218 dtg (additions to the english language)
no blogging for a while, have been focusing on study and avoiding english things (like blogging ... but that will change ... as of july these things will be written in chinese first and then translated back to english for posting here) .. anyway ...
I read somewhere that learning a new language is the only way to increase your IQ, because there are concepts that exist in other languages that have no direct equivalent in your mother tongue. Therefore, by learning them you are actually putting a brand new concept into your brain, as opposed to just translating a word you already know.
Anyway, enough theory, I came across these words which have no direct english equivalent and thought they were pretty interestings. I'm also attempting to make up a new english word for them, who knows, they just might catch on:
Jiu-Liang
Your "jiu-liang" is your capacity to drink alcohol. Chinese people love to ask you what your jiu-liang is (in Qingdao it's expressed in terms of how many bottles of 750mL beer your can drink in one sitting), and it's not just a guy thing either - women will quite happily chat about this too.
Suggested New English Word: alcopow (your power to consume alcohol)
Jiao
A jiao is the step you take when you fall down (as oppose to the step you take when you walk or run - bu). The verb "to fall down" is a combination of the verb to fall, and this noun jiao.
Suggested New English Word: stackometre (the metre travelled when you stack it)
Jie-Wei
jie is a word to solve or answer, and wei means to be surrounded. Combined, they describe the verb to save somebody from an embarrassing situation or to help somebody out of a nasty predicament (literally, to find an answer to the things that surround them)
Suggest New English Word: prevred (to prevent somebody's face from turning red with embarrassment)
Pen-Jing
pen means pot (as in pot-plant), and jing is another word of scenery, so this translates as "potted landscape", and describes the scene in your house if you have lots of potplants creating a nice, green look.
Suggested New English Word: potscape (the pot plant landscape)
10 Comments:
Very interesting.
Very creative, indeed!
I agree with the IQ thing and I would also like to suggest some new words for our beloved English Language (some are from the Chinese and some are from Spanish)
I will start with only one: A version of the PREVRED you cerated. I would call it "TO DESEMBARRASS"
Note: you have to make sure you clarify if it is a transitive verb or not, what past tense it will take and which prepositions you should use with it. In this case it should be: "TO DESEMBARRASS SOMEONE FROM"
- Past tense: DESEMBARRASSED
- Present Perfect: HAVE/HAS DESEMBARRASSED
- Simple Future: WILL DESEMBARRASS / GOING TO DESEMBARRASS
(and so on...)
Samples (any similarities with real episodes are purely a coincidence):
- Devrim has been walking around with his fly open all day long. I think I should DESEMBARRASS him from it and tell him. (BTW, of course I did not!)
- If she HAD DESEMBARRASSED ME FROM confusing his birthday I would have not bought him the present and given it to him one month before his actual BD. (BITCH! She did not tell me!)
When are u coming to Shanghai mate. The frisbe tournament is around the corner right?
Looking forward to drinks with ya.
Sathe
hey there, sorry to be a pain in the ass but could you send me your tutors details so I can get in touch as have so far not found a good tutor, my email; is misslizalevy@yahoo.co.uk, that would be great, Liza
PS like the linguistic suggestions
sathe,
will be in shanghai for the tournament this coming weekend ... june 10-12 ... just staying for the weekend and then coming back to qingdao ... lets catch up
liza ... check your email
nacho ... sorry i meant to mention before that i spent a good two minutes rolling around the floor laught at poor devrim ... :) :)
Love the word alcopow!
FYI. Actually there's already an English word for Pen-jing. It's translated as Bonsai and as in Collins Cobuild English Dictionary, "A bonsai is a tree or shrub that has been kept very small by growing it in a little pot and cutting it in a special way." and that's what Pen-jing actually means in Chinese. (Bonsai is actually a Japanese word for Pen-jing) :)
Paulie,
Alcopow isn't bad, but I would have thought piss-cap would have been a more natural expression.
Love, bro,
JB
Hey Paulie,
Your copy of Ludlum's "The Matarese Circle" is in the MC apartment in Beijing! Thanks heaps, it was just what I needed for the train ride back! Feel free to pick it up if you're in the area sometime, I'm back in Adelaide but I'm sure the guys would be happy to see you :)
Paris said you believe in "Book Karma"? So if you'd prefer, feel free to take one of the other Ludlums if there's one there you haven't read yet, I collected a few during the year!
Keep having fun,
Luv flic
Hi Paulie and all,
Haven't visited your blog for a while...and as always, I had a lot of fun reading this one! Thanks. I can see you're picking up the Chinese cultures quickly and quite well. Congrats!
So your alcopow will be even higher now, after spending times there in the hometown of Tsingdao beer :)
Contrary to some people, I have no problem walking around with my fly open, in fact sometimes I do it on purpose just to watch them squeal with embarrassment (for me). It's so much fun to do it at a party. :)
Paulie, I'll be in Shanghai August 1st onwards permanently. We'll have to put our Jiu-Liang to the test... and of course, story time. :)
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