8
votes
Accepted
What famous word or phrase can I use to tell people my surname is 袁?
Just mention a famous person with that surname, e.g.
袁紹 from the Three Kingdoms
袁崇煥, patriot, martyr, and brilliant military commander who was instrumental in repelling the Jurchens for the Ming ...
- 22.2k
7
votes
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'it cant be helped' translation in cantonese
(件事/佢)冇得救: (the thing/he) cannot be salvaged (literally 'rescued')
(我)想幫都幫唔到: even if I want to help, I cannot
(我)冇計/冇辦法: literally, I do not have any tricks for / solutions to a problem
我都愛莫能助: ...
- 5,595
6
votes
Accepted
Function of 行 in this statement (cantonese)
「行」 here is certainly a sound-alike word of a forgotten character that means "vigorous/ fierce/ relentless" and pronounced as /haang4/
A better sound-alike word for this character is [恆] ...
- 77.2k
5
votes
Accepted
The meaning of 牛气 and 很牛
Most likely, 牛氣 and 很牛 came from a slang '牛逼' (cow's genital)
Cow's genitals are huge compare to human's. Calling something 牛逼 means it is unbelievably impressive or out of worldly awesome.
牛氣 (...
- 77.2k
5
votes
How do I express the notion of "drama" in Chinese?
There are different kinds of drama, for example, 悬疑剧, 推理剧, 感情剧, 伦理剧. What you wanted to express is a specific kind of drama --
活剧 - Live drama
诙谐有趣而类似戏剧情节的真实事件 - humorous and interesting real events ...
- 77.2k
4
votes
What are Chinese terms for 'androgynous', 'gender neutral', 'non binary' etc. to imply gender neutrality?
The Wikipedia page for 性别酷儿 mentions:
性别酷儿（Genderqueer、gender-fluid、non-binary）
and also goes into specific definitions:
非二元性别（Gender Queer，Gender non-binary）
精神双性人（Bigender）
精神三性人（...
Mou某♦
- 35.7k
4
votes
Where does this quote come from? “How can you say you have no clothes? I’ll share my robe with you”?
It sounds like “豈曰無衣・與子同袍”.
It is from the poem “無衣” in the Book of Odes:
豈曰無衣、
與子同袍
How shall it be said that you have no clothes?
I will share my long robes with you.
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4
votes
Difference between 晚安， 晚安安，安安, and 晚安啦
晚安 has no emotion.
晚安安 is indeed an incorrect usage of reduplication.
but 安安 is not an incorrect usage of reduplication. A girl can use this when she talks with her boyfriend to show intimacy. Yes,...
- 59
4
votes
Accepted
Usage of 的 to refer to a generic class of things
Short answer: yes. Your understanding is mostly correct.
Long answer: what happens in a sentence like
我喜欢吃好吃的
I like to eat delicious things
is that you are omitting something that would ...
- 5,452
4
votes
How do I say 'excuse me'?
In Mandarin Chinese, "Excuse me" is translated into "抱歉" normally.
If you want to ask for a random person's help, these words are also useful:
对不起 dù bù qǐ
不好意思 bù hǎo yì si
不好意思，打扰一下 bù hǎo yì si，...
- 41
4
votes
Accepted
What phrases in Cantonese are thought to be colloquial but are actually used in Mandarin?
唔該 has two meanings:
"Please" as in 請 (e.g 唔該你幫我開門 -> 請你幫我開門 -> "Would you please open the door for me?")
"Thank you" as in 謝謝 (e.g 唔該晒 -> 謝謝 -> "Thanks so much!")
Other terms are colloquial in ...
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4
votes
Accepted
Difference between 晚安， 晚安安，安安, and 晚安啦
晚安 is the standard phrase for "good night"
晚安安 is an incorrect usage of reduplication. Please don't use it.
安安 is also an incorrect usage of reduplication. Not to mention it sounds like a 'baby take'...
- 77.2k
4
votes
Accepted
What is 'hea' (in Cantonese conversations)?
the actual Cantonese words
well, some argued that it’s 歇 (u+6b47) in toishan “dialect” (台山話)
<https://jonathanovsky.wordpress.com/2015/02/14/再談「hea」字/>
we just use “hea” to write it, no han-...
- 15.1k
4
votes
Accepted
What is the function of 埋? (Cantonese)
[V + 埋] = [也 + V] = [V + too]
Example:
叫埋佢去 = 也叫他去 = ask him to go too
殺埋佢隻狗 = 也殺了他的狗 = kill his dog too
連你都打埋 = 連你也一起打 = beat even you too
[V + 埋] = [V + 完] = [finish + V]
Example:
執埋啲手尾 = ...
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4
votes
What is the function of 埋? (Cantonese)
做乜唔叫埋我? What is the function of 埋?
