User Comments - zhenlijiang
zhenlijiang
Posted on: The Monkey King
September 7, 2009 at 12:21 AMJenny and John discuss the term 上西天 (as heard by yours truly):
Jenny: ... 那,我们再来看一个很有意思的说法啊，叫做上西天。上西天。
John: 啊这个‘西天’是不是《西游记》里面的西 ...？
Jenny: 去——这个西方取经哈，西天取经。
John: 是一个地方吗？
Jenny: 欸，不是。那刚刚我们说道的‘去西天取经’是一个，就是比较，确切的 ...
11:23
John: 是佛教的来源？
Jenny: 对对对，真正的一个地理位置，对吧。因为印度在中国的西边嘛。
John: [呵呵] 可以这么说，好。
Jenny: [哈哈] 那然后，这里的西天呢，是一个概念。就是西方的天堂。我们认为天堂在西方。
John: 就是一种宗教概念，是吧。
Jenny: 对对对。
John: 不是一个地理 ...
Jenny: 欸，不是的。所以上西天的意思呢，在中文里面就是‘死掉了’。去世了。
John: Oh--heaven.
Jenny: 欸，上西天。所以大家不要随便用这个说法。你不能看到谁就说你上西天了——这样就说你要死了。
Entire transcript with latest revisions here.
百度百科 entry on 无厘头。
Posted on: Chinese for Trekkies
September 6, 2009 at 7:52 PMTal--I knew I'd only heard "Trekkies" all my life! Was flummoxed when you corrected me (but nicely, so that I wouldn't lose face).
谢谢大家对于这个很严重的问题弄我明白！
Being a fan of （声音很好听的） David myself, I'm looking forward to the Dream of Red Mansions-inspired Adv lesson.
Posted on: Interesting or Boring?
September 6, 2009 at 7:29 PMI'm re-hashing something I already mentioned in the recent Chinese Idol lesson discussion.
Not exactly interchangeable with the English "Ah ... interesting ...", but one indirect expression of that kind in Chinese is 特别 (which can also just mean "special" in a good way).
Given a taste of some unfamiliar food by a friend who loves it and has no doubt I will too, and finding it way too funky for my taste but not wanting to be honest for honesty's sake--in that situation I might open my eyes real wide and look like I'm mulling all my lifetime culinary memories over and say ‘Mmm. 很 ... 特别 ...’
The friend would get it, that I wasn't knocked out by the food. But it's probably better to say that (and save his face) than blurt out 不喜欢！难吃！ etc. like a three-year-old.
Posted on: Chinese Idol
September 4, 2009 at 2:02 PMRegarding addressing people who are not teachers as 老师, it seems exactly what we do with the Japanese word for teacher (confusingly for students of Mandarin, it's 先生 sensei because, as it's explained to us, we should learn from those born before us). In the past I think its use was restricted mostly to addressing doctors, professors, teachers and lawyers, big-shot MPs maybe. But the word later "lost value".
It can be used more casually now, and can also often be used to poke fun at someone. Wonder if the same is true of 老师.
特别 is an interesting word. It is different from the Japanese 特別 tokubetsu--which I would say is exactly the same meaning as the English "special".
I first heard it in this lesson, in which the female coworker says to the guy wearing a very wrinkled shirt 你的衬衫真特别。 Now just from the dialogue I couldn't get my head around what that means exactly--a special shirt??. But in their banter Jenny and John explain the meaning and usage really well.
So Xiaophil, my feeling isn't so much that it's patronizing. You say 特别 to deal with awkward situations, when you see nothing to praise but need to be polite (= save someone's face). And the host didn't say to 兰兰 ‘你很特别’ --if you said that I'm sure you'd have a lot of questions to answer.
It was discussed in the Iron Your Clothes lesson that 特别 can be used in a positive way as well.
Posted on: Chinese Idol
September 4, 2009 at 12:35 PM老实说，我好久以来就梦想着报名参加一个这样的节目。并不是想成为偶像（哈哈！我也是个不漂亮的，极普通的中年女人），只想有机会选一首绝佳的歌（Bohemian Rhapsody 怎么样？）在电视上放声歌唱。赢不赢，都会满意！
目标的这个节目跟比赛有一点不同（最近在日本这些寻找卓越人才的节目叫做 audition shows——怎么说？‘甄选会节目’？）。评委老师*们都作曲家（就是说，非常红的 hitmakers）。如果你及格的话，一位老师会为你作一首歌。最后有机会唱片公司董事面前表演（就是，作曲家老师跟你一起接受测验），看看你可不可以 turn pro（怎么说最好？）。
说真话，参加的人一般来说不怎么特别*。有一天！目前还梦想继续下去。
If I ever really do it I will come back here to talk about it.
楼上老样子，真是个淘气包儿，哈哈
last but not least, 这篇课程有意思！ ☆彡
Posted on: The Monkey King
September 3, 2009 at 6:16 PM(Just went through the transcript in light of my newly-solid understanding; none of the 非常地～'s needed correcting after all.)
Posted on: The Monkey King
September 3, 2009 at 8:04 AMShenyajin 我感到有点儿尴尬； 只是我总是执著 ...
谢谢你鼓励我！
Jiaojie 老师，多谢你解释到我明白为止。能了解这个——我一直想知道的，[非常+地]／[非常+的] 的问题——我心情都舒畅了。
那么，又应该去校正底稿吧。
祝你的电脑早日康复！
Posted on: The Monkey King
September 2, 2009 at 5:35 PMI've gone and transcribed this oldie (thanks again for your help Tal and Shenyajin!); if anyone is interested in having a look you're welcome to here; also any suggestions, comments and feedback would be very welcome!
Posted on: The Monkey King
September 2, 2009 at 10:37 AMTo make my question clearer, maybe this 非常地有想象力 is not the best example of 非常地+形容词. But later on for instance there is also 非常非常地忠心，非常的忠诚， 非常地多，also 就是演得非常非常地好 (actually these de's I was also not sure of，if they are 地 or 的).
So--when and when not to use the 地 between the 非常 and Adj (which is preferable?)? Could we say 非常忠心 and 非常忠诚 to mean exactly the same?
Posted on: 游大观园
September 7, 2009 at 1:30 AM期待期待！ 我也感到这样，嘻嘻。
现在没有时间，今晚要回来听听！