Although his vision was still clouded by the drugs in his system, James had enough sense to know he was in a scientific laboratory of sorts, or perhaps a telecommunications center. The distinct hum of an industrial-grade ventilation system and lack of any natural light suggested a deep subterranean lair or perhaps military-grade bunker. Yet it was not until his head began to clear and the room came into focus that the true peril of his situation became menacingly clear.
Xiao Hu
said on February 15, 2012
哈哈哈哈哈！“长期辐射会造成皮肤癌。。。”这句话太经典！其实我很高兴听到David开口说中文。我相信David会说一口既流利又地道的普通话，所以我很支持在录播客里面David说出更多中文，这样会引起更多听众受听。
Echo
said on February 15, 2012
@Xiao Hu,哈哈，不能说“引起”收听哦，可以说“引来”听众收听。--Echoecho@popupchinese.com
maxiewawa
said on February 16, 2012
great lesson! "Shoot" doesn't really have an equivalent word in Chinese, like you were saying.Sometimes "shoot" (with a gun) is expressed in the media as 向xx开枪. （To open fire in the direction of xx)The passive "to be shot" is a little more inventive: 被子弹击中 (to be struck by a bullet)There are lots of example sentences in the media at the moment, I wont quote any because they are absolutely full of 敏感词汇!! Something about a certain middle east country that another certain country has used their veto power in a certain international organization...
Xiao Hu
said on February 16, 2012
@Echo,哦，真的吗？我从来没听过，“引来”这个动词。。。:(那我想问你一下，哪种语境才适合用这两个动词？
amber
said on February 20, 2012
@Xiao Hu“引来”其实不是一个动词噢，它是一个动词结构，意思是“吸引。。。来。。。”。－Amberamber@popupchinese.com
amber
said on February 20, 2012
@Xiao Hu 比如说：马戏团的表演引来很多小孩儿。 引起可以和注意\反响这样的词连用，比如：马戏团的表演引起了小孩儿的注意。 这个导演的作品引起很大的反响。Amberamber@popupchinese.com
Xiao Hu
said on February 20, 2012
@Amber,谢谢老师的解释。对了，您不是新来的老师吗？以前我从来没见过您的留言。
amber
said on February 20, 2012
@Xiao Hu嗯，我是新来的老师,以后会常常泡在这儿回答问题～哈哈^^
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 20, 2012
WHY DO Chinese girls often 'hehe'? There is a slight element of humour - Xiao Hu was at first pretending to be Chinese, then he started chasing Amber after Echo caught him, then he seems to be implying that Amber is too new to know CHinese.. But this is all because of my overly sensitive perception.So why DO they seem to titter coquettishly at the slightest pretext?
Xiao Hu
said on February 20, 2012
@jamieowenmacfadyen,Well I wouldn't exactly say I was flirting with Amber. I also wouldn't exactly say that I was pretending to be the Chinese, because with the Chinese beauty use chinese to talk with her to cheat her think I am Chinese national, so I am too standupstraight to do things such as this.I myself am not certain why Chinese girls tend to giggle coquettishly at the drop of a hat, but it's about as cute as cute can be you know.所有说呗！万岁万岁中国美女！
trevelyan
said on February 21, 2012
I'm not sure it's flirting so much as social convention. That said, while I'm happy to blame ^^ on Hello Kitty and Japan, Amber is an amateur compared to Gail, who (much as we like her) manages to use things like ~~~~(>_<)~~~~ in work email without any sense of irony.
Xiao Hu
said on February 21, 2012
@Trevelyan,Yes, it is social convention to be friendly and welcoming to new people, especially in China. You know the Hello Kitty^^ phenomenon has gotten out of hand when even twentysomething Finnish boys also use ^_^ in online communications. The first time a ^_^ was directed at me in a social contex by the male sector, I almost fell right down on the floor.That being said I have my own difficult to fathom eccentricities. For example, the "cute as cute can be" in my above post is an homage to an old hero of mine, Martin Short and his Ed Grimley character. As a kid I used to love The Completely Mental Misdventures of Ed Grimley.I remember one halloween I dressed us as my hero and, pail in hand, went trekking about the neighborhood in my Ed Grimley getup with a hair spike on the top of my head, plaid shirt, suspenders and pants pulled all the way to my chest. Well my hair wasn't long enough to support much of a spike, and the suspenders weren't good enough to keep the pants up around my chest. I must have just looked like an ultra-nerdy kid running around the neighborhood with a pumkin pail.I went to a house, rang the doorbell and when the lady of the house opened the door, in my best Ed Grimley voice I shouted, "trick or treat, I must say!"The lady asked curiously, "so, are you supposed to be yourself?"To which I immediately snapped, "I'm Ed Grimley!""What exactly is an Ed Grimley?" she asked."He's only the world's greatest and most popular cartoon character!""Oh...okay...well...here's your treat..."(Once again putting on my best Ed Grimley voice) Thanks for the candy, I'll bet it's delicious as delicious can be you know!"(Confused and bewildered lady of the house) heh heh, okay...Happy Halloween.(Laying the voice on even thicker) Happy Halloween, and that's no lie!I'm sure once she closed the door she immediately turned to her husband and begged him to turn off all the lights and pretend they weren't home, lest little "Ed Grimley" make a return call to their doorstep. Being Canadian, mabe you can appreciate the brilliance of Martin Short.
