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Part 1: Introductions, Perfunctories
Or, how a Zhonglish speaker works to break the Beijing record in nèige-to-content ratio.
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| 1 |
SYZ |
Nín hǎo! Nín zhīdào nèige zuìhòu nèige 5 hào xiàn de nèige dìtiě zhàn zài nǎr? |
您好!您知道那个最后 那个5号线的那个地铁站在哪儿? |
Hello. Do you know where the last station on subway line five is? |
| 2 |
SJ |
A, a, Sòng Zhuāngr ya? |
啊,啊,宋庄儿呀? |
Oh, uh, Song Zhuang? |
| 3 |
SYZ |
A, Sòng Zhuāngr. . Wǒ wàng le jiào shénme le |
啊,宋庄。。我忘了叫什么了 |
Right, Song Zhuang, I forgot what it was called. |
| 4 |
|
Gāngcái zài nèi biān kǎo nèige, kǎo jiàzhào. |
刚才在那边考那个,考驾照。 |
Just now I was over on that side (of the freeway) taking the driver’s test. |
| 5 |
SJ |
O. . . Kǎo jiàzhào qù le. |
哦。。。考驾照去了。 |
Oh, you took the driver’s test. |
| 6 |
|
Nǐ. . Yǒu jiàzhào ma? |
你。。有驾照吗? |
You — do you have a license? |
| 7 |
SYZ |
Wǒ yǒu nèige wàiguó de nèige jiàzhào. |
我有那个外国的那个驾照。 |
I have a foreign license. |
| 8 |
|
Ránhòu Zhōngguó shì zhèyàngr, yào yàoshi yǒu nèige wàiguó de jiàzhào, jiù jiù nèige fǎlǜ guī guīlǜ (dìng) nèige kǎo nèige. Jiù kěyǐ gěi nǐ yīgè jiàzhào. |
然后中国是这样,要要是有那 个外国的驾照,就就那个法律规规律(定)那个考那个。就可以给你一个驾照。 |
Then in China it’s like this: if you have a foreign license you can take the test on traffic laws and they’ll give you a license. |
Part 2: Experience kills
Or, who do you fear?
Audio:
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| 9 |
SJ |
Zhōngguó zhèi chē bǐ [pǐ?!] nèige, bǐ [pǐ?!] gēn nèige wàiguó nèi chē nán kāi. |
中国这车比那个,比跟那个外国那车难开 |
Driving a car is harder in China than it is abroad. |
| 10 |
|
Shì ba? |
是吧? |
Right? |
| 11 |
|
Tā zhèige Zhōngguó zhèi chē shì hú kāi, làn kāi. Wàiguó nèi shì, rénjiā shì gāi zěnme zǒu jiù zěnme zǒu. Zhèige dìr shì xiǎng zěnme zǒu, jiù zěnme zǒu. |
他这个中国这车是胡开,烂开。外国那是,人家是该怎么走就怎么走这个 地儿是想怎么走,就怎么走 |
Chinese driving is reckless, crappy. Abroad, people go the way they’re supposed to. Here people go the way they want to. |
| 12 |
SYZ |
Duì, xiǎng diào ge tóu jiù diào ge tóu, hǎoduō shíxí de. |
对,想调个头就调个头,好多 实习的。 |
Right, if they want to U-turn they U-turn — and there are a lot of new drivers.
