There's a peak in California (Tunemah Peak) named after a Cantonese obscenity! And according to the Wiki entry, the Chinese name does not even bother to be subtle at all, directly calling the peak 『屌你媽峰』 (🥮 diu² nei⁵ maa¹ fung¹) — literally "Fu*k Your Mother Peak”! 😹
* 🥮 → Jyutping (Cantonese Romanisation)
Edited-to-add: The original phrase was probably not actually derived from Cantonese as we know it today, but Toisanese (台山話) a dialect of Cantonese, and widely spoken by the Chinese immigrants back around 1850s (and a fair number still do today), who mostly hailed from Toisan, a region in Canton (Guangdong) province. Regardless, the imprecation uttered is close enough to Cantonese pronunciation and the meaning definitely remains the same.
Though I grew up with Mandarin and Cantonese, I realised I only have a vague understanding of what these words meant, and coming across this video post recently made me think deeper about what 「疼痛」 really means.
疼痛 (🥮 tang⁴ tung³，🀄 ㄊㄥˊㄊㄨㄥˋ/téng tòng)
「疼痛」 used together describes pain generally, but when you're describing physical pain in a specific body part, you'd use one character or the other.
e.g.: 頭疼/頭痛、胃疼/胃痛、牙疼/牙痛
Headache, stomachache, toothache; all can be described in English as some kind of "ache” but in Chinese, there's 「疼」 and there's 「痛」 and both can be/have been used interchangeably.
So what's the real difference between 「疼」 and 「痛」? Because in English, 「疼」 and 「痛」 can both be translated as simply “pain”, but from an Ancient Chinese view, 「疼」 and 「痛」 have nuances, and even native Chinese speakers may not know of the differences.
To paraphrase some parts from this site (and I've gone through a few other sites and videos that also more or less say the same things, but as always with the internet, take things with a pinch of salt):
「疼」 ～ clues can be found in the character itself; looking at the construction of the character, made up of 「疒」, the radical for "illness” and the character for "winter”, 「冬」. In winter, the bitter cold of winter causes all living creatures to naturally withdraw in body and spirit (figuratively speaking), and this “discomfort” felt directly from external environmental changes is the essence of 「庝」.
Simply put, 「庝」 refers more to external pain and the body's reaction to external aggravators.
「疼」 was also once written as 「痋」, with the character 「虫」 for “worm”, so it showed even more clearly that external aggravators are responsible for causing 「疼/痋」.
「痛」 ～ this character is made up of 「疒」 and the character 「甬」, which has the meaning of "flow through” in ancient times and with regards to the body, refers to the "flow of vitality” inside.
Thus, 「痛」 refers more specifically to internal pain, the kind of pain that affects the body's "flow of vitality”, in line with Traditional Chinese Medicine's (TCM) principle that 「痛」 indicates “obstruction somewhere in the body”, and that "unobstructed flow eliminates pain”.
So for example, it would be more accurate to use 「手指疼」 and 「頭疼」 for experiencing something like a cut finger or a temporary headache from external stresses (like an extremely noisy environment for example), while it would be more accurate to define a chronic migraine that's caused by something internally as 「頭痛」.
A stomachache though is a little more tricky? Say you got a stomachache from food poisoning, it causes internal pain in your body, but because the source of the pain (bad food) came from outside, is it 「胃痛」 or 「胃疼」? 🤔 I guess it's truly interchangeable in this case?
That's my understanding/conclusion at least!
Also, because 「痛」 is "internal”, it is also used to describe emotional or figurative pain. So for example if you broke up with someone in a relationship, you'd describe your emotional heartache as 「心痛」, 「痛」 cannot be interchanged with 「疼」 in this case (and 「心疼」 means something else anyway — read further on) because you're describing a feeling that "goes through your entire body”, kind of an indescribable feeling, really.
Of course, in a hospital setting, when you say you are experiencing 「心痛」, that may literally mean your physical heart is hurting! 🙀😹
Another way to differentiate between 「疼」 and 「痛」 is having an idea of the 「陰陽」 — what Westerners may have only heard of as "Yin and Yang” ☯️ — philosophy in TCM.
Basically, 「陰陽」 can be very roughly explained as an ancient Chinese belief/philosophy that the world is made up of complementary and opposing forces, 「陰」 is seen as the “internal force” and 「陽」 is thus the “external force” (not a scholar here, this is just my really basic, layman's understanding of what 「陰陽」 is).
