chinese tuesdays

This character, pronounced chāng, means “The ghost of somebody devoured by a tiger who helps the tiger devour others”. It is also present in the chengyu 为虎作伥 (wèihǔzuòchāng), which means to help a villain do evil.

Some interesting words I’ve learned lately:

忐忑 (tǎntè): Comprised of 心 (xīn, heart) with 上 (shàng, up) or 下 (xià, down), it’s easy to remember that this means perturbed, mentally disturbed, fidgety.

旮旯(儿) (gālá(r)): This means nook, corner or out-of-the-way place, but I have no idea why. Both characters, neither of which are ever used alone apparently, are made up of 九 (jiǔ, nine) and 日 (rì, sun), which doesn’t help much.

如鱼得水 (rúyúdéshuǐ), “Like a fish back in water”, is so close to the English expression “A fish out of water” but means the opposite, to be happy to be back in one’s natural surroundings.

To me, looking at how different languages coming from vastly different cultures still depend on the same basic imagery to describe feelings and situations, it shows how similar we all are.

When I first learnt the word for compass, 指南针 (zhǐnánzhēn – "south pointing needle"), I thought: That’s weird, why isn’t it 指北针 (zhǐběizhēn – "north pointing needle")? I read somewhere that the reason the needle points south is because the ocean is generally to the south in ancient China. Does anyone know if this is true?

There are a few ways to say this, but the best one I’ve heard so far is 要饭还嫌馊 (yàofànháixiánsōu). I haven’t been able to find a dictionary definition for it, so it might not be that commonly said or used nationwide.

The last character 馊 (sōu) means 'sour', as in food that has gone rancid, so a more literal translation of the phrase, depending on the situation, might be something like "You beg for food yet resent being given the leftovers."