|
| 13 |
SJ |
Duì, shíxí de? Shíxí de fǎndào méiyǒu shì. Tā. . Dǎnr xiǎo.Ai, tā jiùshì jǐ le nǐ le, yě shǔyú tā méi kàn dào.Zhèxiē rén méiyǒu shì, tā zhèige màn.Pà jiù pà shénme ya? Shíxí de yǐjīng hěn shúliàn le. |
对,实习的?实习的反倒没有事。他。。胆儿小。哎,他就是挤了你了,也属于他没看到。这些人没有 事,他这个慢。怕就怕什么呀?实习的已经很熟练了。 |
Right, but student drivers? Actually they’re fine. No guts! Ah, they’ll just squeeze you a bit, and only because they didn’t see you. These people are no problem. They’re just slow. Scared — you know what to be scared of? It’s when the student drivers start to get proficient. |
| 14 |
SJ |
Wǒ zhèi liǎng bǎ lúnr měi wèntí le, nà jiù, nà jiù, nǐ yī kāi zhèi chē. .Shàng nèige shù yě méi duō yuǎnr le. Nèi zhǒng rén, ai, kě pà. |
我这两把轮儿没问题了,那 就,那就,你一开这车。。上那个树也没多远了。那种人,哎,可怕。 |
“Hey, my wheels got bling!” and then, well, he drives off and — ends up parked in that tree. This kind of person — now THAT’s scary. |
| 15 |
SYZ |
Nà nǎge jiào nèige shénme nèige “mǎlù shāshǒu”? |
那哪个叫那个什么那个“马路杀手”? |
So which do we call the “road killer”? |
| 16 |
SJ |
Āi, nèige jiào, ai, zhèige shì tā hàipà. |
哎,那个叫,哎,这个是他害怕。 |
That guy, of course. This guy — he’s just scared. |
| 17 |
|
Ai, yóuqí shì nèige nǐ kànzhe zhèi chē nèi tíqián dǎ dēngr de nèige. |
哎,尤其是那个你看着这车那提前打灯儿的那个。 |
Like when you see a car and they turn on their turn signal too early. |
| 18 |
|
Nèige méiyǒu shì, tíqián dǎ bèng dēngr nèige, ai, tā shì gāng xuéhuì. |
那个没有事,提前打泵灯儿那 个,哎,他是刚学会 |
That’s no big deal, the guy that turns on his turn signal too early — ah, he’s just learning. |
| 19 |
|
Pà jiù pà nèige bù dǎ dēngr nèige, dàihuǐr jiù guǎi. Mǎlù zhèi shāshǒu tài duō tài duō le. |
怕就怕那个不打灯儿那个,待会儿就拐。马路这杀手太多太多了。 |
What’s scary is the one who doesn’t use his signal at all — just makes the turn. These road killers… too many, too many. |
| 20 |
|
Tā zhèige shíxí de zhèixiē xīn sījī, tā hái méi zhǎngwò zhèi chē ne. Tā zǒng shì màn, màn. |
他这个实习的这些新司机,他 还没掌握这车呢。他总是慢,慢 |
This student driver, these new drivers — they still don’t understand cars. They’re just slow — slow. |
| 21 |
|
Děng tā shíxí de gǎnjué zhe wǒ zhèi liǎng bǎ lúnr, āiyōu, bǐ tāmen lǎo sījī shú duō le! |
等他实习的感觉着我这两把轮儿,哎呦,比他们老司机熟多了! |
But once they start to think “I’m the man, I’ve got it over these old drivers any day!” |
| 22 |
|
Tāmen nèi lǎo sījī dà miàn guā, āi |
他们那老司机大面瓜,哎 |
“These old drivers, what a bunch of losers.” |
Part 3: Traffic is your salvation
Or, the ominous open road.