First the sentence reads as:-
做乜 = why, (for what reason)
唔叫 = didn't call, (didn't include)
埋我? = me as well?
The function of 埋 in this context of Cantonese speech ...
- 3,597
4
votes
Why is 黄河 used in the saying 不到黄河心不死?
Story 1
相传有个叫彭祖的人，寿命有八百岁。一生到过不少地方，就是不曾到过黄河.....
彭祖 lived for 800 years but never saw the Yellow River
当时陈抟就走到彭祖的坟边，打开坟洞，拉出棺材。把棺材打开一看，彭祖的骨肉都烂掉了，只剩下一个心未烂
陈抟 went to 彭祖's grave, open his coffin, and ...
- 77.2k
4
votes
More logical expressions of "爸爸把你生下来"
闺女，爸爸把你生下来，却有很多的无奈
世界上有爸爸生孩子的吗？还真有！
The first 生 means "give life", as in 父母生我養我 (my parents gave me life and nurtured me)
The second 生 means "give birth" (生育)
生 can also mean &...
- 77.2k
3
votes
What famous word or phrase can I use to tell people my surname is 袁?
Referencing famous names is a good idea. But if it still doesn't work, you might have to describe the radicals.
For example, my surname is 张. I was often asked to clarify whether it's 立-早 章 or 弓-长 张,...
- 24k
3
votes
Accepted
Is there a chengyu to describe small-time thieves or scoundrels with a playful connotation?
鼠窃狗偷 (small-time thieves):
Remember the YouTube video that showed a rat pulling a pizza? That's cute; If you have a dog, does he steal your food when you are not looking? Mine did. And it was cute
毛贼 (...
- 77.2k
3
votes
Is there a chengyu to describe small-time thieves or scoundrels with a playful connotation?
鸡鸣狗盗:
泛指小偷小摸的行为。
Refers to petty theft in general.
梁上君子
汉代陈寔（shí）的家里，夜间来了一个窃贼，躲在房梁上，陈寔把它叫做梁上君子（见于《后汉书·陈寔传》）。后来就用“梁上君子”做窃贼的代称。
In the Han Dynasty, a thief came to Chen Shi's house at night and hid ...
- 1,273
3
votes
What is 'hea' (in Cantonese conversations)?
According to this article: Cantonese Slang of the Week: HEA
To put it in the simplest of terms, to Hea means to procrastinate, be lazy, and basically try to kill time. When using ‘hea’ to describe a ...
- 77.2k
3
votes
Accepted
What does this mean? Colloquial interviews
It is in Cantonese
40歲未呀？ = (Are you) 40 years old yet? = (你今年) 有40歲了嗎？
點止呀！ = how could (I am) only (40) = (我) 怎么可能只有 (40岁)？
三個嫲嫲⋯⋯ = (I am ) three (grandchildren's) grandma... = (我已經是) 三個 (孫子的) 奶奶了
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3
votes
Accepted
Borrowed cantonese word for “normal”
SUN奇古怪：SUN潮語：【籮毛】
香港及中國內地「潮語」構詞研究, p. 3:
Extracted text:
而在餘下 280 個香港「潮語」當中，有 41 個屬於不能分解的單純詞，有部
分屬於單音節詞，如「推」、「萌」；有擬聲詞如「啪啪啪」；亦有專有名詞如
「醫鬧」、「劉江華」、「皮爾修」、「私煙」（指香港一名名叫李偲嫣的女人）
等；亦有英文如「Gathering」、音譯詞如譯自英語的「...
Mou某♦
- 35.7k
3
votes
Accepted
What is 貼地 and 離地
“貼地” is like “down to earth”, or “keep one's feet on the ground”
“離地” is the opposite, “with one's head in the clouds”
there’s a place called “kennedy town” (堅尼地城) in hong kong. for most people, the ...
- 15.1k
3
votes
Slogan “澀得起，就係我”
澀 here refers to 苦澀 (bitter)
澀得起，就係我 means "Can afford to taste bitter, that's me"
(We know how much bitterness is appropriate in lemon tea)
A lot of popular food and drink contains ...
- 77.2k
2
votes
Is there a more colloquial way of saying “vegan” than “纯素食者”?
in cantonese, you may say 食全齋, sound files: 食
全
齋
or, colloquially, say 吃全素, in mandarin.
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2
votes
Insults in Chinese
First level: 笨蛋，傻瓜/Dumb-ass(Sha Gua)
Second level: 脑残/Brainless/Retard(Nao Can)，二B(Er B)，傻B/傻Ⅹ(Sha B/Sha Cha)
I am not going to translate the last few, they are basically comparing people to ...
- 881
2
votes
Accepted
Usage of 对峙 in colloquial Chinese.
对峙 means "confrontation; stand-off" (be locked in a confrontation or face-off, with neither side attacking or retreating)
It is a metaphor that means "two sides standing still like two mountains ...
- 77.2k
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