I was flicking through one of Wu Nien-zhen’s plays the other day, called Human Condition 2 (《人間條件2》) and came across two phrases that I thought sounded rather funny. The first was 莊腳面 chng-kha bīn, basically meaning that someone’s face looks like they’re from the countryside, or a bumpkin – which got me wondering what this kind of face looks like. It’s not always used in the negative, as it can imply innocence or directness and honesty too, I guess it depends on what your opinion on people from the countryside is. I found an answer on Yahoo which gives quite a good explanation of 莊腳 and other terms, although I’m not sure if the first three are still used in Taiwanese: Continue reading
Tag Archives: taiwan
Sing to speak Taiwanese: Verse 1 ‘The hustle and bustle is all a dream’ 會唱就會講台語：〈繁華攏是夢〉第一段
This song was a big hit for Taiwanese singer Jiang Hui (江蕙) but I first heard a cover version by Crowd Lu (盧廣仲) – the guy with the bowl-hair cut and socks up to his knees from that annoying breakfast song with “duiya duiya” consisting of at least half the lyrics.
The lyrics as they are often written in KTV are written with some characters that are simply rendered phonetically into Mandarin and aren’t the original Taiwanese characters: Continue reading
Taiwanese phrase of the day: Ha Ha Ha! (I’m crying inside) 鬱鬱在心底， 笑笑陪人禮 ut ut tsāi sim té, tshiò tshiò puê lâng lé
鬱鬱在心底， 笑笑陪人禮 ut ut tsāi sim té, tshiò tshiò puê lâng lé
This phrase is one of a list that I got one of my friends to recite for me, it basically means that somebody is all smiles on the outside but is miserable inside. Just because you want to use the phrase, however, is not a valid enough reason to suggest to someone that they’re fun-loving friend might need therapy, although I have met a lot of people to whom this phrase could be applied. The audio is below, along with a helpful explanation in Mandarin.
Quick note just to say that I use two different but similar dictionaries for this blog, a university one and the Ministry of Education one, but one of them keeps breaking down, the phonetic system used is the same on the whole, but there are some differences, for example “tshiò” here for 笑 is written “chhiò” in the other dictionary and similarly “tsāi” here for 在, can also be written “chāi”, though this is just two representations of the same sound.
I haven’t yet updated the google doc of differences between Taiwanese and Mandarin pronunciation for this post (an ongoing experiment), but check it out here and see if you observe any patterns.
Photo: Cheezburger.com
Taiwanese phrase of the day: If there’s no fish, shrimp’s ok too 無魚，蝦嘛好 bô hî, hê mā ho
無魚, 蝦嘛好 bôhî, hê mā hó (Click each syllable for pronounciation or click below for whole phrase)
This phrase basically means, “something’s better than nothing,” rather loosely illustrated here in a drawing by Arvid Torres (you should have been happy with the shrimp). It can be used to refer to someone’s partner too, as in, “he really scraped the bottom of the barrel with that one,” as used in Taiwanese author Li Ang’s latest novel, to portray the racist and misogynist tendencies of Taiwanese men in the anti-government pro-democracy protests of the 1980s:
陳英俊因一般女性仍不敢靠近，基本上沒有太多的選擇，加上林慧淑頗具吸引力的姿色，很快的確定了兩人的關係。
(As no normal women [Lin Hui-shu is the product of a mixed marriage between a mainland soldier and an aboriginal woman] dared to be associated with Chen Ying-jun, he really didn’t have much choice, and as, Lin Hui-shu was really quite attractive, the two quickly entered into a relationship.)
雖然偶有政治犯同學戲稱他無魚蝦也好，但多半是羨慕又帶嫉妒。 (Although some of his political prisoner comrades joked with him that he was really scraping the bottom of the barrel, most admired him with a little bit of jealousy mixed in.)
You’ll note that she uses it directly as an adjective here, Subject + adjectival phrase.
This phrase also works in Mandarin – hurrah!
Taiwanese phrase of the day: A tattletale/an informant 抓耙仔 jiàu-pê-á
As I mentioned in a previous blog post, I’ve been reading《路邊甘蔗眾人啃》(Everyone nibbles on sugar cane at the edge of the road) by Li Ang (李昂). The book has already thrown up a few interesting phrases in Taiwanese, such as 抓耙仔 jiàu-pê-á – which can mean tattletale in a playground context, or informant, or just someone who gives away someone’s secrets, although it literally means a tool used to scratch one’s back).
The first sound is somewhere between a j and an r.
I’ve give the context below for those interested:
「妳以前睡過那麼多男人，都很好？」 (You’ve slept with so many men, were they all good in bed?)
林慧淑知道「黨外無袐密」，她自己也說，也有那些特務、抓把仔會通風報信好藉此羞辱他。 (Lin Hui-shu knew that there were no secrets amongst the opposition to the government, she said it herself, and there were spies and informants who would reveal the information to shame him.)
