Not suitable for wedding parties, but quite popular as standard equipment for marriage life – the iron rice bowl (铁饭碗 tiěfànwǎn, composed of 铁 tiě “iron” and 饭碗 fàn-wǎn – “rice bowl”). This famous Chinese synonym for job security has long been known in the West. In China, for example, this indestructible dishware clatters in […]
What is the most popular animal in China these days? The green horse, of course! Confused? Here is the explanation straight from the horse’s mouth: 绿马 lǜmǎ – literally “green horse” – is a play on words based on the green Covid health code (健康码 jiànkāngmǎ “health code”), which you currently have to present every […]
The fact that foreign companies invest a lot of effort and brainpower in translating their brand names into Chinese has been widely discussed. The result is sometimes rather colorful creations like “Precious Horse” (宝马 Bǎomǎ – BMW), “Gateway to the West” (西门子 Xīménzǐ – Siemens) or “Sparrow’s Nest” (雀巢 Quècháo – Nestlé). But how did […]
Covid and war, competition and city fever – the world doesn’t seem very welcoming at the moment. In China, too, the adversities of modernity and media storms are constantly trickling through all the cracks of consciousness. Young urbanites in particular are longing for a place of refuge for their troubled souls, or at least a […]
Red carpet, two women, one dress. A wardrobe double is the ultimate celebrity nightmare at premiere parties and glamour galas. But even at private parties, in open-plan offices and on lecture hall benches, some people suffer from fashion anxiety when someone shows up wearing the same sweaters or summer dress. In Chinese, there is even […]
Attention, trigger warning! After reading this text, you will see pigeons with different eyes during your next stroll through the city center. The times when you associated the T-word only with cooing and breadcrumbs should be over once and for all. So if you want to hold on to the perfect world of pigeons, you’d […]
Choleric boss, lousy co-workers, crappy paycheck? Time to change the feeding trough! Originally, the Chinese horse term was 跳槽 tiàocáo (literally “to jump to another trough”), namely when disloyal hoofed animals simply defected to another owner where the food was more bountiful. In the meantime, the metaphor has become a common synonym for changing jobs […]
Have you ever felt like a superfluous light bulb (电灯泡 diàndēngpào)? Most certainly – but without realizing it. This is what the Chinese call our “fifth wheel”, i.e. someone who is actually unnecessary and only tolerated (after all, four wheels are more than enough for a car). But what does that have to do with […]
Honey, are you driving today? This question has become obsolete in China. Gone are the days when one person would happily drink while the other could only rattle the car keys reproachfully. For some time now, Chinese metropolises enjoy equal drinking rights. The magic word is: 代驾 dàijià “substitute driving”. It is short for 代理驾驶 […]
Nails are actually a handy invention and an indispensable part of the DIY world. They also hold a lot of things together – linguistically. In English, for example, the nail appears in expressions such as “hitting the nail on the head,” “nail your colors to the mast,” “hard as nails,” or “everything that wasn’t nailed […]