as well.
Posted on: Is China Scary?
August 10, 2009 at 7:15 AMHi kimiik,
The equivalent might be 无理取闹-- starting trouble for no good reason. But it doesn't include the act of spoiling someone's good name before destroying them.
Posted on: Wake-up Call
August 10, 2009 at 2:51 AMHi changye and desluo99
Thank you for catching that. Of course, some technical issues in our beloved publishing system prevent me from correcting this now. But I have made a note and will fix it as soon as possible.
Posted on: Pregnancy Series 9: Here Comes the Baby!
August 11, 2009 at 9:17 AMHi xuchen,
真的吗？那真的跟以前很不一样。
不过，我记得课程里面的爸爸好像姓沈-- 没有复姓（如：欧阳，司马等）就不能有四字名字。