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| 23 |
SYZ |
Nín shì kāichē duōjiǔ? |
您是开车多久? |
How long have you been driving? |
| 24 |
SJ |
Ó, wǒ kāichē ya? Wǒ kāichē kě tài cháng le ba, 20 duō nián le ba. |
哦,我开车呀?我开车可太长 了吧,20多年了吧。 |
Oh, me, driving? I’ve been driving for too long! More than 20 years. |
| 25 |
SYZ |
Shì ma? |
是吗? |
Really? |
| 26 |
SJ |
Tiāntiān zài kāi, méiyǒu yītiān xiūxí de shíhou. Tiāntiān kāi, kāi dé yǐjīng bùxiǎng kāi le. |
天天在开,没有一天休息的时 候。天天开,开得已经不想开了。 |
Driving every day, not a day of rest. Driving every day. Driving so much I don’t want to drive any more, |
| 27 |
|
Xiǎng de zuò chē le. . Méijìn! Yóuqí shì xiàng báitiān ya, zài Běijīng yě hǎo, fǎnzhèng zài Zhōngguó dà dìshang. |
想的坐车了。。没劲!尤其是像白天呀,在北京也好,反正在中国大地 上。 |
it’d be better to ride. No interest in driving anymore! Driving during the day, in Beijing or wherever in China, |
| 28 |
|
Chē duō rén duō dì dìfāng, zhèi chē hǎo kāi. Pà jiù pà méi — méi chē de dìfāng, nà shì tài kě pà le shíjì. |
车多人多的地方,这车好开。怕就怕没没车的地方,那是太可怕了实际 |
where there are lots of cars and lots of people — that’s where the driving’s good. The scary thing is where there aren’t cars! Really, THAT’s what’s scary. |
| 29 |
SYZ |
Wèishéme ya? |
为什么呀? |
Why’s that? |
| 30 |
SJ |
Sùdù kuài ya! Nǐ kàn zhèige, zhèige zhèige Jīngjīntáng Gāosùlù shàng, |
速度快呀!你看这个,这个这 个京津塘高速路上, |
Speed! Take the Jingjintang Highway – |
| 31 |
|
Tā tā zhǐshì fāshēng zhuīwěi de shìr duō. Nǐ xiàng nèi Jīngshěn Gāosù shàng, kě bié chūshìr, yī chūshìr, chē huǐ rén wáng.Nà dōu shì sùdù zéi kuài zéi kuài de. |
他 他只是发生追尾的事儿 多。你像那京沈高速上,可别出事儿,一出事儿,车毁人亡。那都是速度贼快贼快的。 |
mostly just fender-benders. But on the Jingshen highway — don’t even think about an accident! Just one accident and you have casualties and totaled cars.It’s all about extreme speed, extreme speed. |
| 32 |
|
Yī shuō jiùshì, āi, shígè chē, wǔgè chē, āi yōu, fěnsuì! |
一说就是,哎,10个车,5 个车,哎呦,粉碎! |
Just one mention of an accident and, well, it’s 10 cars, 5 cars — smashed! |
| 33 |
|
Qícì ne, hái yǒu yīgè, zuìdà de wèntí. |
其次呢,还有一个,最大的问题。 |
The other thing is, there’s also another — the biggest problem. |
Part 4: Beware the good deal
Or, milk powder in your car parts.
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| 34 |
SJ |
Zhīdào ma? Jiùshì… Nín xiàng shuō zhèige. Měiguó. Tā xiǎo qǐmǎr zhèige chē tā xiū qù, tā dōu shǐyòng zhèngguī de língjiànr lái xiū. |
知道吗?就是。。您像说这 个。美国。他小起码儿这个车他修去,他都使用正规的零件来修。 |
Know what it is? Well, like take America — a guy gets his car repaired and at the very least he uses standard parts. |
| 35 |
|
Nín xiàng Běijīng zhèige dìfāng, cóng dǎ mǎi le chē, yī chū le zhèi bǎoxiū, jiù kāishǐ shàng qìpèi chéng. Mǎlù biānr shang xiū, piányi. |
您像北京这个地方,从打买了车,一出了这保修,就开始上汽配城。马路边儿上修,便宜。 |
But you take Beijing, this place — as soon as the warranty’s up he goes to the auto parts markets, gets it fixed at the roadside shops — cheap. |
