Have you ever affectionately called your sweetheart crumbs? Or even the dear little ones? Well, in Chinese you should avoid this at all costs. There, the little word 渣 zhā “crumbs” is usually understood as anything but flattering. In China, pigs of character and other immoral morons are often called “human crumbs” (人渣 rénzhā) or […]
Sometimes there really is something fishy with learning a language. You make a monkey out of yourself with reckless statements and then try to get the cow off the ice. Or you stand there like a dying duck in a thunderstorm during a conversation and wonder if all your hard work has been for nothing. […]
You’ve probably heard of Chinglish (中式英语 zhōngshì yīngwén) – a mostly unflattering label for English with a Chinese flavor, either influenced by the expressive habits of the Chinese language or simply translated amusingly to oddly. One sometimes encounters it on signs, menus or posters in the Middle Kingdom or hears it, for example, among street […]
You’ve heard plenty of horror stories about the culinary preferences of the people of China, and now this: Your Chinese companion casually orders a bowl of “tofu brain” (豆腐脑 dòufunǎo) for you in the restaurant. But please, do not panic. Snap out of your fight or flight instinct. Because the gourmet horror story, which is […]
How are things in your office garden or in your private environment? Is everything growing in order, or are there perhaps one or two exotic plants sprouting up among colleagues or acquaintances? In China, plants that stand out from the biomass are called 奇葩 qípā – literally exotic or strange flowers. It describes oddballs or […]
Teddy bouquets, piggy steamed bread and Gucci handbags with cuddly cartoon kittens? No one can avoid a little “meng” in everyday Chinese life! 萌 méng actually originally means “to sprout” or “to bud,” but today the term is predominantly used as an adjective in the sense of “cute, adorable, cute.” Like Japan’s kawaii culture, which […]
“This is why you should NOT learn Chinese!”, “10 things no one will tell you about Mandarin!”, “How much do you really know about Hanzi???”. Well, did we get your attention? Then you’ve just fallen into the trap of the “Headline Gang”! In our language, better known as “Click baiting”. In China, click baiters who […]
Oolong tea goes in the cup, that much is clear. But an “oolong ball”? It goes into the goal, of course, but unfortunately into the wrong goal! ” Oolong ball” 乌龙球 wūlóngqiú or “oolong goal” is the common Chinese term for “own goal”. Be it the land of tea drinkers or not, what in the […]
What activities do you hate to be disturbed in? Maybe while “eat-ing” (吃饭ing – chīfàn-ing), “read-ing” (看书ing – kànshū-ing) or maybe while “rest-ing” (休息ing – xiūxi-ing)? When China’s “Generation Online” immerses itself completely in the moment, language and grammar boundaries become irrelevant. Chinese also has its own progressive form (吃饭 chīfàn = “to eat”, 正在吃饭 […]
What do cats, politicians’ shirtsleeves, dumbbells and BBQ skewers have in common? You can “roll them up” in China. You heard right. Because all these things can be combined in Chinese with a trendy verb, for which a similarly flexible dictionary entry has yet to be found in the West.撸 lū is the magic word […]