User Comments - tgif

Posted on: Hospital Visits and Prescription Medication

LOL, if that's what you want to do next time you have urolithiasis (kidney stones) . . . . of course you could elect to undergo extracorporeal shockwave lithotripsy. Seriously though, dentristry is one thing, pretty mechanical, formulaic. Medicine is yet another. Ever wonder where the majority of Shanghai medical school graduates are residing after ten years? (in or out of China)

Posted on: Introducing New Voices

This mini intro is helpful, but it would have been helpful to hear Dilu speak more Mandarin.  It is encouraging during my last visit to Shanghai to hear more locals speaking standard Mandarin.  Here's to welcoming her and hoping she speaks unaccented Mandarin.

Jason, hope you have the time to keep the translations accurately translated into nuanced idiomatic English.

Posted on: 春捂秋冻

One medical comment. Prolonged exposure to cold does not prevent skin cancer. It is the exposure to sunlight (solar radiation) which causes skin cancer. Coincidentally, last week I was having just this conversation. I was trying to convince my Chinese friend the medical distinction between vasomotor rhinitis (runny nose from temperature changes) was not the same thing as a cold (a viral infection). Too bad these misconceptions still persist in China.

Posted on: 出租白人

Bodawei,

Best as I can tell 来源: 南方周末 (广州) 跟贴 1096 条 手机看新闻

As I am an ABC, I can only express my jealousy for my Caucasian friends. Long time ago, one of my friends emailed me a Craigslist ad to which he commented, "My dream job." Enjoy it while it lasts . . . . To be serious for a moment, it is as the author intimates, basically a Chinese character flaw - one that originates from an inferiority complex.

Posted on: 出租白人

For my friends on Cpod:

我，大学英语外教，7月22日收到一封邀请函，主题是“免费三日山西行”，并承诺

“与山西的省长、官员、公司和商人交流的机会”。

----------------------

邀请【yāoqǐng】 invite.

函【hán】 <formal> case; envelope; letter.

主题【zhǔtí】 theme; subject; motif

承诺【chéngnuò】 promise to undertake; undertake to do sth..

与

省长【shěngzhǎng】 governor.

官员【guānyuán】 official.

I, a college English teacher, on July 22 received an invitation, the theme 

of "A cost-free 3rd Shanxi Province", which promised "the Governor of Shanxi,

 officials, companies and business exchange opportunities."

这种邀请在北京的外籍社区相当常见。许多外国人受邀可以令活动显得更国际化。

主办方通常要为受邀者的旅游、住宿、餐饮等项目埋单，有时他们也支付报酬。这

种活动被称为“面子旅行”或“出租白人”。

This kind of invitation to the foreign community in Beijing is quite common. 

Many foreigners are invited to make events which appear to be more international.

 Organizers for the invitees will usually pay for travel, accommodation, 

catering and other project costs  and sometimes invitees are reimbursed 

for expenses. This activity is called "face travel" or "rent white."

----------------------

外籍【wàijí】 foreign nationality.

社区【shèqū】 community.

邀者 invitees

显得【xiǎnde】 look; seem; appear.

国际化【guójìhuà】 (n) internationalization.

主办【zhǔbàn】 direct; sponsor.

住宿【zhùsù】 stay; put up; get accommodation.

餐饮【cānyǐn】 food and drink; repast.

项目【xiàngmù】 item; project.

支付【zhīfù】 pay (money); defray.

报酬【bàochóu】 reward; remuneration.

称为【chēngwéi】 call or be called; be known as

“出租白人”完全是中国人在骗中国人，中国人在中国人面前作秀，“我们外国人

仅仅是这个游戏的小卒，我们在互相交流荒谬之处，却困惑为什么一直没被中国人

发现。”一个连外国人都知道是欺骗的游戏竟然在现实世界里畅通无阻。叫人怎能

不感慨万千？

----------------------

仅仅【jǐnjǐn】 <adv.> only; merely; barely.

互相【hùxiāng】 mutual; each other.

交流【jiāoliú】 exchange; interflow; interchange; <elec.> alternating.

荒谬【huāngmiù】 absurd; preposterous.