| 36 |
|
Nǐ bié kàn zhèige 4S diàn guì, tā nèi diǎnr de jiàr háishì bǐjiào zhèngguī. |
你别看这个4S店贵,他那点 儿的价儿还是比较正规。 |
Don’t think the 4S Shop [a well-known auto parts & service store] is expensive, their prices are pretty standard. |
| 37 |
|
Nǐ zhèige dìr huài le, tā nèr gěi nǐ huàn shàng. |
你这个地儿坏了,他那儿给你换上。 |
You have something break — if you go there to get it changed, |
| 38 |
|
Nà jiùshì shǐ shàng shíwàn gōnglǐ, jīběn shàng yīnggāi méi wèntí le. A. |
那就是驶上十万公里,基本上 应该没问题了。啊 |
then you go 100,000 km, basically you shouldn’t have any problems. |
| 39 |
|
Kěshì. . Tā nèige guì ya, a shàng zhèige shénme qìpèi chéng le, lù biānr diàn le, piányi ya. |
可是。。他那个贵呀,啊上这个什么汽配城了,路边儿店了,便宜呀。 |
But… sure, that’s expensive, so you go to some roadside auto parts market. It’s cheaper. |
| 40 |
|
Xiū shàng le, nà jiùshì méipǔr de wányìr. |
修上了,那就是没谱儿的玩意儿 |
You get it fixed, but with some jerryrigged piece of crap. |
Part 5: Trust and the heart of darkness
Or, one Beijinger’s refutation of every business book ever written about guanxi.
Audio:
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| 41 |
SYZ |
Nà nín yàoshi, bǐrú shuō shì, bǎ zhèige chē gěi xiūle, nín yǒu, nǐ nǐ rènshi de rén de shénme…? |
那您要是,比如说是,把这个车给修了,您有,你你认识的人的什么。。 |
Well, so if you — for example, if you have to get this car repaired — do you have somebody you know…? |
| 42 |
SJ |
Rènshi de rén yě bùguǎn yòng, nèige xīn gèng hēi, zhīdào ma? Nèi xīn gèng hēi. |
认识的人也不管用,那个心更 黑,知道吗?那心更黑。 |
People you know are no use, their hearts are even darker. Did you know that? Their hearts are even darker. |
| 43 |
SYZ |
Nà zěnme bàn a? |
那怎么办啊? |
So what can you do? |
| 44 |
SJ |
Jiù děi shàng 4S diàn bàn. |
就得上4S店办 |
You just have to go to the 4S shop and take care of it. |
| 45 |
|
Nín jiùshì rènde wǒ, nín rènde wǒ, shàng wǒ zhèr lái xiū lái, nín jiùshì xiǎng zhe shǎo huā qián lái de. |
您就是认得我,您认得我,上我这儿来修来,您就是想着少花钱来的。 |
If we know each other, you know me and come to my place to get repairs, then what you’re really wanting is to spend less money. |
| 46 |
|
Wǒ néng gěi nín shǐ nèige hǎo jiànr ma? Shǐ hǎo jiànr, wǒ zhèi qián, yóu nǎr zhēng ya? |
我能给您使那个好件儿吗?使 好件儿,我这钱,由哪儿挣呀? |
Can I give you the good parts? If I give you the good parts, how am I going to make money? |
| 47 |
|
Duì bù duì? Wǒ zhǐ néng gěi nín, zhǐ néng gěi nín shǐ yīgè làn jiànr! |
对不对?我只能给您,只能给您使一个烂件儿! |
Right? I can only give you — ONLY give you — the shoddy parts. |
| 48 |
|
Kěshì ne, wǒ gēn nín shōu yīgè hǎo jiànr de qián. |
可是呢,我跟您收一个好件儿 的钱。 |
BUT, I ask you to pay me the money for the good parts. |
| 49 |
|
Āi, kě méi zhèige, ai, kě méi shōu nǐ nèige shì… zhèige shénme gōngshí fèi a. |
哎,可没这个,哎,可没收你那个是。。这个什么工时费啊 |
Oh, but there’s no — well, I don’t charge you for labor! |
| 50 |
|
