16
I am a native Chinese speaker. This sentence is not ambiguous to me at all. Here the "怎么" clearly means "how" to me.
But if you switch "要" and "怎么"，then the sentence will be like:
我们怎么要去机场？
Here "怎么" means "why". This sentence sounds to me like that you have a guest coming by train but your boss asks you to go to the airport to pick him up.
Hope this ...
16
成 (into) is the result complement of the verb 换(change)
换 = change
换成 = change into
兑换 = exchange
兑换成 = exchange into
兑换 mostly refers to 'currency exchange'
换 can refer to exchange between anything.
In "我把十块美元换成人民币" (I exchanged $10 USD into RMB), '换' is obviously short for '兑换'. You can even replace '换' with '兑' (convert) and write: "...
16
「莲花出淤泥而不染」，象征纯洁 (lotus flower came from mud but not stained by it. Symbolizing purity.)
Your teacher described him as 口吐莲花 in an ironic way, mocking his foul mouth
Idiom 舌灿莲花: 譬喻说话的文采和美妙 ("the tongue sparks lotus flower" refers to having the literary talent to speak beautifully.)
Again, ironically, your teacher was mocking his lack of literary ...
15
EDIT: Also refer to Aminopterin's answer and Travis Hu's answer for more insights.
After some research, I found two reasonable explanations. But, IMHO, the two should be compiled as the following:
老 is a prefix that is added to make 虎 and 鼠 easier to pronounce; besides, it implies that people respect 虎 and fear 鼠.
The two explanations as follow:
Affix ...
15
When you see an AABB type word with A and B are antonyms, generally the author is describing both A and B.
So it's actually "tall AND short".
高高矮矮的树 = both tall trees and small trees = Some of the trees are tall and others are small
In this case it is just an imagery, the author does not tend to describe the height of the trees, but only to make ...
14
一定 either introduces an INFERENCE, which is very likely to be true (as in the context of the given sentence), or shows a strong intention (in other contexts). On the other hand, 当然, equivalent to the English 'of course', indicates an inevitable consequence that the speaker KNOWS to be true.
In this sentence, since the speaker is talking about himself, he ...
14
发：Short for 发财，make a fortune，become rich。
Chinese people like to use reiterative locution to emphasize the strong meaning or wish. Other cases like: 好好好、 旺旺旺、棒棒棒、赞赞赞。
Sometimes you will also see 888 instead of 发发发，because 888(bababa) has similar pronunciation with 发发发(fafafa) and much easier to write/type.
13
Both “和” and “及” are conjunctions for connecting two words or phrases.
和 [hé] : To connect nouns, verbs or phrases, not necessarily expressing a relationship and often informally. E.g. 汽车和现金 (car and cash),
蓝宝石和翡翠 (sapphire and jade).
及 [jí] : Mostly used in writing to connect nouns, with greater emphasis on the items preceding it. E.g. “囧”字的读音、意思及其常用表现手法
...
13
发发发;
发 is short for 发财（get rich, make a fortune）. There is a catch saying: 重要的事情说三遍(important things should be reiterated three times). This is kind of emphasis for its importance. That's why people usually put three 发s: 发发发. They wish you make a great deal of money!
13
Please allow me to give you some background about this sticker.
On July 26th, 2015, one piece of plate, where the sticker is sitting, on an escalator turned over leaving a young women dead in Hubei China. This accident caused public in China worried about the safety of escalators, stepping onto a plate of an escalator may not safe.
Shortly after that, ...
12
哩勒公蝦毀
This sentence refers to the pronunciation of "What did you say?" in Min-Nan
哩(ㄌㄧ): You
勒(ㄌㄟ): an auxiliary verb
公(ㄍㄨㄥ): say
蝦毀(ㄒㄧㄚ ㄏㄨㄟˇ): what
蛤？！
This word equals to "Huh? Could you speak up?". Taiwanese use this word commonly on the Internet because it's the first word choice in Bopomofo input method of "ㄏㄚˊ"
12
If you use Facebook, you may know the relationship status It's complicated; the Chinese version is 一言難盡. That said, the phrase is intended be used whenever the situation is complicated, in a good way or in a bad way. On the other hand, despite its intended usage, people often use it for certain feelings or thoughts in disguise, such as when they simply do ...
12
中国人：你的中文是在哪里学的？
我：在北京语言大学学的。
Without other context, this dialogue indicates a normal conversation sequence. '在哪里' just means 'where'.
In some context, 你的中文是在哪里学的？ could be used as a rhetorical question. The underlying meaning is 你的中文是在哪里学的？ (怎么这么差！) In English, it could be something like from where have you learned such awful Chinese? In this case, they ...
12
It's one of those fixed expressions whose otherwise regular meaning is significantly and conspicuously altered by the modal 了, that introduces change semantics.
The phrase 「你怎么（样）～」 in itself means "How do you...?". If you add a modal 了 signifying change, it becomes：
"How do you... now" (as opposed to before)
...which in an idiomatic ...
11
The pronunciation of "D"-"7" is similar to a Cantonese foul phrase (something similar to fxxking hard).
689 is a common way to refer to the current Chief Executive (CE) of Hong Kong, because he won the election in 2012 by having 689 electoral votes out of the 1200-person Election Committee.
"袋住先" is also a common Cantonese saying. "袋" here means the ...
11
There are many errors in the 百度百科's article you gave, so I show my punctuation of the preface first.
The content comes from the 水巷孑蠻's answer.
