I’d like start a thread listing words in Chinese that can lead to embarassing,humorus situations if the wrong tone is used. Preferable situations you’ve come across personally.
For example, when hitchiking I would ask if I could “da2 bian1 che1”. But if it sounds like “da4 bian4 che1” you’d get some giggles for sure.
^________^
hee hee!
giggle
If you broaden this topic a little to ‘other common mistakes’:
I Always used to mix up pi bao (for wallet/purse) with bao pi (foreskin) so was to scared to ever use that word.
I’ve once or twice (And several times nearly), made this mix up. Two common words for loo paper or tissue paper are mian zhi and wei sheng zhi. I managed to mix and match between the two and ask for wei sheng mian which is panty shields/sanitary pads.
Bri
quote:[img]images/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif[/img] I feel the same trepidation ordering thin crust pizza with Domino's Pizza: "Gimme a foreskin [i]Daodi Meiguo[/i] pizza please!" [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img]
Originally posted by Bu Lai En: I Always used to mix up pi bao (for wallet/purse) with bao pi (foreskin) so was to scared to ever use that word.
Here’s the best one I’ve ever heard about.
My Taiwanese friend was walking behind a foreigner who was speaking not-the-best mandarin on his cell phone. Apparently the guy wasn’t feeling well, so he said to his friend, “wo3 gan3mao4” – I have a cold… (I know, its best if there’s an ‘le’ there…) What he actually said was “wo3 gan4 mao1” – I f*** cats.
Oops. At least, I HOPE it was a bad accent…
Some I find easy to muddle up, because if you don’t get it right the meaning is unclear:
chou3 = ugly
chou4 = smelly
…was that an ugly dog or a smelly dog you saw Malkie?
wen3 = to kiss
wen4 = to ask
…I thought Mr Lin was your just your assistant Malkie?
quote:
Originally posted by Bu Lai En: Two common words for loo paper or tissue paper are mian zhi and wei sheng zhi. I managed to mix and match between the two and ask for wei sheng mian which is panty shields/sanitary pads.
Hey Bri,
A quick clarification (which you may already know):
The word for tissue is mian4 zhi, or literally “face paper.” (Btw, strictly speaking it’s not interchangeable with toilet paper, wei sheng zhi).
While the word for sanitary pad is wei sheng mian2, where mian2 is the character for “cotton.”
And somewhat off topic, I cracked up the first time I heard this favorite pun of the local kids at lunch hour:
Da bian dang fan, xiao bian dang cai
quote:I don't get it, where's the pun? I understand the phrase to mean "sh*t is the rice, pee is the vegetable". Is there a play on words there somewhere? Aargh - I think my Chinese is getting worse! [img]images/smiles/icon_mad.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_confused.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_eek.gif[/img] [img]images/smiles/icon_redface.gif[/img]
Originally posted by SCL: And somewhat off topic, I cracked up the first time I heard this favorite pun of the local kids at lunch hour: Da bian dang fan, xiao bian dang cai
Must have something to do with “bian dang” (boxed lunch, or whatever it actually means).
Thank you Jeff. Amazing how the obvious escapes us at times, isn’t it?
My girlfriend uses weishengzhi for facial tissue all the time. And anyway,in Taiwan it’s about the same. We buy the jumbo sack and distribute it throughout the house. On second thought, maybe she’s just calling a spade a spade.
That is for sure, tone is very important in Chinese language. Once you didn’t get it right in the beginning, it’s harder and harder for you to get it right after you can speak chinese very well. Same as English, I didn’t study it very hard, so I got my English into a very terrible situation. But the good thing is, people can always get what I mean if I can say the vocabulary right. But for the students who are learning Chinese…if you say the tone wrong, maybe everything is wrong then. So…thanks god, I’m native chinese speaker…I think the most important thing is getting the tone right, not learning alot of vocabulary…I’d rather to say something which people can 100% get me right than talking alot, but people only get me one thing…“she is trying to say something, about what is that-- no idea”…and the worse is they might tell you, “maybe you should write it down (and I don’t know how to write)”, then they suggest “maybe you can write it down in your language, and I can look for the dictionary”…%@%@#%@%
quote:
Originally posted by Malkie: Some I find easy to muddle up, because if you don't get it right the meaning is unclear:chou3 = ugly
chou4 = smelly…was that an ugly dog or a smelly dog you saw Malkie?
I had this problem for a while too. Eventually I just tried to think that whenever somebody smells something bad, they kinda say it in a harsh tone (ie, this stinks!!), which is somewhat analogous to fourth tone. Ugly is not necessary used with such a harsh tone…
Sounds stupid, but it worked for me after a while…
Once at Pizza Hut I complained to the manager that the pizza was “hao gan.” I had meant to say that it was too dry, but unfortunately used the 4th tone instead of the 1st for “gan.” I don’t think it literally translates to “this pizza is a good f*ck,” but my date got a kick out of it.
I also have a hard time with “qing”: invite vs kiss. Any advice on that one?
quote:
Originally posted by Jeff: I also have a hard time with "qing": invite vs kiss. Any advice on that one?
I think kiss is actually “qin1” whereas invite is “qing3”
Here’s a couple I fumble up:
Huan2 vs Huan4 (Exchange vs. Return --i’m never sure which is which )
xiao3 vs. shao3 (little/small (as in size) vs. little/few (as in amount) – in English ‘little’ can be used for both)
Just say “shao” with a thick Taiwanese accent and it comes out “sao”
quote[quote]I had this problem for a while too. Eventually I just tried to think that whenever somebody smells something bad, they kinda say it in a harsh tone (ie, this stinks!!), which is somewhat analogous to fourth tone. [/quote]I use a similar method to explain tones to non-speakers. Second is like a question and fourth is like "fck". I addition to its other numerous good qualities fck is usually a fourth tone in English.
quote:
xiao3 vs. shao3 (little/small (as in size) vs. little/few (as in amount) -- in English 'little' can be used for both)
Yeah, these are the tough ones, where the meaning is also similar, so it’s even harder to differentiate. Becuase you’re listening is not up to scratch, you’re not sure what one to go for in that context.
Here’s a classic joke noone mentioned yet:
Guy new to Taiwan goes into a restaraunt. Only knows how to order one thing so goes up to the pretty waitress and tries to say “shui3 jioa3, yi1 wan3 duoshaoqian?” but gets it a bit wrong (“shui4 jiao4, yi1 wan3 duoshaoqian?”) and gets a slap in the face.
Bri
I taught my ex how to say “your eyes are beautiful” in Chinese to girls.
eyes=yan3 jing1, but he turned out saying “ni3 de yin1 jing1 hen3 piao4 liang4.”
Yin1 jing1= di3 di2, a sexial organ that only boys have.
Shu Shu, are you sure that’s not what you were saying to him?