Ming关键节点问鼎冠军，TL带队取胜！

Follow us hereto get a piece of pie!

Language post:

Wednesday 12nd April 2017

Written by:The Linguistical Man

Edition: 00088

Like Father, Like Son!

有其父必有其子!

Yǒu qí fù bì yǒu qí zǐ!

What is up, my dear readers? It's Wednesday again - get ready for the language PARTY now!

Keeping with our learning format:

3new words

2new idioms

1riddle

Lesson 1: Wonderful Words

1/3: 甩脸子 (shuǎi liǎnzi)

There are 2 parts in this word:

甩 (shuǎi: swing),

脸子 (liǎnzi: face).

People "swing their faces" when they are angry/unsatisfied at/with somebody or despising them. This word is similar to the meaning of the English phrase "to wear a long face."

- -

Let's look at an example:

Hanzi: 刘建刚的女朋友经常甩脸子给他.

Pinyin:Liú Jiàngāng de nǚ péngyǒu jīngcháng shuǎi liǎnzi gěi tā.

Meaning:Liu Jiangang's girlfriend always pulls a long face when she is with him.

I am swinging my face, because I am angry!

Source of the picture:https://www.gamersky.com/ent/201702/868499_25.shtml

2/3: 小心眼 (xiǎo xīn yǎn)

There are 3 parts in this word:

小(xiǎo: small),

心(xīn: heart),

眼(yǎn: hole).

A person with a "small heart hole" is someone who is small minded and mean - he/she will hold a grudge easily. This kind of person is described as "petty" in English.

- -

Let's look at an example:

Hanzi: 很多女人都很小心眼.

Pinyin:Hěnduō nǚrén dōu hěn xiǎo xīnyǎn.

Meaning:Many women are petty.

Source of the picture:https://www.zhenai.com/news/nvren/1883.jhtml

3/3: 指桑骂槐 (zhǐ sāng mà huái)

There are 2 parts in this word:

指(zhǐ: point),

桑(sāng: mulberry),

骂(mà: scold),

槐(huái: locust).

"Scold the locus tree while pointing at the mulberry tree" refers to the act of criticizing someone by referring to/pointing at someone else instead of the one being accused. This is what we called "making oblique accusation".

- -

Let's look at an example:

Hanzi: 他在指桑骂槐的批评我.

Pinyin:Tā zài zhǐ sāng mà huái de pīpíng wǒ.

Meaning:She is accusing me obliquely.

Source of the picture:https://roll.sohu.com/20151204/n429743764.shtml

Lesson 2: Incredible Idioms

1/2:一颗老鼠屎, 坏了一锅粥(yī kē lǎo shǔ shǐ, huài le yī guō zhōu)

First thing, let's break it down:

　　一(yī: one),

颗(kē: a measure word, no meaning here),

老鼠(lǎoshǔ: mouse),

屎(shǐ: shit),

坏(huài: damage),

了(le: the past tense marker),

一(yī: one),

锅(guō: pot),

粥(zhōu: porridge).

If a piece of mouse shit falls into a pot of porridge, the whole pot of porridge will be polluted and need to be thrown away. People use this to describe someone who did something silly and bring shame to the whole group of people.

- -

Let's look at a dialogue between 2 students:

A:小明在升国旗的时候说话, 结果整个班级的人都被罚站30分钟.

Pinyin:Xiǎomíng zài shēng guóqí de shíhòu shuōhuà , jiéguǒ zhěnggè bānjí de rén dōu bèi fázhàn 30 fènzhōng.

Meaning:Xiao Ming was chatting during the flag-raising ceremony. It caused all the students in the class to be punished and so had to stand for 30 minutes.

- -

B:真是一颗老鼠屎坏了一锅粥啊!

Pinyin:Zhēn shì yīkē lǎoshǔ shǐ huài le yīguō zhōu a!

Meaning:He is such a piece of mouse shit!

Source of the picture:https://yndaily.yunnan.cn/html/2011-05/03/content_340072.htm

2/2:有其父必有其子 (yǒu qí fù bì yǒu qí zǐ)

First thing, let's break it down:

　　有(yǒu: have),

其(qí: this),

父(fù: father),

必(bì: must),

有(yǒu: have),

其(qí: this),

子(zǐ: son).

"If a father is behaving in a certain way, his son is probably behaving in the same way". People use this idiom to describe the situation when a father and his son share the same traits in some way.

- -

Let's look at a dialogue between 2 people:

A:他的爸爸是演员, 他也是演员.

Pinyin:Tā de bàba shì yǎnyuán, tā yě shì yǎnyuán.

Meaning:His father is an actor, he is also an actor.

- -

B:真是有其父必有其子啊.

Pinyin:Zhēnshì yǒu qí fù bì yǒu qí zǐ a.

Meaning:The apple doesn't fall far away from the tree.

- -

Source of the picture:https://baby.lady8844.com/qzzb/2014-06-16/1402882624d1478227.html

Lesson 3: Ravishing Riddle

Let's look at a riddle about one Chinese character:

Hanzi: 一千零一夜!

Pinyin:Yīqiān líng yī yè!

Meaning:One thousand and one evenings!

- -

What is this character?

Employ your Chinese knowledge and challenge yourself! Hope you can do it!

I will give the answer to this riddle nextweekin the comments section!

Stay tuned!

- -

By the way, if you have interesting words you want me to write about, please let me know. Your voice will be heard!

Class dismissed!

　　GO! Go wow your pals with your newfound knowledge.

Hope it helped, and as always, don't forget to tune in next week.

　　Laowai

　　Pie

　　Thank you for reading our post!

　　At your service,

　　『Long press to enter the realm of Laowai』

　　Also follow us on:

　　Facebook: Laowai Pie

　　Instagram: Laowai_Pie

　　Weibo: Laowai_Pie_老外派

Author:李南南

Editor(s):JPH