User Comments - podster
podster
Posted on: The Stingy Boss
June 19, 2011 at 10:31 PMYes, its a descriptive saying for a miser, although the first part by itself already means miser. Sort of like saying that someone will "squeeze a dime until it hollers" instead of simply calling them a "penny-pincher."
You can't pluck a feather from an iron rooster, and you can't get a dime from a miser. "Máo" ( 毛 ) can be read as either "feather" or "dime" (one tenth of a Chinese Yuan), though I don't know if it's a deliberate play on words.
So a tiěgōngjī ( 铁公鸡 )is a miser. The second part of the phrase just explains (somewhat) why a stingy person is like an iron rooster.
Posted on: Ballet
June 16, 2011 at 3:46 AMNo offense at all. I worry that you are offended by comments that suggest you should not be spontaneous or natural in your comments. Comment as if no one is listening, er, ah, "whatever." 加油! 听你的意见和观点很有意思。
John, maybe someone will buy you Dance Dance Revolution to practice on. Then you can ask DiLu "Do You Love Me (Now that I can dance)"
Posted on: Ballet
June 16, 2011 at 3:16 AMWouldn't "I didn't buy" be 我没买了。 wǒméimǎile
I think the suànle tells you that there has been a change of state in the intention, so you know it refers to the future. I was thinking of buying, but when I found out the price I said "suànle . ."
I think the le here is not indicating past tense, but rather the conclusiveness of the decision to not buy.
Posted on: I don't smoke
June 13, 2011 at 10:54 PMre: "putting people off or making them angry when I try to communicate in my substandard Chinese" Examples, please! I think I have done the same by saying “好了” instead of "好的。“ My understanding is that the former can mean "enough already, stop talking about it" (or "whatever"). I think I should say the latter when I just want to mean "okay."
Posted on: Going to the Gym
June 9, 2011 at 4:10 AMTingyun,
my trainers said "we're not here to talk, we're here to PUMP YOU UP!"
Thanks for the pointer on 开发。 I keep wanting to use that word because I learned its Sino-Korean version first. I just recently learned the difference between 发展 ("developing") and 发达国家. ("developed ~)
BTW, do I have to include the 中 in 发展中国家 or can it be omitted?
j65smith, I agree with Tingyun. If you are a native English speaker if you were t to sit in on some English classes taught by another native speaker you might be amazed at some of the explanations or "rules" offered.
Posted on: Ways of Using ChinesePod
June 9, 2011 at 3:52 AMOK, thanks, I guess that will push all the lessons in order to the top of my iTunes feed and then I can just select and drag and drop into a new playlist, right? Thanks again. I am using the Nike+ so I can listen to CPod while jogging, so being able to make playlists of related lessons quickly will be very helpful.
Posted on: Ways of Using ChinesePod
June 8, 2011 at 11:08 PMAny advice on how to push and entire lesson set, for example, the "Office" series, into an iTunes play list?
Posted on: Ways of Using ChinesePod
June 8, 2011 at 11:08 PMAny advice on how to push and entire lesson set, for example, the "Office" series, into an iTunes play list?
Posted on: Studying Chinese
June 6, 2011 at 4:08 AM@cinnamonfern,
all right, I'll take the bait -- which part of the Southern US? I've spent lots of time in the South and never come across it, but I know that there are pockets of highly differentiated dialect.
Posted on: Workout Frequency at the Gym
July 29, 2011 at 12:01 PMIt makes sense to me: "The reason I concluded that Chinese young guys don't work out is BECAUSE I observed that they are not strong" ==> 因为
If you wanted to say that the result of not working out is that you are not strong then you would use 所以 (therefore)