1) 昔，開皇初，有儀同劉臻等八人，同詣法言門宿。
2) 夜永酒闌，論及音韻。
3) 以今聲調，既自有別，諸家取捨，亦復不同。
4) 吳楚，則時傷輕淺；燕趙，則多傷重濁；秦隴，則去聲為入；梁益，則平聲似去。
5) 又，支（章移切）脂（旨夷切）、魚（語居切）虞（遇俱切），共為一韻；先（蘇前切）仙（相然切）、尤（于求切）侯（胡溝切），俱論是切。
6) 欲廣文路，自可清、濁皆通；若賞知音，即須輕、重有異。
...
11
I myself as a Chinese can tell you that they are all advertisements for well digging, as those places are near the countryside where some villagers might need well for water, therefore those people with the equipment seek those opportunities by these advertisements. The number follows are phone numbers.
11
According to the 《佛光大辭典》,
打坐
指跏趺而坐 (to sit cross-legged)，使心入定 (to settle the mind)。
即指坐禪 (za-zen, to meditate)。
「打」，動作行為之意 (means to do or to act)。
According to the 《汉语大词典》,
打 (36)
谓从事某种工作 (to do some kind of work) 或做出某种行为 (to make some kind of behavior)。
Therefore, the 打 in 打坐 means "to do", and 打坐 is "to do the 靜坐" (to sit still ...
10
I think your friend was asking how to arrange the evening, not literally ask the time to meet. 「今晚怎麼意思？」 means “Any plans tonight?" in English.
10
也 is classified into 虚词(lit. imaginary word) in classical Chinese. 虚词, unlike its counterpart of 实词(lit. real word), doesn't have a meaning, but it's indispensable to some grammatical functions. It can:
express the mood
Complete a sentence structure.
Work as an interjection or preposition.
work as a filler to make a sentence satisfy the requirement on the ...
10
楊牧 《心之鷹》
鷹往日照多處飛去
沒入大島向我地投影
陽台上幾片落葉窸窣
像去年秋天刪去的詩
而鷹現在朝南盤旋
漸遠。我站起來
面對著海
於是我失去了它
想像是鼓翼亡走了
或許折返山林
如我此刻竟對真理等等感到厭倦
但願低飛在人少，近水的臨界
且頻頻俯見自己以鴥然之姿
起落於廓大的寂靜，我丘壑凜凜的心
「丘壑」的原義是「山峰與河谷」，因為它們常處於幽靜偏僻的地方，所以被引申為「隱居、孤獨、離世」的意思。
「凛」和「凛凛」都是「寒冷」的意思。
楊牧在《心之鷹》一詩中，用「鷹」來描寫自己的「心」。
「對真理等等感到厭倦」
是表達不滿、失望與心寒，所以楊牧用「凛凛」。
「但願低飛在人少，近水的臨界 …… 起落於廓大的寂靜」
是表達「...
10
我快到中国了。 I will arrive in China soon (O)
我终于到中国了。 I finally arrived in China (O)
我终于快到中国了。I finally arrive in China soon (?)
'finally' refers to the present or past events (you cannot say 'I finally arrive tomorrow'), while 'soon' referring to the upcoming events (future). These two words are conflicting with each other
Some said 我终于快到中国了 is understandable. ...
9
It's a kind of analogy. Originally, 卡壳 (qiǎ ké) meant "a cartridge got jammed inside the gun."
When people are talking very fast and fluently, they are like a gun continuing shooting without any interruption. Words are "shot" (spoken) fast and continuously. There is also an expression "说话像机关枪一样," the literal meaning of which is that someone "speaks like ...
9
不客气 is a polite way of acknowledging someone's compliment or thanks. Although it literally translates to "don't be polite", once you consider some equivalent phrases, it's meaning becomes clear.
Equivalents in Chinese:
不用谢 - (no need to thank [me])
别客气
Equivalents in English:
You're too kind
Don't mention it
Not at all
9
If some words that mean "is" (e.g 是/相当于 ) are used, then it's literal times.
你的速度 是 我的两倍。
Your speed is twice as mine.
Normally you will not say "one times" in this scenario. 你的速度是我的一倍 (Your speed is one times as mine) sounds strange in both English and Chinese. You can just say "你的速度和我的一样快"/ “我们俩一样快" (You are as fast as me).
If other "comparing" words ...
9
傲嬌 is a word from Japanese animation and just used in the Internet.
傲娇指的是这样一种性格：
表面上对陌生人/喜欢的人很冷淡或趾高气昂，即展现出“傲”的一面，而一旦关系突破某一好感度/耻度界限后，或者遭遇某种契机(特殊事件)的时候，就会突然变得害羞、娇俏可人，即表现出“娇”的一面。
ref : http://zh.moegirl.org/傲娇
At most time, a person who is 傲嬌, means he/she is 傲 at first and then 嬌 when he/she met someone he/she link.
For your context, I think it's a not ...
9
了 here is read liǎo which means:
to finish / to achieve / variant of 瞭｜了 / to understand clearly -CC-CEDICT
thus
不了
unable to / without end -CC-CEDICT
忘不了 = can't forget / unforgettable
喝不了 = can't drink / undrinkable
9
对不起 is the phrase for apologizing for anything, for generally saying sorry. This is what you would normally say in situation 2.
请问 means "may I ask...?"; it is used to introduce a question and not to apologize for anything. You can use this when asking for direction (situation 1). But note: because of what it means, it must be followed by a question (...
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