From this perspective in TCM, 「疼」 and 「痛」 can be understood as a manifestation of an imbalance between 「陰」 and 「陽」 in the body.
「疼」 (because it's about external pain) is thus a 「陽」 element and 「痛」 (internal pain) is 「陰」.
I find it interesting that in the phrasing 「疼痛」 (it's never said 「痛疼」 together), 「陰陽」 is now flipped around (it's never said the other way round too), and according to the aforementioned concept of 「陰陽」, 「陽陰」 further highlights the "imbalance of the body pain brings”.
Anyway, the Chinese influencer (in that video post) claims that Northern Chinese use 「疼」 more while Southerners use 「痛」 to describe physical pain, that the difference between the two is more a region thing.
I guess I half agree with this? I don't know about the North, but as a Southerner, I have used 「疼」 and 「痛」 interchangeably and have heard other Southerners use so as well, with about equal frequency but…I think it could be a generation thing? In the 1990s to noughties (and before I guess), I do recall hearing fellow Southerners using 「疼」 just as much as 「痛」, and speakers who grew up around that era do seem to know how to apply the different characters accordingly for the most part, even if going on just instinct (like me)!
But in later generations (Gen Z and after), the distinction between 「疼」 and 「痛」 seems to have been lost? People (Southerners, at least) seem to use 「痛」 to describe every type of physical pain nowadays.
The influencer also claims that Northerners and Southerners view using the opposite term of what Northerners and Southerners supposedly favour, as speaking or behaving immaturely. This, I totally disagree with. After all, it should be the action that determines behaviour, and not the word itself.
And in all my years of using 「疼」 and 「痛」 interchangeably, I have never thought I was describing pain in a childish manner because of a word choice, nor been thought of as so by others.
I do wonder how that influencer came to this conclusion…is this a generational thing too? Are younger people from both North and South assigning infantile perceptions towards pain now? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ But why would anyone want to do that‽
If one character is to be seen as more “immature” over the other, I rather think that would be 「疼」 because 「疼」 has the additional meaning of “dote on” (like doting on a small child) or “having tender feelings” for someone in words like 「疼愛」 and 「心疼」, meanings where 「痛」 cannot be interchanged for in these cases.
So, if you've read through this far, do you understand the nuances of 「疼」 and 「痛」 better now? Have you been describing your pain "correctly”? Which have you been using more?
Black Cat (watercolour art by 榎俊幸 Enoki Toshiyuki)
— the 寛平御記 (🍙 Kanpyō Gyoki), Imperial Diary of the Kanpyō era, also known as 宇多天皇御記 (🍙 Uda Tennō Gyoki), Imperial Diary of Emperor Uda. (Image: source)
Oh yay! Thanks to the use of 漢文訓読 (🍙 Kanbun Kundoku) and its subsidiary, 変体漢文 (🍙 Hentai Kanbun), this can be read and understood in Chinese too! 😺
Apparently, there is an often quoted text floating around (one on Tumblr, with an interesting link that I shall add here too for future reference) that is actually not quite accurate, and as someone who understands Chinese (even if it's just average), I can verify that yes, that popular version floating around mistranslated some parts.
*n.b.: I realised the 漢字 (🍙 Kanji) transcript copied from the site also has mistakes and is not totally on par with the image of the text from the diary entry. I have thus taken the liberty to add, subtract or changed some 漢字 as I saw fit (reflected in orange () ), 漢字 I found contradictory but was unsure of what best to change to, I chose to leave it as is, assuming the 漢字 in the original text are now obsolete characters and the transcript was just reflecting more contemporary language.
English Translation:
“On the 6th day of the 2nd month of the 1st year of Kanpyō (March 11, 889).
Having some free time on my hands, I've decided to write about my cat. This black cat was presented to the previous emperor by Minamoto no Kiyoshi, Vice-Governor of Dazaifu, upon completing his term and returning to the capital.
I adore its unique fur color. While other cats have a faded black appearance, this one alone is black as ink. It looks as fierce as the famed black hound Kanro.
The cat is roughly 1 shaku 5 sun (about 45cm) in length, and 6 sun (about 18 cm) in height. When it curls up, it looks like a tiny grain of black millet; when it stretches fully, its body lengthens like a drawn bow.
