www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

US EUROPE AFRICA ASIA 中文
Lifestyle

Congratulations on your divorce, my forest is in the lobby

( China Daily ) Updated: 2010-10-27 09:15:11

"Congratulations," I told the newlyweds, "on your divorce!"

The bride appeared bemused and the groom grimaced. Then, they started chuckling, as they realized how I'd conjured such a dumb twist of the tongue.

I had chanced upon a wedding while traveling in Yunnan province and it had been suggested I offer a few felicitous words.

So I did - but not quite in the way my hosts, or I, had intended. It was an honest mistake, as "hunli" means "wedding" and "lihun" means "divorce".

Congratulations on your divorce, my forest is in the lobby

Indeed, the more Chinese I learn, the more words I have at my disposal not only for communication but also for miscommunication.

Most of my Mandarin mix-ups have been more nonsensical than offensive, though one does need to be careful with the Mandarin word for "Internet caf". I was informed of this upon failing to get the tones right and, consequently, saying a very bad word relating to the courtship practices of certain shelled reptiles.

Over the years, I have asked hotels if I could leave my forest (senlin), rather than my luggage (xingli), in the lobby. I have talked about putting clothes in my Xiyouji (the title of the classic novel Journey to the West) rather than in my laundry machine (xiyiji). And rather than say I was born in the Year of the Pig, I used to say, "I am a pig".

But, sometimes, I've found, I can even be speaking my native tongue and have it misinterpreted in Chinese.

I was recently eating at a Sichuan restaurant in Hubei province when a young lad at the table next to ours, who appeared to be about 5, apparently bit into a peppercorn, and started howling and sobbing.

I felt quite bad for the little fire-eater, so I muttered in English, "Poor guy"!

But, perhaps because I'd only been speaking Mandarin up to that point in the meal, my fellow diners instead heard, "Huo gai!" or, "Serves him right"!

My father has been studying Chinese with a tutor in the US and has also been finding his ability to say what he wants is growing with his propensity to say what he doesn't.

The first time I saw this in action was when we were speaking Chinese in Sweden, where he said the women were "pianyi" (cheap). He meant they were piaoliang (pretty).

When relating to his old tutor the story of how I once crashed an electric bike into a rice paddy during a family vacation in Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, he said I tumbled into "mifan" (steamed rice).

She laughed so hard that, Dad says, he has never since forgotten "daotian" (the correct word for "rice paddy").

Congratulations on your divorce, my forest is in the lobby

However, that doesn't mean he doesn't still accidentally switch simple words, such as "your" and "my".

That's why Dad recently asked his new tutor, Jared, how Dad's wife liked his tutor's remodeled bedroom.

Dad's experiences also demonstrate the confusion created by the linguistic crossover works both ways. When discussing driving directions, Jared kept talking about making a turn at the "xing" (pronounced "shing").

Both were baffled until my father figured out he was talking about a crossing. The word is written as "Xing" on US traffic signs, and Jared had unwittingly applied the pinyin pronunciation.

But perhaps my father's funniest Mandarin mangling came when he tried to tell a Beijing vendor he already owned what she was trying to sell him. Because he happened to be patting his belly at the moment he said "you le", rather than say, "already got one", he said, "I'm pregnant".

I'm currently starting a new vocabulary list from which I should learn 30 written words a lesson. And I'm looking forward to not only being able to use them but also to not being able to help but sometimes misuse them.

Tags
Editor's Picks
Hot words

Most Popular
...
主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产成人精品一区二三区在线观看 | 最新69成人精品毛片 | 国产三级国产精品国产普男人 | 亚洲成人免费在线观看 | 国产成人麻豆tv在线观看 | 深夜福利视频网站 | 欧美日本一区二区三区生 | 国产精品久久一区一区 | 俄罗斯aa毛片一级 | 国产日产久久高清欧美一区 | 欧美在线视频一区 | 波多野结衣视频免费在线观看 | 亚洲厕拍 | 欧美日韩精品一区二区三区不卡 | 欧美日一区 | 99热久久国产精品免费观看 | 在线观看免费黄色网址 | 黄色网点| 99久久国语露脸精品对白 | 成人久久在线 | 日本三级网站在线线观看 | 免费在线观看a级片 | 日韩三级免费 | 久久精品在现线观看免费15 | 日韩性色 | 久爱www免费人成福利播放 | 精品伊人久久久久网站 | 国产成人亚洲日本精品 | 国产孕妇孕交视频在线观看 | 久久久久久精 | 国产精品手机在线播放 | 欧美日韩国产亚洲综合不卡 | 日韩一区国产二区欧美三区 | 国产va免费精品高清在线观看 | 真实国产乱子伦高清 | 国内自拍tv在线 | 在线国产一区 | 兔子先生节目在线观看免费 | 久久久久久88色愉愉 | 国产一级一级一级成人毛片 | 欧美日韩亚洲综合在线一区二区 |