User Comments - simonpettersson

Posted on: The Black Spectrum of Meaning

You learn something new every day. I wasn't aware of this usage of the word "cracker". I just knew about it in the "hillbillie"/"white trash" meaning. Sometimes called "White cracker", to tie in with the color theme. :)

Posted on: Cold Weather Is Coming

The US is pretty much the only country in the world that uses Fahrenheit. Catch on, guys!

I agree that -3 is pretty comfortable. We've had -30 around here this winter, with -40 further north in the country (Sweden). At -3, you don't even have to cover your face or worry about your eyes freezing shut (it's so annoying when that happens). What's to complain about?

Posted on: Cold Weather Is Coming

I think you're wrong, yes. :) The key is in considering shī and shì to be two different sounds, not the same sound with different tones. Of course, I have an advantage in that Swedish (my native language) is semitonal.

Posted on: Cold Weather Is Coming

The native English speaker probably uses all of the four tones (and more!) all the time. All languages are tonal in a sense, it's just that in English, the tones are not associated with particular words, but instead with particular emotions or grammatical functions.

For instance, try saying "blackbird" and then "black bird". The difference between them is strictly tonal, nobody actually pauses between the "black" and the "bird" in free speech. But this isn't a matter of differentiating between different words, but rather using tone to mark the end of one word and the beginning of the next, as opposed to a continuation of the same word. This is what's called "prosody".

This is usually how tones are used in English. You can make up a word like "Iwannagohome" without any risk of confusing it with the phrase "I wanna go home", because the tones (as well as stress patterns and rythm) are different.

Tones in English are also used for emphasis ("I'd like a beer") has different tones depending on which word you emphasise. Depending on the accent of the speaker, "like" might be fourth tone if it's stressed ("I'd LIKE a beer") and third tone if the stress is on "beer" ("I'd like a BEER"). "Beer" undergoes the opposite tone shift. However, it's all mixed in with stress patterns, making it less clear-cut than the Mandarin tones.

Posted on: Pay Verbs

Thank you so much, betaver! Very well explained.

Posted on: The White Spectrum of Meaning

Swedes frequently go on vacation to sunnier countries and get really tanned, coming back looking orangey hideous. Middle-aged women (such as my dear mother) have skin like wrinkly old leather. I really think tanned women look ridiculous; especially the tanning booth fake-tanned ones.

Not that bleaching your skin to make it whiter is any less ridiculous, of course. Chrissakes, people! Am I the only one attracted to healthy-looking skin? If it's nice and sunny, you should enjoy it. If it's sunnier than your body is used to (or has evolved to cope with), you should protect your skin, not get half-naked and fry yourself.

Posted on: Female takeover of ChinesePod!

Seems Wikipedia is in need of an update. It's been a long time since I heard the word "nerd" being used with a derogatory connotation. Nowadays people usually use it to describe themselves. "Nerd pride" liberated the word a long time ago. To see the negative associations of the word, we have to go back to American high school and college movies from the 80's and 90's.

*Starts humming the "Revenge of the Nerds" theme song*

Posted on: Female takeover of ChinesePod!

I'm pretty sure they already have.

Posted on: Useful Phrases #1

Here's how I see it: 句 is the measure word, and 话 is the noun. 话 means "language, words, speech", that sort of thing. The stuff of communication. 句, the measure word, is what carries the meaning of "sentence". It's "a sentence of communication", just like 一片面包 means "a slice of bread". 话 here is the equivalent of "bread", in this case "language" (not an exact translation, of course). the measure word 句 tells you how much language, just like the measure word 片tells you how much bread. It's the same in English in cases like "a gallon of water" or "a slice of bread".

Does that make sense?

EDIT: Also, is the girl in the picture crying or fighting?

Posted on: Pay Verbs

What about 付出 (fùchū)?