User Comments - zhenlijiang
zhenlijiang
Posted on: Delivery Problems
June 20, 2009 at 1:56 PMpaulinurus, raygo--there was an in-depth and interesting discussion on 胡 in Poems with Pete - Dreams of the Departed 陇西行.
Posted on: 沙漠寻踪
June 19, 2009 at 4:12 PMpete, thanks for your response. I see your point about 执着的学者 being one of those things that you say in Chinese, with the 执着 not meaning that much (so that when you do try to translate "faithfully" you're bound to get some strange-sounding English) here.
Another thing I got fuzzy about was the boy's age. I guess I started thinking he was a bit older than a precocious child would be (because of the actor's voice). A small child saying things like "So my father was a driven man--a scholar driven by the (his) need for knowledge!" would be creepy, precocious or not.
changye, the "positive" example my 小学館 中日辞典 gives is 他执着地研究着这一难题。
I don't necessarily think of human weaknesses as negative, I think they're ... human. Love is often described as a weakness. And perhaps in Christian cultures they're seen as more negative (sins and vices) than in Buddhist-influenced cultures.
Posted on: 沙漠寻踪
June 19, 2009 at 8:24 AMpete and tgif,
I don't think 执着 is a word that ever really leaves its Buddhist origins behind; that is, it always refers to some human weakness. But that's not to say that it's not possible for us to admire or be in awe of such a driven person or his dedication.
The Oxford English Dictionary says headstrong is "determined to have one's own way or to pursue one's own course; wilful, obstinate; violently self-willed" and that makes me a little more comfortable with it as a way to say 执着, but not 100 percent. The Merriam Webster definition "impatient of control, advice, or suggestions" may match the mother's tone and point of view but the son wouldn't see it like his mother does, and it's the son speaking here. To me he sounds more in awe than critical at this point. In that sense, I would prefer to find a word other than headstrong.
原来我爸爸是个执着的学者！in the context of this story, sounds to me something like "So my father was a driven man--a scholar driven by the (his) need for knowledge!"
Or maybe this line could also work using relentless, unshakable, unyielding or dogged, in place of headstrong? Just my two yen.
Posted on: Lili and Zhang Liang 3: The Jealous Friend
June 18, 2009 at 4:58 PMchanelle, have you tried looking in the Lesson Sets? I think those were recently reorganized and you can see the list in order there (tried to post link but wasn't able for some reason).
Posted on: To do
June 18, 2009 at 11:30 AMxiaophil, I was told something similar from a (young, female) teacher. She didn't suggest 搞（工作） was profane in any way, just said that "it's not good to say".
Her English wasn't the best and my Chinese wasn't good enough either so I didn't ask further questions but she seemed to be saying that it would not be polite of you to say of someone else, 他搞音乐 for instance, as if that person were a self-called musician and did not have what other people would acknowledge was a career. He calls himself a musician / He does music or something--this kind of nuance.
Is this totally off?
Posted on: 沙漠寻踪三
June 17, 2009 at 3:12 PMbodawei,
怎么，不能断定解释是平淡无奇的吧！要我说，这样的"现象"都是共时性。共时性不仅很酷，而且很正常。无意义的偶然现象一件 (don't know if 现象 can take a measure word, or if so which one! Could someone tell me?) 也没有 ...
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 11: Wang in the Doghouse
June 15, 2009 at 8:17 AMraygo, 我也喜欢这样的题外话，就是我在这里占的地方已经太大了，觉得不好意思了啊 ^^;
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 11: Wang in the Doghouse
June 14, 2009 at 3:05 PMdavidfong, bababardwan and raygo
It is off-topic and I wanted to take up more space, so I took the Alice discussion here.
Posted on: Lao Wang's Office 11: Wang in the Doghouse
June 12, 2009 at 2:49 PM呵呵大哥，请你别介意！Just don't call me sis! 连我弟也不叫我这样。 And I shall go and ponder what it is that may have caused some of you fellas to assume I was one as well. Rather amusing actually--it's not like you saw me and thought I was a dude. But now I hope you're not like disappointed that I turned out not to be one. I've found sometimes poddies see my username and assume I'm Chinese, and I think I've disappointed them by telling them I'm Japanese.
Posted on: Finally
June 20, 2009 at 5:38 PMmikeinewshot,
I'm no grammarian, but it seems to me the 我买了几十年彩票 is the same structure as 我看了一个小时电视. While at all times remaining wary of being too "literal", I personally find these easy to grasp as noun phrases (=objects. Sorry, noun phrase is probably not the correct term)--"an hour('s worth) of TV", "decades(' worth) of lottery tickets". If I'm totally off here, or still am missing the point of your question, I'm sure someone will come to the rescue within hours!