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Is there a word/name that sounds like "Arky"? [closed]

I'm looking for a catchy name and I'm wondering if the word "arky" does mean anything in the Chinese language. I was wondering if there is like a word in Chinese language that is pronounced (...
Gio's user avatar
  • 1
0 votes
2 answers
233 views

How do I use 乱?

For the sentence, 你别乱闹. I think it means "do not randomly complain," but that doesn't sound right. I can't pinpoint what 乱 means.
Redwood's user avatar
  • 359
1 vote
1 answer
124 views

what does 上疾 mean in this sentence (她在网球场上疾如闪电。)

I have the sentence 她在网球场上疾如闪电。I know that it means "she is as quick as lightning on the tennis court" What role does 上疾 have in the sentence it clearly doesn't mean, on disease! Are there ...
RealAnlaysisLearner's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
557 views

What is the hidden meaning of "mi mi", the Chinese word for secret?

The English word is "secret" The Chinese word is "秘密" I found 禾 means grain, 必 means must. The second character has 宀 (mián) roof,必 (bì) must and 山 (shān) mountain. How does it all ...
vertis's user avatar
  • 19
1 vote
1 answer
187 views

Why does 身体 mean both "body" and "health"?

I've seen a curious Chinese word 身体. At first, I have discovered that it means 'body' and is a word with a broader meaning in comparison to 身材 or 体格. But I never understood why it means 'body' or, yet ...
Rusurano's user avatar
  • 221
1 vote
1 answer
98 views

Trying to translate specific Data Science terms to Traditional Chinese

I am translating a paragraph to Traditional Chinese about Data Science. The subject is Decision Modeling which is translated in Google as:決策建模 The term I am having a problem with is: Quantitative ...
Joe T. Boka's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
146 views

What is the meaning of 提提大家?

What is the meaning and usage of 提提大家?please give an example sentence or phrase. I have seen that the meaning of 提提 is to keep calm, but putting these two in google translate gives me “mention ...
cgo's user avatar
  • 1,052
0 votes
2 answers
85 views

How to ask the flight attendant for more airplane meals if there are still leftovers?

Can anyone help me? I want to emphasize the word "leftover" so I do not sound so greedy. I also felt that it would be a waste since most of the meals needed to be thrown away if it is not ...
Cindonesian's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
259 views

Asking "what are your dreams for the future"

How does one ask in Mandarin, "what are your dreams" (i.e. future ambitions) I know that 打算 can be used for if you're planning to do something e.g. 我打算明天去看医生 so am not sure if the phrase ...
RealAnlaysisLearner's user avatar
2 votes
6 answers
934 views

How do I express the notion of "drama" in Chinese?

If you have housemates or a romantic partner, you might (unfortunately) encounter what we call "drama" (n.): A way of relating to the world in which a person consistently overreacts to or ...
Becky 李蓓's user avatar
  • 16.2k
2 votes
4 answers
476 views

I have no idea how 八九不离十 works?

My textbooks says 八九不离十 means pretty close and that makes sense to me, but the way they use it makes me lose my head. “汤姆说考试八九不离十就可以了。” I think they are trying to say " 80/90% is close enough&...
Redwood's user avatar
  • 359
0 votes
2 answers
55 views

What does 迫不及待 开始倒计 mean?

This line came from 深呼吸 by Yu Quan 羽泉。 迫不及待 - anxious to wait 开始倒计 - begin counting down Would it just be translate as 'anxious to wait, I begin to count down'?
Kate's user avatar
  • 11
1 vote
1 answer
522 views

How to pronunce "ji" (chicken)?

How to pronunce "ji" (chicken) ? is is like english sound "ti" or like "dj"i ?
Mathieu Krisztian's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
145 views

How to pronunce "eng"

How to pronunce chinese "eng" ? Is the "en" part of chinese "eng" like the english word "end" or is it like the english part "un" in "trunk" ...
Mathieu Krisztian's user avatar
5 votes
2 answers
758 views

How does one understand the [verb] + 在了 grammar structure?

From random Internet sites, we can see many examples of the grammar structures: [verb] + 在了 手机忘在了出租车上。 我站在了舞台上。 因为人不在,快递员就放在了门口。 小男孩被父亲故意丢在了超市。 闺蜜和男友睡在了一起。 (Google the quotes surrounded by quotation ...
Becky 李蓓's user avatar
  • 16.2k
1 vote
3 answers
530 views

Is the 了 in 你几岁了? a change-of-state 了?

There's a simple question we ask kids: 你几岁了? How old are you? It's possible to ask it without the 了, i.e., 你几岁?. This makes me think this 了 is a change-of-state 了. It may just be a kind of "...
Becky 李蓓's user avatar
  • 16.2k
1 vote
1 answer
37 views

Is 怡养 in this sentence a word?

