James Bond = 007. Elvis Presley = Cat King.

Posted on December 9, 2012 by rolling piggy

I’ve watched numerous James Bond movies growing up in China, without knowing the guy’s name is James Bond. 007 is the much more well known name. Instead of the James Bond series, it’s the 007 series for most.

(listen:) fun-chinese-translations.mp3

• 0 (零れい): zero. Pronunciation: líng (2)
• 7 (七なな): seven. Pronunciation: qī (1)
To learn more about numbers in Chinese, check out those posts.

Another interesting name is Cat King for Elvis Presley. Not that many people know his real name in China, but most know Cat King. Pretty creative, don’t you think?

cat king elvis presley
• 猫ねこ: cat. Pronunciation: māo (1)
• 王おう: king. Pronunciation: wáng (2)

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Communist Party of China 中国ちゅうごく共ども产党

Posted on November 25, 2012 by rolling piggy

Sharing properties and wealth is the foundation of Communist Party. You will see that the Chinese phrase for Communist Party is very intuitive and sensible.

中国ちゅうごく共ども产党 is Communist Party of China. It is often abbreviated to 中共ちゅうきょう.

(listen:) communist party of China 

Who doesn’t think their own country is the center of the universe? 🙂
中国ちゅうごく is China, and it literally means center country.
• 中ちゅう: center, middle. Pronunciation: zhōng (1)
• 国こく: country, national. Pronunciation: guó (2)

Very appropriately, 共きょう产党 (share property party) is Communist Party.
• 共ども: together, to share. Pronunciation: gòng (4)
• 产: property, to produce. Pronunciation: chǎn (3)
• 党とう: party. Pronunciation: dǎng (3)

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We are delighted to be back in business. Thank you for your patience in the past months.

Dear Dim Sum will take a slow restart and post once or twice a week. A new house and a new job are still overwhelming:) I expect to be at 100% by the beginning of next year.

In light of the recent power change in China, today we will discuss the title of the highest position in China: General Secretary of the Communist Party of China. Xi Jinping currently holds this title, as of Nov 15, 2012.

Image
(listen:) general secretary 

中共ちゅうきょう is an abbreviation of the Communist Party of China – detail in another post.
• 中ちゅう: middle. Pronunciation: zhōng (1)
• 共ども: together, to share. Pronunciation: gòng (4)
中央ちゅうおう often refers to the Chinese central government.
• 央ひさし: center. Pronunciation: yāng (4)
• 总: chief, general, gather. Pronunciation: zǒng(4)
• 书记: secretary, clerk. Pronunciation:shū(1) jì(4)
书 literally means book, while 记 literally means taking notes.

Posted on November 18, 2012 by rolling piggy | 5 Comments

Thank you for your understanding. 请多多た包つつみ涵

Posted on April 15, 2012 by rolling piggy

请多多た包つつみ涵 is a formal, courtesy expression. It says: something undesirable has happened, please accept my apology and thank you for your understanding.  The basic meaning of 包つつみ涵 is to take in and to contain. Metaphorically, it means accepting something with grace.

Dear Dim Sum hasn’t been posting as frequently as I’d like, and probably won’t be for the next few weeks. I recently bought a home that needs work and suddenly got more things to think about than I am used to. Thank you for your understanding and patience.


(listen:) thank you for understanding 

• 请: please. Pronunciation: qǐng (3)
• 多た: a lot, more. Pronunciation: duō (1)
• 包つつみ: bun, package. Pronunciation: bāo (1)
• 涵: contain, include. Pronunciation: hán (1)

For other expressions related to apology, see this post.

Posted in Courtesy, greetings | Tagged , , , , | 2 Comments

Take a taxi 打だ的てき

Posted on April 10, 2012 by rolling piggy

打だ的てき is sort of a slang for taking a taxi. 打だ means hit or strike. Doesn’t make much sense?

打だ的てき evolved from the phrase 搭(dā, get on) 的まと士し (taxi), which again started in the dialect of Cantonese. Canton is one of the wealthiest region in China, where taxi became common before the rest of China.


(listen:) take a taxi 
• 打だ: hit, strike. Pronunciation: dǎ
• 的てき: short form of 的まと士し(taxi) Pronunciation: dí

Sample conversation:
Q: How did you get here?
A: (I) took a taxi. 打だ的てき.

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