Dirty Chinese

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(WARNING: Explicit language below. Do not read on or click the link if you are easily offended)

John from ChinesePod just posted a link to a site entitled "Chinese sex words, obscene language, curses and slang"

This stuff is definitely beyond any textbook I've ever seen. One has to wonder how the author learned all this language!!

There's some nice imagery in some of the words:

肉棒 ròubàng = meat stick
肉洞 ròudòng = meat dungeon
蜜穴 mìxué = honey hole
玉门 yùmen = jade door
乳球 rŭqiú = “milk balls”

I'm sure (and I hope) that most of these words will be unfamiliar to learners of Chinese. Don't know if you'll get a chance to use any of them, but it could make a fun conversation between close friends.


I'm not really learning much new Chinese these days, so this blog is pretty much on the back-burner now, but I will continue to post links to interesting Chinese material as and when I come across it.

Tags: Chinese, Sex words, Mandarin, slang

Quick Tip - Showing off

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There are a growing number of new Chinese words, transliterated from their English soundalikes. One that springs to mind is 粉丝, which means 'fans' (fan), as in "I'm your biggest fan."

Today's word is 秀， originally used in words like 优秀 (outstanding). Recently people must have noticed it's pronunciation is similar to the English word 'show', and it has come to have the meaning of showing something off.

现在我来秀以下我创作的歌曲 - Now I'll perform a song I wrote.
你会跳芭蕾舞吗？给我们秀以下吧 - You can do ballet? Why not show us some?

You can hear the word used in the Chinesepod dialogue about live music which I posted yesterday.

Tags: Chinese, mandarin

ChinesePod - Live Music

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Well, it's been a while. I've had a bit of a break from learning Chinese, but I'm trying to get back into it, and one indispensible resource for me is the ever-popular ChinesePod.com, providing daily podcasts to keep your listening and speaking up to scratch.

Here's a great lesson from ChinesePod.com about finding live music (现场演出). This was one thing that eluded me for the first year and a half in China. I couldn't find any kind of decent live music in Qinhuangdao, and only a little in Dalian. It wasn't until I got to Shanghai that I found a decent music scene, and went to see a few bands, including Crystal Butterfly, who I've posted about before, and the excellent Cold Fairyland. Anyway, here's the podcast:

Learn Chinesepod on Your Terms at ChinesePod.com

Tags: Chinesepod, music, Chinese

Movie Moments 2 - A World Without Thieves （天下无贼）

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This scene is from the Massively popular Feng Xiaogang （冯小刚） movie A World Without Thieves (天下无贼), starring Andy Lau (刘德华) and Rene Liu (刘若英) as a pair of con-artists.

Lau's character 王薄 has just secretly filmed his girlfriend 王丽 (Liu) being sexually harrassed by an old guy who she is giving English lessons to. The couple then proceed to use the footage to blackmail the guy, who is prepared to do whatever it takes to prevent his wife discovering what he's been up to!


Rene Liu (Wang Li) and Andy Lau (Wang Bo)


王薄：从艺术片的角度来讲，没错，这段录像真的不值什么钱。
From an artistic point of view, you're right, it really has no value.

但是，从写实的纪录片来讲无论它的清晰度还是它反映出来的内容足够震撼你老婆脆弱的神经。
But as a documentary, in terms of clarity and content, it's more than enough to shock your wife's fragile nerves.

王丽：你应该把它给买下来
You should purchase it.

Old man:你们这是敲诈
This is extortion

王丽：别气，别气
Take it easy

王薄：敲诈。 对，是敲诈
Extortion . . . you're right, it is extortion.

Old man:你们到底想要什么呀？我这又没现金。
What the hell do you want. I have no cash here.

王丽：来,人家就想要那台车嘛
cmon, cmon. All he wants is that car.