Is 怡养 a word? Is it one of these meanings? 和乐。 犹保养,休养。 犹陶冶。 怡:和悦,愉快:affable, cheerful I thought it might be related to: 颐养天年, but that is a different yi. How would you translate: 书法学习是一件怡养身心的事,...
Pedroski's user avatar
  • 18.2k
3 votes
1 answer
171 views

What does this mean? Colloquial interviews

I was watching a local hong kong show when an interviewer (I) asked a lady (L): I: 40歲未呀? L: 點止呀!三個嫲嫲⋯⋯ What did the lady answer? The subtitle was in standard written Chinese and i couldn’t make out ...
cgo's user avatar
  • 1,052
1 vote
1 answer
115 views

Why should I change the subject in this situation? (V的V, V的V sentence structure)

My teacher has recently asked the class to make a sentence with the V的V, V的V sentence structure. I have submitted the following sentence: 我的爸爸做事的做事,打字的打字,打电话的打电话,真的很忙。 But my teacher said that the ...
Aiden Chow's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
234 views

What is the difference between 演奏 and 表演?

What is the difference between 演奏 and 表演? Google translates both as “perform”, “performance”, or “playing”. It also indicates they are either verb or noun. Can they be used interchangeably?
EmilyJ's user avatar
  • 489
0 votes
2 answers
79 views

What is a better translation of 箱子 in the following context?

The phrase 这辆铲车正在把箱子装上卡车 seems at first glance to say "This truck is loading a box onto the truck", but in fact this is used along with the below photo. Is it right to say that 箱子 in this ...
Jason Cramer's user avatar
2 votes
5 answers
94 views

How do you ask "How old is it?"

When commenting on a used article for sale, how do you simply ask how old the item is? Is "它多大了?" Correct?
Hhux's user avatar
  • 21
3 votes
5 answers
502 views

What is the difference between 没 and 不 when used with 又?

What's the difference between these sentences: 他又没来上课 他又不来上课() Here: https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Expressing_%22again%22_in_the_past_with_%22you%22#Negative_Form it says both 没 ...
Rosencrantzisalive's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
133 views

What is the etymology of the word nǚ (woman) and is it related to Proto-Uralic *niŋä (woman)?

There are many Chinese etymology dictionaries available in English which focus on the origin of the characters. I haven't been able to locate one on-line which provides information on the etymology ...
Dionysios Bouzos's user avatar
1 vote
3 answers
175 views

What does 讲民主 mean?

My mandarin textbook says it means "speak to democracy," but I can't find a definition for this word anywhere on the internet. Even google translate says it is not a word.
Redwood's user avatar
  • 359
1 vote
2 answers
293 views

抱有 vs 摆有: When does a serial verb become a word?

Observation: 保有财产; 抱有好感; 怀有敌意; 他俩育有一子; 学校设有音乐课; 杯子留有指纹 Bi-syllabic verbal compounds like those in bold above are sometimes treated as words (insofar as I found them all listed as "entries/...
Sanchuan's user avatar
  • 742
0 votes
2 answers
156 views

What does 传承跨越沧桑的壁垒 mean?

传承 impart and inherit 跨越 stride across; leap over 沧桑 vicissitude 的 poss. 壁垒 rampart; barrier I came with 'passing the obstacles' but I'm not sure if it's right.
Kate's user avatar
  • 11
3 votes
1 answer
216 views

What tone for retroflex r?

The retroflex r is not the consonant r in a word (pinyin) like in 人 rén. The retroflex is added as a suffix in the Beijing area, or as a diminutive suffix. Would it be pronounced with the second tone,...
faure's user avatar
  • 540
1 vote
2 answers
134 views

Is 摆有 one word or two? If two, what's their grammatical relationship?

桌上摆有一卷书 (source: example sentence in a publicly available flashcard deck - no other context provided). None of the 40+ dictionaries I consulted carry this lemma, and google offers precious little too....
Sanchuan's user avatar
  • 742
2 votes
1 answer
49 views

Dictating Chinese text on Windows

Is there any program for Microsoft Windows for dictating Chinese text, that is more accurate than the built-in Microsoft Speech Recognition? I am aware that there exist some online solution, such as ...
Franck Dernoncourt's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
1k views

Chinese-characters learning software for Ubuntu (Linux)

I am looking for a software that shows a Chinese alphabet/word on my desktop with its pinyin and meaning in English, and each day it will give a different word. Since I am using a Linux (Ubuntu 18.04) ...
Lee's user avatar
  • 27
2 votes
2 answers
160 views

Is "贪得无厌" the best choice for this sentence?

This is the original text: Drifters of this world are the collectors of forgotten knowledge, lost technologies and broken histories. Our Drifter is haunted by an insatiable illness, traveling further ...
furrygecko's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
72 views

Is "毁灭" the best word to use here?