Āi, zánmen dōu shì péngyǒu, shì bù shì? Nǐ nǐ shàng zhèr lái, nǐ jiùshì gěi wǒ zhèige pěngchǎng lái le. |
哎,咱们都是朋友,是不是?你你上这儿来,你就是给我这个捧场来了 |
Hey, we’re friends, right? You come here and support me. |
| 51 |
|
Wǒ zhèr shì miǎnfèi de, miǎnfèi gěi nǐ, dànshì, jiànr qián nǐ děi gěi wǒ. |
我这儿是免费的,免费给你,但是,件儿钱你得给我。 |
For you, then, everything’s free — you just have to give me the cost of parts. |
| 52 |
|
Shízhì shang shì, wǒ gěi nǐ shǐ le yīgè làn jiànr. |
实质上是,我给你使了一个烂 件儿。 |
But the truth is, I give you the shoddy parts, |
| 53 |
|
Yào de nǐ de hǎo jiànr de qián. Nǐ huítóu hái děi huài. |
要的你的好件儿的钱,你回头还得坏。 |
and ask you to pay the cost of good parts. Pretty soon it’ll break again. |
| 54 |
|
Hái děi lái. |
还得来 |
And you’ll have to come here again. |
| 55 |
|
Nà bùshì yǒu jù huà ma, lǎoxiāng jiàn lǎoxiāng a, gàn ma liǎng yǎnlèi wāngwāng?* Dōu kēng sǐ le! |
那不是有句话嘛,老乡见老乡啊,干嘛两眼泪汪汪?都坑死了! |
You know the saying: you meet a fellow villager — you know why the tears flow freely? Because they’re bleeding you dry! |
| 56 |
|
A, yào bùshì wǒ gēn nǐ zhèige, xiāngxìn nǐ zhèige lǎoxiāng, wǒ bǎ zhèi qián gěi le nǐ, nǐ néng piàn sǐ wǒ ma? |
啊,要不是我跟你这个,相信你这个老乡,我把这钱给了你,你能骗死我 吗? |
Ah, if I didn’t trust you as my fellow villager, I woudn’t give you the money. Then you wouldn’t be able to cheat me to death, right? |
| 57 |
SYZ |
Jīngcháng shì zhèiyàng ma? |
经常是这样吗? |
Do you get this a lot? |
| 58 |
SJ |
Tā méiyǒu yīgè xìnyù, āi. Nǐ xiāngxìn le wǒ, wǒ cáinéng piàn nǐ ne. Duì ma? |
他没有一个信誉,哎你相信了 我,我才能骗你呢。对吗? |
Nobody else has the reputation. It’s only when you trust me that I can really cheat you, right? |
| 59 |
SYZ |
Ó, yǒu dàolǐ. |
哦,有道理。 |
Oh, makes sense. |
| 60 |
SJ |
Zán liǎ bù xiāngshí, nǐ néng gěi nèige dà bǎ de qián gěi wǒ ma? |
咱俩不相识,你能给那个大把 的钱给我吗? |
If we weren’t acquainted, would you give me that load of money? |
| 61 |
|
Bù kěnéng gěi wǒ. Yóuyú nǐ xiāngxìn wǒ, wǒ lái gěi nǐ bàn. |
不可能给我。由于你相信我,我来给你办。 |
No way you’d give it to me. But because you trust me, I’ll take care of things for you. |
| 62 |
|
Wǒ lái gěi nǐ bàn zhèige shìqíng. Nǐ zài Běijīng zhèr (yī) gài bù shú, wǒ lái gěi nǐ bàn. |
我来给你办这个事情。你在北 京这儿(一)概不熟,我来给你办 |
I’ll take care of this situation for you. You’re not familiar with Beijing, so I’ll take care of things for you. |
| 63 |
|
Bàn dehuà, xūyào zhè fèiyòng nà fèiyòng, nà fèiyòng zhè fèiyòng, zhèi nǐ děi ná, wǒ bái gěi nǐ bāngmángr a. |
办的话,需要这费用那费用,那费用这费用,这你得拿,我白给你帮忙儿 啊。 |
In the process, you gotta pay this fee, that fee, that fee, this fee. You have to pay for those, but I’ll help you for free. |
| 64 |
|
Qíshí bùshì nème huí shì de. |
其实不是那么回事的。 |
But actually it’s not free at all. |
| 65 |
|
15 kuài jiā yī kuài, gěi 16 kuài… Zhǎo gěi nín… |
15块加1块,给16块。。找给您。。 |
15 rmb plus one, total of sixteen… Here you go… |
Dialog notes
| 9 |
So what’s up with the pronunciation of 比 that sounds a lot like pǐ? No idea.
