Sichuan is famous for its lameizi. That doesn’t mean hot-looking girls with scanty clothing; it means what kentsuarez said - a fiesty girl, a vixen or virago.[/quote]
Never heard of lameizi, but lamei may have derived from the British band Spice Girl back in the 90s, as their Chinese name is Lamei Hechangtuan. If that’s the case, none of the older dictionaries would have this term.
Sichuan is famous for its lameizi. That doesn’t mean hot-looking girls with scanty clothing; it means what Dragonbones said - a fiesty girl, a vixen or virago.[/quote]
Never heard of lameizi,[/quote]Like I said, it’s from Sichuan and doesn’t mean sexy girl there.
As for the term ‘lamei’ here, it may well have originated with the Spice Girls - I have no idea.
This term has been mentioned in the media more than a few times in the last two days: yin1mou2lun4: conspiracy theory. Not in my dictionary though.
The ABC Compr. has 陰謀 yin1mou2, plot/scheme, and 論 lun4 theory; I’ll suggest they add yin1mou2lun4 conspiracy theory. It has been an interesting weekend, no?
I looked at the sample page, and many of the phrases seem to be in use only in China. I checked with a Taiwanese friend and he agreed. (Plus, the simplified characters gave it away 
).
Many of the phrases you guys are suggesting are probably only heard in Taiwan (for example if they came from Taiwanese or if they were coined after 1948). I know this is a lot tof work, but I think it would be a good idea to note Taiwan vs Mainland usage.
Yes, the ABC comprehensive tends to note the distinction, although it does not do so comprehensively. If anyone finds terms that are PRC only or TWN only that are not so marked in the ABC, feel free to send them an email telling them, so that future editions will be even better.
K
This newfangled word is definitely not in any dictionaries: qiang4sheng1, or more commonly pronounced: qiang4xia1 (Taiwanese). My Taiwanese coworker tells me that it means to voice up. But the usage in the media always seems to be in the context of a competition, as in the pan-blue supporters’ qiangxia against the pan-green. So maybe it’s more accurate to say, to outvoice someone, or cry out in protest against someone. Does anyone have a more accurate translation?:s
My personal bugbear is the over-used buzzword “quan2 fang1 wei4”. I have yet to find a good translation of it. The closest I can find is “comprehensive”, but it just does not seem satisfactory. I wonder if it’s listed in this magical DeFrancis dictionary.
The ABC2 has it as
N. omnidirection; comprehensiveness
ATTR.
- omnibearing
- comprehensive; all-inclusive
quanfanwei kaifang is given as “open doors wide on every side”.
quanfanwei waijiao: all-encompassing diplomacy.
quanfanshe: total reflection
double post
The ABC2 has it as
N. omnidirection; comprehensiveness
ATTR.
- omnibearing
- comprehensive; all-inclusive
quanfanwei kaifang is given as “open doors wide on every side”.
quanfanwei waijiao: all-encompassing diplomacy.
quanfanshe: total reflection[/quote]
This is one dictionary I need to get my hands on!!
simplified chinese below:
ba1gua4: gossip 八卦
it originally mean something in the religion “Toism”,the meaning of “gossip” is a somewhat modern word
gao1kong1tan2tiao4: bungee jumping 高空弹跳
because this workout is not invented in China itself,so it’s not hard to understand that it’s hard to be found in the dictionary
mai3chun1: literally “to buy spring,” which means to hire a prostitute
买春 yes,that’s right,but it’s also a modern word and the dictionary is too shy to show it’s meaning ,haha…
gou2zai3dui4: paparazzi
狗仔队,too modern!
ren2yao1: transvestite
人妖 I didn’t know this word until I was 13
hui2kou4: kickbacks
回扣 well,this word is a common one,and I think it should have a place in the dictionary,but you know,this word emerged as China began it’s marketlization.that means,it’s something about bribery,in acient China,there were some other words.
[quote=“voiceofgod”]simplified Chinese below:
ba1gua4: gossip 八卦
it originally mean something in the religion “Toism”,the meaning of “gossip” is a somewhat modern word
[/quote]
八卦, in Taoism, means the eight trigrams.
[quote=“voiceofgod”]ren2yao1: transvestite
人妖 I didn’t know this word until I was 13[/quote]Argh, that word again… It really isn’t very nice, you know. See my thread from long, long ago for more on the topic.
(Re: ABC dictionary by DeFrancis)
[quote=“Chris”]
This is one dictionary I need to get my hands on!![/quote]
…and I found a copy in San Francisco’s Chinatown! They gave me a 20% discount, too! I’m very pleased with it so far. But it’s awfully big and heavy…
And, I assume, the extension to mean “gossip” comes via the idea of tapping the I-Ching for information via the Bagua.