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
Hmm.. that's a great story - worth saying and there is a whistful tear in my eye - your sort a a dying breed, but the race should produce much much more of them!But this does not hit the mark - Chinese girls are bashful, (while ocassinally being extremely loud ,crazy) and so this titter is a kind of vocal blush. In old times, about fifty years ago, CHinese girls, the 'good' ones, were not allowed onto the street. There is a famous folk ryhme about rising at 6, doing the housework, looking after your lillies (feet) and not going out onto the street. It ryhmes in Chinese. So social contact was discouraged. There is a great aspect to thsi bashfulness, but it exists in a negative way, where many teenage girls - women in general - are not respectfully permitted to talk in restaurants, bars with their husbandetc. They must 'men yixia' in the corner.All this comes from the mouthes of actual 15 year olds and older women too that I was teaching in Ning Bo. I in no way provoked this kind of gender issues related lesson - they wanted it to go that way. So I believe this charming tittering is positive AND negative, where women in general are not permitted to be asserive but must be passive.
Xiao Hu
said on February 21, 2012
@Jamieowenmacfadyen,If nerds are a dying breed then I agree completely, the world needs more of my kind.I'm unaware of this phenomenon in the post Mao era. Mao largely did away with any major gender imbalance.From what I've seen of Chinese women, they can and are assertive and outspoken when they need to be, while being passive and supportive at the other times. By and large, Chinese women have a great balance of all sides, femininity, girlishness, maturity, giddiness, politeness, brashness and yes, cuteness. I'm a fan!I'd like to hear more about what your students told you about social norms in former times. Also, could you find a copy of the rhyme that you're referring to so we can take a look at it?
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
It's not social norms in former times coz they are talking about their parents attitude to them and a couple were older please don't slew my words or think they being eith u is the same as with their own country people
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
Skew not slew
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
I would also say that Mao clearerd up a lot of this, with his 'women hold up half the sky' policy, but after reading 'The Good Women of China' (at this point, Amber, the discussion may have spiralled into another level of intercourse) and listening to teenage and older voices, I can only conclude that there has been a reversion or reanimation of latent strains of traditional attitudes, that unfortunately, in my view, are more stifling than traditional.. My argument is that the overarching modesty of the Chinese woman may to some extent be a bi-product of this kind of stifling traditionalism that has either experienced a resurgence (or perhaps recrudescence!) or has never been eradicated. There is a fascinating relationship between the growing number of males versus females and how this can lead to naitonalitic agression in bars and discos where Westerners try to compete for Chinese girls. Traditional disgust at liberal Westerners takes on a new meaning in the context of this gender population shift!!
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
Xiao Hu may be also interested in the strange social customs of the CHinese - the way that for perhaps thousands of years - non-one went out that much! Or am I wrong? A sleeping city - even Shang Hai is not relaly booming! Few taxis seems to know where the bars still are. These bars aren't that old. was there a naitonal unwrittne curfew? Is the Chinese person naturally sleepy? Is there an innate sleepishness inherent in the Chinese character? I heard that when the government did away with extended lunch siesta, the economy went down about 3 percent.
Xiao Hu
said on February 21, 2012
@Jamieowenmacfadyen,I'm not trying to skew your words, but I believe I've had enough personal time with Chinese people to observe their true behavior and attitudes. Once you're able to speak Chinese well enough, they almost forget that you're a foreigner and begin to let their social guard down a bit. Still, I'd be very interested in hearing about your experiences and specifically what your students told you. I'd also be extremely interested in checking out the rhyme that you mentioned, do you know what the title is? Perhaps we can search it online?
