Posted by Andrew
Over the past few months, I’ve collected some of the differences I’ve observed between Chinese and English, of which I will outline here:
1. 东西
2. 大家
3. 一般
4. 应该
东西 means “thing,” but you should watch out how you use it. If you were trying to tell somebody that they weren’t an object and you said 你不是东西, you’d be communicating nearly the worst thing you can say to somebody, namely, “you’re not even a thing you’re so worthless.”
大家 (everyone) means “everybody.” If you’re going to talk to people in a meeting, use that one. Using 你们 (the plural “you”) can come off as overbearing and distant, a spin doctor might even say “out of touch.”
一般 (generally) is used to refer to things in general. People do not like committing to judgments that could haunt them later, so they may refer to the way things are generally instead of commenting on a specific situation.
应该(should) is along those very same lines. People will say something “should” happen, but are not overly willing to commit to a certain outcome. After reading “the black swan,” I’m not overly willing to assume an outcome of things either.
Use these terms with the footnotes provided and you will be able to develop your 语感 (sense of language) more quickly.
words
东西 dong1xi1 - thing
大家 da4jia1 - everybody
一般 yi1ban1 - generally
应该 ying1gai1 - should
你们 ni3men2 - you (plural)
语感 yu2(3)gan3 - language sense
Posted by Andrew
The other day, I wanted to go buy a sledgehammer. I hopped in a cab to my local 建材城 (construction material city), made my way past the 地板 (flooring) and the 地毯 (carpeting) until I got to the 五金 (hardware) section. I set aside 螺丝刀 (screwdrivers) and smaller 锤子 (hammers) until I relented and just asked for a hammer. “What kind?” they wanted to know. I said I wanted the kind that you’d use to 拆楼 (tear down a building). They slid a dense metal block onto a pole and sealed it with a 钉子 (nail). After that, they measured it with a 尺子 (ruler) and I picked up a 卷尺 (tape measure) for some of my future household projects.
Words
建材城 jian4cai2cheng2 - construction material city (basically any large place that sells construction materials)
地板 di4ban3 - floorboard
地毯 di4tan3 - carpet(ing)
五金 wu3jin1 - hardware
螺丝刀 luo2si1dao1 - screwdriver
锤子 chui2zi3 - hammer
拆楼 chai1lou2 - demolish a building
钉子 ding1zi3 - nail
尺子 chi3(2)zi3 - ruler
卷尺 juan1chi3 - tape measure
Posted by Andrew
As evidenced by my recent posts, the Chinese New Year is no small affair. What do people in China do during the new year celebrations? Children are among the happiest, as they collect 红包 (red envelopes) which have money from relatives and family friends. The money inside the envelopes is referred to as 压岁钱 (keep age down money). The most popular program watched on the night of the new year is the 春晚 (new year’s eve program). Prior to the program, families gather around the table to eat 年夜饭(new year’s eve meal), complete with homemade (not in all cases) 饺子 (dumplings). Anyone and everyone stays up until midnight, a process known as 守岁 (staying up for the change in age). Firecrackers are set off, dating back to an old tradition that held that there was a monster called the 年 (year) who feared the color red and could be scared off by loud noises. Families’ doors will have couplets known as 春联 (specifically vertical couplets positioned on both sides of a door positioned with auspicious words) on them, and along the top will be pasted a 横幅 (a piece of red paper containing one 4-word auspicious phrase). During the day, people visit their relatives in a process known as 拜年 (new year well-wishing).
红包 hong2bao1 - red envelope(s) containing money given during new year’s
春晚 chun1wan3 - short for 春节联欢晚会, it’s the gala broadcast by CCTV every new year’s eve
压岁钱 ya1sui4qian1 - money to press one’s age down
年夜饭 nian2ye4fan4 - new year’s eve meal
饺子 jiao3zi3 - dumplings
守岁 shou3sui4 - where families pass the new year and reflect on the past year’s events
年 nian2 - here “year” but it also refers to a mythical beast from long ago
春联 chun1lian2 - couplets pasted on a door bearing auspicious words
横幅 heng2fu2 - a rectangular piece of paper pasted above the door frame to complement the 春联
拜年 bai4nian2 - to visit people’s houses to wish them a happy new year
Posted by Andrew
In the workplace, there are a lot of different terms to become familiar with. Use some of these, so the next time you 开会 (have a meeting), you won’t be at a loss. Some meetings will go over 预算 (budget) and 业绩 (work achievements). Those who don’t have enough may be required to 离职 (leave their position) without any room to 商量 (discuss/negotiate) the issue. Such a termination would not come in a 公函 (business letter). On the topic of letters, sometimes in the course of business, asking for quotes is necessary. Your first letter would be to 询价 (inquire about a price), where you’d get a 报价 (quote) back, where standard practice would dictate that you’d have to prepare a 还价 (counter-offer) in your next letter. Following that, the recipient would be wont to 考虑 (think about) your proposition.
开会 kai1hui4 - have a meeting
预算 yu4suan4 - budget
业绩 ye4ji4 - work achievements
离职 li2zhi2 - leave one’s position
商量 shang1liang4 - discuss/negotiate
公函 gong1han2 - work/business letters
询价 xun2jia4 - inquire about a price
报价 bao4jia4 - quote/a quote
还价 huan2jia4 - counter-offer
考虑 kao3lv4 - consider
note here that the “v” refers to a u with umlauts.
Posted by Andrew
Walking out from work the other day in Beijing’s Central Business District, I noticed among the fireworks for the lantern festival that one 摩天大厦 (skyscraper) in particular had 着火 (caught fire). The next question was of course how this 火灾 (fire disaster) would be dealt with and how long it would be before the 消防队(fire department) showed up to 灭火 (put out the fire). Less than an hour passed before this was 刊登 (published) by the local media and pictures were 上传 (uploaded) on to popular websites. My initial thought was that the fire had to do with 保险 (insurance) reasons, but the official report holds the cause as stemming from 烟花 (fireworks) which were misused. One thing is for sure, this event caught the attention of innumerable 网民 (netizens) in China.
words
摩天大厦 mo2tian1da4sha4 - skyscraper(s)
着火zhao2huo3 - to catch fire
火灾huo3zai1 - fire disaster
消防队xiao1fang3dui4 - fire department
灭火mie4huo3 - put out a fire
刊登 kan1deng1 - to publish
上传shang4chuan2 - to upload
保险bao3(2)xian3 - insurance
烟花 yan1hua1 - fireworks
网民 wang3min2 - netizens (internet users)