|
| 12 |
At this point two things had happened: there was a driver doing a classic seven-point U-turn on our two-lane road AND the driver immediately in front of us had a “student driver” sticker in his window.
|
| 13 |
The prosody and timing of a master story teller. Magnificent.
|
| 14 |
Sure, he didn’t say “bling.” I’m trying without a lot of success to give this thing a natural feel in English. Not just here but everywhere else. But what are you supposed to do with inventiveness like 我这两把轮儿没问题了? This appears to come from 两把刷子 / liǎng bǎ shuāzi, which means a pair of brushes and is used to describe someone who’s really adept (and maybe a bit cocky about it?). Anyway, feel free to suggest…
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| 15 |
“Road killer” is from this cab ride.
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| 21 |
Note shú pronunciation of 熟, which is also pronounced shóu. There was discussion of this somewhere recently but I can’t seem to remember where…
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| 40 |
There’s gotta be a better translation of 没谱儿的玩意儿
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| 42 |
He’s not getting emotional. At the moment it seemed like he got something stuck in his throat.
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| 55 |
The original saying here is 老乡见老乡,两眼泪汪汪 (lǎoxiāng jiàn lǎoxiāng, liǎng yǎnlèi wāngwāng). Really roughly: “when you meet someone from the old country you cry many tears”. Now in the original, those are meant to be tears of joy and nostalgia and so forth, but you can see how our hero has adapted the saying.
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| 65 |
Yes, that’s a one kuai per ride surcharge that Beijing tacked on a few months ago because of the high cost of gas. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m all in favor of compensating the drivers for increased costs. But any surcharge with a separate official one-kuai receipt puts an earwig in my tea.
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Weariness
Weary is one of those words reserved for individuals whose long experience and self-destructive perceptiveness have earned them the adjective. Use it for a young fellow who is “weary of life”, and it’s hard not to mutter about know-nothing whippersnappers. Use it for yourself and you just sound pretentious.
Once in a while, though, you come across a man who has lived the years and the disillusions to an extent not only to warrant weary, but to embody it. You might meet him more often than you realize, actually — it’s just that he doesn’t reveal his weariness. Why bother, after all? The accumulated wisdom is not something he’s proud of, it’s simply a burden. He knows he can’t pass it on anyway: the more you try to inoculate the next generation the more apt they are to think they understand and thereby wrap themselves in yet another layer of illusions. No, any comfort in the wisdom of the weary is cold indeed, because the weary man knows the race goes not to the wise and it’s all nada y nada y pues nada anyway.
So the weary man just drives. The passengers get into his car, and he goes where they want him to go. If they try to start a conversation, he grunts a response or two. He doesn’t try to be impolite about it, mind you; the surest sign of false weariness is the snappy fellow who’s just waiting for the chance to tell you how the world really is, you benighted idealist. That snappy cynic is, ironically, an idealist! a stark contrast to the weary man.
