New answers tagged meaning
1
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Accepted
Is 了 optional in the following sentence: 我上午八点前起床了 and 我三十分钟前起床了?
"了" indicates the completion of the action stated in front of it - 我上午八点前起床了 means "This morning, I got up before eight o'clock".
If "了" is eliminated - 我上午八点前起床 becomes ...
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What's the difference between 星期X and 周X?
It's a mistake that using 礼拜 (worship) as synonym of the word 星期 (week) in some dialect. But it is so widely used and accepted by people later. 礼拜 means (going to church and make) worship originally, ...
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1
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Accepted
Origin and history of 吃
"吃"的原義(original meaning)是"口吃,pron-ji"(stutter)，即说话结结巴巴不流利.
Original composition of "吃" - 吃，形声字。从口，乞声。气，既是声旁也是形旁，表示体息、呼吸。篆文=（口，进食和发音器官）+（气，体息、呼吸），表示呼吸不畅，阻碍说话。隶化后，楷书异体字“吃”...
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2
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Accepted
Difference between 谈 and 讲
谈 - to talk, to converse, to chat.
讲 - speech, to speak, to tell, to explain.
"谈" is a talk/conversation that happened between two or a group of people to exchange ideas/messages on a ...
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Difference between 谈 and 讲
讲 - 是对某一个人或者一群人单方面的说话。
谈 - 双方2个人或者多人讨论。
Source
So basically 讲 can be for talking to one person or a group of people, but 谈 is for 2 or more people discussing.
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How offensive is 他妈的?
I have to disagree with the accepted answer. There is quite a bit of regional variation (some regions are reputed for foul wording), but in general 他妈的 is considered quite a bit less offensive than ...
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Meaning of 我在医院工作
我正在這家醫院工作：I'm working in this hospital. Could be working in a different hospital later.
我正在醫院工作:I'm working in a hospital. Could be working in a different (non-hospital) institute later.
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Accepted
Meaning of 我在医院工作
我在医院工作 = I work for a hospital
我"正"在医院工作 = I am working in the hospital right now.
我"即將"在医院工作 = I am going to work for a hospital.
我"曾經"在医院工作 = I'd worked in a ...
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5
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Accepted
What does 狗尾巴草 mean in the following context?
狗尾巴草 is a kind of weed against which peasants need to fight all the time, and it is famous for its strong vitality. So peasants and poets see 狗尾巴草 as a tough enemy. For a long time, 狗尾巴草 is called 莠 ...
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What does 狗尾巴草 mean in the following context?
心中长出一棵灰暗的狗尾巴草
We can take the whole phrase to mean a sin growing from the bottom of his heart.
灰暗的狗尾巴草 just gives us a bad feeling/impression about his mind and here is metaphorically representing a (...
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What does 狗尾巴草 mean in the following context?
The hidden meanings of 狗尾草 are as follow:
"狗尾草很普通，不被人注意，也不被重视，只是一棵默默无闻的野草，但是它的生命力十分顽强，它的寓意是坚忍、暗恋，不被人了解的爱、艰难的爱，狗尾巴草寓意着喜欢一个人却不敢表白，它还象征着坚忍的品格，不为环境所屈服，不可轻言放弃。在生活中我们也应该学习狗尾巴草的品格和精神，不言弃、坚强、坚忍"
If ...
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What does 狗尾巴草 mean in the following context?
狗尾巴草 Setaria viridis ，古稱「莠」，令人想到「良莠不齊」
Therefore, 在人們心中印象便是不好
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Official definition of (單)字, (單)詞, 片語, 成語
First thing, 字 is 文字，用来记录语言的符号 (the script that records the language), while 词、片语、成语 belong to the language per se. This is true cross-linguistically. So there's a tendency to avoid using 单字词 and use ...
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Meaning of 明珠本珠 describing a person
The original form may be XYZ本人, extended to the XYZ本Z form later.
the original Z of XYZ, the unique/real Z of those who claimed as XYZ.
It is used to emphasize that one is absolutely XYZ, for example:
...
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3
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Meaning of 明珠本珠 describing a person
黄磊也太宠黄多多了，明珠本珠了
Huang Lei has treated his daughter Huang Duoduo like a precious pearl, making her a real such thing per se.
Huang Lie is a teacher of theatrical performance at a Beijing-based academy. ...
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Meaning of 明珠本珠 describing a person
The key-adjective is 明珠 like "precious" or figuratively "pearl" or "jewel".
Together with the reinforcing appendix 本珠了 it becomes emphasized as "really precious"...
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Meaning of 明珠本珠 describing a person
Actually, nowadays many young Chinese use the expression "XX本X" to emphasize something. This means that we can translate "明珠本珠" into "a 'really' apple of one's eye".
But ...
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4
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Accepted
Meaning of 明珠本珠 describing a person
The abbreviation of 掌上明珠本珠. It means she is the real precious pearl of him.
The main body of 掌上明珠 is 明珠, 珠.
xx本x is a playful way of expressing, if I want to express I am as handsome as 黄磊, I will say ...
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What type of meanings/functions can/does 谁 have?
You've probably encountered 谁 functioning as a pronoun in questions:
你的爸爸是谁？ (Who is your father?)
这是谁的笔？ (Whose pen is this?)
你喜欢谁？ (Who do you like?)
谁知道？ (Who knows? [often rhetorical])
谁怕谁？ (...
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2
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Accepted
How should I interpret 『看你楣到啥個辰光』?
楣 is seemingly short for 倒楣 in this context
倒楣”一詞本是江浙一帶的方言，指事不順利或運氣壞。此語產生的時間算來不長，大約在明朝末年。那時候，由於“八股取士”的科舉制度嚴重地限制了廣大知識分子的聰明才智的發揮，加之考場舞弊之風甚盛，所以一般的讀書人要想中舉是極不容易的。為了求個吉利，舉子們在臨考之前一般都要在自家門前豎起一根旗杆，當地人稱之為“楣”。...
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4
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How should I interpret 『看你楣到啥個辰光』?
光耀门楣：
做出了让家门荣耀的事情。
do something to bring honour to one's family.
光宗耀祖:
宗：宗族；clan
祖：祖先。ancestors
指子孙做了官出了名，使祖先和家族都荣耀。
refers to offspring become famous, create honour and glory for ancestors and clan
...
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