If someone says “My name is Li” in Chinese using the words “鄙姓李” instead of “我姓李”, do you think it is just polite or overly polite (subservient).
I have one colleague who does this all the time, but he’s the only one I know who uses “鄙 (bi3)”.
[quote=“hannes”]If someone says “My name is Li” in Chinese using the words “鄙姓李” instead of “我姓李”, do you think it is just polite or overly polite (subservient).
I have one colleague who does this all the time, but he’s the only one I know who uses “鄙 (bi3)”.[/quote]
It’s 敝(bi4).
It’s polite, and many people do it. When a salesperson meets someone new, or someone answers on the trouble-shooting hotline, they usually introduce themselves with 敝姓…
Peoplel just use it when they want to be polite.
thanks, lupillus!
I wasn’t really sure about the character (or the tone). I am just hearing my colleague saying it all the time. 
Just like 你貴姓 literally means “your esteemed surname”; 敝姓 literally means “[my] lowly surname”. It’s politeness through showing humility for onseself and prestige for the person one’s addressing.
can anyone enlighten me on the use of 坊間?
example:
現代心理學強調正面思考的重要性,坊間也有一些課程教導人如何正面思考…
the dictionary says something about “bookstores” or “on the market”…
when is it appropriate to use “坊間” instead of “市上”?
[quote=“hannes”]can anyone enlighten me on the use of 坊間?
example:
現代心理學強調正面思考的重要性,坊間也有一些課程教導人如何正面思考…
the dictionary says something about “bookstores” or “on the market”…
[/quote]
A colleague of mine says it means “in society” in this context.
A colleague tells me it just means ‘on the market’ here.
I’d like to see a translation of the first half. Anyone?
Modern psychology emphasizes the importance of positive thinking;
some public courses also teach how to think positively.
I’d like to see a translation of the first half. Anyone?[/quote]
現代心理學強調正面思考的重要性
Modern psychology stresses the importance of positive thinking
Edit: Oops, DB beat me to it!
I would just go for a literal translation here: “把錢轉入自己的口袋”.
A similar usage: “to divert the company’s money to somebody’s account” = 把公司的錢轉入某人的戶頭(帳戶)
[quote=“Dragonbones”]Modern psychology emphasizes the importance of positive thinking;
some public courses also teach how to think positively.[/quote]
great translation; good choice to use “public” for the 坊間 part; however, I am not sure whether 坊間 implies some kind of commercial activity that needs to show in a translation; but I don’t think it matters in this context.
I would just go for a literal translation here: “把錢轉入自己的口袋”.
A similar usage: “to divert the company’s money to somebody’s account” = 把公司的錢轉入某人的戶頭(帳戶)[/quote]
so “A錢” = “把錢轉入自己的口袋”?
while we are at it, does anyone know where the expression " to ‘K’ somebody" comes from?
example: 我真想K你﹗(I really would like to hit you [on the head])
does it derive from a Taiwanese expression?
[quote=“hannes”]
so “A錢” = “把錢轉入自己的口袋”?
while we are at it, does anyone know where the expression " to ‘K’ somebody" comes from?
example: 我真想K你﹗(I really would like to hit you [on the head])
does it derive from a Taiwanese expression?[/quote]
And while we’re still at it, how about the term “Q” or “QQ” as it relates to food?
chewy!
maybe “K” comes frome the English “KO”?
chewy![/quote]
Thanks! My mom uses this term once in a while and I always kind of ignored it…I figure if it tastes good, that’s good enough for me. 
I assume it’s a Taiwanese (Minnan) expression? If so, do you know if the folks that actually live in Minnan (Southern Fujian) use the same term? Is there a character for it?
I assumed the same but don’t know for a fact. I’m told that there’s no character for it; it’s written with an English Q.
“K人” is a term from the Manchu language. There is a way of hitting called “kei” in both north-east and Beijing dialects. For example: If you don’t get lost, I am going to “kei” you! (你再不滾蛋 我就要K你了) :google:
“Q” is a Taiwanese slang which means “flexible” and the Roman letter is used to represent it. — Wikipedia
[quote=“cheetah”]“K人” is a term from the Manchu language. There is a way of hitting called “kei” in both north-east and Beijing dialects. For example: If you don’t get lost, I am going to “kei” you! (你再不滾蛋 我就要K你了) :google:
“Q” is a Taiwanese slang which means “flexible” and the Roman letter is used to represent it. — Wikipedia[/quote]
Really? That’s very interesting. I thought it was something the Taiwanese would come up with…
And they use the English letter “K” in Mainland China as well?