Husband and Wife
Sorry things have been really slow on the TVBspace academy - but as it's September, I ought to start lessons again!

I was sent this little extract from Sidney a while back, so I thought I'd post this as a little aside and add my notes behind it for a little bit of explanation. Yes the jokes are a little chauvinistic so apologies to any feminist readers we may have!

Shut up - 住口
If your dog is barking at the back door and your wife is yelling at the front door, who do you let in first?
如果你的狗在後門吠，而你的妻子在前門大喊大叫，你會讓那一個先進來？
The dog of course...at least he'll shut up after you let him in!
當然是狗，至少它進來後會住口。

Vocabulary
狗 - dog (Mandarin: gou / Cantonese: gow)
妻子 - wife (Mandarin: qi zi / Cantonese: chai jee) not to be confused with the colloquial 老婆 (Mandarin: lao po / Cantonese: lo por)
後門 - back door (Mandarin: hou men / Cantonese: how mun)
前門 - front door (Mandarin: qian men / Cantonese: cheen mun)


Three Children - 三個孩子
A couple had three children. Two of them were bright, smart and handsome but the third child was dull, ugly and stupid.
一對夫婦有三個孩子。
有兩個特別聰明和英俊，可是第三個孩子卻很醜很笨。
One day the hubby got suspicious and asked, Tell me the truth, dear.
Is this third child really mine?
一天，丈夫很懷疑地問："坦白說，親愛的，老三真的是我的孩子嗎？ "
Yes, dear, replied the wife, but the other two are not.
是的，親愛的。 "妻子答道： "可是另外兩個不是。 "

Vocabulary
孩子 - child (Mandarin: hai zi / Cantonese: hai jee)
聰明 - smart, intelligent (Mandarin: cong ming / Cantonese: chung ming)
英俊 - handsome (Mandarin: ying jun / Cantonese: ying jun)
醜 - ugly (Mandarin: chou / Cantonese: chow)
笨 - stupid (Mandarin: ben / Cantonese: bun)
親愛的 - dearest (Mandarin: qin ai de / Cantonese: chan ngoi dik)


Wishing Well - 許願井
A couple came upon a wishing well.
The husband leaned over, made a wish and threw in a penny.
一對夫妻來到一座許願井。
丈夫靠過去，丟下一個硬幣，許了個願。
The wife decided to make a wish, too. But she leaned over too much, fell into the well, and drowned. The husband was stunned for a while but then smiled and said, It really works!
妻子也打算許個願。可是她靠的太過去，掉下井，被淹死了。
丈夫呆了一回，然後笑著說："真靈驗。 "

Vocabulary
許願 - make a wish (Mandarin: xu yuan / Cantonese: hui yuen)
井 - well [the kind you pull water out of] (Mandarin: jing / Cantonese: jeng)
- posted by Em @ 4:11 PM

 
TVB's Red Ladies?
In the next few posts, I will be taking a look at the song titles for the tracks on "Lady in Red", TVB's latest musical presentation, featuring songs by top singer Miriam Yeung as well as some renditions by their own artistes such as Myolie Wu, Bernice Liu and Charmaine Sheh.



We start by dissecting the title of the album:
金牌女兒紅
The literal translation of this is 'Gold Label Red Females' so the recognised translation of "Lady in Red" is not far off, but is in fact totally wrong from the original meaning of the title.

Breaking this down further gives:
金 (Canto: gum / Mandarin: jin) - gold
牌 (Canto: pai / Mandarin: pai) - label or sign
女 (Canto: nui / Mandarin: nu) - female
兒 (Canto: yee / Mandarin: er) - child or son
女兒 means daughter, you can often hear this term referred to in ancient dramas as it is the more traditional way of referring to daughter. In modern times, the 兒 is dropped from general conversation.
紅 (Canto: hung / Mandarin: hong) - red
女兒紅 is the name of a famous Chinese wine, again you will hear this a lot in ancient dramas. The name is usually linked to the finest quality, rather like the XO of modern times.
Overall, the name of the album is supposed to reflect a gold label fine wine, something to be savoured that is top quality. The creatives have tied this in with the literal meaning of the words by dressing the 'daughters' in red, hence leading to the misinterpretation during translation.
- posted by Em @ 4:51 AM

 
Learn Chinese is back by Popular Demand!!!
Yes, back for more Chinese lessons - wuhoo!!
- posted by Em @ 3:07 AM