Questions tagged [meaning]
Questions concerned comprehension and understanding the finer aspects of individual words or phrases, with or without a context in which they are expressed.
3
votes
2answers
396 views
How is 那还用说！translated as “Of course!” or “That goes without saying!”?
Could anyone please tell me how these characters mean "Of course!"/"That goes without saying!" when placed together?
Because when it's translated one by one, the characters don't seem to correlate to ...
3
votes
1answer
108 views
Why does 牛车水 mean Chinatown?
I saw a video where people referred to to Chinatown in Singapore as 牛车水. What does this literally mean?
-1
votes
0answers
42 views
Assist in translation
Could you please help me with the translation of the following picture?
Huge thanks!
0
votes
1answer
122 views
How to understand “喝茶”？
In northern China, we can say "喝茶了吗？" to ask someone if they have already eaten.
However, there are also 3 means of "喝茶":
1. drink hot water
...
0
votes
2answers
70 views
On the day: Difference between 每到教师节 and 每到教师节这一天
What is the significance of the 这一天 in the longer version?
每到教师节，...
每到教师节这一天，...
0
votes
2answers
163 views
Is this a Chinese symbol? Cufflinks that belonged to my uncle
This pair of cufflinks belonged to my uncle who worked in California. I recently was given the cufflinks and to date have not been able to figure out what they represent. I have included a picture, ...
2
votes
2answers
99 views
What is the meaning of 要 in these sentences?
While doing exercises on my book I found some sentences with a use of 要 which I've never seen before and I can't figure out the meaning. The sentences are the following:
他很忙，但是他应该要来参加我的生日晚会
...
0
votes
2answers
49 views
I would be grateful if anyone can translate/identify the artist of this Chinese “Farmers' Art” painting
The attached image is of a painting of the genre known as Chinese Farmers' / Chinese Peasants'/ or Chinese 'naive" paintings. But I cannot de-code the signature and seal, so would be most grateful if ...
2
votes
3answers
119 views
Meaning of 厨 as a slang
I was in a Chinese forum for manga fans and I saw a user who introduced himself saying this sentence:
一个普通的《X》厨
Going by the context, I understand 厨 here means something like "fan" of X but I ...
2
votes
2answers
184 views
What is the meaning of 子 in words like 菓子(과자), 帽子(모자), or 獅子(사자)?
I'm learning Sino-Korean vocabulary at the moment and have noticed that many words seem to end in a '子' that doesn't seem to add much semantically to the other character in the word.
What should I ...
2
votes
1answer
96 views
Why would Antimony (Sb) and Aluminum (Al) be confused?
I'm going through some Chinese language materials and finding some interesting discoveries across multiple dialects.
In Chinese 锑[銻] is Antimony (Sb) & 铝(鋁) is Aluminum (Al).
In Cantonese there ...
4
votes
2answers
65 views
The correct way to parse “就打赢了” in this sentence
I was reading an excerpt from story, and I'm having a discussion with my friend over the correct way to parse this line said by a certain character, let's call him 1, about character 2.
...
1
vote
2answers
78 views
What is the purpose of verb reduplication?
In English, we can say:
I sneezed a big sneeze.
She sleeps a long sleep.
"Waiting for a king to apologize, one can wait rather a long wait." (from the film The Kings Speech)
and many more such ...
0
votes
3answers
76 views
Is my joke about my first talk at Nankai correct, understandable, and funny?
I'm practicing my upcoming talk in Chinese, and I like to start talks with a light joke to appear friendly. So I came up with this:
我第一次在南开学校作演讲，我用汉语讲第一句话，听众大声鼓掌以示回应。然后我说英语，但是听众听不懂，所以我讲完了时候，鼓掌比较小声。...
1
vote
2answers
40 views
Role/Grammar of 找 and 跟 in this sentence: “他找白如玉跟他在師大附近走走”
他找白如玉跟他在師大附近走走, 試試地圖好用不好用。
My book translates this as:
He went to see Bai Ruyu and asked her to accompany him on a walk around NTNU to try out the map functions.
This is how my English brain is ...
4
votes
2answers
143 views
What is the difference between 网上 and 在线?
Both 网上 and 在线 mean "online".
What is the difference between 网上 and 在线?
4
votes
6answers
524 views
Why use combined characters that have the same meaning?
(rèn shí ) both characters means ( to know)and when combined it still have the same meaning.
So why can't I use only one of them ?
3
votes
2answers
158 views
Meaning of the word 黄毛小儿
Is 黄毛小儿 a sort of idiomatic phrase? Literally it would mean a "yellow haired child."
