See also
forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … 36&start=0
forumosa.com/taiwan/viewtopi … 68&start=0
Thanks DB.
Does anybody want to take a crack at romanizing the transliteration (think that’s what it is) of cool? I get ku4 a1…
Also tones for “gung ho”?
酷 ku4
工合 gong1 he2
Note that this term is meaningless to most Chinese people; “gung ho” has a rather convoluted origin:
Thanks. I’ll add the characters to the list on the first page.
bob- i agree that onomatopoeia (ni3 sheng1 ci4- literally “devised from sound”) words are all over the place in both chinese and english. such is one of the joys for me of reading chinese dictionaries.
10 "c"s to see (like alot of my old report cards):
chauvinism= sha1wen2zhu3yi4
can (tin)=guan tou
combination= kang bai na xiong
copy= kao bei
corrupt= fubai (think of F.U.B.A.R.)
crack (something between teeth)= ke4
consent, agree= ken
cut, carve, engrave= ke4
cement= shui men ting
canteen/eating place=can1ting1
Is “kang bai na xiong” a real word? Or are we just using Pinyin to “rèàitè yīnggēlǐxu”?
if by “we” you mean “me”, then…no. but alot of language is exactly thus. back home we might say : the gas station is catty-corner to the bank. “catty-corner” by itself is odd. once you know it evolved from the french “quatre corner” (sp?) it shares new light on the term. as china opens to the west, there will be a slew of such words.
i haven’t invented or made up any of the entries i have contributed to this thread. i’ll look around back home and see what i have for attribution for the word in question.
a dozen D’s:
deny, disavow= di2lai4
dialog= diu4hua4
Dali Lama=da2lai4 la3ma
dog…dingo…gou (also Dr. Seuss wrote a book called “Go Dog Go”
dow jones index = dao4 qiong2si1 zhi3su4
dozen= da
derby (race)=de2bi3zhan4
disciple, pupil= di4zi3
drug (narcotic)= du2
dagger/knife= dao1
leave your honey/divorce= li2hun1
drip= di1, di1da
One of my favorites is 卜 (bu3). In Old Chinese, its sound was “pok”, and its meaning was the popping sound made by an oracle bone when it was heated. (In Cantonese it’s pronounced “puk”; pretty close to the original sound.) On top of this, the character is a depiction of a crack found in the said oracle bone.
Oracle bones were used for divining the future, and the modern meaning of “bu3” is “to divine”.
Some corrections to your list:
McDonalds - Mai4dang1lao2
Brandy - bai2lan2di4jiu3
Engine - yin3qing2 (not ying)
Kung fu - gong1fu1
Ping pong - ping1 pang1
Tofu - dou4fu3
Romance (language) - luo2man4
And an addition:
romantic - lang4man4
why do we say “panda” whereas in china (the only place with pandas) they say “xiong2 mao1”?
i understand the “catsup”, “tea” stories but have never heard a good rationale for “panda”. “pang2 da4” =big’ 'n fat/colossal?
I liked…
Dalai Lama - da2lai4 la3ma
Derby - de2bi3zhan1
Dow Jones Index - dao4 qiong2si1 zhi3su4
Dozen - da2
Drip - di1
Drug - du2
Bingo.
Thanks guys.
The list on the first page is still looking pretty scant but if we keep at it I think it will eventually become something pretty worthwhile.
I possess an extraordinary capacity for maintaining lists over the long term…
“panda” apparently comes from a Nepalese word for “raccoon”.
Oops (see above). I accidently deleted the post this related to.
Anyway…
Nope, they don’t, but here they are anyway…
Concrete (the stuff sidewalks/ buildings etc. are made of) - hun4ning2tu3
(concept) - ju4ti2 gai4nian4
Abstract - chou1xiang4
(Resident expert “and” dictionary checked.)
echoic e’s:
e2= pretty, young woman
e2= goose
e3= nauseated, feel like vomiting
e4= hiccups
e4= evil
e4= hungry
e4= stunned
e4= stocking
e4, e4yu2= crocodile, ehligator
eat, ingest (via CHEWing)= chir
economy= ai keng nuo mi
False cognates:
是 shi4 = sure (as in “yes”)
盤 pan2 = pan
費 fei4 = fee
Sayings and phrases that just happen to be the same in Chinese and English:
打鐵趁熱 da3 tie3 chen4 re4 “strike iron while hot” = strike while the iron is hot
晴天霹靂 qing2 tian1 pi1li4 “clear day lightning” = a bolt from the blue
老手 lao3 shou3 “old hand” = old hand (i.e. experienced person)
futai4=“fatty”, plump, portly
fu2zhuang1= fashion, dress, clothing…
Is that like a Canadian alligator?
Sorry, SY, none of those worked for me. We will have better luck with “f” I imagine. Dunno why, but it seems more would jump across at “f” than “e”.
four 4’s:
fragrant/sweet smelling= fang2
fax= fai ke si
flower…flohua…hua
fascist= fa3 xi1 si1