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
Ahh I will try and remember where I saw it
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
My students told me (about ten in total, 70% 15 years old, a couple of 30 yi shang) that although they liked to talk, their parents looked down on this on social occasions. The girls were not allowed to return later than 8pm home and something ridiculous like if they went out for lunch this was a big thing. I remember when a girl from the Beijing Uni of foreign Languages met me one evening in school time, her dad rang her twice to check up on her. after the fifteen year old girl told me about how she had to 'mengxialai' (she translated what she had just said to me in Chinese to her friends) , literally bandage her mouth, another thirty year old said 'yeah, its pretty bad that way in China'. I asked my Chinese teacher about it, and she said 'yeah but it's a way we can get more power without appearing to!'Read The Good Woman of China' written by a famous Chinese journalist. That will blow your mind. Thats Mao and after by the way..
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
She wasn't the typical muck-racking scandal loving hack - she worked as a kind of lonely hearts lradio DJ for 20 years, then one day she said she would recieve letters about ...hey wait!!Why am I saying this - has not the Crazy Eglish guy just admitted that beating woman is 'not a big problem in CHina' and that Western woman dont understand that work is number one, the family number two? By the way, I have seen and understood word for word what was said in the famous talk-show appearance with Li Yang.You should revise and refresh your conceptions in light of current events. Sinica is also a part of this pod caste no?
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
I just dont know why I still have to say all this stuff..
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
'Wo chui' is a great expression, meaning dirty devil or something..
Xiao Hu
said on February 21, 2012
@Jamieowenmacfadyen,I'm not one to sneeze at a recrudescence of old-fashioned, traditional Chinese attitdues. This underlying disgust that many Chinese have for the western liberal mind is completely shared by the hand that writes these remarks. In my short time in China I've seen more than my fair share of jaded foreigners who, for some baffling reason seem to jump at the chance to balk at and condemn the Chinese way, completely forgetting that we westerners are called "foreigners" by the Chinese for a reason. We are guests in China, and need to abide by and respect the Chinese way.The last thing that I'd ever want is for China to become America two. I'd like for China to stay, uniquely China.I'd also like for Chinese girls to stay, uniquely Chinese girls. Their charm stems from their unbridled innocence and traditionalism. I wouldn't change a thing. Except for the Disco/Bar-hopping liberalized 九零后 of some westernized metropolis like Shanghai, whos 崇洋媚外 attitude needs to be eradicated with all deliberate speed. This kind of girl I have no love for. I do however, have a soft spot for the kind of Chinese girl who grew up in a remote countryside, who's polite, respectful, loving, caring, old-fashioned, family oriented and pure. Any girl I'd meet at a 迪厅 or 酒吧 I wouldn't touch with a ten foot electrofied cattleprod.Anyway, enough said I think...
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
Well, I also respect that opinion, and it was very eloquently expressed
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
Except the thing about guests - I dont see how people who marry and settle in the China, set up businesses here setc etc. can really be called guests. I also find this word 'foreigner' offensive and cold. I teach my students NOT to say it, as people in America, Europe dont. We say what nationality they are - not 'outside country people' - enough said.. I am not China-trolling - just htought there might be a bit more to this sociologically than meets the eye. And sorry - dont see myself as a guest anymore. That was about three years ago.
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
But that line 'unbridled innocence' was great. I think I will use that when describing Chinese women and their virtuoso traditional stylees. Incidentlally, the folk poem comes from Tales of Old Peking'.
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
And I would also say that the Western liberal mind is h better
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
much much much better
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
But I also concur in basc elements of what you said, women bu ying gai mang mu chongbai xifang wenhua'.
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
I agree with your comments. You cannot generalise on this topic - but I found Xiao Hu's comments very interesting, but there are two social types that this discussion brings out.
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 21, 2012
I agree with your comments Amber.. You cannot generalise on this topic - but I found Xiao Hu's comments very interesting, but there are two social types that this discussion brings out. And your remark about the tough laugh, throwing back the ehad and stuff - very interesting.
amber
said on February 21, 2012
@Jamieowenmacfadyen, It's not a hehe,it's a haha.And when I type it,i wanted to be polite. And I'm just myself so I cannot speak for "Chinese Girls",but there are many changes in today's China.Traditional girls still exist,and there are a lot of them of course.However, quite a lot are not like that anymore.While still keeping good manners,they become more outgoing and tough,especially in northern China.Amberamber@popupchinese.com
murrayjames
said on February 21, 2012
@AmberHehe 呵呵 is also commonly used, right?