困惑【kùnhuò】 perplexed; puzzled.

欺骗【qīpiàn】 deceive; cheat; dupe.

竟然【jìngrán】 <adv.> unexpectedly; to one's surprise; actually; go so 

far as to; go to the length of; have the impudence (or effrontery) to.

畅通【chàngtōng】 unimpeded; unblocked.

感慨【gǎnkǎi】 sigh with emotion.

万千【wànqiān】 multifarious; myriad.

"White Rental" completely is a case of Chinese deceiving Chinese.  Chinese 

people the face in Chinese put on a performance, "We foreigners are merely 

pawns in this game, mutually interacting under absurd circumstances, but 

are puzzled why  Chinese people haven't figured this out. "  Even foreigners 

know this charade is about cheating; it continues to go on today, without 

anything being done to stop it. How can we not be emotional?

我们该如何回答外国人的困惑？难道告诉他，这样的事情在国内是合理合法的，或

者叫那些外国人入乡随俗。其实那些充当“傀儡”的外国人已经入乡随俗了，只不

过他们还是缺少中国人独有的中庸之道。明明知道皇帝没穿衣服，可就是不说出来。

----------------------

如何【rúhé】 how; what.

困惑【kùnhuò】 perplexed; puzzled.

难道【nándào】 used to give force to a rhetorical question.

合理【hélǐ】 rational; reasonable; equitable.

合法【héfǎ】 legal; lawful; legitimate; rightful.

入乡随俗【suísú】  "when in Roman, do as the Romans"

其实【qíshí】 <adv.> actually; in fact; as a matter of fact.

充当【chōngdāng】 serve as ; act as play the part of .

缺少【quēshǎo】 lack; be short of.

独有【dúyǒu】 only have.

中庸【zhōngyōng】 the doctrine of the Mean.

How ought we respond to the foreigners' confusion? Do tell him that 

such a thing in the country is fair and legitimate, or regard them as "when 

in Roman, do as the Romans". In fact, those foreigners who act as "puppets" 

of  have already been doing as the Romans have,  but they still lack the 

Chinese doctrine of the mean. They clearly know that the Emperor has no 

clothes, but don't say anything.

Posted on: 我不做剩女

While phil2010 has a good point, I feel that speaking 标准国语is most important. At the Upper Intermediate level, we have those who speak with an English accent. Having accurate proofreading is also a problem. Recently 猛 was translated as fierce, when in Chinese this is a 褒义词 and would be better translated as “fearless" or 调理 translated as "to discipline" when it should be "to have discipline". There are things which can be attended to easily. Luckily, there are not the male/female differences in speaking in Chinese like there are in Japanese or Korean. Maybe you can get some other people to sub-in from the Cpod office staff.

Posted on: 这红包该不该送？

Tell you guys a funny story.  After having lunch in Shanghai, we were walking back to the hospital when a patient spotted my colleague.  He stopped us inquiring whether the doctor had scheduled the necessary testing as promised.  When the doctor replied not to worry, all was taken care of, the family member having not counted on a chance meeting, took an unopened packet of cigarettes out of his pocket as an offering.  In the US, offering a doctor coffin nails would be a source of considerable consternation!

Posted on: How do you fix a boring Chinese course?

“马马虎虎” must be out of style in Shanghai for sure. Have you any idea about other parts of China, Singapore, Taiwan or US? I still hear it among Chinese Americans. BTW, it was interesting visiting Cpod in late August. Cpod's receptionist out front kept asking me over the telephone and in person (in Chinese) why I was there, not believing I was a Cpodie. Maybe I should have responded “马马虎虎” to come clean.

In regard to this lesson's “自卖自夸” quality, I guess those who disagreed are not among those us remaining. ;-)

Posted on: Personalizing ChinesePod

Jenny,

"Get into the beef"  I am old enough to remember the Wendy's commercial of where the old lady says, "Where's the beef?" or when my friends chide me, "What's your beef?" 

I think you've created yet another Chinglish idiom!

;-)

Posted on: Sex Education Class

Since I happen to be checking for my own answer . . . .

尴尬 [gāngà] awkward, embarrassing