User Comments - podster
podster
Posted on: Upgrading Software
August 8, 2013 at 10:37 PMPoint well taken. Another problem is that sometimes native speakers know that a word which has entered their language came from English, but they don't realize that its meaning / usage has changed. I remember someone once trying to use the word "salaryman" with me and being incredulous that I had no idea what it meant. (used in Korea and Japan to refer to salaried workers, as opposed to hourly wage earners.) It may also be difficult for a native speaker to know if the English they are using is an "Americanism." I was going to say that after the London Olympic ceremony maybe Mr. Bean (already popular in China) would help balance things out, but then I realized Mr. Bean does not say much.
Posted on: Upgrading Software
August 8, 2013 at 8:05 AMRe: "Americanisms have nothing to do with learning Chinese" . . .I can offer a few exceptions. We live in a global society, and Americanisms are "enhancing" (you might say "polluting") Chinese all the time. For example. "OK 了“ And more recently I learned " 丁可式婚姻“。 In order to understand the meaning of 丁可, it helps to know that it is a phoneticization of "DINK", which in turn is an acronym for "double income, no kids."
Posted on: Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes
August 1, 2013 at 11:47 PMI've met at least one educated Chinese person who was not even aware of the fact that you correctly pointed out, so my guess is that "yue" is an acceptable answer (albeit technically incorrect, IMO, for the reasons you have pointed out.) Anyway, knowing the etymology here may make it easier to acquire new vocabulary. (And we don't have to worry what body parts have to do with the moon anymore.)
Posted on: Hospitality Series 5: Searching for Shopping
August 1, 2013 at 10:23 AMVera， I thought ”前台“qiántái was the reception, or "front desk" , which is often separate from the concierge desk. ("礼宾部柜台？"） Maybe we could call the concierge the 礼宾不接待员？What do you think?
Posted on: Can't Get to Sleep
July 28, 2013 at 11:47 PMTry plugging the words you are interested in into the search box in the upper right. Be sure to search both lessons and community. There have actually been a number of useful user comments on different terms referring to sleep. As to your specific question, Chinese has a lot of double words like that, which are compounds where each syllable taken individually has more or less the same meaning as the other. Sometimes you can use them individually, or to create new words, and sometimes not. I can't give you a rule for that, you will just pick them up on a case by case basis. Good luck with your learning.
Posted on: Activities on Douban
June 27, 2013 at 10:48 AM我建议你问Skritter。
Posted on: Activities on Douban
June 27, 2013 at 10:45 AMSkritter has a different site for users in China, but if you are using Skritter Lite on Chinese Pod I don't know if that would be an issue. In fact since Skritter Lite would not need to store anything (I guess) it should work as a standalone on your browser or served from CPod's server.
Posted on: The Trouble with Marrying a Foreigner
June 27, 2013 at 10:13 AMIn Chinese culture the traditional concept is that when a woman marries she leaves her family and becomes part of her husband's family. So you can think of these words having the combined meaning of marry and go out (from the parents' home). Its a little similar in Western culture where in wedding ceremonies the father "gives the bride away." So we also say that the father "married off" his daughter. (把她嫁出去。 ） In fact it seems the most common usage or translation of 嫁出去 is "marry off."
Posted on: This is outrageous!
June 27, 2013 at 10:03 AMMaybe they are interchangeable. In the US "coach class" and "economy class" mean the same thing. In Asia airlines seem to confuse the issue by coming up with special names for their own level of business class and first class. Maybe they will re-brand the economy class next, as something like "cozy class." I guess I can surf over to a few Chinese airline websites and see what they have for business class in Chinese characters.
Posted on: Water
August 9, 2013 at 9:48 PMOn Jukuu.com I found an example where 无气矿泉水 is still mineral water. Literally "having no gas mineral spring water". Another option is 没气的矿泉水.