Posted by Andrew
Yesterday I made my way to a bookstore in Shenzhen stocking foreign titles. Near the overpass of the road with the store, I saw a banner saying 推崇阅读 (respect/praise reading), meanwhile there were performers playing the 二胡 (erhu, a traditional Chinese instrument) and taking donations from passers-by. As I exited the building, I saw plenty of 星星 (stars) dotting the sky while enjoying the 凉快 (cool) weather. With my 宝贵 (precious) books in hand, I was rather pleased. Some of the books at the library were definitely OUT (out) though, I saw a book describing how to use COBOL and DOS. With the extra time I had last night, I took a trip to another one of the 口岸 (ports) and was impressed with the linkage of the Shenzhen MTR and Hong Kong MTR. After that, I grabbed dinner at an HK-style cafe where one couple had their 八哥狗/哈巴狗 (pug dog) lying on the floor underneath them.
推崇 tui1chong2 - praise, respect
阅读 yue4du2 - reading
二胡 er2hu2 - a two-stringed traditional chinese instrument played with a bow
星星 xing1xing1 - stars
凉快 liang2kuai4 - cool, fresh
宝贵 bao3gui4 - precious
OUT out - internet slang meaning “out of style”
口岸 kou3an4 - port
八哥狗 ba1ge1gou3 - pug
哈巴狗 ha1bagou3 - pug (alternative name)
Posted by Andrew
Hello readers!
The other day I was trying to set up a purchase on 支付宝 (Alipay), an online payment site. When I tried to 充值 (add funds), I found that there was a security certificate problem with my 银盾 (internet banking USB key). Even through I had prepared my 交易密码 (trading password) for the bank and my 支付密码 (payment password) for Alipay, I still couldn’t successfully 汇款 (wire money). After removing my browser security settings and making Internet Explorer (not my choice- only IE is supported for Alipay and internet banking in China) about as safe as an oven made of kindling, I was finally able to 扣钱 (deduct money) from my bank account. After that, my focus shifted to securing a 优惠 (discount). It wouldn’t be a purchase in China if I couldn’t 降价 (lower the price). Well, 加油吧. (come on!)
支付宝 zhi1fu4bao3 - Alipay, a popular Chinese payment platform
充值 chong1zhi2 - add funds
银盾 yin2dun4 - USB key for online banking
交易密码 jiao1yi4mi4ma3 - Trading password
支付密码 zhi1fu4mi4ma3 - payment password
汇款 hui4kuan3 - wire money
扣钱 kou4qian2 - deduct money
优惠 you1hui4 - discount
降价 jiang4jia4 - lower the price
加油吧 jia1you2ba - well, come on, let’s see (said to encourage oneself)
Posted by Andrew
Hello everyone- 万圣节快乐 (happy Halloween)! Halloween also goes by the name of 鬼节, but one thing’s for certain- people dress up as all kinds of 怪物 (monsters), or even superheroes like 蜘蛛侠 (Spiderman) 蝙蝠侠 (Batman) or 超人 (Superman). My plan for the day includes a Halloween concert at the 海边 (beach) which promises to be one huge 派对 (party). The only missing thing this year is that I can’t go anywhere to 要糖(go trick-or-treating. lit. ask for candy).
万圣节 wan4sheng4jie2 - Halloween (lit. 10,000 saints day)
_快乐 - kuai4le4 - happy ____ !
鬼节 gui3jie2 - ghost holiday
怪物 guai4wu4 - monster(s)
蜘蛛� zhi1zhuxia2 - Spiderman
蝙蝠� bian1fu2xia2 - Batman
超人 chao1ren2 - Superman
海边 hai3bian1 - beach
派对 pai4dui4 - party
要糖 yao4tang2 - to ask for candy; go trick-or-treating
Posted by Andrew
Hello to all my reader 盆友 (friends)! 哇吓咪 (why) am I talking like this? 94俺 (it’s just that I) want to teach you some net slang. Don’t 晕 (feel faint) and don’t break a 汗 (sweat). By the end of this, you’ll saying, “at first he 745 了(really had me mad), but he’s no 愤青 (angry youth)! He was just trying to 顶(bump) his post because he wasn’t the 楼主 (thread starter).”
盆友 pen2you3 - friends (another form of 朋友 peng2you3)
哇吓咪 wa1xia4mi2 - why? (form of 为什么 wei4shen2me?)
94 jiu3si4 - I know, right? (form of 就是! jiu4shi4- emphatically pointing something out)
俺 an1 - I (used instead of 我 wo3)
745 qi1si4wu3 - makes me so angry! (气死我 qi4si3(2)wo3)
晕 yun1 - to feel faint (can be used like “are you serious? oh my goodness!” in reaction to surprising news. 晕倒 yun1dao3 (faint) is used for higher degree expression.
汗 han4 sweat (used to indicate that someone is nervous about something)
愤青 fen4qing1 - angry youth (a common term online referring to angry teenagers, used more often in reference to young netizens)
顶 ding3 - bump (this is similar to the “like” button on some webpages which can affect the page’s ranking)
楼主 lou2zhu3 -thread starter
Posted by Andrew
I thought that I had left long pizza searches back in Beijing, but I guess that the fates had another plan for me. I saw an online listing showing where to find the previously-mentioned Shenzhen pizza place in person, so I 记好了 (wrote down) the place’s phone number. It wasn’t until I was in a taxi on the way to the address I had written down that I tried calling it. Somewhat surprisingly, no matter how many times I dialed the phone number, I 打不通 (was unable to get through). Walking around aimlessly, I decided to ask people on the street. Since this is Shenzhen and nobody (except for maybe the original population of 10,000 native Shenzhen people 30 years ago) is from here, everyone’s answer was some variant of 不太熟 (not really familiar [with this area])when asked about the address. I then got the idea to ask people who worked 房地产 (real estate), as they 绝对 (absolutely) must know the location of buildings for their job. Additionally, the boom in renters and real estate in China means that there are real estate agents working well into the evening on Saturdays- right when I was looking for this pizza place. After asking an agent, I was pointed in the direction of a 闪亮 (flashing) building. When I got to the general vicinity, I mostly saw places for 洗车 (car-washing) as well as some 车库 (garages). Funny place for a pizza place, right? I walked all around the area and couldn’t find the place, despite having the correct address. When I tried to enter the courtyard of another complex, the 保安 (security guard) ran over and asked what I was looking for. Well, he hadn’t heard about this pizza place either. Crestfallen and still hungry, I returned to my apartment to see what had happened. The next time you’re reading a post and are hungry, make sure you’re not reading any 旧帖 (old posts). It just might save you a lot of time!
记好了 ji4hao3le - wrote down/recorded
打不通 da3bu4(usually a neutral tone in speech though)tong1- to not be able to get through on the phone
不太熟 bu4(2)tai4shu2 - not too familiar [with something, an area in this case]
房地产 fang2di4chan3 - real estate
洗车 xi3che1 - car wash
车库 che1ku4 - garage
保安 bao3an1 - security guard (also the name of a district in Shenzhen)
绝对 jue2dui4 - absolutely
闪亮 shan3liang4 - flashing (of a light)
旧帖 jiu4tie3 - old post (on a forum)
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