this could be posted in the fun and games, but i think it is also pertinent to learning chinese.
we know that dian4hua4 or ‘electric talk’ refers to telephone. how about some other interesting combinations. what do you think ‘rock jam’ refers to? rock (yan2) jam (jiang1) please add your own interesting character combination discoveries as well as making a guess. and don’t look it up first!!!
and the answer to rock jam isssssssssssss: lava!!! since this thread is so popular, i shall be posting other interesting direct translations like rock jam as i learn them. here’s an easy one: fire/huo3 mountain/shan1 refers to:???
I’ve always liked “water dragon head”.
huo3shan1= volcano
shui3long2tou2= faucet
How 'bout “shake head pill”
ecstacy. what’s the pronunciation of that? yao2tou2yao4? i’ll look it up. yao2tou2wan2 is what the dictionary had.
Fan4gui1! Foul. You said no looking up words. 
The second pronunciation is correct.
OK. A new one: “crystal slice.”
i didn’t look it up until after my guess,. but now i won’t look it up so i won’t fan4gui1 again. (i learned a new word- break rule?). how bout this one from a story in the news: ren4 (recognize )tong2 (same) gan3 (feeling). you know, i’m more motivated to learn new vocab using this little game than anything else i’ve done. i think you should include the pronunciation too stimpy. crystal slice? jing1 pian4? is this another drug reference? i’m not into drugs, but maybe something to do with crystal meth? xue3 pian4 is snowflake i think, so maybe crystal slice might also have something to do with frost? or little particles of something sparkly?
Sorry, the guess isn’t correct. Not a drug this time.
I actually think it’s more fun not to include the pronunciation as it adds an element of difficulty to the game. Giving you the pronunciation gives you the word and, thus, makes its meaning easier to get right away. Giving literal, straight across, translations into English leaves the translation to you and makes this more challenging. That’s why I haven’t included pinyin.
[quote=“v”]this could be posted in the fun and games, but I think it is also pertinent to learning Chinese.
we know that dian4hua4 or ‘electric talk’ refers to telephone. how about some other interesting combinations. what do you think ‘rock jam’ refers to? rock (yan2) jam (jiang1) please add your own interesting character combination discoveries as well as making a guess. and don’t look it up first!!![/quote]
I case you’re using this to remember words and characters, so as not to mess up your Chinese I submit a correction. You probably want to remember this word as rock (yan2) liquid (jiang1). Jiang1 never has a “jam” meaning. You’re probably thinking of jiang4.
thanks ploor!! cystal slice. ok- it is more challenging without the pinyin. i accept the challenge!!! well, slice in chinese can refer to big or small things, unlike english. since crystal is delicate and breakable, i’ll go with small. i said before i thought it might refer to something sparkly- something related to sugar or salt or another food additive? come on people- make your guesses!!!
Here’s my guess: crystal slice = 晶片 = jing1pian4 = silicon wafer
OK, here are my challenges in increasing order of difficulty:
- can love
- essence of the spirit
- rainbow electricity
- inside person
- Mr. De
jing1 pian4 is driving me crazy!!! i tried to look up the chinese. i asked my chinese husband. no luck. so i looked up ‘crystal’ on dictionary.com to get some ideas. could it be a small part to a radio that uses crystal? could it be an LCD screen? how bout a watch case cover? how bout some sort of lens? we have a rule (that i’m just promulgating now) that you must post the answer to your question in 24 hours. i will give all of you a little more time to do ‘recognize same feeling’ before i acknowledge your defeat.
sjcma: rainbow electricity/cai3?hong2dian4: the auroa borealis? ‘inside person’: nei4 ren2- like a person from your family or inner cirlce of friends? essence of spirit- soul? can love/ke3ai4- lovable? mr.de: de2 xian1 sheng1: get married? catch a man?
[quote=“sjcma”]Here’s my guess: crystal slice = 晶片 = jing1pian4 = silicon wafer
[/quote]
“Chip” would do, but you are right. Sorry to leave you hanging on there, v. I just wanted to give it 24 hours before giving an answer.
Here’s my next contribution:
Put slack.
sorry, but ‘put slack’ tai4 jian3 dan1 le. ‘fang4 song1’ relax. you didn’t do my ‘recognize same feeling’!!! I got this from a newspaper article and i think they were trying to translate an english concept in an awkward way. i’ll give you a hint. the article was about generations 1.5- ers. silicon chip,eh? something i am totally ignorant about. do they look pretty? can i make a bracelet out of them?
I was going for something easier with Fang4song1. 
Fine…ren4tong2gan3 is “identity” or more verbosely, a “sense of common identity” as in professional identity, cultural identity, ethnic identity, national identity, etc.
They’re tasty, esp. BBQ flavoured ones.
[quote=“v”]rainbow electricity/cai3?hong2dian4: the auroa borealis?[/quote]Pinyin’s half way there, but the definition is very cold.
[quote=“v”] ‘inside person’: nei4 ren2- like a person from your family or inner cirlce of friends?[/quote]Got the pinyin right, but the definition is only half way there. Historically, who tends to stay inside the house?
[quote=“v”]essence of spirit- soul?[/quote]Please play again.
[quote=“v”]can love/ke3ai4- lovable?[/quote]This is an easy one; the pinyin is right, but there’s a more common definition.
[quote=“v”]mr.de: de2 xian1 sheng1: get married? catch a man?[/quote]Pinyin is right, but way out to left field with the definition. This one is hard though so I’ll give you the Chinese and you can google it. 德先生. Here’s another hint for you, v: one of your favourite topics when arguing with cctang.
For the beginning to intermediates only (too easy for you advanced folk, methinks):
insurance cover
cat head hawk
no tail bear
Here’s a few more (open to all):
general leader
stale water flat
accomplished man
fire legs
pull stomach
add take big