Its eyes sparkle sharply like the glint of needles, and its ears stand straight and firm like unwavering spoons.
When it sits neatly, its feet and tail completely hidden, it looks like a black jewel resting within a cave. When it moves, it does so silently, like a black dragon gliding upon clouds.
It seems to enjoy practicing Taoist breathing and stretching exercises, its movements resembling exactly the Five Animal Exercises. It often keeps its head low with its tail touching the ground, but when it arches and stretches its back fully, its height reaches about 2 shaku (about 61 cm). Perhaps this skill in breathing and stretching explains why its fur is so sleek and glossy. Furthermore, its skill in swiftly catching mice at night surpasses other cats.
The previous emperor cherished this black cat for a few days before giving it to me. I have lovingly cared for it for five years now, feeding it milk gruel every morning day.
I do this not merely because of its exceptional agility and skill, but because it was given to me by the previous emperor. Though it is a small creature, my affection for it is profound.
I once spoke to it, saying, “You embody both yin and yang energies, complete with all your faculties and senses. If indeed you have a heart, surely you must understand me?” The cat sighed deeply, lifted its head, and gazed up into my face. It seemed filled with deep emotion, unable to speak.”
Translator's notes:
One shaku (尺) is 30.3 cm and one sun (寸) is 3.03 cm. The Five Animal Exercises is a set of exercises imitating the movements of a tiger, deer, bear, monkey, and crane.
Where the first translation got wrong:
Compares the cat to “Kanno” (don’t know what that is). It should be Kanro (韓盧), a type of black hunting hound bred in the state of Han during China’s Warring States period.
Says the cat is 5 sun (15 cm) long, which would make it about as fierce as a California Roll. No, it’s actually 1 shaku 5 sun (45.5 cm) long.
The cat does not extend its needles like some furry acupuncturist. Instead, its eyes glint like needles.
It does not curl up to look like a circular Bi disk, but a grain of black millet.
Claims the emperor tied a bow around its neck. He did no such thing. The original text says when the cat stretches, it looks like a drawn bow, as in a bow to shoot arrows.
Its cry does not sound like a dragon in the sky, it’s the cat’s movement that is like a dragon.
It doesn’t like to catch birds, but mice.
Finally, he doesn’t exactly say his cat is superior to all other cats. He says, “Furthermore, its skill in swiftly catching mice at night surpasses other cats.”
Apparently only shown as some sort of special on the Bluey Australian FB page? ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Anyway, this explains the mystery of where Muffin and co. were in “Handstand” — on the other side of the room (not shown) watching cartoons!
Came across this by chance while looking for something else in the dictionary and I was intrigued enough to look more into it immediately!
Summary in English by me:
“ 「凡爾賽文學」, shortened to 「凡學」 (lit. “ordinary studies/literature”) is a slang term popularised within the Chinese web sphere around 2020. Attributed to netizen “Little Milk Ball”.
Refers to people who made social posts about themselves in a seemingly self-mockery/self-depreciating manner but are really aiming to brag about their lives/lifestyles. People who fall under 「凡學」 are (mockingly?) described as 「凡人」 (lit. “ordinary people”)…(笑)
“Versailles” refers in part to the actual Palace of Versailles in France and its associated history of (tone-deaf) extravagance and opulence in excess by the royal and aristocratic class during the reign of Louis the XIV in the 17th century, while the common people were starving and struggling.
But it refers more to the manga work “The Rose of Versailles” by Ikeda Riyoko, which is a fictitious story set in the historical context of the Palace of Versailles and also touches on the outrageousness of some of the characters from that time.”
Saw some books with interesting covers (and questions!) being advertised…
…and thought I'd try to find some answers for myself, at least as far as the questions posed on these book covers are concerned! But for time-crunch and energy-saving reasons, (obviously) not looking up all of them! Only the ones I've never even thought of until now and/or seem more interesting than some others.
There are way more trivia questions (and answers) in each book, if anyone's interested to look into further, do check out the Contents section in the links to each book below. All in (Traditional) Chinese though. But with today's online dictionaries and powerful translation machines available, language barriers shouldn't be a big problem.
「從古人詞語學文化常識」 “Learning about culture from the Ancients' language and expressions.”
