每分每秒 (měi fēn měi miǎo): every minute, every second
滴滴点点 (dī dī diǎndiǎn): every drop, every dot/bit/particle
幕幕(mù mù): every scene (in a movie/story)
I noticed that in a few of my favorite Chinese songs, they all found ways of expressing that their love interest captured all of their attention. What better way to express “absolutely everything” than “every single bit”? In case you’re curious about the songs, here they are with context:
微微一笑很清楚 - 杨洋 (Yang Yang)
from the drama by the same name (Just One Smile is Very Alluring)
“紧紧围绕你每分每秒”
I’ll stay close to you every minute and every second (of my life).
那些年 - 胡夏 (Hu Xia)
from the movie 那些年，我们一起追的女孩 (You’re the Apple of My Eye)
Let’s take a look at these 10 2018 Chinese buzzwords.
1. 锦鲤 (jǐn lǐ)
锦鲤 refers to the Koi fish. Since 锦鲤 represents good luck in 风水(fengshui), Chinese people are very interested in them. Numerous koi fish related tweets are reposted to wish others better health and abundant wealth.
In China and Japan, people have a long history of keeping koi fish which is believed to bring good luck. The tradition is kept on the internet, as “转发锦鲤 (reposting koi fish)”, and it has become a trend on Chinese social medias.
Literally, 佛(fó) means buddha and 系(xì) means system or style. 佛系 refers to a Buddha-like mindset.
For the Chinese youth, being 佛系 means adopting a peaceful state of mind and not caring how others think about them. The popular slogan goes like “都可以/都行(dōu kěyǐ/dōu xíng)” (Anything is okay),“就这样吧(就这样吧)“ (Let it be), “没关系 (méiguānxì)”, (It doesn`t matter),
etc. Somehow, they are regarded as more negative emotions since it seems that some people just simply want to avoid the stresses from competitive surroundings by taking this mindset.
e.g.
A: 什么都行。我无所谓。(Shénme dōu xíng. Wǒ wúsuǒwèi.)
Anything is okay. I don’t mind.
B: 那么佛系？(Nàme fó xì?)
Such buddha-like?
A: 是的，我现在是佛系青年。(Shì de, wǒ xiànzài shì fó xì qīngnián.)
Yes, I’m a buddha-like youth now.
3. Skr
Originally, this sound refers to the car tire friction. Skr was known widely by people because of Chinese young idol Kris Wu who used the term frequently on a show called中国有嘻哈(the Rap of China). It`s very popular among netizens who now somewhat use it for mocking. But at first it was used to express admiration and praise.
Since it sounds similar to the Chinese sound [si ge] which can be transcribed as 是个，死个, etc., thus this sound is also used in many sound related sentences.
e.g.
冷skr人了 à 冷死个人了。(Lěng sǐ gè rénle.)
It`s sooo cold!
你真skr人才。 à 你真是个人才。(Nǐ zhēn shì gè réncái.)
You are such a talent.
4. 杠精 (gàng jīng)
Contrarian, hater
Here 杠 is from the Chinese word “抬杠(táigàng)” which means contradict or talk back. 杠精 describes someone who automatically takes the opposite point-of-view from the person to whom they`re speaking. These people just argue for the sake of arguing.
e.g.
A: 我发现我老板的管理方式真的很有问题。(Wǒ fāxiàn wǒ lǎobǎn de guǎnlǐ fāngshì zhēn de hěn yǒu wèntí.)
I find that my boss’s management style to be really problematic.
B: 美吗？那你显然是没去过九寨沟了。(Měi ma? Nà nǐ xiǎnrán shì méi qùguò jiǔzhàigōule.)
Beautiful? You’ve obviously never seen Jiuzhaigou!
5. 确认过眼神 (quèrèn guò yǎnshén)
Literally 确认过眼神 means “Have confirmed the expression from the eyes.” The netizens use this phrase to express “we can see that from one`s eyes” or “to look somebody in the eyes.”
e.g.
确认过眼神，你就是对的人！(Quèrènguò yǎnshén, nǐ jiùshì duì de rén!)
Looking you in the eyes, you are the correct one!
确认过眼神，他是不理想的人。(Quèrènguò yǎnshén, tā shì bù lǐxiǎng de rén.)
I can see that from his eyes. He is not the ideal one.
6. 官宣 (guān xuān)
官宣 is short for 官方宣布which literally means “an official announcement”. The abbreviated version 官宣 is often used on the internet for netizens to announce something.
e.g.
官宣！我们结婚啦！(Guān xuān! Wǒmen jiéhūn la!)
Official announcement! We are getting married!
我的偶像官宣恋爱了。(Wǒ de ǒuxiàng guān xuān liàn’àile.)
My idol officially announced that she/he is in love.