I saw it on a TV drama, but from the child in question was definitely not yellow haired. Since the speaker was ...
0
votes
3answers
74 views
what does the lettering on my shirt mean?
My friend gave me this shirt, I've been trying to figure out what it means. Can anyone translate it?
4
votes
3answers
196 views
What does j8傻逼 mean?
In the following picture:
I understand the meaning of 傻逼 but what is the "j8" before it?
1
vote
2answers
146 views
What does B格 mean?
In the following answer over 知乎:
我在美国，异国恋，一直在坚持，克服孤独的最好办法只能是享受孤独吧。这可能是略有B格的一句话，可当我真正到了国外学习，发现没有太好的办法来克服孤独，是我境界不高，还是我乐趣恶俗，的确始终找不到好的办法。大家都很忙，就算有朋友也很难照顾彼此，百分之九十五的时候是一个人去完成一项事情，不准剽窃，不准作弊，严格的制度和偏执的诚信，...
0
votes
1answer
2k views
What did my wife write?
my wife is Chinese and we had an argument yesterday and she wrote this for herself (see pictures). Unfortunately her handwriting is too hard for me to read and look up (I first tried to look in a ...
1
vote
3answers
96 views
Can 从来 mean since forever?
从来 is usually translated to "always, at all times, all along, from the past till the present". But it's usually used in the negative sense, which makes it more like "never".
I have been searching for ...
1
vote
2answers
85 views
What is the difference between 魂 and 魄?
Maybe this is a religious technical question and therefore a bit tricky. In English, soul and spirit are used more or less interchangeably, although their origins are dissimilar.
spirit: mid-13c., "...
1
vote
2answers
44 views
What does '眼观鼻鼻观心' represent? Obedience or an attempt to be invisible?
Is it more about obedience as in 'obediently looked down and listen to someone's teaching';
Or is it more about pretending to be oblivious/invisible? For example two of your bosses are fighting each ...
2
votes
1answer
216 views
The translation of “I never said she stole my money.”
Translation nightmare!
Is this an acceptable translation of the sentence "I never said she stole my money."?
If it is acceptable, is there any, even slight, trace of ambiguity in the Chinese ...
0
votes
4answers
75 views
What is the meaning of 磨练?
When researching online, finding an exact definition was hard.
Does it mean to make oneself hard? Or like to harden yourself?
Could you give me a few examples?
0
votes
3answers
109 views
What is the difference between 挣扎 and 奋斗?
When I search both online I get the same definition of
to struggle.
What is the different use of them then if the meaning is the same?
1
vote
3answers
59 views
What are the different uses of 体会?
While trying to understand the complete meaning 体会, the examples I found online had many different uses when translated into English.
体会
to know from experience; to learn through experience; to ...
4
votes
4answers
183 views
What is the meaning of 刚 in 变形金刚?
I came across the word 变形金刚 in a short children's story that I read and Pleco dictionary states that it refers to either shape-shifting warriors protecting the Buddha, or Transformers (which Google ...
0
votes
0answers
67 views
'Shí yuè' vs 'jap ghuet' differences?
It's meaning "october", right?
jap ghuet - it's Chinese language?
This is screen by site https://meylingtaing.com
This is from google.translate:
4
votes
2answers
183 views
What is the true pinyin pronunciation for this radical?
I'm trying to learn a new method for learning and understanding chinese characters. So, I decided to start with memorizing every chinese radical. I'm use two different source but both wrote two ...
1
vote
4answers
83 views
the meaning and translation of 悲亡 in a poem by Bei Dao
What does the word '悲亡' mean? I found it in a verse by 北岛 : 大海为生者悲亡，the ocean suffers for the living beings.
2
votes
1answer
104 views
What does 尿尿 mean?
I was scrolling down on YouTube comments until someone wrote 老师好。新年快乐。给尿尿了。A person answered 新年快乐，不说给尿尿，哈哈.
I look it up but it said that 尿尿 means piss. Is that true?
1
vote
3answers
181 views
What is the difference between 因为 and 应为?
They are pronounced similarly and are both translated into "because". What is the difference in their meaning? When should I use one over the other?
1
vote
2answers
55 views
Difference between “游泳” and “游水”
I've been learning with a course, and one of the lessons said: 这个男人在游泳, but the same sentence with a dog was: 这只狗在游水.
I presume that both were doing the same thing: swimming. So, can I use 游泳 with ...
