Other editions of Chinese Idiom of the Day:
Chinese Idiom of the Day I
Chinese Idiom of the Day III
Chinese Idiom of the Day IV
Chinese Idiom of the Day V
If you are using your new TWoNN calendars, you will see that Chinese New Year is this Thursday, February 7. In honor of the occasion, I will be posting a new Chinese idiom every day in the scrolling marquee at the top of the blog until my brain runs out of them (currently, I have 11 lined up). I've done the first one (畫蛇添足) and provided the literal translation (Draw snake, add legs.). I have also provided the meaning (You are being unnecessarily extravagant and spoiling the whole thing in the process.).
Starting tomorrow, I will update this blog entry every day to give you a new idiom and its literal translation. But you have to guess its meaning! (Good luck to the non-Cantonese speakers out there, mwahahahahahahahaa!!!)
P.S. There will be a "click me" link in the marquee that will bring you to this blog entry.
Feb. 9: 除褲屙屁 (Removing one's pants to fart.)
Meaning: Undertaking unnecessary steps. (credit: Cl. Panic)
Feb. 10: 煲電話粥 (Cook telephone porridge.)
(For a hint, click on the word 粥 above and follow the available links. Nonny Nu's family is from the Guangdong region.)
Meaning: Engaging in never-ending, drawn-out conversation on the phone for hours on end with no hope of fillet mignon anywhere in sight. (credit: Cl. Panic)
Feb. 11: 一腳踏兩船 (One foot astride two boats.)
Meaning: Hedging her/his bets; sitting on the fence. (credit: Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
Feb. 12: 賣花贊花香 (The florist compliments his flowers as being fragrant.)
Meaning: To toot one's own horn. (credit: Cl. Panic)
Feb. 13 and 14: 食粥食飯睇你 (Whether we eat porridge or rice depends upon you.)
(Hint: Rice is made with almost a 1-to-1 ratio of rice and water, whereas porridge is made with almost a 1-to-4 ratio of rice and water. So, poor people used to make porridge because they couldn't afford to make rice.)
Meaning: Success or failure depends on you.
Feb. 15: 不入虎穴,焉得虎子 (If you do not enter a lion's den, how will you acquire a lion cub?)
Meaning: Nothing ventured, nothing gained (e.g., to make a great baby lion you have to go into the lion's den and maybe even sleep with the lion--the most fierce). (credit: Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
Feb. 16, 17, 18, 19: 有錢使得鬼推磨 (Money can pay a ghost to turn the mill.)
Meaning: Rest assured with enough cash you can get anything done. (credit: Man from U.N.C.L.E.)
Saturday, February 9, 2008
Chinese Idiom of the Day II
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除褲屙屁 (Removing one's pants to fart.)
Let me ask for a little background here. In Chinese culture is farting viewed as a positive social behavior or a negative social behavior?
Never trust a fart?
Never trust a fart?
No. Besides, farts are very trustworthy. They always say what they think, and they always make their presence known.
In Chinese culture is farting viewed as a positive social behavior or a negative social behavior?
Farting is seen as negative social behavior. However, that has nothing to do with the idiom.
除褲屙屁 (Removing one's pants to fart.)
"There's a sodomizing wind-breaker on the loose!"
除褲屙屁 (Removing one's pants to fart.)br/>
This should be Verizon's new slogan as it is comparable to "Can you hear me now?"
Hint for 除褲屙屁 (Removing one's pants to fart.):
Usage: If a person thoroughly washes their dishes before putting theminto their dishwasher to wash them (again), then they are 除褲屙屁.
Wow, are these really that hard to understand without explanation? I would have thought that, if someone came up to you and said, "Hey, dude, you are so removing your pants just to fart," you'd know exactly what they were talking about. I never thought of these idioms (sp?) as being culturally dependent. I mean, everyone, everywhere, farts. Go figure.
"Removing one's pants to fart."
signifies that a bigger show is about to begin.
~ ~ ~
No. Besides, farts are very trustworthy. They always say what they think, and they always make their presence known.
I beg to differ.
Although, now that you've given the hint, it seems as though 除褲屙屁 means that you're undertaking unnecessary steps.
And wasting water.
CP writes: No. Besides, farts are very trustworthy. They always say what they think, and they always make their presence known.
I beg to differ.
That link is about the nastiest thing I've ever seen!
That was gross, man. *shivers*
But, yeah, you're right.
Let's move on from farts, shall we?
