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Tag Archives: proverbs

Proverbs: Six of One, Half Dozen of the Other (諺語) Posted by on Aug 7, 2011

Proverbs or 諺語 (yànyŭ) provide invaluable insight into understanding both a language and a culture. They are a window into the very history and nature of language. Our euphemisms, insults, lessons and catch-phrases are all part of the immense dialogues that have progressed and lasted for decades, centuries, (and in Chinese’s case) millennium. Count the number…

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Axioms and Proverbs (成语) Posted by on Dec 22, 2010

Here are some very…lets say…unique Chinese proverbs or 成语 (chéng yǔ). See if you can figure them out before you read the English transliteration/translation: 熊瞎子摘苞米,摘一个丢一个 pinyin: xióng xiā zi zhāi bāo mǐ, zhāi yí gè diū yí gè variant: 狗熊掰苞米 (pinyin: gǒu xióng ba bāo mǐ) Literally: Blind bear picks corn, picks one and drops…

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