「最素樸的問與答，解開這些知其然，卻不知其所以然的問題。」 “The most basic questions (asked) and the answers, looking deeper into these common sayings that have been used and heard of, but rarely understood beyond the surface.”
Book 1:
「閉門羹是什麼，可以吃嗎？」
“What is 閉門羹 (lit. ‘closed door soup’), can it be eaten?”
Ans.: 閉門羹 means ‘to give the cold shoulder’; ‘to refuse to receive someone’; ‘to shut the door in someone's face’. When someone says they 吃了閉門羹 (lit. ‘eaten closed door soup’), it means they've been rejected.
This expression apparently came from courtesans in ancient times who, when they did not wish to entertain clients (but cannot reject them outright, I guess), would serve their client(s) a bowl of soup in lieu of bedroom services…🤔 was the soup laced with something to send the clients to sleep, I wonder? I honestly wouldn't be surprised if that did happen! 😸
「『五花八門』 是指哪 『五花』，哪 『八門』？」
“Which 五花 and which 八門 are 五花八門 (lit. 5 flowers 8 doors/gates) referring to?”
Ans.: 五花八門 referred to two kinds of ancient military strategies known as the ‘Five Flowers Formation’ and ‘Eight Gates Formation’, it later evolved to become a metaphor to mean ‘myriad’ or ‘variety’; for example you can describe the myriad of things sold at a store as 五花八門 (i.e. rich in variety).
「有冬(東)瓜、西瓜和南瓜，那有沒有北瓜呢？」
“There's ‘East Gourd’ (冬瓜 — winter melon; 冬 means ‘winter’ and is a homonym for 東, which means ‘east’), ‘West Gourd’ (really refers to ‘watermelon’) and ‘South Gourd’ (refers to ‘pumpkin/squash’), is there a ‘North Gourd’ then?”
Ans.: There actually are 北瓜, it's just that the other kinds of ‘directional gourds’ brings to mind very specific kinds of gourd, while the 北瓜 covers a wider variety gourds that can all be called under the umbrella term 「北瓜」.
↑ “North gourds, also known by other names such as ‘Bear (Hero — homonym) gourd’, ‘White gourd’, ‘Small gourd’…” (etc. not naming them all, the idea is there, good enough.)
Book 2:
「一炷香到底有多久？」
“How long exactly is one stick of incense/does one stick of incense take to burn?” (Ancient people often used incense sticks to keep track of time.)
Ans.: This really depends on the size (length and thickness) of the incense stick, also known as Joss stick, but roughly based on the most common and average size of Joss sticks, 一炷香 can last about half hour to an hour.
「古詩詞中常常提到的 『解語花』 是什麼花？」
“What kind of flower is the 解語花, often mentioned in ancient poetry?”
Ans.: 解語花 has come to refer to a woman who's understanding and compassionate. Originally, it's supposed to have come from Emperor Tang Xuanzong's praise of his favourite Concubine, Yang Guifei.
「我們為什麼說買 『東西』 而不說買 『南北』？」
“Why do we call ‘buying something’ as ‘buying east west’ and not ‘buying south north’?”
Ans.: One story goes, during the 東漢朝代 (Eastern Han Dynasty), 洛陽 (Luoyang) and 長安 (Chang'an) were considered the most prosperous cities with Luoyang considered the East Capital and Chang'an the West Capital; lots of people headed to these two capitals to shop, so ‘buying (in) East West’ referred to buying things from these two places and eventually ‘East West’ came to simply mean ‘things’.
Another version goes like this, some smart-alec called 朱熹 (Chu Hsi/Zhu Xi), a scholar from the Song Dynasty thought he'd be clever and answered his friend's question, asking where he was heading off to, with the cryptic response, “buying East West”. The friend was of course puzzled and asked for clarification, 朱熹 then told him to compare the Five Elements — 金 (Metal)、木 (Wood)、水 (Water)、火 (Fire)、土 (Earth) — with the Five Directions — 東 (East)、西 (West)、南 (South)、北 (North)、中 (Central); East and West corresponds to Metal and Wood, meaning 朱熹 was heading off somewhere to buy something made of metal and something else made of wood.
However, as the prevalence of 買東西 already existed during the Han Dynasty, the first origin story is more credible.
