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)
Posted by Andrew
The other day I went to a hospital for a 体检 (health inspection) which is part of the application process for a 居留证 (residence permit). The first step included going to the hospital and 填表 (filling in a form) regarding basic health information, and the bottom of the form has a part where you have to 打钩 (make a check mark) next to diseases you have or had in the past. Because I used to have 哮喘 (asthma), I decided to indicate it for the reference of the doctors. After filling out the form, the receptionist typed my data into the computer, printed out a copy, and asked me to 核对 (check if the information was correct). Normally I don’t think that people would 输错 (input [data] incorrectly), but you have to check for even the smallest 错误 (mistake/accident) in these types of situations. Well, imagine my surprise when my checkbox for “asthma” was marked by the receptionist as 肝炎 (hepatitis)! Aside from being incorrect and having multiple medical consequences, hepatitis is one of the diseases that puts a person on the 黑名单 (black list), effectively crushing that person’s chances at a residence permit, much less another visa into the country! Always check your forms, readers!
体检 ti2(3)jian3 - health inspection
居留证 ju1liu2zheng4 - residence permit
填表 tian2biao3 - fill in a form
打钩 da3gou1 - make a check mark
哮喘 xiao1chuan2 - asthma
肝炎 gan1yan2 - hepatitis
黑名单 hei1ming2dan1 - black list
核对 he2dui4 - check if [something] is correct
输错 shu1cuo4 - input incorrectly
错误 cuo4wu4 - error
Posted by Andrew
Hello readers!
Have you ever invested in China before? Maybe you’ve heard about the recent 轮胎关税 (tire tariffs) issue. To be sure, a lot of people are investing here. Some people buy shares in an 指数基金 (index fund), while others dream of one day running their own 私募 (private equity) venture. Take a good long look at your 走势图 (trend charts) and do your best to predict the next 升跌 (rise and/or fall) to make your fortune. Betting on downward trends of Chinese 股票 (stocks) is prohibited by Chinese 国家规定 (nationwide regulations), so don’t hedge your financial future on risky 赌博 (gambling) when someone offers you an opportunity to short a stock here.
轮胎 lun2tai1 - tires
关税 guan1shui4 - tariff
指数 zhi3shu4 - index
基金 ji1jin1 - fund
私募 si1mu4 - private equity
走势图 zou3shi4tu2 - trend chart
上升 shang4sheng1 - rise, go up
跌 die3 - fall
股票 gu3piao4 - stock
国家规定 guo2jia1gui1ding4 - national rule/regulation
赌博 du3bo2 - gambling
