“Slam your hand on the table! C’mon, sound angry! Slam, slam, slam!” The class followed their teacher, hammering their hands on their desks. They were trying their best to learn Chinese. In tonal languages, such as Chinese, a word’s inflection isn’t used just to convey an emotion; the tone (声调 shēngdiào) you use determines the […]
Hang your secrets out to dry this summer. One of the more popular fads to hit the streets and internet is the character 晒 (shài) meaning “to dry in the sun.” Pronounced shai, it sounds like the English word “share,” and is used by netizens keen to share their woes and views on life. They […]
Here’s a good character to learn in the middle of the summer: 炎 (yán), which means “scorching.” It’s made up of two fire characters (火 Huǒ) stacked on top of each other—making it something like a tower of fire. 火, in its earliest oracle bone form, was actually a crude drawing of a flame. Later, to […]
Shanghai, majestic city of intrigue, pearl of the orient, the place where you can call someone “monkey” in praise of their shrewd character. Yes, “monkey!”?These days, menkanjing (门槛精) is the way to say “you’re no fool” on the streets of Shanghai. The first part, menkan, comes from the sound of “monkey,” and if you’re familiar […]
The mascot for the Shanghai World Expo is a little fellow shaped like 人 (rén) and named Haibao (海宝), meaning “Sea Treasure.” The character 海 (hǎi) has a long history, and a lot of fun—and even poetic—uses. 海 is made up of two parts. The first part, 氵, is the water radical, and any character […]
