Learn some common Chinese slang
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Intro |
|---|
| Michael: What is Chinese slang like? |
| Dehua: And is it commonly used? |
| Michael: At ChineseClass101.com, we hear these questions often. Imagine the following situation: Lu Liu uses a slang expression Ben Lee has never heard before. She says, |
| "I don't care. " |
| 刘 璐: 我不感冒。 (Wǒ bù gǎnmào.) |
| Dialogue |
| 刘 璐: 我不感冒。 (Wǒ bù gǎnmào.) |
| 李 本: 那是什么意思？ (Nà shì shénme yìsi?) |
| 刘 璐: 意思是，「我没有兴趣」。(Yìsi shì,"wǒ méiyǒu xìngqù.") |
| Michael: Once more with the English translation. |
| 刘 璐: 我不感冒。 (Wǒ bù gǎnmào.) |
| Michael: "I am not interested. " |
| 李 本: 那是什么意思？ (Nà shì shénme yìsi?) |
| Michael: "What does that mean?" |
| 刘 璐: 意思是，「我没有兴趣」。(Yìsi shì,"wǒ méiyǒu xìngqù.") |
| Michael: It means, "I am not interested." |
Lesson focus |
| Michael: Slang is an aspect of language that isn't usually taught in the classroom, but it can be important for becoming proficient. Slang indicates a set of words and expressions used by a group of people to better convey feelings and implied concepts. Slang is usually an aspect of the colloquial language, and, for this reason, it changes really quickly or differs from one group to the other. In Chinese, "slang" is |
| Dehua: 俚语 (lǐyǔ). |
| Michael: In this lesson, we'll focus on common slang, words, and phrases used by all ages. Let's start with the slang expression in the conversation, |
| Dehua: 不感冒 (bù gǎnmào), |
| Michael: This literally means "Not catch a cold." |
| Dehua: 不感冒 (bù gǎnmào), |
| Michael: This phrase is equivalent to "I don't care" or "I'm not interested" in English. And like how Lu explained to Ben in the dialogue, if someone isn't showing interest in certain things, you can use this phrase. |
| Michael: To construct a sentence with this phrase, we can use it in this pattern: |
| Dehua: A 对 (duì) B 不感冒 (bù gǎnmào). |
| Michael: A is the person who is showing no interest, and B is the uninteresting object. |
| Michael: So if you want to say "I don't care about politics" or "I'm not big fan of politics," it would be |
| Dehua: 我对政治不感冒。 (Wǒ duì zhèngzhì bù gǎnmào.) |
| Michael: This literally means, "I don't catch the cold for politics." You can somehow interpret it as you are emotionally immune to politics, or in other words, politics doesn't affect you emotionally in any way. Most Chinese slang has a lot of imagery, so that would help you remember them. |
| Practice Section |
| Michael: Let's review the sentences we've heard in this lesson. I'll say the sentence in English, and then I want you to try and reply in Chinese. Dehua will then model the correct answer—listen to her carefully and repeat, with emphasis on your pronunciation. |
| Do you remember how to say "I am not interested?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Dehua: 我不感冒。 (Wǒ bù gǎnmào.) |
| Michael: Did you get it right? Listen again and repeat. |
| Dehua: 我不感冒。 (Wǒ bù gǎnmào.) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Dehua: 我不感冒。 (Wǒ bù gǎnmào.) |
| Michael: Now for our next sentence. Do you remember how to say "What does that mean?" |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Dehua: 那是什么意思？ (Nà shì shénme yìsi?) |
| Michael: Listen again and repeat. |
| Dehua: 那是什么意思？ (Nà shì shénme yìsi?) |
| [Beep. Pause 5 seconds.] |
| Dehua: 那是什么意思？ (Nà shì shénme yìsi?) |
| Cultural Expansion |
| Michael: Now, let's look at some more examples of Chinese slang. |
| Dehua: 炒鱿鱼 (chǎo yóuyú) |
| Michael: This expression literally means "fry the squid," but the real meaning is "fire somebody at work." Let's hear a sentence with this slang: |
| Dehua: 她工作能力差，被老板炒鱿鱼了。(Tā gōngzuò nénglì chà, bèi lǎobǎn chǎo yóuyú le.) |
| Michael: It means "She is incompetent at work and has been fired by the boss." You could interpret the slang like this: when you get fired, you get fried, just like a squid. The next slang is... |
| Dehua: 吃醋 (chīcù). |
| Michael: This phrase literally means "eat vinegar." Its real meaning is "be jealous." Let's hear a sentence with this slang: |
| Dehua: 我的偶像是男的，我男朋友因为这个吃醋。(Wǒ de ǒuxiàng shì nán de, wǒ nán péngyǒu yīnwèi zhège chīcù.) |
| Michael: The sentence means "My idol is a man, and my boyfriend is jealous because of that." Well, vinegar is sour. So when a person is sour, something doesn't sit well with them emotionally. And, our last slang for today is... |
| Dehua: 放鸽子 (fàng gēzi). |
| Michael: This literally means "release the pigeons." The real meaning is "not meet someone as arranged" or "stand someone up." Let's hear a sample sentence: |
| Dehua: 明天晚上8点见，不要再放我鸽子了！(Míngtiān wǎnshàng bā diǎn jiàn, búyào zài fàng wǒ gēzi le!) |
| Michael: This means "See you tomorrow at 8:00 pm. Don't stand me up again!" When you release the pigeons, they are no longer there. That's something similar to not showing up to an engagement. |
Outro |
| Michael: Do you have any more questions? We're here to answer them! |
| Dehua: 再见！ (zàijiàn!) |
| Michael: See you soon! |
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