Questions tagged [meaning-in-context]
Questions about understanding words or phrases within a given context.
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What does "我牛起来" mean?
I know what each of the characters mean, but I'm confuse on how to put it into a sentence.
我 - I
牛 - ox
起来 - up
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What does 拼命连比带画 mean?
我根本不会说法语，我当时拼命连比带画，想问画家能否给我再画一张刚才那个女孩的画像，结果他没有听懂。
这世界，缺你不可, p.90.
I translate it to something like:
I fundamentally don't speak French, and at the time I 拼命连比带画 (??), and wanted to ask the painter ...
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Translation a slogan "the perfect boost" to Chinese
I try to translate it to “ 注入新鲜血液，实现品牌升级” or “最完美的品牌升级” but I still have no idea how to translate it suitably.
(a straight translation is not always the best choice for a slogan)
Any suggestion or ...
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Is this correct 你一個人到這裡嗎
In the context of asking a chinese person who is living in say, spain, for not too long a period, is the above sentence correct if I want to ask “did you come here all by yourself?/are you here all by ...
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What is the meaning of 零一年?
Pussy said to the Owl, "You elegant fowl!
How charmingly sweet you sing!
O let us be married! too long we have tarried:
But what shall we do for a ring?"
They sailed away, for a year and a ...
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Best translation of 四风 (political term)
What is a reasonable translation of 四风 in its political usage? "Four winds" does not seem to fit, neither does "four styles". I do know, however, that this expression refers to ...
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names of planets in the solar system 星球
I am curious about the Chinese names of the planets in the solar system.
水星 for Mercury, 金星 for Venus, and so on. I wonder how these names were chosen? They have a bit of a resemblance to the days of ...
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Does anyone know what this means or the origins of this artwork?
Need help with where the signature stamp came from. Deng Shaoxin has been translated, but I'm not sure where to go from there as this is a very common surname. Translation of the rest seems to be ...
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不管是谁对你们动的手: I've been quite lost towards that end "动的手". Could anyone explain that for me?
My problem is pretty much what's written in the title.
不管是谁对你们动的手 is the question. I've been quite lost towards that end "动的手". Could anyone explain that for me?
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What is the proper meaning of 随便?
由于版权原因，Up主不能随便阅读别人的小说进行视频创作。
I looked up 随便, and there are 3 possible meanings,
casual
random
informal
Which one do you think fits?
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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 ...
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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，...
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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 ...
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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-...
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How should I understand 延伸开来 within ……并且延伸开来，导致重大而长远的对抗?
The following opinion piece considers a hypothetical scenario in which the USA and China's coronavirus death numbers were reversed:
总之，假如中国今天在一场全球共同灾难中成为应对最差、损失最大的那一个，美国和西方对中国的意识形态攻击一定会是海啸级的，并且延伸开来，...
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What is the difference between 宏伟 and 雄伟?
As far as I understood, the first means "great and big", something magnificent and imposing. It collocates with mostly abstract nouns such as aim or prospect (宏伟前景，宏伟目标，宏伟事业), but it also ...
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What's the difference between 操练 and 训练?
Which situation can I use 操练 in and which situation 训练? I read on Baidu that one is used on a basic level and the other one contains the meaning of "developing" the content of something.
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Why does the grandma jump up and shout "杀了俺俺也不信！"?
我小的时候，有一段很特别的时期。有一天，我父亲对我姥姥说，一亩地里能打三十万斤粮食，而我的姥姥，一位农村来的老实老太太，跳着小脚叫了起来：“杀了俺俺也不信！”她还算了一本细账，说一亩地上堆三十万斤粮，大概平地有两尺厚的一层。当时我们家里的人都攻击我姥姥觉悟太低，不明事理。我当时只有六岁，但也得出了自己的结论：我姥姥是错误的。……
王小波，积极的结论，一只特立独行的猪
Here is my ...
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Difference between 现在几岁 and 今年几岁
Are these two expressions considered different? Because my birthday is at the end of the year, I always considered 今年几岁 to be age at the end of the year, whereas 现在 is age from the most recent ...
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What does 可是 mean?
A daughter to her police father,
"How did you find me?" “你怎么找到我的？”
"I'm a detective." “我可是个警探。”
可是 means
but however yet
But it doesn't make sense here.
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What does 叫 mean in 你家的门真难叫?
