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Soul Survivor
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UChicago
May 2003
time: 05:30
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fire cart = firetruck
iron road = railroad
gas cart = gas truck?
atom pen = ball point pen
powder pen = pencil?
not even going to attempt the other ones
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Soul Survivor
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UChicago
May 2003
time: 05:30
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gas water = seltzer?
powder pen = pencil?
sound recieving machine = recorder? answering machine?
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Comrade Tassadar
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UR, put the answers in a spoiler tag!!!
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mindseye
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A Yankee living in Shanghai
Apr 1999
time: 13:30
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Great thread idea! I also collect these! Here are my favorites so far:
dragon shrimp
spoiler(highlight to read):
lobster
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mouth bag
spoiler(highlight to read):
pocket
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electric shadow
spoiler(highlight to read):
film/movie
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flood all over
spoiler(highlight to read):
romantic
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ice flower
spoiler(highlight to read):
snowflake
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on horseback
spoiler(highlight to read):
immediately
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bag mouse
spoiler(highlight to read):
kangaroo
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cat-headed eagle
spoiler(highlight to read):
owl
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high tide
spoiler(highlight to read):
orgasm
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left-right
spoiler(highlight to read):
about/approx
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big-little
spoiler(highlight to read):
size
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thread-rope
spoiler(highlight to read):
clue
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spear-shield
spoiler(highlight to read):
paradox (comes from a story about a weapons-maker who claimed that no spear could pierce his shields, and no shield could stop his spears.
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Some favorite expressions:
turtle egg
spoiler(highlight to read):
bastard/son-of-a-bitch
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duck
spoiler(highlight to read):
male hooker
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daddy duck
spoiler(highlight to read):
pimp
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blow into an ox vagina
spoiler(highlight to read):
brag
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three hands
spoiler(highlight to read):
thief
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cream cake
spoiler(highlight to read):
a guy who is handsome in an androgynous or feminine way
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Some phrases with the same meaning in Chinese and English:
- second-hand
- bad egg
...and finally, the only Chinese words I've found that have the nearly same meaning and pronounciation in English (if anyone knows some more, please post!):
tuo - to pull, as in "tuo che", or tow truck
pei - compensate, as in pay money
... and a close one:
er - as in "erdou", or ear
Last edited by mindseye on 07-09-2003 at 14:07
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mindseye
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A Yankee living in Shanghai
Apr 1999
time: 13:30
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I can't believe I overlooked "thing", probably the most overworked word in my vocabulary-impoverished Chinese! 
What does "small white face / xiao bai lia" mean?
(isn't face "liaN"?)
quote:
Thought it's more like "contradiction" |
My Oxford lists mao dun as the meaning of "paradox", for "contradict" they list fan(3)bo(2), fou(3)ren(4), and ba(2)chi(4). However, in the second half, they define mao dun as "contradict"! Hey, that's a contradiction! 
Oxford is sometimes wrong, and I would be inclined to go with you on this if it weren't for the extraordinary coincidence of a conversation concerning this very word. One day my boss overheard me use mao dun as "contradiction". He's originally from Hunan, lived in Canada for a couple of years, and has a masterful vocabulary. He stopped me and carefully explained to me that mao dun did not mean "contradiction", it meant "paradox". So ... why don't you two decide and get back to me?
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mindseye
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A Yankee living in Shanghai
Apr 1999
time: 13:30
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quote:
flood all over (romantic) Never heard of it |
lang(4)man(4). Learned this from my electronic Oxford's, maybe "waves all over" or "billowing flood" would be better. I asked a friend, who confirmed that lang man meant "romantic".
Now that I check my printed Oxfords, I see that my electonic Oxfords has another error( !), it used the wrong man(4) in it's translation (wrong radical, the three dots instead of the one that looks like an "i").
The printed Oxfords says that, besides "romantic", lang man can also mean "sluttish or rakish", with a literal translation closer to either "waves of disrespect" or "dissolute rudeness"! I better verify this one before I use it on a date - could be a disaster!  
Too bad, "flood all over"/"billowing waves" (romantic) went better with my favorite, "high tide" (orgasm). "Tide's coming in, Honey! Surf's up!!"
Sorry afterthought: after experiencing firsthand how singularly unromantic many Chinese men are, maybe it's not surprising that "romantic" is associated with "dissolute rudeness". 
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Urban Ranger
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Apolyton Duke of Off-Topic
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quote:
Originally posted by mindseye
What does "small white face / xiao bai lia" mean?
(isn't face "liaN"?) |
Close enough.
Suffice to say that's what Ali likes 
quote:
Originally posted by mindseye
So ... why don't you two decide and get back to me? |
Okay, I'll have a word with him, then
quote:
Originally posted by mindseye
lang(4)man(4). Learned this from my electronic Oxford's, maybe "waves all over" or "billowing flood" would be better. |
Oh, that. Yeah, "waves everywhere" to me
quote:
Originally posted by mindseye
The printed Oxfords says that, besides "romantic", lang man can also mean "sluttish or rakish", with a literal translation closer to either "waves of disrespect" or "dissolute rudeness"! |
Nah, don't worry about that, I have only seen the term used positively.
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05-09-2003 11:27
Gas water...
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