7. 土味情话 (tǔ wèi qínghuà)
土味情话refers to lines which sound very emotional, romantic, and even embarrassing in some way, though it’s often also used to break the ice.
For netizens, it’s a kind of cold humor composed of love words. Here are some cheesy pick-up lines for you:
I think I know you. Because you look exactly like my next girlfriend.
8. 皮一下 (pí yī xià)
Literally speaking, 皮 means “being naughty” in the Chinese language, which is often used in oral Chinese. 皮一下 indicates making fun of someone or playing a trick, and it sounds a little cute.
e.g.
皮一下很开心。(Pí yīxià hěn kāixīn.)
It`s fun to be naughty.
没事儿就想皮一下。(Méishìr jiù xiǎng pí yīxià.)
I want to play a trick when there is nothing to do.
9. 燃烧我的卡路里 (ránshāo wǒ de kǎlùlǐ)
Literally, this sentence means “burn my calories.” It comes from a song called Calorie which is sung by the hot Chinese girl group 火箭少女 101 (Rocket Girls 101). Its special melody, lyrics, and very contentious singers made the line of this song a hit all over the internet.
10. C位 (C wèi)
C is an abbreviation of the word “center”, so “C位” means the center position. It generally refers to the center of the stage, the artist’s position in the middle, or the most crucial spot of a poster. Just like the one above, 燃烧我的卡路里, this phrase also originated from the girl group 火箭少女101 (Rocket Girls 101).
Apparently, this group really was a hit in 2018. The girls of this group are selected by internet users basing on the reality show 创造101 (Produce 101). There were about 100 trainees to be selected and trained. In the end, only nine girls were left on the stage as the final winners to compose this new girl idol group. The center position trainees would get the best position of the group.
e.g.
投票！让你的偶像C位出道！(Tóupiào! Ràng nǐ de ǒuxiàng C wèi chūdào!)
Vote！Make your idol enter entertainment with the center position!
照相的时候一般领导站C位。(Zhàoxiàng de shíhòu yībān lǐngdǎo zhàn C wèi.)
Normally, the leaders will take the center position when taking photos.
As you have hopefully noticed, hanzi don’t all seem to work the same way, and during the Han Dynasty six categories were designated for describing the “logic” of a character. It’s not something that comes up a whole lot, but it’s interesting and handy for explaining to folks that it’s not all “lil pictures” ఠ ͟ಠ
象形 xiàngxíng: pictograms, one’s like 火 or 馬. These arose from people using drawings to help remember oral stories, and then those drawings turning into more simplified and consistent symbols.
指事 zhǐ shì: ideograms, things that “demonstrate” a concept. so like 上 and 下
形声 xíngshēng: an ideogram + a phonetic component. so you may not have encountered 氿 before, but hm it’s got water (三点水) and 九—it’s pronounced jiǔ & means “bubble up” as in spring water
会意 huìyì: joint ideogram, so two “meaningful” components that help make a new meaning. A 人 man with a 戈 spear, 伐 attack! (tho more literary now)
related thought: this is also the pattern of development for hieroglyphics and Sumerian writing, though as these got used for other languages eg Akkadian things would get used for their semantic meaning and get new phonetic readings that could then be remixed again, or used purely phonetically, resulting in a mixed system kind of like Japanese but if the kana looked more like kanji. (if yr into it I cannot recommend this book enough) So also no, emoji are not like hieroglyphics.
转注 zhuǎnzhù: transfer characters, these are weird and not well understood. it seems to be characters that sound different but contain a similar part and mean the same thing, so 爸 and 父. The classical ones given are 考 老 so maybe cognates that separated but??
假借 jiǎjiè: loan characters. This includes old stuff like 来 which meant wheat but was pronounced lái anyway, and now if you want to talk about wheat you have to add the grass radical 莱, heh. This is also how names and foreign things are transliterated
So that’s how hanzi work! I think in ways there are overlap but these are the technical distinctions. For example “beer” used to be transliterated as 皮酒, aka skin alcohol and that’s gross, so it was changed it to 啤酒, with the “pi” that’s also in 埤 and 脾 but the 口 mouth radical since it’s phonetic, like 啊, 哎, and 哦. Otherwise new characters are exceedingly rare and mostly only for elements, like oxygen is 氧, and has the 气 radical like other gases but the 羊 for pronunciation. I feel like you could also make a contemporary pseudocategory for internet punning or something, like 囧 being used as a face and all the censorship work-arounds.
There’s soOoO much to talk about always but you can google around, here’s a Baidu article that has the old school classification poem, here’s an english rundown with more examples and a powerpoint. and of course wiki. (o˘◡˘o) 谢谢你们来我的TED talk
I discussed my experience with the app, all the useful phrases I had collected. From native speakers of the Chinese language. So I thought i’d compile another list, this time focusing on vocabulary around what the young people these days are using to text online, or say to each other!
