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The English equivalent would be:- -- in a few days; -- for a little while. The idea being that the person has no definite idea when he or she will be back and hence the vagueness or "elastic" perio …

In a colloquial context, 给你, "give you", especially when spoken threateningly, could mean "take this", as in "I'll rearrange your face"

Title from a popular Mandarin song, 原来你什么都不想要 So, why 不想要 rather than 不要? What is the difference? What is the 想 doing there? I would like to hear from people here?

This example should warn us not to convert / translate too directly when dealing with languages. As explained by other contributors, 走 in this phrase is not a repetition; it appears so only when a di …

Perhaps you were misled by the 美, thinking, naturally, it has something to do with a thing of beauty / being beautiful and so on. Not quite so as explained below. First, "十", 10, here acts as a quali …

"The Chinese language, Its History and Current Usage" by Daniel Kane. Published by Tuttle Publishing.

你的国语太累 It is certainly a critical assessment of someone's way of speaking Mandarin. My first reaction is 累 = tiresome. However, the context suggest otherwise. So, how about "Your Mandarin is too cumbr …

When applied to colors, it means something like brightly colored, therefore it "stands out" and so "eye-catching". When applied in another context, like in 印象, it means something like "distinctive", o …

There is a term 弹牙, (springy teeth), which refers to food that's "springy", "elastic", (or just tasty food in general), which Chinese people like in certain kinds of food or cooking methods as opposed …

Given the simple meaning of the first part of the passage, could we then say that 一爱一岗 means, in the context of the whole passage, "...in order to inculcate a sense of responsibility in children,...parents … see even one hair of one's own eyelashes...", meaning, people tend to talk of great things easily, but unable to grasp simple ideas just as easily. …

It is of course physically impossible, unless you're a shape-shifter, to "hide your pupils in your eyes", unless it is a "poetic" way to say "...don't roll your eyes at me", meaning "the action or gesture … This reminds me of an English saying, "Cut off your nose to spite your face", meaning, "to cause problems for yourself by trying to punish someone else" You don't physically cut off your own nose of course …

Quote:- "Since my first language is not Chinese, for now at least I can't determine the best answer" I think your problems are: You are attempting a word for word translation of a complex sentence, …

I've heard that there is another mix-up with another similar sounding word 馒, (Mán), as in 馒头, (Mán tou), meaning "steamed buns", and the "mix-up", speculatively, came about as follows:- The ancient Han … So, we have 3 similar sounding words, 慢, 蛮, 馒 (Màn, Mán, Mán), "slow", "rude", "steamed", to "trip", (meaning "...cause to stumble"), people? …

Is 苦力 offensive? The word "coolie" is an English transliteration of 苦力 In English it would roughly be equivalent to the phrase "the sweat of one's brow", referring to the effort expended in labor, and …

我感到最大的成就就是影响了一代又一代人对自己的看法. Yes, it is not an easy question to answer right. My translation would be:- "I believe / feel that my greatest achievement is being able to influence, (or have an impact on), …