The truly weary man recognizes idealism for what it is, just another reflection from the prism of illusion, but he doesn’t judge it. He doesn’t judge anything, in fact. The knowledge of weariness is peculiarly fatalistic: he sees facts for what they are, just facts, not situations in need of change. That’s why you take a cab ride with him and you never know it. He just mutters your destination and adds the odd “oh” and “uh-huh”. Unless…
Unless, through some cosmic alignment of subject and attitude, you happen on the combination that unlocks the warehouse of weariness. You’re not sure how it happens, and you know the combination will be different next time. But there you are, wandering deeper and deeper into the recesses. Your narrator, your guide — he’s more talking to himself than to you. You just happen to be allowed to tag along on what is fundamentally a solitary tour. Ask a question or two to keep the soliloquy from trailing off; nothing more is needed.
Comments 9
I laughed so hard for the following reason:
I was all set to comment on the “pi” pronunciation of 比 when I saw that the dialog notes already mentioned it. So I thought I might as well read the rest of the notes before listening to the last clip. So I came to the note for line 42, and HAD to go listen to it immediately.
Oh man! I’m still chuckling actually.
In other news, does he say “shu du” for 速度 on line 30?
I love the hero’s voice by the way. Have you considered bringing him on staff as a regular?
Posted 25 Mar 2010 at 12:29 pm ¶This was great. I am a very slow learner of the Chinese language, so it was very difficult for me to follow, but it was great. I have been in many traffic jams in Beijing and other places and the description of driving made me chuckle. Thanks. I loved reading and listening to this.
Posted 26 Mar 2010 at 12:43 am ¶没谱儿的玩意儿 – why not start with something simple like non-standard parts?
Posted 26 Mar 2010 at 12:59 am ¶I remember being in that discussion on shú / shóu, but can’t remember for the life of me what the venue was!
Great post, in any case. Absolutely love the audio. Makes me wish I’d opted to study in Beijing rather than Taiwan.
Posted 27 Mar 2010 at 1:51 pm ¶@Albert: oh, if only I could get him as a regular! What a voice! What a weary outlook!
@Hsknotes: you’re the guy I was expecting to do more justice to 没谱儿的玩意儿. “Non-standard parts”?! boring and untrue to the spirit of the thing.
@Daan: Isn’t it better just to have this recording? All the joy of Beijing without the impossible traffic, the smog-choked air… (oh, but maybe you get that in Taiwan anyway?)
Posted 31 Mar 2010 at 9:48 am ¶Yes, I wish I could think of a term too, because I know exactly what you’re talking about, but the only images of this kind of thing that come to mind to me in America are people who make their own motorcycle parts. I believe there’s a part in Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance about this. I think the tradition of hand-made, custom-made, self-made replacement parts for cars and motorcycles just tends not to be as fishy in China.
For things like printer cartridges and consumer electronic device batteries, I think in China and America you have a recognition of these things as something like “knock-offs” (you still hear stories about batteries catching on fire, ink leaks/jamming, etc), but more aptly, and actually called, something like non-OEM. But it’s certainly a gap that will likely be filled in with the language eventually I suppose. I haven’t do serious IT work in a while, but I don’t have an impression of calling this stuff anything other than non-OEM, or other even less standard terms. But that would only be for electronics. I never did car work, but whenever I had to get a new belt or something, there didn’t ever seem to be the kind of contempt for “non-official” replacement parts like there was in the IT world. So, my only thought it is to ask around mechanics or IT workers for how they talk about that sort of stuff. I’m done here. I failed myself too, just so you know
Posted 01 Apr 2010 at 10:12 am ¶Pi?! That right there would have stopped me in my tracks and the thread of the recording would have been lost for a good 30 seconds. Can’t say I’ve ever heard that one before.
Posted 02 Apr 2010 at 9:14 pm ¶Some really great stuff here, thanks so much for posting. Was wondering if there are any direct download links available for the sound files?
Posted 29 May 2010 at 8:44 pm ¶Hi Carl, i think the sound files would be easy to find if i new my html/wp better, and i think i’ve found them before, but it might be easier if you just want to email me (bjshengr *at* gmail etc). I can send them to you in whatever format you want. I might even still have the original wav — oh, except that would be huge
Posted 30 May 2010 at 10:42 am ¶Post a Comment