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Chinese words in English

Chinese civilization stretches back at least to the 3rd millennium BC. It is the source of many of the world’s great inventions, including paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing, not to mention china (porcelain) itself. But maybe the greatest contribution that the country and its language have made to the Western world is tea. The drink is first mentioned in English in 1655. The Chinese connection first found in US English in the early 20th century。

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NEET 啃老族

“啃老族”是当今紧张而忙碌生活的产物。有这样一个句子:这个啃老族已经30岁了,但仍然依靠他的父母生活。有人是这样翻译的: This Neet is already 30 years old but still lives on his parents.

其实严格地说,live on后面要跟sth,不跟sb;而live off后面可以跟sb或sth,意思分别是“靠什么人养活”和“靠什么活着”,目前还没有“live on sb”的搭配。例如:They live on a diet of bread and cheese.(他们靠吃面包和奶酪活着。)This unemployed worker lives on unemployment benefit.(这个失业工人靠失业救济金为生。)

“啃老族”指既没有上学也没有就业或接受职业技能培训但必须依靠父母养活的青年人。在英国英语中,“NEET”指啃老族的一员,“NEET group”指啃老族群体。“NEET”是“Not Currently Engaged in Education, Employment or Training ”或“Not in Education, Employment or Training”的缩略语。美国英语则称之为“boomerang child/kid”。 Boomerang原指澳大利亚土著居民的飞镖。

例如:An investigation indicates that about 70% of the unemployed young people in our country now live off their parents, thus becoming Neets.(调查显示,我国目前约七成失业青年靠父母养活,因而成为啃老族。)

In Japan, more and more young people have joined in the Neet group who neither go to college nor go to work.(越来越多的日本青年加入到既不上学又不工作的啃老族。)

The boomerang child phenomenon has become a social problem on a nationwide scale.(啃老族现象已成为全国性的社会问题。)

如果把“啃老族”翻译为adult dependent child是不妥的。“adult dependent child”的意思是“有心理缺陷或生理缺陷的需要抚养的成年子女”,比“啃老族”含义要宽泛。例如:An adult dependent child is one who is incapable of self-care because of a mental or physical disability.(一个需要抚养的成年子女是因为心理缺陷或生理缺陷而不能自理的人。)所以开头的那句话应该翻译为: This Neet is already 30 years old but still lives off his parents.

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Chinese in English 出口的汉语:细数英语中的中文

Chinese civilization stretches back at least to the 3rd millennium BC. It is the source of many of the world’s great inventions, including paper, the compass, gunpowder, and printing, not to mention china (porcelain) itself. But maybe the greatest contribution that the country and its language have made to the Western world is tea. The drink is first mentioned in English in 1655. The Chinese connection first found in US English in the early 20th century.
中华文明可以至少追溯到公元前300万年。它是世界上许多伟大发明的源头,例如造纸术,指南针,火药和印刷术。更不用说还有瓷器本身。但是对中西方语言文化交流作出最大贡献的是茶。茶最早在1655年引入英国,而英语和汉语的关联,最早也是在20世纪初的美式英语中被发现。

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每日一词:露一手(lòu yì shǒu)show off

露一手(lòu yì shǒu) make an exhibition of one's abilities or skills; show off 释义
“露一手”的意思是向别人显示一下自己比较独特的或者不经常表现出来的能力或手艺。Meaning
“露一手(lòu yì shǒu)”means to exhibit one’s unique or rarely shown skills or abilities to others.
例句 Sentences 1、Wǒ tīngshuō nǐ zuò de cài tèbié hǎochī, jīntiān wǎnshang jiù lòu yì shǒu ba.
我听说你做的菜特别好吃,今天晚上就露一手吧。I heard that you are good at cooking. Why not show us what you got tonight?
2、Jiékè de hànyǔ xué de hěn hǎo,zhècì xuéxiào zǔzhǐ de hànyǔ biànlùnsài zhèngshì tā lòu yì shǒu de hǎo jīhuì.
杰克的汉语学得很好,这次学校组织的汉语辩论赛正是他露一手的好机会。Jack learns Chinese very well, so the Chinese debate competition organized by the college this time is a good opportunity for him to make an exhibition of his ability.
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每日一词:母老虎(mǔ lǎohǔ)tigress

母老虎(mǔ lǎohǔ)tigress
释义
“母老虎”是指雌老虎,借指泼妇,就是说话很凶,做事让人害怕的女人。Meaning
“母老虎(mǔ lǎohǔ)” means a tigress and is a metaphor for a shrew whose talk and behavior intimidate other people.
例句 Sentences 1、 Nà jǐgè nǚrén dōushì yǒumíng de mǔ lǎohǔ, nǐ gēn tāmen shuōhuà shí yào xiǎoxīn diǎnr!
那几个女人都是有名的“母老虎”,你跟她们说话时要小心点儿!Those women are famous tigresses, so be careful with your words.
2、Jīntiān tā yídìng búhuì duō hē jiǔ, yīnwèi tā pà lǎopo, tā de lǎopo shì yǒumíng de mǔ lǎohǔ.
今天他一定不会多喝酒,因为他怕老婆,他的老婆是有名的“母老虎”。He certainly won’t drink much, because he is a henpecked man while his wife is a famous tigress.
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Top English Phrases Borrowed from Chinese

Although a debate currently rages amongst Chinese academics, linguists and lexicographers over English’s place within the Chinese dictionary, English speakers all over the world continue to use bits and pieces of the Chinese language on a daily basis, through various phrases and loanwords previously “borrowed” from Chinese. Here are the top 10 Chinese phrases that made it over the Great Wall and into the vocabularies of English speakers everywhere, with a few that might just surprise you.

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