{"id":10594,"date":"2019-11-22T12:34:23","date_gmt":"2019-11-22T12:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/?p=10594"},"modified":"2019-11-22T15:59:13","modified_gmt":"2019-11-22T15:59:13","slug":"an-apple-fan","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chinesemoment.com\/my\/an-apple-fan\/","title":{"rendered":"An Apple Fan"},"content":{"rendered":"
Apple’s latest product, the iPhone 6, went on sale across the Chinese mainland recently, and the high price hasn’t prevented China’s die-hard Apple followers from purchasing the pricey handset.<\/p>\n

        zh\u014du mò xi\u01ceo zh\u0101ng yòu m\u01cei le zuì x\u012bn b\u01cen de píng gu\u01d2 sh\u01d2u j\u012b \uff0c zh\u0113n shì gè dì dào de gu\u01d2 f\u011bn
Simon: \u5468\u672b\u5c0f\u5f20\u53c8\u4e70\u4e86\u6700\u65b0\u7248\u7684\u82f9\u679c\u624b\u673a\uff0c \u771f\u662f\u4e2a\u5730\u9053\u7684“\u679c\u7c89”\u3002<\/strong>
          Zhang bought the latest version of the iPhone last weekend; he really is a true "Apple Fan". <\/p>\n

               t\u0101 d\u014du bàn nián méi shàng b\u0101n le \uff0czh\u0113n shì d\u01ce zh\u01d2ng li\u01cen ch\u014dng pàng zi
Xiao Lin: \u4ed6\u90fd\u534a\u5e74\u6ca1\u4e0a\u73ed\u4e86\uff0c\u771f\u662f\u6253\u80bf\u8138\u5145\u80d6\u5b50\u3002<\/strong>
               He hasn’t worked for half a year. He’s going too far in order to make others jealous.<\/p>\n

             n\u01d0 men nián q\u012bng rén \u0101 \uff0cy\u011b bú cún di\u01cen qián
Simon: \u4f60\u4eec\u5e74\u8f7b\u4eba\u554a\uff0c\u4e5f\u4e0d\u5b58\u70b9\u94b1?<\/strong>
            Why don’t you young people save any of your money?<\/p>\n

              cún qián gàn shén me  f\u01cen zhèng yòu m\u01cei bù q\u01d0 fáng
Xiao Lin:\u5b58\u94b1\u5e72\u4ec0\u4e48\uff1f\u53cd\u6b63\u53c8\u4e70\u4e0d\u8d77\u623f\u3002<\/strong>
              What’s the use in saving money? We won’t be able to afford an apartment anyway.<\/p>\n

In Chinese, "\u679c\u7c89<\/strong>(gu\u01d2 f\u011bn )" is short for "\u82f9\u679c\u7c89\u4e1d" (Apple fans). Simon comments that Xiao Zhang is a true Apple fan because he keeps buying the latest versions upon their release.<\/p>\n

Xiao Lin holds another opinion, noting that Zhang "\u6253\u80bf\u8138\u5145\u80d6\u5b50<\/strong>", which literally means "slap one’s own face in order to make himself\/herself look fat." Many years ago, when food was scarce, being fat meant that you had plenty to eat and thus made others jealous. The phrase is still commo<\/em>nly used nowadays, and is used when describing that someone "does something beyond one’s own means in order to impress others."<\/p>\n

Simon then makes a suggestion by questio<\/em>ning "\u4e5f\u4e0d\u5b58\u70b9\u94b1<\/strong>" ( why not save some money?). The rhetorical question starting with "\u4e5f\u4e0d" can be used to make a suggestion. For example, "\u5929\u90fd\u9ed1\u4e86\uff0c\u4e5f\u4e0d\u56de\u5bb6<\/strong>?" (It is getting dark; why not go back home?)<\/p>\n

In the last sentence, "….\u5e72\u4ec0\u4e48\uff1f"<\/strong> represents another rhetorical question and is sometimes used as a negative ex<\/em>pression. In the dialogue, "\u5b58\u94b1\u5e72\u4ec0\u4e48<\/strong>" means it is not necessary to save money. Another example, "\u53bb\u90a3\u5e72\u4ec0\u4e48?"<\/strong> means "there is no need to go there" and in this case also represents a rhetorical question. However, it can also mean "What are you going to do there?" if intended as a simple question. You have to judge the different meanings according to the context.<\/div>\n