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.
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2answers
131 views
What does my tattoo mean?
Sorry if my question is inappropriate, but I really need to know what this tattoo means. Thanks in advance!
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2answers
68 views
The difference between 规范，规则，规章，规矩，规定，规律
After seeing in class these words (规定，规律，规范，规矩，规章）, I’m in trouble to recognize the difference between them. I’m aware that some are used for country law, some for rules in society etc but I need a ...
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1answer
56 views
What does 嫩主 mean?
There's this sentence in The Dark Forest by Liu Cixin:
“你看看，刚才你主动提这事儿，现在又说自己可能杀她，咱就是随便聊聊，你急着抖落这些干吗？一看就是个嫩主。”
Joel Martinsen translated the sentence like this:
“Look at you, bringing up the ...
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1answer
73 views
What language is this tattoo? what does it mean?
What does this tattoo mean? what language is this guys?
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1answer
69 views
How to translate “and” to Chinese
I would like some clarification on translating 'and' into Chinese. I know 和 and 跟 can be used as 'and' with nouns, 也 can be used with verbs, and often 'and' isn't translated but a comma is used. But ...
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1answer
68 views
Meaning of 的 and 之 when both are used in the same sentence
I’m reading a text in which 的 and 之 are sometimes used in the same sentence, in seemingly equivalent or exchangeable function and position.
But I’m sure the author had good reasons to choose the ...
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1answer
68 views
What is written in this Chinese painting?
Can somebody tell me what is written in this painting?
http://sino.ro/5976-thickbox_default/pictura-chinezeasca-simbolul-liniste-cod-b68-6.jpg
The Chinese people selling this painting told me it's ...
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2answers
80 views
What do the characters I've found on this old gun mean?
On an antique shotgun I was told had Korean origin I found the following (what I presume are Hanja?) characters†. Four out of five I believe I have correctly identified. One character I could not find ...
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1answer
84 views
What's the difference between 恭喜發財 and 恭禧發財?
Today I visited a house that had Chinese New Year banners all over. On the stairs, one banner reads 「恭禧發財」, and above a door, another banner reads 「恭喜發財」. Both of these are pronounced exactly the same ...
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2answers
69 views
What is the difference between 覺得 and 想？
I have hard time making clear distinction between 覺得 and 想.
According to the dictionary:.
- 想：to think / to believe / to suppose / to wish / to want / to miss (feel wistful about the absence of sb or ...
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1answer
46 views
The meaning of 到 in this sentence?
When I was reading a text, I came to this sentence :
今天的考试要用到词典，请大家把词典也放在桌子上。
I know what the whole sentence means but what's the function of 到 in this sentence?
Thank you.
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2answers
116 views
Function of 吧 in 循环吧代码
In this page for learning loops in JavaScript by Mozilla Developer Network the title "Looping code" is translated as 循环吧代码. What is the meaning/function of 吧 here?
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2answers
95 views
What does 是是 mean beyond 是? Is it just a typo?
This question relates to the following snippet:
不约而同是一个成语，读音是是bù yuē ér tóng，意思是指事先没有约定而相互一致。
Baidu Baike，不约而同
It introduces the chengyu (idiom) 不约而同, which means something like "doing something ...
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1answer
50 views
What it mean the name Alexander Esam Abood in Chinese and what it is it’s calligraphy?
I’m asking this question because, I’m really interested to know what does it mean that name in Chinese and how it is written in Chinese English, such as Cheng.
When I found this site, I thought it ...
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1answer
128 views
Is 太君 a derogatory word?
These days it seems popular that Chinese netizens call Japanese 太君. According to some posts on 百度知道, like this or this or this, although they explain the etymology and the meaning of the word, there ...
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1answer
73 views
Can someone translate this message?
Someone sent me this:
所有这些塑料袋都来自于周边非洲国家，因为他们经常应用这种黑色袋子。
And when I translated it sounded offensive.
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1answer
144 views
What is the meaning of 心兴?
What is the meaning of 心兴 in the picture below (towards bottom left in image)? I am guessing it means to think, but doesn't 想 mean to think?
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3answers
92 views
Can someone explain the meaning of 都 in 我都說?
I'm studying this video, and the speaker starting around 0:38 uses 我都 a number of times (我都覺得，我都說。。。）
I don't really understand this use of 都. Can someone clarify what is going on here and what this ...
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3answers
120 views
Difference between 诚实 and 老实 (and possibly 天真)
诚实 (HSK 4) has the meaning 'honest', just like 老实 (HSK 5), which also carries the meaning of 'honest'.
I would like to know what the difference between these two words is when they mean 'honest'.
I'...
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2answers
34 views
Difference between the verbs 轮 and 轮流 (meaning to take turns)
In HSK 5, lesson 1, the word '轮' is part of the word list, with the translation: 'v. to take turns'. In lesson 3, the word '轮流' is part of the word list, again with the translation: 'v. to take turns'....
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2answers
420 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 ...
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1answer
156 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?
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1answer
131 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
...
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2answers
72 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，...
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2answers
167 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, ...
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2answers
106 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
...
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2answers
53 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 ...
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3answers
133 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 ...
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2answers
195 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 ...
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1answer
100 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 ...
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2answers
67 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.
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2answers
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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 ...
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3answers
78 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。...
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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 ...
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2answers
151 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?
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6answers
533 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 ?
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2answers
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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 ...
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3answers
80 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?
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3answers
229 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?
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2answers
157 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，...
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1answer
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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 ...
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3answers
101 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 ...
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2answers
107 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., "...
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2answers
47 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 ...
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1answer
221 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 ...
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4answers
77 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?
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3answers
112 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?
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3answers
64 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
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4answers
189 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 ...
