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Have you ever “played the woman”? I don’t mean played by a woman; for example:

Walter: “Yo, that girl ditched me, she played me like a Sega Genesis.”

I mean “played the woman.” Here is the book’s example before I go into deep analysis:

Harriet: “Do you know Julia who married a rich man?”
Molly: “Yes. She’s so good at playing the woman before men.”

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Here’s a great link: Mandarin Phrases. On there, you can learn some crazy Chinese phrases, most of them, I haven’t used yet, but I will.

Have a try with some of them. I’ll give you some reports on my usage soon.

Also, I have just began to join Expatrialogues. Over there, you can find some of my funniest stories along with lots of great stories from other teachers living far from their homes.

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Playing badminton is what I’d consider a picnic or summer barbecue style game. A game of fun and laughter. However, here in competitive Wuhan, it’s the real deal.

Last Friday, I luckily received the day off because my 2nd graders were granted a lovely trip to a military training base, I think. Around noon, I get a message from Grace - noted name from one of my raps about how I couldn’t get a date with her - asking if I wanted to play badminton. I asked where because I figured the options were our school and the nearby park. “25 minutes on the 707,” she said and I began questioning the intensity of this game while I prepared my cutoff shorts for play.

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Xin liao ni de xie. This is a phrase that pays in Wuhan. I’m not exactly sure of its proper usage, but its a fun one to say because when you say it, it sounds like you have dropped out many parts. It’s meaning, “You’re ridiculous” and is not exactly a compliment or an insult. Actually, I think it may be an insult, but I don’t use it as one.

It is also the chorus to a Wu Han Hua (local dialect of Mandarin) rap song. The video is below. All I know she is saying in the chorus is “You’re ridiculous. You’re face is red like a tomato.”

And it is example time:

Linda: (Bunch of fast, unintelligible Chinese)
Me: “Shenme?”
Linda: “You don’t get my meaning. Ni shi sao.”
Lee: “Wo bu shi sao. Ni er bai wu.”
Linda: “Ni er bai wu.”
Lee: “Xin liao ni de xie.”

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In round 2 of a new fan favorite, “This is English Slang?” we assess the phrase “drop a dime.” At first site, I’d assume that the meaning was telling not to be so cheap, however after you read the context they use it in, you’ll see the authors had much different intentions.

Rose: “Don’t be such a stranger. Drop a dime sometime.”
Michael: “Okay, you too.”

In this context, we find that it means “call me.” It must refer to the cost of a phone call costing a dime or $.10. However, it would make better sense to me if the saying was “drop a quarter,” but I guess that doesn’t have the desired flow.

Given my definition of cheapskate-behavior, here’s my context:

Alfred: “I’ll just offer 50 RMB for that bike.”
Susie B: “Oh jeez. It’s worth more than that. Drop a dime sometime.”

You have a try.

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In Bangkok, sometimes they have a fuel credit for their took-tooks if they take you to souvenir shops. On these days, the drivers will give you a good discount if you go into a store and look interested in their products for 10 minutes they receive the credit and you receive a cheap took-took ride.

We didn’t really know about this the first time we were driven to a store and we’re sure why the Grand Palace looked less like a Palace and more like an overpriced jewelry store. We walked in … and out and the driver was a little mad. He said “10 minutes” and then drove us to a suit store.

When we got there, we were met by a man with impeccable English and I moved too quick to asking about the price of a tuxedo, which was about 3000 baht or $100 more than anywhere else I asked and Tami and Colette had to find something to do. They sat down, opened a fashion book and tried to pretend to pick things out, while the owner asked them many questions and I wandered the store with my best “interested” face. After 10 minutes of page-turning/store-walking, the man told us to leave. I said “why” and he said that if we didn’t pay 500 baht for the air condition we were receiving, we’d have to depart. We departed. The driver got his credit, we got our discount; everybody won, except the ripoff store.

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When I began teaching, I was given a 2-book set with a set of cassettes that I constantly ignore. Also at my disposal, is a set of 200 to 300 8.5 x 11 photos portraying fruits and vegetables, sports and activities, and lots of other things. However, some of them are just ridicuous; one of these strange pictures comes with the word “German” and instead of describing it, you should just see it.

I haven’t met a lot of Germans in my days, but I’m sure some are women, some have straight hair, some shave their stubble and, oh yeah, I don’t think they always carry beers around. Do you know a German? What is he or she like?

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This past week, I was in the XinHua Bookstore looking for some books to read and Colette was hoping to find a book on learning Chinese characters. In the English section, which is mostly full of my high school required reading, I stumbled across a book of “Slang.” You’ll see what I mean as I begin to present: This is American Slang?

The book uses each phrase in a sentence or a delightful dialogue. Today’s phrases are “a blind alley.”

“A blind alley,” I have never heard before and I am uncertain of its meaning, if you can tell me I invite you to.

Nina: “Why doesn’t Tom switch careers?”
Karen: “You mean…?” (I don’t know what she means)
Nina: “His present job seems to be a blind alley.”

I’d have to guess that it means going nowhere as in an alley with a big brick wall at the end. Please try to define this or even provide your own example.

Found in , china, words 4 Comments »