User Comments - rich

Posted on: Juiced!

Also found this on this smoothie recipe web page, but it is in traditional characters originally, so not sure if it would work on the mainland:

覆盆子果露(fùpénzi guǒlù, Raspberry Smoothie)

蓝莓果露 (lánměi guǒlù, Blueberry Smoothie)

etc.....

Posted on: Juiced!

So ok, I go to all-powerful Google, put in "Smoothie" and to return Chinese pages, get the term

光合舒果昔 Guānghé shū guǒ xī
(photosynthesis(2)-carefree-fruit-former times??)

Anyway, obviously the shūguǒxī is transliteration for Smoothie or for....

I noticed most websites were talking about 7-11, and so not sure if they still got their Slurpie thing going (it's been a long time since I've been to one) or if they have moved to having actual fruit Smoothies. 

Can we at least go to a store as ask "你们买不买舒果昔?"

But if that is actually Slurpie, then well, it definitely is a drink of "former times" long ago (at least for me anyway...haven't had one since I was 10)

Posted on: A Very Special Day

Funny, I was just telling my male Chinese friend the other day how I seem sooo much more fluent in talking Chinese to female Chinese friends... there does seem to be a big difference, even in how I am able to use the language to make a joke, or understand tone of voice, etc.  It seems when I talk to a guy in Chinese, if I do, that it is more of a novelty thing, where when I talk to a girl, seems to be more natural due to how pretty much all my teachers have been female. 

Posted on: Juiced!

ah, thanks Changye for also noting that the two characters are 俗字...forgot to mention that.

Posted on: Juiced!

@lexx

Not sure what you mean. júzi is 桔子 or 橘子, which to my understanding is more like a tangerine, or a Mandarin orange. In 桔jú the phonetical part is 吉jí, so we get the "j" from it.  In 橘jú the phonetic part is 矞yù where we can get the "ű" from.

chéngzi 橙子 is a different character (with the 登dēng phonetical part).  It is the orange we know of, bigger ones.  Other may have their own opinion when each of those words is used, but that is how I use them when buying fruit in China.

Hm...that's a good lesson on how phonetical components of Chinese characters work (声符shēngfú - phonetic component... 形符xíngfú -pictogram/pictograph/radical...), not always exact, but do serve some purpose in remember and reading 汉字, which is part of my current dissertation research...yummy.

Posted on: Introducing Shen Yajin (Helen)

Welcome Shen Yajin!  Hopefully I'll be around more to read your very helpful comments. :)

Posted on: Interview with Cassie

Yeah, I'm late too...oh so late.  I just happened to stumble uppon this as I myself haven't been as active as I would like to be, especially last October when I was too busy traveling all the time between Beijing and Tianjin. 

Cassie, also great to hear your voice!!  And to hear more about you even though I got to know you a bit when you first joined.  Hope to continue to get language tips from you.

以明

Posted on: Explosion

Great expressions on "noise fatique"... didn't know "疲劳" before.  Thanks Jenny and Shenyajin

Posted on: Heading Home

Even if we know that "老 has an enduring tone in Chinese" it is still might be the reason these titles are not so romantic to us, or just plain amuzing. 

But even 婆 itself in the dictionary without 老 has the meaning "old lady", and so that character in itself could also make these titles non-romantic.  Of course I first learned 婆 with 外婆 (maternal grandmother).  Honestly, I often have to think twice which is which when I hear 老婆and 外婆, as the other word for 外婆 is 姥姥(also pronounced lǎo), so man, got grandmothers and old ladies all over the place!!

I even accused my American friend for calling his Chinese wife 老婆 when she came home from work one day as just doing it to be funny and because I was in their presence.  He assured me he would call her that even when others weren't around, but the way he says it with excitement, "laaaaao po!!" when she came home still makes me laugh.

Posted on: Heading Home

I was also thinking this afternoon that "要" can mean "need" as well, so while I agree the best rule is, as Amfool said, "你不要" = “别”, you could also almost here her saying "You don't neeeeed to go back... (stay here!)"

Just some ways to thinking as I really hope I can get this into my regular language usage so I sound more native, my current goal in Chinese learning...