I'm sure it's not good, but what does 吃瘪 mean?
德国人的克星其实是Siri，只有Siri能让德国人吃瘪。
Germans' bane is Siri, only Siri can make Germans 吃瘪。
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Time to invest in some quality dictionaries?– Mou某 ♦Commented May 28, 2015 at 14:33
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I actually think, the exhaustively definitive Chinese English dictionary will never be written.– PedroskiCommented May 28, 2015 at 23:37
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What we need is just the Chinese Urban Dictionary.– StanCommented May 29, 2015 at 3:22
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3 Answers
吃瘪
ABC
be beaten; acknowledge defeat
Oxford
be humiliated
KEY
admit defeat, concede
德国人的克星其实是Siri，只有Siri能让德国人吃瘪。
The Germans nemesis is actually Siri, only Siri can upstage the Germans.
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above answer confirmed by online dictionary：bkrs.info/slovo.php?ch=%E5%90%83%E7%98%AA диал. попасть впросак, понести урон, сесть в калошу, потерпеть поражение chī biě 吃亏、受挫或受窘。 如：「像你这样倔强的脾气，迟早要吃瘪的。」 方言。被迫屈服、认输。 chībiě topo. be beaten; acknowledge defeat примеры: 吃瘪子 оказаться в смешном положении; остаться на бобах; потерпеть крах (неудачу); попасть впросак, сесть в калошу начинающиеся: 吃瘪子– user6065Commented May 28, 2015 at 9:57
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Reechen, Russische ist nicht meine Stärke! Nur einmal habe ich eine Russin angemacht, aber sie war nicht interessiert, da hörte meine Liebe zu Russisch auf! Aber nichtdestotrotz Danke!– PedroskiCommented May 28, 2015 at 10:26
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Imagine something sharp cut through a basketball, as a result, the air in that ball was gone and the ball became “瘪”. Also “瘪” can be used to described a person, e.g. “他营养不好，身体干瘪” means "He looks not that healthy and excessively slim".
When saying someone “吃瘪”, it is similar to the usage above. It means someone was frustrated probably because he was treated unfairly and couldn't even defended himself. That person looks like the basketball as we said above. In Chinese, you can not only “吃” food, but also “吃” something else, e.g. “吃亏”、“吃豆腐”
Another Chinese idiom I think is equivalent to “吃瘪” is “哑巴吃黄连，有苦说不出” (Hint: “黄连” is a kind of herb which is bitter).
By the way, here “瘪” is pronounced as "biē" not "biĕ".
EDIT:
I don't know what the context of your sentence is. I guess the reason why Siri make Germans “吃瘪” is her awkward or ridiculous AI response? If I'm correct, I will translate the sentence to "only Siri can make Germans hesitate or be unable to make a response". "Well... seriously?" To my knowledge, I can't find an English word to replace “吃瘪”.
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So it's a bit like '吃苦'?? How would you translate it in my sentence?– PedroskiCommented May 28, 2015 at 4:17
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deflate, air out of the ball: the English saying is 'take the wind out of their sails' ie stop them. It's a complicated Chinese phrase, with, it seems to me, many shades and hues of meaning.– PedroskiCommented May 28, 2015 at 10:23
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吃瘪 usually should be applied to some great/powerful/strong/good people/things.
For instance in your sentence, 德国人吃瘪。As we all know German is famous for their technologies. They produce best cars, machines, etc. They should be able to use Siri without difficulties. BUT they cannot. Here you use 吃瘪。
It also implies "what a surprise", "they should not lose but they are forced to lose".
