*The word is comprised of 女 (nǚ; girl) + 哥 (gē; older brother), as the comment of the above douyin is that the man has a girlish face so the user is combining the appellation 姐 (jiě; older sister) and 哥.
My Note: Fascinating! This character, 𡟵, exists in the extended unicode but has no real dictionary definition that I can find anywhere. The most information I have been able to find on this word in both English and Chinese is that it seems to be pronounced gō in Cantonese (which, as one might expect looking at the word, indicates it would be gē in Mandarin). This seems to suggest that it has usage in Cantonese, but I haven't found any further explanation! The unicode character is part of CJK Unified Ideographs Extension B but as far as I can find, it doesn't have any historical usage in Chinese, Japanese, Korean, or Vietnamese or as a variant of any kind.
Advice I would give my past self about studying Chinese
Recently I've been reflecting on my Chinese learning journey and how far I've come. If I could go back in time, these are 10 things I would tell my past self. A few are specific to Chinese, but most can apply to any language
It will get so much easier to learn new characters. I remember feeling overwhelmed because learning new characters was a painful process. Now when I encounter a new character, I can remember it with relative ease—it’s just a new combination of familiar components.
Don't feel bad about having uneven development in different skills. My listening and reading are significantly stronger than my speaking and writing. It’s super common and nothing to be ashamed of.
The best way to get over being too embarrassed to speak is to experience some embarrassment and realize it’s not a big deal. I used to be so afraid of making mistakes that I would avoid speaking in class. It was only by being forced to speak that I got over it. I'm much better for it!
It’s impossible to learn everything, and time is limited. You have to prioritize. You probably don’t need to know how to say “pawnshop” in Chinese, and trying to jam your head full of 100 words you saw once won’t work. They won’t stick.
It will actually be harder to read pinyin than to read characters at some point. When I helped a friend with a script for her Chinese class, I really struggled because she had written it entirely in pinyin. I had to write out the characters to read without stumbling! I know characters are daunting for beginners, but trust me, you will get used to them.
If you haven’t practiced or learned something, of course you won’t be good at it. I remember feeling so frustrated trying to navigate Chinese websites for the first time. In retrospect, obviously, I was going to struggle with something completely new to me!
If something isn’t sticking, move on. Why waste time on a word that’s not clicking when you could be learning five new ones? It will only result in unnecessary frustration. So unless you need to know it for your class or a proficiency test, drop it and move on.
Don’t beat yourself up when you have trouble understanding music, literature, different accents, etc. These can be challenging even in your native language. Of course you’re going to struggle more in a new language.
It's worth it to pay attention to things like stroke order and tones from the start so you don't form bad habits. Don’t stress about get it perfect, but it’s easier to do it right the first time than to have to correct your bad habits in the future.
Instead of feeling overwhelmed by all that you don’t know, learn how to express yourself with what you do know. It’s truly its own skill that requires practice. After all, in life you can’t always stop and pull out a dictionary.
I started learning Chinese a really long time ago, but I became more serious about it in 2018, so 5 1/2 years ago. I'm very proud of how far I've come, but I still have a long way to go! I look forward to revisiting this post in another couple of years 😊
May 1st, 1886: Rallies throughout the United States demanding an eight-hour workday begin. May 1st is celebrated as International Workers' Day in many countries.
笑口常開, written from right to left in the banner, means roughly to "smile often". Note also that the Buddha they're carrying is Budai (布袋) the laughing Buddha (笑佛).
Who knew! These characters are pronounced differently in Taiwan
It feels like every week I learn that a Chinese character I thought I knew well actually has a different standard pronunciation in Taiwanese Mandarin. Here are 12 examples that really surprised me.
【3】 怔 zhèng | lèng - to stare blankly; to be in a daze
怔怔 zhèngzhèng | lènglèng - in a daze
怔住 zhèngzhù | lèngzhù - dumbfounded; stunned
【4】 筑（築）zhù | zhú - to build / to construct / to ram / to hit
建筑（建築）jiànzhù | jiànzhú - to construct / building
【5】 缚（縛）fù | fú - to bind / to tie
束缚（束縛）shùfù | shùfú - to bind; to tie up; to fetter; to shackle
【6】 赐（賜）cì | sì - to confer; to bestow; to grant / (literary) gift; favor
赐福（賜福）cìfú | sìfú - to bless
赐予（賜予）cìyǔ | sìyǔ - to grant; to bestow
【7】 蹈 dǎo | dào - to tread on / to trample / to stamp / to fulfill
舞蹈 wǔdǎo | wǔdào - dance / dancing
赴汤蹈火（赴湯蹈火）fùtāngdǎohuǒ | fùtāngdàohuǒ - lit. to jump into scalding water and plunge into raging fire (idiom) / fig. to brave any danger / to go to any lengths (for a noble cause)
【8】 辱 rǔ | rù - disgrace / dishonor / to insult / to bring disgrace or humiliation to / to be indebted to / self-deprecating
侮辱 wǔrǔ | wǔrù - to insult / to humiliate / dishonor
自取其辱 zìqǔqírǔ | zìqǔqírù - to embarrass oneself (idiom)
【9】 驯（馴）xùn | xún - to attain gradually / to tame
驯服（馴服）xùnfú | xúnfú - to tame / tame / docile
驯化（馴化）xùnhuà | xúnhuà - to tame / to domesticate
【10】 雌 cí | cī - female
雌雄 cíxióng | cīxióng - male and female
【11】 酪 lào | luò - semi-solid food made from milk (junket, cheese etc) / fruit jelly; sweet paste made with crushed nuts
乳酪 rǔlào | rǔluò - cheese
【12】 惋 wǎn | wàn - to sigh in regret or pity
惋惜 wǎnxī | wànxí - to regret / to feel that it is a great pity / to feel sorry for sb
息 is also pronounced differently, but I was already aware of that.
