h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

What does this mean: "Wo whon how yo i cau jing"? I'm not sure how it's spelled or what it means because I learned it when I was 12. Perhaps its just gibberish? Or a false memory implanted in my mind by an enemy?

I hope I haven't been rude, because I'm new.

Ni hao. Ni hao ma? This is a really useful entry, I live in Malaysia but most of my friends are Chinese and I eat regularly at a Chinese restaurant where only one waitress has a smattering of English - all the others smile and wave but avoid our table like the plague as they cannot understand us. Now, with your handy phrases, we have the beginnings of communication.

xie xie, zai jian

elico

While it is hard to say precisely what your phrase means, it certainly seems like Chinese (or Chinese gibberish). If you could try to write out the phrase again, I might be able to help more. But in any event, this is what I can tell you:
"Wo" is almost certainly 3rd tone "Wo3", which is the first-person pronoun "I" or "me" in Mandarin Chinese. What's more, it occurs at the head of your phrase, in the correct subject position. Since Chinese is a Subject-Verb-Object (SVO) language, the next word "whon" should be the verb. The problem is that "whon" is not a spelling found in either of the two main romanization schemes for Chinese (Pinyin and Wade-Giles). So it is impossible, based on this spelling to tell you what this word is, much less what it means.
[It might be "wen2" ("hear, learn of"), "wen3" ("kiss") or "wen4" ("ask a question"), for example; then again the syllable might be a "wan" of some tone.]
Next is "how", again a spelling not used in either system. But is possible that it is "hou4", which "marks" the previous transitive verb as past tense.
After that is another (existential) verb, you3 (as in "Wo3 You3 yi1 Ping2 Pi2 Jiu3"- "I *have* a bottle of beer"); this is followed by "i", which is almost the "yi1" (one) used in the example about beer above. So the question then becomes what is a "cau (sic) jing"?
Well, if it is a "cao4", then you may very well have been saying something naughty all this time, and you definitely don't want to use that word in reference to your (or anobody else's) mother! But this "Caojing" is in the wrong place to be a verb (unless the phrase is complete Chinese gibberish, of course)-- you seem to be safe.
That's the best I can do for you, Datsun. If you can re-write the phrase and pay special attention to the proninciation/ spelling of the "whon" and "cau jing" bits, then I might be able to translate this for you. Sorry I couldn't do better; I just hated to see you waiting in vain! Feel free to look at my home page for more information on Mandarin Chinese and the numbers I use after Chinese words.

Your home page has nothing on it!!

elico

Dear Elico:

There should be a *bit* more on my page now, but I am studying for finals right now- I wish I had more time to write down all sorts of phrases!
Anyway, I can think of a couple of things you can say when you go to your favorite restaurant:

"Hao3 Jiu4 Bu2jian4": Literally, "Long time, no see". A nice thing to say when you run into an old friend or acquaintance.

"Hen2 Gan3Xie4": A more polite, heart-felt version of "Xie4xie4" ("Thank you")

"Qing3 lai2 Yi1 ge..." : "Please bring a..." Use this to order that Gong1 Bao4 Ji1 ding1 or Jing1 Jiang1 Rou4 Si1.

"Hao3 Chi1" means "Tasty, it was delicious", but "Chi1 Bao3 le" means "I am stuffed"- a very polite way of saying "What you have given me to eat was so tasty that I couldn't control myself, and so ate myself silly." More simply, it is just a sincere way of saying "It was delicious", but has an added cultural insight that will set you apart from the rest.

If something smells great, then you can say that it is "hen2 xiang1"; if the taste is sublime, then can say it has a "mei3 weir4".

If you need napkins, ask for "can1 jin1 zhi3", and you can ask for the bill by saying "Ke3yi3 suan4 zhang4 ma1?"

If you really want to be polite, you can compliment the manager or owner on their "fu4wu4" (service), which can be described as "qin1qie4" (sincere) or "hen2 Zhou1dao4" (very considerate).

By the way, if someone pours tea or some other beverage for you, it is polite (in Beijing, at least) to tap the table with the fingers of one hand. Legend has it that a Tang Dynasty Emperor fell in love with a serving girl, and the only way to express this was by tapping the table as she poured his tea. Believe it or not, but it is now considered a way of saying "thank you"- and you don't have to worry about tones!

Good luck, and let me know if there is something else you would like to learn.

Thank you. It's nice to know that I may have been saying something at least slightly obscene all this time (I'm just that type of person). When I was learning Mandarin, I wasn't learning Pinyin or any other kind of ponunciation translation; I was just taught the symbols and pronunciations. Besides, this was in my fifth-grade gifted class, so I probably wasn't paying much attention.

Hey Datsun:

Thanks for the message! You shouldn't worry, you probably weren't saying anything bad (unless that "cao" was in the fourth tone). The problem translating is this: Chinese uses "measure words" before nouns. Your phrase seems to mean "I want a...". Just like in Egnlish where we say a "pair" of pants and a "sheet" of paper.
Problem is, the most common "cao3" means "grass", and that's not a common measure word that I know of. Ok so maybe it's just "I want a caojing", but I can't find caojings in my dictionaries (yet). I'll keep looking.
I am impressed that you remember that much from fifth grade! I was in a similar "gifted" program with "enriched" curriculum that everybody should have gotten. I recall playing one of the first computer games, "Oregon Trail" on an Apple, learning about how progressive the Vikings were (this was Minnesota, after all), and a smattering of junior Egyptology.
One last point- don't mean to ramble- Chinese characters are *words*, not "symbols" per se. Strictly speaking, they're logographs, but ideographs will do in a pinch. I wrote a little bit about this on my page.
Well, take care and stop by often.

Miao

The word you put, 'whon' could quite possibly be 'wan', which with the third tone means 'play'. As in 'I play basketball' == 'Wo3 wan3 lan2 qiu3'

In some areas people might add an 'r' to the word and make the 'n' silent, so pronounced 'waar', but perhaps this wasn't from that area.

You wouldn't happen to remember the general idea of tones on that phrase? And are there any words you aren't quite sure about? (Such as 'yo'... according to placement could be 'duo1' or 'jiu3', just guesses.)

What's the Chinese phrase for "I am Irish?"
It might save my other half a bit of hastle to know it as we're off on holiday to China tomorrow....

Wo she ? guo ren
The missing syllable soiunds a bit like "Irish" I can't remember it off hand, but if no-one else replies in time, I'll have it ready for you when you get here.