Taiwan vs Mainland: Differences in Mandarin Vocabulary
I won’t be able to get all of them, but if you go to one place after spending a lot of time in the other, some of the little vocabulary differences will probably make things difficult if you aren’t aware of them. Here are a few:
Bicycle-
Taiwan: 腳踏車（jiǎotàchē）
Mainland: 自行车 （zìxíngchē）
Garbage-
Taiwan: 垃圾 (lèsè)
Mainland: 垃圾 （lājī）
Subway-
Taiwan: 捷運（jiéyùn）
Mainland: 地铁 (dìtiě)
There are more, some of which are more complicated because the Taiwanese Mandarin word has been popularized in the Mainland or visa versa. Just keep in mind that if you ask someone in Taiwan how to get to the 地铁 they might not know what your talking about.
旅遊 (lǚ yóu) - to travel 坐 (zuò) - to travel by 飞行 (fēixíng) - to fly 走 (zǒu) - to walk 开车 (kāichē) - to drive (a car) 打车 (dǎ chē) - to take a taxi 手提箱 (shǒu tí xiāng)/行李箱 (xíng lǐ xiāng) - suitcase 护照 (hù zhào) - passport 签证 (qiān zhèng) - visa 海关 (hǎiguān) - customs
出租汽车 (chū zū qì chē) - taxi 车 (chē) - car 地铁 (dì tiě) - subway 公共汽车 (gōng gòng qì chē) - bus 站 (zhàn) - station 转 (zhuǎn) - to transfer 宾馆 (bīn guǎn) - hotel 房间号 (fángjiān hào) - room number 入住 (rùzhù) - to check in (to a hotel) 退房 (tuìfáng) - to check out (of a hotel) 地图 (dìtú) - map
As a hopeless romantic, there’s no vocab list that comes easier to me!
浪漫 - romance [làngmàn] 浪漫的 - romantic [làngmàn de] 爱情 - love [àiqíng] 夫妻 - couple [fūqī] 婚礼 - marriage [hūnlǐ] 权宜婚姻 - marriage of convenience [quányí hūnyīn] 婚礼 - wedding [hūnlǐ] 巧克力 - chocolate [qiǎokèlì] 花 - flowers [huā] 礼物 - gift [lǐwù] 心脏 - heart [xīnzàng] 心形物 - heart (shape) [xīnxíngwù] 感情问题 - matters of the heart [gǎnqíng wèntí] 使某人伤心 - to break somebody’s heart [shǐ mǒurén shāngxīn] 心碎了 - to have a broken heart [xīnsuìle] 是某人所关心的 - to be close/dear to one’s heart [shì mǒurén suǒ guānxīn de] 调情者 - flirt [tiáoqíngzhě] 风流韵事 - affair [fēngliú yùnshì] 情人 - lover [qíngrén] 丈夫 - husband [zhàngfu] 妻子 - wife [qīzi] 男朋友 - boyfriend [nánpéngyou] 女朋友 - girlfriend [nǚpéngyou] 心上人 - sweetheart [xīnshàngrén] 亲爱的 - darling [qīn'ài de] 喜爱 - affection [xǐ'ài] 亲爱的 - sweetheart [qīn'àide] 亲昵 - intimacy [qīnnì] 情爱 - passion [qíng'ài] 情人节 - Valentine’s Day [Qíngrén Jié] 吻 - kiss [wěn] 拥抱 - cuddle [yōngbào] 一起 - together [yīqǐ] 吸引力 - attraction [xīyǐnlì] 宝贝 - baby [bǎobèi] 亲密的关系 - relationship [qīnmì de guānxì] 爱 - to love [ài] 和 … 约会 - to date [hé … yuēhuì] 结婚 - to marry [jiéhūn] 调情 - to flirt [tiáoqíng] 接吻 - to kiss [jiēwěn] 吻某人一下 - to give somebody a kiss [wěn mǒurén yīxià] 搂抱 - to cuddle [lǒubào] 引起 - to attract [yǐnqǐ] 关系亲密 - to have a good relationship [guānxì qīnmì] 喜欢某人 - to feel affection for somebody [xǐhuān mǒurén] 赢得某人的爱慕 - to win somebody’s affection [yíngdé mǒurén de àimù] 迷恋某人 - to have a crush on somebody [míliàn mǒurén] 受到某人的宠爱 - to be somebody’s darling [shòudào mǒurén de chǒng'ài] 发生暧昧关系 - to have an affair [fāshēng àimèi guānxi] 恋爱 - to be in love [liàn'ài] 爱上 - to fall in love [àishàng] 做爱 - to make love [zuò'ài] 一见钟情 - love at first sight [yī jiàn zhōngqíng] 我爱你。- I love you. [Wǒ ài nǐ.] 你没事吧？- Are you okay, love? [Nǐ méi shì ba?] 我想你 - I miss you [wǒ xiǎng nǐ] 我想跟你在一起 - I want to be with you [wǒ xiǎng gēn nǐ zài yīqǐ] 我喜欢你 - I fancy you [wǒ xǐhuan nǐ] 你愿意嫁给我吗？ - Will you marry me? [nǐ yuànyi jià gěi wǒ ma?] 我的心里只有你 - In my heart there is only you [wǒ de xīnlǐ zhǐ yǒu nǐ] 跟你在一起真开心 - I’m so happy with you [gēn nǐ zài yīqǐ zhēn kāixīn]
Shoutout to fluentinmandarin, particularly in the phrases section of this list!