Okay, I'm gonna make "paprika hendl" the way nerds do things.
First of all, there's no such dish; "hendl" just mean "chicken" in German. In Hungarian that's csirkepaprikás, for which there are a million recipes that all basically say "lather chicken in red stuff, then add oils/fats untill yummy sauce happens, serve on some kind of potato or rice". I like the sound of my boi Alton Brown's version, using smoked paprika, so that's gonna be my starting recipe.
Not being from Eastern Europe, but having grown up loving the shit out of beef strogonoff, "yummy Eastern European sauce" means "sour cream and tomato paste". This, plus a god-defying amount of smoked, spicy, Hungarian paprika, is gonna be what this whole dish hangs on. The sauce has to coat the rice/potatos, so every bite violently assaults your senses with the loudest possible whisper: *paprika*.
I'm gonna make it using chicken breasts, because I'm basically a white person at this point, even though using chicken thighs would be tastier and only a little bit more work. Not gonna marinade anything, because fuck it, it's mother's day, we're doing this thing live. Yes, I'm making Dracula chicken for my mom.
It was acceptable, but I have notes for myself. The sauce needs more chicken flavor, less sour cream, and thinner consistency, so use some chicken stock to thin it. The sour cream and tomato paste should be just enough to turn the onions, plus the oil they were fried in and enough paprika to coat all the onions, into a thin paste. That paste will coat the chicken during the initial cooking (going for golden brown surface, but still pink on the inside). Then add chicken stock, bring it to a simmer, and finish cooking the chicken in the oven.
And to compensate for using less cream, maybe replace the oil for the onions with butter.
Okay, I'm gonna make "paprika hendl" the way nerds do things.
First of all, there's no such dish; "hendl" just mean "chicken" in German. In Hungarian that's csirkepaprikás, for which there are a million recipes that all basically say "lather chicken in red stuff, then add oils/fats untill yummy sauce happens, serve on some kind of potato or rice". I like the sound of my boi Alton Brown's version, using smoked paprika, so that's gonna be my starting recipe.
Not being from Eastern Europe, but having grown up loving the shit out of beef strogonoff, "yummy Eastern European sauce" means "sour cream and tomato paste". This, plus a god-defying amount of smoked, spicy, Hungarian paprika, is gonna be what this whole dish hangs on. The sauce has to coat the rice/potatos, so every bite violently assaults your senses with the loudest possible whisper: *paprika*.
I'm gonna make it using chicken breasts, because I'm basically a white person at this point, even though using chicken thighs would be tastier and only a little bit more work. Not gonna marinade anything, because fuck it, it's mother's day, we're doing this thing live. Yes, I'm making Dracula chicken for my mom.
It was acceptable, but I have notes for myself. The sauce needs more chicken flavor, less sour cream, and thinner consistency, so use some chicken stock to thin it. The sour cream and tomato paste should be just enough to turn the onions, plus the oil they were fried in and enough paprika to coat all the onions, into a thin paste. That paste will coat the chicken during the initial cooking (going for golden brown surface, but still pink on the inside). Then add chicken stock, bring it to a simmer, and finish cooking the chicken in the oven.
And to compensate for using less cream, maybe replace the oil for the onions with butter.
I really want to expand on this, because actually having the stage coach driver be human wouldn’t be funny, it would be horrifying…. but, it would make Dracula’s first appearance hilarious. Picture this:
Scared muppet peasants give Muppetan Harker (realistically, this is Kermit) a crucifix, and the cartoonishly scared passengers of the cartoonishly scared carriage all arrive at the road to Dracula’s castle. They wait for a bit, then make to leave, and suddenly….
A not remotely cartoonish stage coach arrives, with real horses rather than muppets, and a real man driving it, in appropriate costume ofc. We get multiple cuts of: real spooky carriage, Kermit looks away, cartoonishly scared carriage that is literally shivering with fear as are all the passengers, Kermit looks back, real spooky carriage. Reapeat this sequence of shots until it isn’t funny anymore, then repeat it once more, but faster, and now the other passengers are literally wailing “nooooo”, and Dracula/driver is literally beckoning him and whispering “yeeesss”.
Kermit just says “oh, my driver arrived”, and boards the spooky stage coach, hummingly, while Dracula throws his bags aboard and the other passengers wail “no! you’re going to die!”
The next scene plays up the creepiness as much as possible. Blue fire, wolves, the whole thing, and there’s no question that this human is Dracula in disguise; of course he’s stronger than a muppet…
We arrive at the castle. Kermit, at the door, has a low level freakout while we, the audience, see a pair of glowing eyes getting closer and closer. Kermit turns to look behind him, but not before the “driver” cartoonishly scampers away, we hear distant clattering, clothes ripping, furniture being knocked over, and finally the door creaks open to reveal… muppet dracula, trying to act menacing while being a literal muppet, standing next to what is very obviously a stagecoach driver disguise.
"We met next day as he had arranged, and inspected the rooms at No. 221B, Baker Street, of which he had spoken at our meeting. They consisted of a couple of comfortable bed-rooms and a single large airy sitting-room, cheerfully furnished, and illuminated by two broad windows."