P.S. You can trust the farts. It's just the poo you can't trust. That's why I have never really trusted Mr. Nonny Nu.
煲電話粥 (Cook telephone porridge.)
According to the instructions for my slow cooker, it's a great tool to make real oatmeal. Porridge seems similar--a long drawn out cooking process that would make you numb if you actually participated in its preparation.
So I'm guessing that telephone porridge is what all of the kids make on their cell phones, or what the yentas do when they can't get out of the house.
Cl. panic is going with engaging in never-ending, drawn-out conversation on the phone for hours on end with no hope of fillet mignon anywhere in sight.
well, is he correct? let's go! chop-chop!
~ ~ ~
Very good, Cl. Panic! You get a gold star for the day.
一腳踏兩船 (One foot astride two boats.)
One foot astride two boats seems to indicate that s/he is hedging her/his bets, or to put it another way, sitting on the fence.
腳踏兩船 (One foot astride two boats.)
Sounds to me like someone is going to be doing the splits pretty soon!
Very good, Man from U.N.C.L.E.!!
Can't say the same for Cl. Panic.
Can't say the same for Cl. Panic.
Okay, I take that back. Cl. Panic's observation that someone will do the splits soon is the "consequence" of "being astride two boats." Since it is almost Valentine's Day, I will share with you a common usage of the phrase, 一腳踏兩船 (One foot astride two boats.). It is often used to describe a two-timer who is dating multiple persons simultaneously. And, we all know what usually happens at the end of that story, right? As Mr. Nonny Nu would say, "Chop chop!"
賣花贊花香 (Florist compliments his own flowers or something).
Toot toot!
What's that?
Sounds like someone's tooting his own horn.
Okay, I take that back. Cl. Panic's observation that someone will do the splits soon is the "consequence" of "being astride two boats."
Holy crap, I had no idea that there would be issues of causation in Chinese idioms.
Another one goes to Cl. Panic!
Since everyone is too busy gawking at the celebrity on Cl. Panic's shamelisting of TurboTax, I'll keep the 食粥食飯睇你 (Whether we eat porridge or rice depends upon you.) idiom one more day. Just one more day though. We have many more idioms to get through people, so chop chop!
食粥食飯睇你 (Whether we eat porridge or rice depends upon you.)
I hope man from U.N.C.L.E. hasn't abandoned us...
My guess:
The world is your oyster.
The world is your oyster.
That's close. REEEEAAAAAAAL close. But, that's kinda almost the meaning of the "eat rice" portion of 食粥食飯睇你 (Whether we eat porridge or rice depends upon you.) Here's a hint:
Rice is made with almost a 1-to-1 ratio of rice and water, whereas porridge is made with almost a 1-to-4 ratio of rice and water. So, poor people used to make porridge because they couldn't afford to make rice.
不入虎穴,焉得虎子 (If you do not enter a lion's den, how will you acquire a lion cub?)
Could mean: It's a survival of the fittest metaphore, To make a great baby lion you have to sleep with the most feirce.
CP said, "I hope man from U.N.C.L.E. hasn't abandoned us..."
Nope took a brief family trip to Chicago. Did typical tourist-y stuff, 3 museums, shopping, Sears Tower, ate well. Ended up in "the even poorer house."
Man from U.N.C.L.E. said, "Could mean: It's a survival of the fittest metaphore, To make a great baby lion you have to sleep with the most feirce."
My spelling stinks - should be "metaphor" and "fierce". I guess the windy city blew my brains out.
Hey, Man from U.N.C.L.E.! I'm glad you checked in. I was starting to get worried. (Didn't know if your New South Beach Diet did you in.)
Could mean: It's a survival of the fittest metaphore, To make a great baby lion you have to sleep with the most feirce.
Minus the sexual reference, you are absolutely correct!!
有錢使得鬼推磨 (Money can pay a ghost to turn the mill.)
Ghosts are greedy bastards. Avoid them.
Cl. Panic, it is not the ghost's fault if he is offered money to do a human's job. But, think about how rich you'd have to be to be able to bribe a ghost.
"Money can pay a ghost to turn the mill."
for the right price, a woman will do anything.
for the right price, a woman will do anything.
WRONG.
Additionally, this is a unisex idiom.
有錢使得鬼推磨 (Money can pay a ghost to turn the mill.)
Rest assured with enough cash you can get anything done.
Rest assured with enough cash you can get anything done.
Ding ding ding!!
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