Monthly Archives: February 2012

Oscars statuette 小金人

Posted on February 28, 2012 by rolling piggy

Chinese has a cute name for those Oscars statuettes 小金人. The literal translation is little gold person. (listen:) Oscars statuette  • 小: small, little. Pronunciation: xiǎo (3) • 金: gold. Pronunciation: jīn (1) • 人: person or people. Pronunciation: rén (2)

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Oscars. 奥斯卡

Posted on February 27, 2012 by rolling piggy

奥斯卡 is the phonetic translation for Oscars, which is Academy of Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences. The name Oscars was originally used for the statuettes. (listen:) Oscars  • 奥斯卡: Oscars. Pronunciation: 奥ào(4) 斯sī(1) kǎ(3)

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[Chinese you know?] Kung Fu

Posted on February 23, 2012 by rolling piggy

功夫(Kung Fu) probably reminds you of Chinese martial arts. The original meaning of 功夫 is: skills someone acquired after hard work. It can also mean efforts. (listen:) kung fu  • 功: achievement, efforts. Pronunciation: gōng (1) • 夫: man. Pronunciation: fu (soft tone) Please note … Continue reading →

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[Chinese you know?] Yin and Yang

Posted on February 22, 2012 by rolling piggy

The philosophical concept of Yin and Yang started from the observations of related yet somewhat contradicting phenomenons: moon and sun, day and night, men and women. Interestingly, the compositions of Yin and Yang reflect the roots back to moon and … Continue reading →

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[Chinese you know?] Zen

Posted on February 21, 2012 by rolling piggy

(listen:) Zen  禅 is a meditation practice in Buddhism. The sentiment of absolute peace in the meditation is what we call Zen. However, 禅 itself in Chinese is not interchangeable with Zen. For example, you can’t say doing dishes is a 禅 thing … Continue reading →

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