Book 3:
「人在江湖，身不由己，但什麼是江湖？」
“What exactly is 江湖 (lit. rivers and lakes), in the proverb, 人在江湖，身不由己?” (the proverb basically means ‘one does not have complete control in this world and oftentimes should learn to compromise on things’.)
Ans.: Fans of the 武俠 and 仙俠 genres will probably be already familiar with this term. What is a 江湖? That is a rather complex concept that thankfully already has a handy and pretty comprehensive Wikipedia page to it! Saving myself the explanation — I won't be able to explain it better than Wiki or the other excellent and more succinct fan explanations out there anyway!
「為什麼做事不認真叫作 『馬虎』？」
“Why is doing things in a flippant, slipshod, unserious manner known as 馬虎 (lit. horse and tiger)?”
Ans.: A popular legend on the origins of 馬虎 goes that an artist in the Song Dynasty was just idly painting and somehow ended up painting a picture of a chimera, a creature that ended up with a tiger head and horse body. When his two young sons asked him what creature it was, he carelessly told his elder son it was a tiger and his younger son that it was a horse. In the end, the elder son ended up shooting someone's horse believing it was a tiger and had to reimburse the horse's owner, while the younger son got killed by a tiger when he approached it thinking it was a horse.
Henceforth, 馬虎 became an expression associated with being careless and doing things lackadaisically.
Book 4:
「馬桶原本是給馬用的嗎？」
“Is the 馬桶 (toilet bowl, water closet — lit. horse bucket) originally meant for horses to use?”
Ans.: No, the 馬桶 as it's called today in Standard Chinese, once went by (and still do, actually) a variety of names, among the varied ways to call the toilet bowl, the one used by an Emperor during the Han Dynasty was known as a 虎子 (lit. ‘tiger cub’) because the receptacle was carved in a shape like a tiger.
The name was changed from 虎 to 馬 (arbitrarily, I guess?) during the Tang Dynasty because Emperor 高祖 (personal name, 李淵) had an ancestor with the name of 李虎, and it was taboo to use a character that has ties to a reigning Emperor, so 虎子 became 馬子, which eventually evolved to 馬桶, and the name stuck till today.
「青花瓷上一定有青色的花？」
“Must 青花瓷 (a kind of Chinese porcelain, literally translates as ‘blue flower’ porcelain) always have blue (coloured) flowers (on them)?”
Ans.: No. The 花 here does not literally mean ‘flowers’ but rather ‘pattern’. So 青花 here actually means ‘blue pattern’, but it doesn't help that a lot of the blue patterns on these kinds of porcelain do happen to be of flowers! Here's the Wiki entry for this “style of decoration based on sinuous plant forms”.
「『小巫見大巫』，真的是兩個巫師見面嗎？」
“In the saying 小巫見大巫 (meaning ‘to feel insignificant, to feel dwarfed by a greater presence/person’ and literally means ‘small sorcerer meets big sorcerer’), did two sorcerers really meet (for this proverb to come about)?”
Ans.: No, it doesn't literally refer to two sorcerers. This saying apparently came about during the Warring States from philosopher 莊子, who once gave an analogy between two hypothetical sorcerers to make a point about how if a person meets someone who is more capable than themselves but refuses to learn from them, then they will be forever be inferior and remain a subordinate.
The meaning evolved during the Three Kingdoms period when scholar 陳琳 described himself in a self-depreciating manner to his peers, calling himself a ‘small sorcerer’, who cannot compare to his peers, the ‘big sorcerers’ who are more talented and skilled than him.
Esoteric knowledge one can unexpectedly gain from an insipid film novelization —riddled with typos— of a niche '90s serial killer story…
On TIL, or rather, TWIL — “This Week I Learned”:
That the “Wo Hop To” (和合圖) Triad is real.
What “hanging the blue lantern” (掛藍燈籠) means in the Chinese Triad world.
That Henry Liu was a real guy and he did get assassinated by the Triad.
Author should be commended for attempting to add some colour into their writing by throwing in tidbits from another culture into the story, even though it makes no real difference ultimately, but could perhaps do more research or clarification — “low fan” (老番) simply means “foreigner” and does not specifically mean "white policeman”; "number four” (阿四) is Cantonese slang to mean “servant”.
But kudos for inserting a dig (?) at people who assume spoken Chinese is just one language or that all Chinese people will automatically understand each other.