From my grade-3 语文 textbook, we find:
每天早晨，敲门的声音总把哥什提亚和娃丽吵醒。这是邮递员送报纸来了。有一次，邮递员对爸爸说：“同志，你家的门真难叫，最好挂一个信箱。”
My translation: Every early morning, a knocking sound noisily awakens Gostia and Wali. This ...
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what does 塞翁 mean in 塞翁失马?
I recently read about this idiom and its story. I know what it actually means. But when it comes to character by character translation, I struggled. I asked some of my Chinese friends, but they didn't ...
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What does 缀 mean in 浆果密密地缀在灌木丛中 (from "Fog Magic" 穿越魔雾)?
From the children's novel 穿越魔雾 ("Fog Magic", page 18), I don't understand the part in bold below:
”我刚刚应该是见到了西米恩老人，而且知道了他住在哪儿。这场大雾可真是有魔法呢。“她一边哼着小曲，一边穿过开阔的牧场。浆果密密地缀在灌木丛中，格丽塔停下脚步采了一会儿。...
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Does anyone know what these letters mean?
I have seen these letters written in a particular way and I would like to know their meaning.
I don't know if they are in the correct position so I sent 2 possible positions.
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What does 撒回 mean in 部分领导人撒回祝贺，一些领导人则保持沉默?
I was reading a newspaper article about the US election, and in the context of Trump's early claim of his election success, it describes the time Bush Jr's election was called early:
In particular I'...
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How to ask "Can you still speak Chinese?" in Chinese Mandarin?
I think I can say like this 你还能说中文吗 to ask whether someone still can speak Chinese or not. But I doubt about the word can.
It seems like the following words can all mean can:
可
能
会
Which word is the ...
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What is the role of 在 in the sentence 当我有错误在帮我纠正就行了
Ｉ understand 当 serves as the start of "When xyz, then abc" or "當 。。。时，xyz" but what exactly is 在 doing in this sentence?
当我有错误【在】帮我纠正就行了。
Couldn't you just say:
当我有错误【时】帮我纠正行了。
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Can someone please help me translate this chop/seal/stamp?
Back in 1994 my mother and I took a trip to Hong Kong to visit my grandfather, a US ex-pat, that lived there. She had this chop commissioned while we were visiting.
Unfortunately, I don't have any way ...
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Meaning of 申诉、申足 in the sentences below
I have two sentences below that contain the aforementioned words：
诗歌后十句写相思之意，申诉现在之思念，措辞前显，寓意深厚。
”行行重行行“ 言行之不止，致有“想去万余里”“个在天一涯”。三、四句表现极其遥远之概念，以申足此意。
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What does 追行叙功奖励 mean?
我正在查“追叙”的意思，在以下网站查到了词义
https://baike.baidu.com/item/%E8%BF%BD%E5%8F%99/351020?fr=aladdin
追叙，读音为zhuī xù，汉语词汇，释义为追行叙功奖励
“追行叙功奖励”到底是什么意思？
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What does 灒油 mean if no oil spatters or scatters?
I screen-shot 0:57. I don't understand how 灒 makes sense here. The chef heated oil, then poured on the 薑葱茸. No oil 灒!
user11787
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What is the meaning of 絕 in 天不絕人?
I am trying to translate this sentence 天不絕人. I tried translating the characters individually, and got:
天: heaven or sky
不: not
絕: end or to break off; to cut off; to sever, to use up, to consume, ...
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How does this sentence 如果你要是查出是谁的话 mean exactly?
The full sentence is 如果你要是查出是谁的话, 一定告诉我. It means If you find out who it is, make sure to tell me.
I do know 如果, 如果...的话, 要是 and 你要是...的话 they all mean if.
I more would like to understand how Chinese ...
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Why is 饱 in 吃一顿饱饭?
I'm taking a look at the science fiction novelette 北京折叠 (English title: Folding Beijing), wherein we have:
步行街上挤满了刚刚下班的人。拥挤的男人女人围着小摊子挑土特产，大声讨价还价。食客围着塑料桌子，埋头在酸辣粉的热气腾腾中，饿虎扑食一般，白色蒸汽遮住了脸。油炸的香味弥漫。...
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What does 饭圈类 ("rice-ring kind") indicate in 生产这些饭圈类产品?
口号手环、贴纸、小旗子、手幅、胸章……义乌的大小作坊，为4年一度的美国大选，生产这些饭圈类产品，正规名称是总统竞选产品。
义乌再次判定：特朗普连任，2020年04月30日
The above article discusses Trump-themed merchandise and its manufacture in Yiwu (义乌), comparing the 2016 and ...
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Does "希" mean Greek or Hebrew?
