Month: October 2011
Now we know why they have to be funny…
Clowns have breasts but no milk by Jennifer Ball 笨 笑 哭 Meaning: foolish laugh cry Characteristics crinkly eyes, funny face crinkly eyes, open…
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Interesting Chinese Characters #1: Mythical Animal that Eats Its Mother
獍 A mythical animal that eats its mother when it is born; Manchurian tiger. Pinyin: jing4. Cantonese: ging3. Very few animals eat their mothers; occasionally some insects and…
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Puyi had a wet nurse (not shown) until age 14
Mandarin I Berkeley Extension Class 7 Oct. 18, 2011 425 Market Street San Francisco, CA Professor: Virginia Mau Test 11/1 (next class): Comprehensive –…
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Mothers are flowers, aren’t they?
“Mother,” “son,” and “flower”: all have breast imagery in the Maya hieroglyphs Son Mother Flower
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You say “gege,” I say “gugu”; you’re Chinese, I’m Akkadian, and we’re both talking about virgins
Mandarin I Berkeley Extension – Class 6 – Oct. 11, 2011 425 Market Street San Francisco, CA Professor: Virginia Mau “Ge ge” (guh-guh) means…
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The roots of “Please 请” are kind of messy
请 Please qing3 = please The right-hand phonetic 青 is also in the word for“semen”: 精 jing1. This makes sense: the bottom is the moon stand-in…
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Wang ba is a cuckold which is a tortoise
Mandarin I Berkeley Extension – Class 5 – Oct. 4, 2011 425 Market Street San Francisco, CA Professor: Virginia Mau Notes taken and commentary…
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