王薄：本人因欠王薄先生跟王丽小姐人民币一百万经双方友好协商同意用宝马汽车一部以物抵债, 决不反悔。来,按个手印
The undersigned owes Mr. Wang and Ms. Wang 1,000,000 RMB. After mutually amicable negotiations, I irrevocably agree to repay said debt with one BMW. C'mon, give us a fingerprint signature. (The old man struggles against Wang Bo)
按一下, 来嘛
Press down here, c'mon (The ink falls to the floor)
哎呦
Oh (Wang Li slaps the man across the face and storms away)

王薄 (to Wang Li)：你给我站住
Come back here
你打人, 不像话
You hit him. So out of line
哎呦, 哇
Oh wow (looking at the man's face)
红到这个程度啦。 疼吗？
Look how red it is. Does it hurt?


So what have we learned from this dialogue?
Extortion - 敲诈 - something you may well come across in China from time to time.
Fragile nerves - 脆弱的神经 - something you may end up with if you live in China
Irrevocable - 决不反悔 - Any verbal agreement to teach your Ayi's son English.
So out of line - 不像话 - What your girlfriend might say if you suggest reenacting this scene with your elderly neighbour!

Tags: Chinese, Mandarin, A World Without Thieves, Andy Lau, Rene Liu, 天下无贼, 刘德华, 刘若英

Learning to read with Harry Potter!

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Sorry, no posts for a while, I've been really busy and haven't had much time to even study Chinese myself. One thing I have tried to keep up though, is reading. While I was still in China I picked up the entire collection (so far) of Harry Potter books in Chinese. I find they are at a really good level for me. If I want to read quickly I can do so, ignoring certain words I don't understand. And if I want to read more thoroughly there is a sufficient number of new words that I can look up. Many of these words tend to be repeated, so they stick in your memory fairly easily. And as I've already read the books in English, I already know what's going on, so sometimes I'm able to intuit the meaning of certain words.

(Side note: after reluctantly being persuaded to start reading Harry Potter around Christmas time, I have just finished the 6th book - The Half-Blood Prince - and now I'm waiting with baited breath for the seventh and final book. I can still hardly believe that a children's book can be so complex and gripping!)

Here's an extract from the first book - 哈利·波特与魔法石 - Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone (or the Sorcerer's Stone for you Americans), in which Harry first learns the truth about what he is:

“你总该知道你父母的事吧，”他说，“我是说，他们很有名气，你也很有名气”

"But yeh must know about yer mum and dad," he said. "I mean, they're famous. You're famous."

“什么？我的——我爸妈没有名气，不是吗？”

"What? My -- my mum and dad weren't famous, were they?"

“哦，你不知道……你不知道……”他用手指拢了拢头发，用困惑不解的目光盯着哈利。

"Yeh don' know... yeh don' know..." Hagrid ran his fingers through his hair, fixing Harry with a bewildered stare.

“你不知道你是什么人吗？”他终于问……

"Yeh don' know what yeh are?" he said finally……

……“哈利，你是一名巫师。”

……"Harry -- yer a wizard."

小屋里鸦雀无声，只听见滚滚涛声和狂风呼号。

There was silence inside the hut. Only the sea and the whistling wind could be heard.

“我是什么？”哈利喘着气说。

"-- a what?" gasped Harry.

“一名巫师，当然”海格说着，坐回到沙发上，沙发又嘎吱嘎吱响得更厉害了，“我相信，只要你经过一段时间培训，一定会成为一名优秀的巫师。你有那样的父母，你怎么可能不是巫师呢？我想现在该是你看那封信的时候了。”

"A wizard, o' course," said Hagrid, sitting back down on the sofa, which groaned and sank even lower, "an' a thumpin' good'un, I'd say, once yeh've been trained up a bit. With a mum an' dad like yours, what else would yeh be? An' I reckon it's abou' time yeh read yer letter."