MoNigeria
said on February 21, 2012
你们一群耙耳朵。。。
Echo
said on February 21, 2012
@Xiao Hu,Hmmm...what's wrong with girls going to bars or discos? Not all of them are 崇洋媚外. Actually I think at least in Beijing, very few of them are. Some of my girl friends like going to bars and discos too, but they just like to get relaxed from their stressful life or enjoy time together with friends after work.--Echoecho@popupchinese.com
Echo
said on February 21, 2012
@murrayjames,Yes, 呵呵 is very common too.--Echoecho@popupchinese.com
Xiao Hu
said on February 22, 2012
@Jamieowenmacfadyen,You ARE trolling China guest. Watch it!
Xiao Hu
said on February 22, 2012
@Echo,Sorry, I'm not going to say anything else about this topic, because when I really get going I have a tendency to incite anger, which is the last thing I want to do. This is one time when I have to plead the fifth.请原谅我哦!
amber
said on February 22, 2012
@Echo, 我举双手赞成！我和朋友们也经常这样聚会，最喜欢在夏天去kokomo，因为他们有露天露台～～amberamber@popupchinese.com
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 22, 2012
Xiao Hu - your 'watch it!' was a bit agressive - and 'trolling Chinese guest' doesn't make sense. Firstly, I AGREE with you that TRADITIONAL girls who eschew the modern jiu bar life CAN be very charming and have a certain 'unbridled innocence' - however, utter disgust for the liberal Western mind and then pleading the fifth? As for the utter disgust, that liberal mind emancipated people left, right and centre - it built a democratic constitution - it may be the reason why we can even talk freely on Pop up in the first place. You seem to ignore my point - which is that fifteen year olds should be give MORE freedon to have an opinion and go out and enjoy themselves. That was my main point - they should not be under the yoke, which THEY feel they are.As for the 'guest' thing - that cannot be trolled or not trolled - this is a 'jianwai' thing that builds a Chinese cultural wall round us when it should be breaking it down. There MUST be a point when foreigners become assimilated and no longer are seen as guests but friends - not this patronizing 'waiguo pengyou' thing which seems to imply that if no-one stands up and says we are friends the machetes will be coming out the next minute.Im sorry Xiao Hu, but if you cannot understand that, that no dialogue is possible. I think Im being pretty reasonable, seeing both sides - which in accord with my natural sympathies anyway.
amber
said on February 22, 2012
@murrayjames, Yes,it is also common,but these two words have tiny differences.It is when you 哈哈,your mouth is bigger than you 呵呵.And the body movement is also bigger.Amberamber@popupchinese.com
amber
said on February 22, 2012
@jamieowenmacfadyen, Yeah,what I want to say is just in today's China,things are getting different.Girls and women's behaviors in a certain place always depend on their educations,jobs,incomes,different family cultures and a lot of other things.And all these factors are changing rapidly in today's China.Amberamber@popupchinese
Xiao Hu
said on February 22, 2012
@Jamieowenmacfadyen,1: I understand your opinions.2: Pleading the fifth was directed at Echo not at you. Please stop confusing my comments to Trevelyan and Echo as those directed at you.3: You are trolling, so please knock it off. At this point it seems like you're just trying to get a rise out of people by insinuating that I was "chasing" Amber, that Amber (and other Chinese girls) are immature, that Chinese social conventions are stupid, that Chinese people are patronizing and that the way Chinese people act and think is wrong. There's no need for you to come in and try to deconstruct any walls, China is simply not your country. If you're having trouble adapting to China then you need to leave China. Don't confuse the so called "liberal mind" with emancapation or democracy because the two are completely seperate. Traditionalism does not equal shackles, chains and the secret police, and liberalism does not equal freedom democracy and prosperity.Please go back and review your above comments and ask yourself whether they were helpful, fair and impartial or whether they were deliberately devisive and filled with an agenda.
