User Comments - pearltowerpete
pearltowerpete
Posted on: Funny Business -- 搞笑， 好笑， 可笑
February 13, 2009 at 2:16 AMHi cassielin
No offense at all! 傻笑 and the world 傻笑s with you ;-)
Posted on: Hungry Traveler: Macao
February 13, 2009 at 1:51 AMHi stanimal
打包 literally means "to wrap up." In this situation, you are asking for a "doggy bag." You did not finish your meal and want to take it home.
外带 is not used very frequently. If you want to call for take out, you generally say "我要叫一份外卖"
带走 would be if you went into the restaurant but didn't want to sit there while you ate. You'd tell them you want to 带走.
Posted on: Pre-Valentine's News
February 13, 2009 at 1:34 AMHi paulinurus,
The pints you'd be measuring with a 斗 are probably not Guiness ;-)
Wenlin cites Father Wieger: "A measure of 十 ten 勺 ladles or 升 pints; a peck; 十升也。勺也。有柄。The ancient forms represent a 勺 ladle and 十 ten. The modern forms are mutilated."
And I agree that the conversation interface could really use some work. I suggest you bring this up at User Voice. 会哭的孩子有糖吃-- the child who knows how to cry will get the candy. Or as we say, "the squeaky wheel gets the grease.
Posted on: Drinking Alone Under the Moon 月下独酌
February 13, 2009 at 1:28 AMHi thinkbuddha
Exactly so. There's a time and place for sparkling logic and pure reason. But squeezing the ambiguity and mystery out of these poems would be worse than pointless.
Posted on: Drinking Alone Under the Moon 月下独酌
February 13, 2009 at 1:24 AMHi furong
Thanks for sharing the Dutch translation with us. Most of it is lost on me, but it is fascinating to see how this poetry can be appreciated by people around the world. I do like the idea of capitalizing the names of the Moon and Shadow, as the poet really does seem to treat them as friends.
2. A question: Idema translates 醒时同交欢 as 'weer nuchter maken we plezier' (sober again we enjoy ourselves). I don't understand where the 'again' comes from. Is that a mistake or a matter of interpretation?
I don't really see an "again" in this line. (some phrase) + 时 generally indicates "at the time when (something)." But as we can see from the many fine translations on that blog, there is "more than one way to skin a cat."
And finally, of course we will discuss Du Fu here! He is a titan of Chinese and world poetry. I am choosing an appropriate work.
Posted on: Drinking Alone Under the Moon 月下独酌
February 13, 2009 at 1:17 AMHi befbef
It was a conscious decision. The main reason is that many of the characters and grammar from classical poetry have changed substantially.
ChinesePod will continue to focus on useful modern Chinese. Expansions or dialogues in classical Chinese would be beyond the scope of this series.
Thanks for the suggestion, though.
Posted on: 学术抄袭
February 12, 2009 at 10:43 AMHi miantiao,
One of my college roommates once asked "What is postmodernism all about, anyway? The future?"
I'm not sure the real answer makes much more sense.
Posted on: 学术抄袭
February 12, 2009 at 6:04 AMHi rizzobi
Many poddies, particularly those on the threshold between Upper-Int and Advanced levels, have requested English translations for the Advanced levels.
I agree that for truly elite 中国通, there is no need for a translation. It is best to think of the sentences in terms of Chinese, not your own native language. But the translations will make these lessons accessible to people who could otherwise not enjoy them.
There will soon be a function that allows you to decide whether to display traditional characters or simplified, and whether to display the English translation. So don't worry, nothing will be forced on you.
Thanks again for participating in the discussion.
Posted on: 学术抄袭
February 12, 2009 at 4:45 AMHi xuchen
The rightmost icon above the comment box is a green strip of film. Just click on that and paste the website. Youtube works as a flash video.
But now I'm having trouble getting it to display. I will ask the tech team what is going on. Please confirm that the link is correct.
Posted on: SBTG: Sun Yatsen
February 13, 2009 at 2:18 AMHi ceurvels
This is definitely a fascinating topic. Another related one would be the ancient Emperors' 年号, almost like the US Presidents' practice of creating names for their administrations: "The New Deal," "New Frontier," "Great Society," and so on.
I will bring it up at our next brainstorming meeting.