哈利终于伸手接过一只谈黄色的信封，上边用翠绿色墨水写着：大海，礁石上的小屋，地板上，哈利·波特先生收。他抽出信读起来：

Harry stretched out his hand at last to take the yellowish envelope, addressed in emerald green to Mr. H. Potter, The Floor, Hut-on-the-Rock, The Sea. He pulled out the letter and read:

霍格沃茨魔法学校
校长：阿不思·邓布利多。（国际魔法联合会会长、巫师协会会长、梅林爵士团一级魔法师）
亲爱的波特先生：
我们愉快的通知您，您已获准在霍格沃茨魔法学校就读。随信附上所需书籍及装备一览表。
学校定于九月一日开始。我们将于七月三十一日前静候您的猫头鹰带来您的回信。
副校长（女）
米勒娃·麦格 谨上

HOGWARTS SCHOOL of WITCHCRAFT and WIZARDRY
Headmaster: ALBUS DUMBLEDORE (Order of Merlin, First Class, Grand Sorc., Chf. Warlock, Supreme Mugwump, International Confed. of Wizards)
Dear Mr. Potter,
We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Please find enclosed a list of all necessary books and equipment.
Term begins on September 1. We await your owl by no later than July 31.
Yours sincerely,
Minerva McGonagall,
Deputy Headmistress

Obviously, some of the character of the original is lost in translation, but for the most part, I find it translates pretty well. I must confess I'm still only halfway through the first book, but it's still the most enjoyable thing I've read in Chinese so far. If you're interested, you can buy the Chinese language version from Amazon:

Tags: chinese, mandarin, harry potter, 哈利·波特

Cultural Insight through Chinese sit-com

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I've been looking for a clip from my favourite Chinese TV show 马大帅 for ages, with little success on YouTube, but I finally found some on one of the Chinese versions of YouTube, tv.mofile.com

If you live or have lived in China, you'll recognise the setting as a KTV room, the number one recreational location for Chinese people. The man sitting down is the owner of the establishment, and he's asked the other guy to set him up with his niece, by arranging for them to sing karaoke together. Only neither of them is very outgoing, so the girl's uncle takes it upon himself to set the atmosphere.




At the end, he says:

唱得不好,请多多指教,给点掌声。
I sing badly, please advise me, give me a little applause.

This show is full of classic moments, I'll try to transcribe some if I can find any more good ones.

Tags: Chinese, Mandarin, Karaoke, KTV, 马大帅, 范伟, Chinese culture

English Movie Titles in Chinese

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Many times during my 3 years in China, I've found myself in the DVD shop, wanting to ask for a certain film, but not knowing the Chinese name for it. Some of the translations are a far cry from what you would expect. I find a good way to find out the Chinese title is to do a Google search for "Movie Title 电影" (e.g - Star Wars 电影). You'll know which is the movie title because they are always enclosed in 《》 signs - 《星球大战》 (Star Wars).

Here's a random selection of movie titles in Chinese. Some are more bizzare than others:

Spiderman 《蜘蛛侠》 - (Spider Hero)
Dodgeball 《疯狂躲避求》 - (Crazy Dodge Ball)
Lord of the Rings 《魔戒》 - (Evil Ring)
Misery 《危情十日》 - (Perilous 10 Days)
Old School 《男子单身俱乐部》 - (Men's Singles Club)
The Matrix 《黑客帝国》 - (Hacker's Empire)
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest 《飞越疯人院》 - (Fly Over the Mental Institution)
Snakes on a Plane 《空中蛇灾》 - (Midair Snake Disaster)
Donnie Darko 《死亡幻觉》 - (Death Hallucinations)
Finding Neverland 《寻找梦幻岛》 - (Looking for Illusion Island)
Gone with the Wind 《乱世佳人》 - (Turbulent Times Beautiful Woman)

Interesting, no?

Some films have a second title, when the translation is ambiguous. This will be written under the main title, with the words 又名：(another name)



Hope you enjoy looking for interesting film titles. Let me know if you've seen any good ones.

Tags: learn Chinese, Learn Mandarin, Movies, Films, Movie titles, translation