6
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What is this proverb?
(熬夜)晚起毀上午，早起(學習)傻一天
熬夜晚起毀上午
晚起毀上午
Getting up too late will lose a morning.
早起學習傻一天
早起傻一天
Getting up too early will have no spirit all day long.
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6
votes
How to say ‘run for office’ in Mandarin?
Both 竞选 and 参选 are common with slight difference in usage. For example:
你会不会参选？ (Will you "enter the election"?)
她会竞选连任。 (She will run for reelection.)
It's hard to pinpoint when one will be ...
- 316
6
votes
How to translate 脑袋短路 into English?
脑袋-短路, based on what I understand, just means literally that the brain short-circuited or malfunctioned as an electrical circuit would. The expression that comes to mind in English is:
I blanked ...
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5
votes
Accepted
How do you say "You mean ...?" to respond to what you don't understand enough?
So how can I express "You mean ...?" in Mandarin, to ask what they mean?
"你的意思是XXX？" means you are making a guess, and asking for a confirmation
If you don't understand a person's single statement, ...
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5
votes
Accepted
Is this an actual phrase, "Sao Wei Deng Yi Xia" (please wait a moment)?
稍微等一下
MDBG
稍微
shāowēi
a little bit
HSK 4
Here's a more detailed entry from Tuttle
稍微
[comp: 稍 slight + 微 tiny]
ADV
slightly, just a little bit
...
Mou某♦
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votes
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How to translate 脑袋短路 into English?
How about:
brain fart
Google defines it as:
a temporary mental lapse or failure to reason correctly.
"I'm having a brain fart and can't spell his name correctly"
英语学科网 has an article entitled “...
Mou某♦
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4
votes
Accepted
What variant phrases of 五里不同天 exist?
"十里不同音，百里不同俗"
Means different dialect every ten li / culture every hundred li
Basically the same methodology to describe how things are varies in such small geologic differences. Also I believe "...
- 2,132
4
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How do you say "You mean ...?" to respond to what you don't understand enough?
你的意思是...
You mean...
你是在说...
You're trying to say...
我不是很懂你的意思。
I don't really get what you mean.
你想表达什么？
What are you trying to say?
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4
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How to express giving two people some privacy?
你（你们）能回避一下吗？or
你（你们）方便回避一下吗？more politely asking.
If you meant they want to have some privacy and can nicely ask others to leave.
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4
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How to express giving two people some privacy?
"Give them some privacy" = "給他們一點私人空間吧"
私人空間 means "private space", To give a person some private space means to leave him alone for a while.
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phrase request: complexity of interpersonal relationships
A common phrase for 'complex' is 錯綜複雜
It can be used to describe:
Relational complexity
Example: 人際關係錯綜複雜 (interpersonal relationships are complex)
Example: 兩人的關係錯綜複雜 (the relationship between the ...
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4
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How to translate 脑袋短路 into English?
I found this with glitch:
也许，我脑袋里哪里短路了。
Maybe there was a glitch in my brain.
没什么, 我脑袋短路了。
Nothing, just a brain lapse.
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4
votes
How to translate 脑袋短路 into English?
I think "brain fart" is definitely the common way to say it.
But you could also use "zoned out", like
"Whoa, sorry, I zoned out for a second..." (哇，不好意思，脑袋短路...)
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How to express giving two people some privacy?
How about a less direct translation:
不要在那儿当电灯泡。
which roughly translates to something like: don't be a third-wheel over there.
Mou某♦
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How to express giving two people some privacy?
If I get your gist correctly, 3 people are waiting, then a boy arrives, who the girl really wants to see. You say to the other person or persons present:
Let's go outside so they can talk in private....
- 18.8k
3
votes
Accepted
How would you interpret: "你的美如日; 你的智若猫头鹰"?
i would suggest:
其妍也﹒如冬之日﹒和煦可人
其智也﹒若夜之鴞﹒慎默覃思
here's a brief explanation:
his/her's beauty (妍), is like (如) the winter sun (冬之日), warm (和煦) & pleasant (可人)
his/her's wisdom (智), is like (若) an ...
