Vocabulary

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Lesson Transcript

INTRODUCTION
John: Chinese Slang Expressions Using Numbers, Part 1
John: Hi everyone, and welcome back to ChineseClass101.com. I'm John Reyna.
Dehua: And I'm Dehua!
John: This is Must-Know Chinese Slang Words and Phrases, Season 1, Lesson 5. In this lesson, you'll learn chinese slang expressions using numbers, part 1.
John: It's always fun to collect Chinese slang expressions related to numbers!
SLANG EXPRESSIONS
John: The expressions you'll be learning in this lesson are:
Dehua: 一根筋儿 (yìgēn jīn'er)
Dehua: 二 (èr)
Dehua: 八九不离十 (bā jiǔ bùlí shí)
Dehua: 百闻不如一见 (Bǎi wén bùrú yī jiàn)
John: Dehua, what's our first expression?
Dehua: 一根筋儿 (yìgēn jīn'er)
John: literally meaning "one stick of tendon." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "stubborn, narrow-minded."
Dehua: 一根筋儿 (yìgēn jīn'er)
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Dehua: 一根筋儿 (yìgēn jīn'er)
John: Use this slang expression when someone is being stubborn.
John: Now let's hear an example sentence.
Dehua: 别跟他理论了,你不知道他是一根筋儿吗? (bié gēn tā lǐlùn le, nǐ bù zhīdào tā shì yìgēn jīn'er ma ?)
John: "Stop reasoning with him. Don’t you know he is narrow-minded?"
Dehua: 别跟他理论了,你不知道他是一根筋儿吗? (bié gēn tā lǐlùn le, nǐ bù zhīdào tā shì yìgēn jīn'er ma ?)
John: Okay, what's the next expression?
Dehua: 二 (èr)
John: This literally means "two." But when it's used as a slang expression, it means "naive; still wet behind the ears."
Dehua: 二 (èr)
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Dehua: 二 (èr)
John: Use this slang expression when your friend does something stupid unexpectedly.
John: Now let's hear an example sentence.
Dehua: 你还能再二一点吗? (nǐ hái néng zài èr yì diǎn ma ?)
John: "How naive could you get?"
Dehua: 你还能再二一点吗? (nǐ hái néng zài èr yì diǎn ma ?)
John: Okay, what's our next expression?
Dehua: 八九不离十 (bā jiǔ bùlí shí)
John: literally meaning "eight or nine to ten." As a slang expression, it means "pretty close; very near; about right; in all probability."
Dehua: 八九不离十 (bā jiǔ bùlí shí)
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Dehua: 八九不离十 (bā jiǔ bùlí shí)
John: Use this expression when a guessed result is very close (used only in spoken language).
John: Now let's hear an example sentence.
Dehua: 你猜得八九不离十了。 (Nǐ cāi dé bājiǔ bùlí shíle.)
John: "Your guess wasn't far off."
Dehua: 你猜得八九不离十了。 (Nǐ cāi dé bājiǔ bùlí shíle.)
John: Okay, what's the last expression?
Dehua: 百闻不如一见 (Bǎi wén bùrú yī jiàn)
John: Which literally means "to see sth. once is better than to hear about it a hundred times.;." As a slang expression, it means "seeing is believing."
Dehua: 百闻不如一见 (Bǎi wén bùrú yī jiàn)
John: Listeners, please repeat.
Dehua: 百闻不如一见 (Bǎi wén bùrú yī jiàn)
John: Use this slang expression when saying seeing is believing.
John: Now let's hear an example sentence.
Dehua: 我终于来到长城了,真是百闻不如一见啊。 (Wǒ zhōngyú lái dào chángchéngle, zhēnshi bǎiwén bùrú yījiàn a.)
John: "I finally made it to the Great Wall, it is indeed better to see it once than to hear about it a hundred times."
Dehua: 我终于来到长城了,真是百闻不如一见啊。 (Wǒ zhōngyú lái dào chángchéngle, zhēnshi bǎiwén bùrú yījiàn a.)
QUIZ
John: Okay listeners, are you ready to be quizzed on the expressions you just learned? I’ll describe four situations, and you’ll choose the right expression to use in your reply. Are you ready?
John: A person who is naive.
[pause - 5 sec.]
Dehua: 二 (èr)
John: "naive, still wet behind the ears"
John: A person is so stubborn that he cannot listen to other opinions.
[pause - 5 sec.]
Dehua: 一根筋儿 (yìgēn jīn'er)
John: "stubborn, narrow-minded"
John: A person is impressed with something he just saw.
[pause - 5 sec.]
Dehua: 百闻不如一见 (Bǎi wén bùrú yī jiàn)
John: "Seeing is believing."
John: A person manages to understand most of the story.
[pause - 5 sec.]
Dehua: 八九不离十 (bā jiǔ bùlí shí)
John: "pretty close; very near; about right; in all probability"

Outro

John: There you have it; you've mastered four Chinese Slang Expressions! We have more vocab lists available at ChineseClass101.com so be sure to check them out. Thanks, everyone, and see you next time!
Dehua: 下回見 (xià huí jiàn).

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