Soooo…somehow I agreed to do a 2 hour workshop on using art to process trauma. At first I said I’d give doing it in Mandarin a shot, but as I started to do some background research (in English), I realized I am notat the level to talk about such a complicated topic with the appropriate nuance, and will have to take up the coordinator on the offer to simultaneously interpret if necessary. However, I do want to at least know the basics, so I’m going over part of the Chinese Wiki entry for some vocab and phrasing. 心理創傷是指人生經驗遭逢巨變或衝擊，以致於在心理層面產生揮之不去的陰霾，嚴重時可能演變為「創傷後壓力心理障礙症」。 心理創傷 xīnlǐ chuāngshāng / psychological trauma 遭逢 zāoféng / to encounter (something unpleasant) 巨變 jùbiàn / great changes 衝擊 chōngjí / an attack, a shock 以致於 yǐ zhì yú / to the point that 層面 céngmiàn / level, plane 揮之不去 huīzhī bù qù / impossible to get rid of 陰霾 yīnmái / haze, cloudiness 創傷後壓力心理障礙症 chuāngshāng hòu yālì xīnlǐ zhàng ài zhèng / post-traumatic stress disorder 心理創傷與生理創傷的不同在於心理創傷不會發生直接而致命的影響，而且心理創傷的影響遠長於生理創傷，也可能逐漸影響到生理，甚而罹患生理疾病。 生理 shēnglǐ / physiology 罹患 líhuàn / to suffer (from an illness) 生理創傷也是心理創傷的成因之一，即生理創傷痊癒後其痛苦經驗仍殘留於心。 即 jí / namely, that is 痊癒 quányù / to heal and recover completely 殘留 cánliú / to remain, left over 心理創傷的成因可分為生理及心理兩類。 分為 fēn wéi / to divide into parts 生理：此類來自於生理方面的實際傷害，因而間接對心理產生傷害。 實際 shíjì / real, actual 間接 jiànjiē / indirect 心理：此類雖然生理方面沒有受到實際的傷害，但其痛苦經驗卻直接在心理上留下陰影。 心理創傷的成因很多，常見的有：事故、災害、戰爭、虐待、欺凌、監禁、強姦、犯罪、失戀、失業、失親、破產等等。 事故 shìgù / accident 虐待 nüèdài / abuse, mistreatment 欺凌 qīlíng / bully and humiliate 監禁 jiānjìn / to imprison, jail 強姦 qiángjiān / rape
We all know how to say “ni hao” and “nin hao”, but do people really use it?
The first time you meet someone,we use “ni hao”, and also use “nin hao”.But when two friends meet,people very seldom use “ni hao”.People like to use “Have you eaten?” , “Where are you going?”, or calling out the other person’s name.
For example,
if two neighbors meet they might say: “Did you eat yet?” “I did.What about you?” No I will go eat smth in a while”.
When friends meet they might say:
“Where are you going?” “Over there.And you?” “I’m just strolling about.”
When you meet someone at work you might say : “Manager Wang!” “Xiao Li!”
So when you meet someone and they ask you “Did you eat?” they don’t really want to know ♀️if you’ve eaten or not,nor are they trying to treat you to a meal. If the person asks you “Where are you going?” they don’t really want to know ♂️where you are going.
They’re just greeting you
Hope it was interesting for youInformation from my article in Chinese.Let’s develop our vocab guys
I was finding it hard to naturally assimilate certain new vocab into muscle memory/everyday use. So I thought I would try an approach that would allow me to remember vocab + as well as characters, in the long term. And be able to integrate it into my everyday life contextually.
I will be doing the same for my korean vocab under the K-SERIES!
花瓣 huābàn - petal 花園 (花园) huāyuán - garden 開花 (开花) kāihuā - to bloom 採花 (采花) cǎihuā - to pick flowers 朵 duǒ - measure word for flowers 束 shù - measure words for a bunch of flowers
Some of the flowers have more than one name so if you know other version, tell me. Also, feel free to correct me ^^
