Tag Archives: idioms
Chinese Idioms (Vol. 4) Posted by sasha on Oct 25, 2011
It’s been a while since our last post about Chinese idioms (成语 – chéng yǔ). In Chinese, the word for idiom literally means “to become a part of the language.” All idioms are composed of four characters, and most come from ancient literature. As such, the meaning of the idiom itself is usually more than…
Idioms Explained Posted by Stephen on Sep 24, 2011
Idioms or 成语 (chéng yǔ) are very prevalent in Chinese writing and even in common day sayings. Much like idiomatic expressions used in English, the Chinese equivalents are an amalgam of history, cultural influences and scholarly debate, imparted upon Mandarin and Cantonese over thousands of years. Further, because Chinese and English are the two largest…
Chinese Idioms Vol. 3 Posted by sasha on Jul 1, 2011
It’s time for another installment of Chinese idioms! 痴人说梦 – chī rén shuō mèng – “A fool tells about his dreams” Basically, this idiom means to talk complete nonsense. The story behind it talks of a rich family who had a very foolish son. One day, he awoke to see the maid in his room…
Chinese Idioms Vol. 2 Posted by sasha on Jun 24, 2011
It’s time for another edition of Transparent Language Chinese Idioms! By learning Chinese idioms, we can learn something about the language, culture, and history of China all at the same time… 半面之交 – bàn miàn zhī jiāo – “A nodding acquantaince” The story behind this idiom says that there was once a man named Ying…
Some slang (俚语) Posted by Stephen on Sep 16, 2010
As important it is to learn proper grammar, speech patters and writing styles in Chinese, lets face facts, that’s just not how people normally talk. Start a conversation with a cabbie and see how far proper sentence construction and tone pronunciation gets you. Or tell someone you like to “eat tofu” and get yourself laughed…