1
vote
1answer
41 views
Does this box in the movie 妖猫传 (Legend of the Demon Cat) say 鳳栖樓 on its lid and 私人必死 inside, and what do they mean?
I'm watching the movie 妖猫传 (yāomāo zhuàn) = Legend of the Demon Cat. About 10 minutes into the movie, a man secretly enters a room named 御宬 (yùchéng) = "imperial storage" (I think) and searches for a ...
1
vote
3answers
60 views
Does 好 + adjective with negative connotation reinforce the negative connotation or mitigate it?
Sometimes I heard 好 precedes an adjective which includes negative connotation (e.g. 无聊, 累).
Example:
好无聊啊！
好累了。
In these cases, do speakers have good or bad intentions? Specificall:
Does it ...
0
votes
2answers
65 views
What is the difference between 井底之蛙 and 坐井观天?
To express a person that has a narrow view, there are two 成语. According to 百度词典:
坐井观天
坐在井底看天。比喻眼界小，见识少。
井底之蛙
井底的蛙只能看到井口那么大的一块天。比喻见识狭窄的人。
Both words include derogatory sense (含贬义). But for me ...
3
votes
3answers
136 views
Does 一屁股坐下来 just mean 'sit down' or is there some other meaning in there?
一屁股坐下来 seems a bit of a strange thing to say. Does it just mean 'sit down'?
Can I say to you '一屁股坐下来' to you to invite you to sit?
In English, as a command, I might say 'sit your arse down!' (stay ...
2
votes
1answer
76 views
untranslated characters and their meaning
I recently seen a movie where this appeared and unfortunately this was the only part that wasnt translated. could anyone tell me what does it say? ty
3
votes
2answers
60 views
What does 赔着 mean in this sentence?
赔： compensate, pay for
I can't really get '赔着笑脸' Maybe 'it cost him his smile to leave' i.e. he was sad to leave???
Or is there some other meaning in 赔？
八戒偷眼一看，那三个女儿美如天仙，不由得想入非非，赔着笑脸走了过去。
0
votes
1answer
77 views
Interesting “bullet points”
For some reason WPS Office, when I clicked "bullet point", gave me this character:
Does anyone know what this character is? When I try handwriting recognition, it can't seem to find it. Same thing ...
4
votes
1answer
62 views
Does the job title 弼马温 really signify 辟马瘟 'avoid horse fever'
猪八戒说，“你这个弼马温!" baidu.com: “弼马温”不过是辟马瘟的谐音而已。
Someone else told me, 弼马温 might really be 弼马翁。
弼马温 was 孙悟空's job in heaven. baidu.com here has: "这样能有效的趋避马瘟。"
"古人们在马厩中养猴子"
Was Sun Wu Kong's job really ...
2
votes
2answers
87 views
What is the difference between 绝对 and 肯定?
Continuing from my previous question, there's another phrase that also makes me confused, the usage of "绝对" and "肯定".
From my textbook, here's the meaning of each word:
绝对 = [Adj./Adv.] ...
5
votes
5answers
416 views
What is the meaning of 成器 and how do you use it？
this new vocab in my textbook says it means: to make something of one's self.
我感觉绝望，我就想成器.
I feel so hopeless, I just want to make something of my self.
is this the right interpretation?
Thanks
1
vote
1answer
69 views
Can 发火 and 着火 be used interchangeably?
Both meanings are very similar in the dictionary, but 发火 also means to 'get angry' and 'to detonate'. Can they be used interchangeably and what is the difference between the two words?
4
votes
1answer
81 views
Why curse the unborn to be without an anus?
There is a common curse for the parents of the unborn & their babies saying that they will be born without an anus:
生儿子没屁眼
and it comes with variants like 生孩子没屁眼, as well.
I get the purpose ...
1
vote
3answers
111 views
What does 在来自中 (zài láizì zhōng) mean in 在来自中、俄、美、英、韩等五国, …?
I was reading a news article (about Trump canceling his meeting with Kim Jong Un, 25 May, 2018) on a flight:
I don't understand the use of 在来自中 in the second sentence:
当天早些时候，在来自中、俄、美、英、...
1
vote
4answers
61 views
What does 尽 mean and what tone does it have in 对我父母也极尽照顾?
This question is about 尽 in this snippet:
不仅对我好，对我父母也极尽照顾，。。。
Bùjǐn duì wǒ hǎo, duì wǒ fùmǔ yě jí [jìn/jǐn] zhàogù, ...
嫁给离婚带孩子的男人 我的生活只剩下两个字, guaixun.com
I translate this to something like:
...