Xiao Hu
said on February 22, 2012
@Echo,可见你跟Amber完全误会我的意思。我没有说我不赞为了放松自己和发泄同工作的压力陪朋友去酒吧和迪厅玩的女孩子。那不是很正常吗？我不赞同的是那种不停地泡吧，故意的去找外国男人上床的女的。我住过日本的朋友曾经说道日本的受 ”现代化” 的很开放的日本女郎。那种女孩子很喜欢去军队区的酒吧陪很多外国人喝得烂醉如泥然后找很多不同的外国男人陪她上床。我指着的就是那种现象。你明白吗？你想啊！那种人已得了多少病啊？已传染给别人多少病了？那种女孩子有多么可怕呀？ 我的朋友也曾经说过了他的意见和我一样，觉得打死也不要和那种女孩子在一起。 因为那种女孩子的心和身体都已经彻底烂掉了。 所以说，只有比较传统的中国女孩子才适合当妻子当妈妈。不知道你能不能理解我的心思。
Echo
said on February 22, 2012
@amber，哈哈，我也最喜欢kokomo了！下次我们一起去~@Xiao Hu，哦，你是这个意思呀，那我觉得有道理。--Echoecho@popupchinese.com
Xiao Hu
said on February 22, 2012
@Echo,对啊，你以为呢？ 我可能给了你们留下不对的印象吧。我下次去北京可以陪你们到Kokomo玩一玩。
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 22, 2012
as their guest
Xiao Hu
said on February 22, 2012
@Jamieownmacfadyen,Well said.
Echo
said on February 23, 2012
@Xiao Hu,哈哈，可以呀，欢迎你加入！没问题，我一直知道你是非常nice的人，也是非常坚定的泡泡粉儿 :)--Echoecho@popupchinese.com
jamieowenmacfadyen
said on February 23, 2012
The sun is shining in Cheng Du,'the lark is on its wing, all's right with the world'
Xiao Hu
said on February 24, 2012
@Echo,你知道么，我就是一个不折不扣的泡泡粉丝!也是一个泡泡团队粉丝，没有这个优秀的团队，你，戴维老师，何毖大哥，泡泡中文的配音演员等的话，泡泡中文就不会是这么有意义的地方。目前泡泡中文就是我浏览器的首页，我觉得这样说明我挺喜欢这里啊！呵呵。我是很奈斯得人吗？那为什么女孩子总会管我叫“坏蛋”呢？;)
Echo
said on February 24, 2012
@Xiao Hu,哇，我太感动了！女孩儿叫你“坏蛋”的意思是喜欢你，这个你应该知道吧 :)--Echoecho@popupchinese.com
Xiao Hu
said on February 26, 2012
@Echo,哦，我好像明白了吧。那么多中国女孩子管我叫坏蛋，这样我以为我是可恨的男人。不过啊，很多中国女孩子对我叫，“你好讨厌” 所以说明我就是坏蛋嘛！
murrayjames
said on April 4, 2012
Great lesson.With respect to there being no good words in Chinese for shooting people... I once read this crazy sentence on Weibo:想拿机枪扫死看我博客的人
Echo
said on April 4, 2012
@murrayjames,机关枪+扫射 is a good collocation. However, neither 扫射死 or 扫死 is not really commonly used :(--Echoecho@popupchinese.com
murrayjames
said on June 4, 2012
The vocab for this lesson is 干掉 gan1diao4. To my ears, though, the dialogue and Echo are saying gan4diao4. Are both ok?
Intermediate
said on June 4, 2012
@murrayjames,In this lesson, it should be gan4diao4. I have fixed it. Thanks!Gan1diao4 means to drink sth up, as in 干掉这杯酒.--Echoecho@popupchinese.com
ma1942
said on March 30, 2013
@Xiao Hu Jamieowenmacfadyen is an instigator. in the end i knew you would handle him and expose him as such. your final comment to him made yǒudàoli @Echo what is the common chinese word for 'instigator?
Xiao Hu
said on March 31, 2013
@ma1942,Yes Jamieowenmacfadyen was a true-blue 教唆犯. It was quite an interesting experience wrangling with the guy.It's been quite a while since I've been on Popup, life has been crazy busy for quite a while, hut it still feels like my home on the net.How long have you been member here? What are your goals with your Chinese? How long have you been studying the language? Any plans to move to China? How did you get interested in Chinese initially?I think you'll really enjoy the Popup learning experience.Happy Popup learning.Xiaohu
Echo
said on April 1, 2013
@Xiao Hu,You should come back more often. We all miss you here :) 大家都说最近小虎哪儿去了？--Echoecho@popupchinese.com
Xiao Hu
said on April 1, 2013
@Echo,I really miss you guys too, I've just been super busy with things amd not able to devote any time at all to study. I do plan on making more time to come on Popup and study again.恐怕我的中文水平已经下降了和退步了还让你厉害咯！我没有时间去好好的死记硬背单词或者泛读和精读。唉，我的中文怎么办啊？但愿我能够像《黑客帝国》一样在颈椎的那边的把条电线插上然后充点知识！那样学知识是在忒爽啊！充了后 （模仿着《基努李维斯》）像被吓唬一样的呆板的叫，I know Chinese...但愿，但愿...