I am trying to translate this sentence: Explore a beautiful, vast and ruined world riddled with dangers and lost technologies. After consulting Google Translate, this is what I came up with: 探索一个美丽,...
furrygecko's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
158 views

What does 同父异母或同母异父的兄弟 mean?

I think it means half-brother, but my book says it is step brother. I thought step brother is 继兄弟. What does 继 mean?
Redwood's user avatar
  • 359
3 votes
1 answer
232 views

How did 客气 come to mean "polite"? [duplicate]

The literal meaning of 客气 would seem to be something like "air guest." How did that transform into "polite"? And is there a resource I can turn to to find out such things?
Calion's user avatar
  • 133
1 vote
1 answer
351 views

The Taiwanese accent: are pairs "种,总", "四,是", "忘,万" pronounced EXACTLY the same?

My European impression is that pairs zh-z, sh-s, ch-c etc., but also ng-n are pronounced in a VERY similar way in the Taiwanese accent. However, I'm not sure if they're EXACTLY the same. Is the ...
musialmi's user avatar
  • 850
1 vote
7 answers
215 views

Did any pidgin terms survived in Chinese? (or any topolects?)

I've been looking through some of the words in《红毛通用番话诠释》 Here's a little sample This pidgin words are based on Cantonese. I'm curious if any of these pidgin words actually made it as loanwords into ...
Mou某's user avatar
  • 36k
1 vote
2 answers
71 views

Are “玩家一” and “玩家二” appropriate in the context of a coop videogame?

Google translate gave me “玩家一” and “玩家二” as a translation for "player one" and "player two". Are these the correct terms to use within a coop videogame? Or is there more context-...
furrygecko's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
4k views

What does Lao Tzu mean by "Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished"?

Did he pro-claim this quote? I know Modern English didn't exist in his time, thus this is a translation. “Nature does not hurry, yet everything is accomplished” – Lao Tzu : quotes I disagree. The ...
user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
131 views

Did I use 的 correctly for 少的孩子?

'因为父母不用花钱给很多小孩,他们可以花多一点钱给少的孩子。" The sentence does not sound correct. I want to say "spend more money on fewer children," but I don't know how to do it?
Redwood's user avatar
  • 359
2 votes
4 answers
2k views

How are Chinese words sorted?

How do you sort Chinese words since they are not alphabetical? What sorts of sorting systems exist, and what is typical in dictionaries for example? I am thinking how to do some programming stuff ...
Lance's user avatar
  • 1,216
7 votes
1 answer
227 views

Did the ancients really think mangoes were garlic like?

Flipping through Endymion Wilkinson's Chinese History: A New Manual I came across the following excerpt: 36 Food & Drink 36.7 Ming-Qing Mangoes: fansuan 番蒜, mangguo 芒果 (Malay mangga?) 番蒜 is a ...
Mou某's user avatar
  • 36k
0 votes
1 answer
65 views

Help Recognizing Characters on a Vase (Characters Identified: 錦山) [closed]

I have a vase with these characters on the bottom and would be very grateful if someone could tell me what they mean.
smirkingman's user avatar
1 vote
6 answers
870 views

I don't understand why 老外 and 洋人 mean what they mean

老外 - foreigner 洋人 - westerner Why does each individual character mean? When I combine the definitions, it doesn't make much sense. Also, which one is more common?
Redwood's user avatar
  • 359
0 votes
1 answer
449 views

English translation of Su Shi's "Cold Food Observance"

I have obtained a copy of Su Shi's "Cold Food Observance". I would like to find a good English translation of the 129 characters, preferably with standard (kaishu) characters alongside so ...
CTurner's user avatar
  • 85
1 vote
3 answers
133 views

Is there a word for grandparents(collectively)?

I know there is 祖父母, but that's only paternal grandparents. Is there a word that the encompasses grandparents from either side or together?
Redwood's user avatar
  • 359
3 votes
1 answer
85 views

佢 read "jì" from Hakka?

Looking through the book 四川德阳方言语音演化与接触研究, I came across the following chart excerpt: 表1-6 四川境内非西南官话方言岛与湖广方言特征词对比 In some locales 他 is documented as being read: 佢, tɕi⁵¹ -or- jì, if you prefer. ...
Mou某's user avatar
  • 36k
0 votes
2 answers
178 views

What are these unusual characters alone in seals?

What are these unusual characters ? They are alone on each seal.
jlphch's user avatar
  • 57
0 votes
4 answers
191 views

Is 天的数月 the correct way to say "days of the month"?

Is Tiān de shù yuè (天的数月) the correct way to state "days of the month"? I am looking for a term that will encompass all of the days of the month. This will be the heading for a paragraph ...
Walter's user avatar
  • 133
1 vote
1 answer
328 views

What does 大通铺 mean?

I think it means communal bed, but some people are saying it means collective bed, which doesn't make any sense. Also, google translate believes it isn't a word, so is it not used anymore?
Redwood's user avatar
  • 359

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