What I’m reading 我在讀什麼？
I have been jumping from book to book lately, so going to post what I’m reviewing next in the hope that this will put a little pressure on me to stick with one all the way through. I started I Am China by Xiaolu Guo, but not overly impressed by what I’ve read so far – a tired story about a Chinese dissident rocker who is seeking asylum in the UK that right now is seeming a little bit pretentious, somewhere between an Amy Tan novel and Ma Jian’s Red Dust, except not as edgy, equipped with dullish references to the Beat generation (((((Kerouac’s overrated))))) and China’s misty poets – but going to give it a chance, because I completely misjudged Jennifer Egan’s A Visit from the Goon Squad and ended up loving it – so going to put it on the back-burner, and I am currently nose-deep in the long-awaited counterpart to Li Ang’s (李昂) 1997 work 《北港香爐人人插》 (Everyone sticks it in the Beigang incense burner) called 《路邊甘蔗眾人啃》 (Everybody nibbles on the sugar cane at the side of the road). The new book, published this year deals with men and power, whereas the previous book dealt with women and power. I haven’t read the previous book, but have heard interesting things about the author. I’m also interested to see if the “restricted to ages 18 and over” label stuck on the front is actually warranted, or is just a marketing technique.
The other books I’m lining up are 《馬橋詞典》 (A Dictionary of Maqiao in English) by Han Shaogong (韓少功), recommended to me by Chris Peacock, so looking forward to it.
I’m also going to give Yu Hua a second chance after the average but disappointing 《活著》 (To Live).
Got any recommendations? Reading any books that you are enjoying? Or read these books and want to have your say, comment below and I’ll get back to you.
I’ve also got a review of A Touch of Sin by Jia Zhangke in the pipeline, it’s a great film.
Phrase of the Day – Duck hears thunder 鴨仔聽雷
A very apt description for the way some people have looked at me when I try to speak Taiwanese to them, somewhat equivalent to “like a deer in the headlights”, but in reference to hearing something that you can make neither head nor tail of. It’s nice that it conjures up a very specific image in your head. Suggested use – if you can get it out and be understood – is to use it to break the ice after a Taiwanese friend looks at you like a duck hearing thunder.
I will update the google doc soon. Feel free to contribute phrases you’ve heard, songs you can sing in Taiwanese, or recordings of you speaking Taiwanese.
(No ducks were harmed in the making of this post)
Reunification activist, or just a crazy guy in a car? 統一份子／瘋子？
Have been showing my little sister round Taipei, which occasioned the customary visit to Taipei 101. After the guided audio tour around the top – which is basically an extended advertisement by the Taipei City Government – and the trawl through the layers of gift shops set up to make it feel like a complete tourist trap, we descended back to ground level and caught sight of this guy driving around the district:
The message on top of the car says “Long live China” then underneath it says “We’re all one family”. He’s a pro-reunification activist – hoping that China can incorporate Taiwan, which is currently an independent country – although the majority of people I saw reacted to him more with incredulity or amusement than anything else.
The area outside Taipei 101 is often an interesting place to visit, as Falungong practitioners meet with mainland tour groups, along with other tourists. Falungong is banned in Mainland China, after a mass rally was organized by practitioners, which Beijing saw as a threat to its authority.
Paul Farrelly, a doctoral candidate at Australian National University and contributor to eRenlai, did a slideshow on the Falungong protesters which gather around the main sites visited by mainland tourist groups in Taipei, watch it here:
Phrase of the Day – Watermelons rest on the largest side 西瓜倚大傍
西瓜倚大傍 si-koe óa tōa-pêng (Click syllable to hear pronunciation)
I like this phrase quite a lot as I always picture a watermelon rolling and then falling on its heaviest side. It’s used as a metaphor to say that people generally tend to side with those who will benefit them (as opposed to choosing through justice or impartiality), it can also suggest populism or going with the crowd. Below I’ve compiled two super short clips of Wu Nien-zhen’s Human Condition (《人間條件》）in which this phrase is mentioned. I don’t own the copyright to the video and am using the clips for purely educational purposes. Here the woman speaking uses a variation of the phrase: 吃西瓜倚大傍 ﹣ although the 倚 is commonly rendered phonetically as 挖 – which sounds closer to the Taiwanese pronunciation of 倚, which is pronounced “yǐ” in Mandarin. The 旁 is also commonly written as 邊, because it’s closer to the meaning of the phrase in Mandarin. In both cases the whole phrase is used as an adjective.
In the first clip she says: 食(吃)西瓜倚大旁的個性lóng(攏/都)無改變呢啊！chia̍h si-koe óa tōa-pêng ê kò-sèng lóng bô kái-piàn nih ah! and in the second she says 按呢(這麼)吃西瓜大旁？án-ne chia̍h si-koe óa tōa-pêng?
http://youtu.be/a-yh6Du_XOs
Again, be careful how you use this phrase, as careless use can offend strangers.
I’ve updated the google doc, for those interested
Phrase of the day – Dead man’s bones 這是什麼死人骨頭？
這是啥物死人骨頭? chit sī siánn-mih sí-lâng kut-thâu?
Note: 啥物, sometimes written phonetically as “蝦米” means 什麼 in Mandarin or “what” in English
My coworker told me about this phrase recently, meaning “What the heck is this?”, or “What’s this nonsense?”, though it literally means “What kind of dead man’s bones are these?” – kind of equivalent to “這是什麼鬼?” in Mandarin. It can be used for comic effect, when someone does, has, wears or says something weird:
For example when looking at the “Retrospective tea” advertised on a sign at a Gongguan teashop featured above, one might ask one’s friend: “這是啥物死人骨頭?”
Beware though, it can be offensive if you use it on strangers.
Here’s the updated Google doc, noting patterns between Mandarin and Taiwanese or lack thereof.