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3
votes
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Chinese phrases akin to “back to the grindstone”?
One analog I can think of is
回去搬砖了
This is a funny way of describing your job as less paid while you still have to work very hard on that.
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How do I translate 'do well on your test' into Chinese?
I basically agree with what Itux just said. But I would prefer to say “祝你考试顺利” instead of “祝你测试顺利”.
In your context, “考试” would be the word you look for when you want to translate "test" or "exam". ...
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votes
Is there a proverb that means "the squeaky wheel gets the grease"?
ABC Dictionary of Chinese Proverbs
哭夜的孩子多吃奶
Lit Babies [who] cry [at] night get more milk.
Fig Those who speak out or complain get more help. "The squeaky wheel gets the oil."
The ...
Mou某♦
- 36k
3
votes
A guy looked at me in the bathroom, what should I have said
I don't think there is any "appropriate" response for the old guy since his behavior is abnormal. But you can think about it if it happens in your hometown and how would you react or say in English? ...
- 723
3
votes
How to ask the flight attendant for more airplane meals if there are still leftovers?
Good:
你好，请问飞机餐还有多余的吗，我可以再要一份吗，谢谢。
Bad:
喂，再来一份，我没吃饱。
In my opinion, as long as you use "请", "可以..吗", "谢谢" as the way in English,
and ask a flight attendant after their ...
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votes
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Is there a Chinese phrase equivalent to "difficult to eat"?
You could try: 吃起来很麻烦
I can't agree with the list of hard to eat foods!
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What does the phrase 'holding in the palm of hands' in chinese mean?
The common word is 掌握 (hold in one's palm) meaning " have possession and control of something"
Example:
掌握軍國大權 (hold control of the government and the armed force)
掌握有力證據 (holding/ have ...
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votes
Accepted
What is a polite response to 《很高興認識你》？
Use:
我也是很高興認識你。
請多多指教。(I'm not really sure how to translate this phrase.)
能夠認識到你是我的榮幸。 (It's my honour / It's my pleasure to meet you here.) / (I'm delighted to meet you here.)
There's a lot of ...
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How to give a thinly veiled threat?
To make a subtle threat in Chinese is the same as in English-- just imply a threat without actually using threatening words.
One frequently used method is 反話 (irony)
For Example:
"終有一天，...
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2
votes
Word for banana blossoms in Chinese
There might has been some misconception here.
Banana blossoms (香蕉花) is a food ingredient, it has nothing to do with the nickname for the American born Chinese- 'banana'(香蕉) (which is white inside, ...
- 80.6k
2
votes
Accepted
Chinese phrase for a physician's "residency program"?
Google translates "residency" as "住院醫師" (doctor who live/stay in the hospital ) . I think 駐院醫師 (stationing doctor) is more accurate
住院 could mean 留醫 (hospitalized; hospitalization)
"residency ...
- 80.6k
2
votes
What variant phrases of 五里不同天 exist?
I am a Cantonese, and I've never heard of "五里不同天". However, I do know a similar phrase "各處鄉村各處例" (each village has its own custom/rule), also means 地区不同，事物就有差异
I also heard the phrase '一方水土養一方人' (...
- 80.6k
2
votes
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Descriptors for moody teenagers?
Some suggestions:
多愁善感 is a common phrase for describing moody
Moody teenagers would be 多愁善感的少年 or simply 多愁少年
林黛玉 in 紅樓夢 is a classic example of 多愁善感的少女 (多愁少女)
~
憤青 short for 憤怒青年 (angry ...
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votes
Accepted
Is there a way to say "I respectfully thank you" to familiar elders?
谢谢 is formal enough, the casual thing in the phrase "谢谢你" is '你'. To show respect, you can replace '你' with formal/polite pronoun like 閣下.
To show respect when you thanks someone, simply address ...
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