For example:
他會説英德希三種語言。
Which of the following translation is correct?
He speaks English, German and Greek.
or
He speaks English, German and Hebrew.
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Is 你看看自己 correct for daily common speaking in Mandarin language?
Is 你看看自己 correct for daily common speaking in Mandarin language?
or people can understand it but they don't say it that way and better say 你看看你?
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What does this 我却为你万千感慨 mean?
I do know the meaning of each word in the following sentence.
我却为你万千感慨
But I still cannot understand the meaning of the whole sentence. Google translates it as.
I feel so emotional for you
I doubt ...
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What is the difference between 变 (biàn) and 易 (yì)?
I would say that both 变 (biàn) and 易 (yì) have the same (or very similar) meaning, dealing with "something that changes", like in "易经" (the Book of changes) or "变温层" (...
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What is the meaning of 的 in "有一天你会明白的"?
From Why is 的 used in 你是哪一天出生的 and 我们什么时候开始的 and 前天你什么时候来的这里?, I understand 的 at the end of a sentence describes an event that happened in the past.
However, I am not sure whether I understand the ...
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What does 騷債 mean?
I understand 債 means debt, because context fits. Louisa Mak won TVB's 2015 Miss Hong Kong first place. TVB has credited Louisa money, publicity, fame. So it's reasonable for reporter to ask if she ...
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What does 素弦声断 mean?
I tried to translate this using Google Translate. It is hard to understand what 素弦声断 exactly mean.
does 素弦声断 mean: the sound of the broken guitar strings?
or
does 素弦声断 mean: the guitar breaks its ...
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Meaning of 来 as in 你来给我们评评理
你来给我们评评理
Three people are discussing something. One of them asks another to be judge on who's right.
What's the exact meaning of 来 here? Since three of them are already together, it shouldn't be &...
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Can a 为什么 question be rhetorical in Chinese?
A rhetorical question is a question that doesn't expect an actual answer. It's said only to make a point, or to convey sarcasm, etc.
In English, a rhetorical question may be (inspired from the linked ...
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What does 一事 mean in 美国总统特朗普在被问及前顾问班农被捕一事时表示?
I don't understand 一事 in the following snippet:
《纽约时报》白宫记者Michael D。 Shear 8月20日报道称，美国总统特朗普在被问及前顾问班农被捕一事时表示：“我感觉非常糟糕。我已经有很长一段时间没有和他打交道了。我根本没有和他打过交道，对这个项目一无所知。对班农先生来说，这是很悲伤的事情，也很意外。”
特朗普回应班农被捕：...
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Difference between using 被 and the object in the topic position?
I just learned about the preposition 被 bèi to express passive voice. If we have a S-V-O sentence, we can reexpress it using the 被 structure as O-被-(S)-V. This introduces a passive voice into the ...
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What does 最早将于 mean in 最早将于本周二提起联邦诉讼?
I don't understand 最早将于 in the following snippet:
在很多业内人士看来，诉讼将是字节跳动创始人张一鸣的唯一选择。而媒体消息称，在这场封杀中，TikTok发起了首次反击，最早将于本周二提起联邦诉讼，挑战特朗普在美国封禁该视频共享服务的行政命令。
风暴中的张一鸣：外界骂他软弱 员工赞他理性, 11 August 2020.
Clearly 最早 ...
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What does 赚走 mean in 赚走93.3亿美元?
I'm having trouble understanding 赚走 in the following snippet:
得益于此，该企业二季度在华收入同比增长了1.9%，赚走93.3亿美元（约合650亿元人民币）。为了进一步扩大在华市场份额，苹果准备“入乡随俗”也不难理解。
中国市场不能丢！苹果在华销量暴增225%，iPhone12或支持北斗导航，2020年08月10日
I'm not ...
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Why is 持 in the sentence 这些持反对意见的员工表示，……?
I read a short news article about Microsoft's internal attitude towards a Tiktok purchase, wherein there is this sentence:
这些持反对意见的员工表示，这可能是他们入职微软以来首次怀疑公司采取措施的正确性。
微软六成员工反对收购TikTok 支持盖茨想法，2020年08月11日
...
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What is the function of 一次 in "去一次"?
I came across these translated examples:
[Talking about a place]:
明年夏天我打算去一次。
Mínɡnián xiàtiān wǒ dǎsuàn qù yí cì。
I plan to go there next summer.
三年以前我去过上海，去年我又去了一次，明年我想再去一次。
Sān nián yǐqián wǒ ...
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