Taiwan Today

It's all pretty horse
horse tiger tiger and even
a little confusing but
read on to learn more ready­
to-mouth expressions

Seeing once is far better than hearing a hundred times. So goes a popular Chinese proverb which has its Western derivation of "One picture is worth a thousand words." Interestingly, the Chinese speak as they see. This characteristic of the Chinese language, which may be called linguistic visualization, goes back to the beginnings, yet has kept up with the times. Modern Chinese abounds with expressions that visualize. Some have counterparts in Western languages but most are of Chinese origin. These expressions are generally easy to understand in literal translation. Exceptions involve differing culture patterns. In this article, the Chinese is romanized and literally translated. Explanations are appended when these seem necessary. As the Chinese say, the cow's head does not fit the horse's mouth. Linguistic visualization is illustrated in the following story:

Chang Ta-ma, wife of a successful businessman, gave a party at her newly purchased apartment one evening. Relatives and her husband's business associates were invited. Cars arrived like water and horses came like dragons (ch'e shuei ma lung, plenty of cars and guests). When Miss Jade and Mr. Cow, Chang Ta-ma's daughter and son-in-law, arrived, the living room was already filled with people mountain, people sea (jen shan jen hai, very crowded). Miss Jade who was as beautiful as the heavenly fairy (mei ju t'ien hsien) greeted her mother, saying: "You have gained weight" (fa fu, to become prosperous). The mother an­swered politely: "Where, where's (the favor) (na li, na li, not at all). We moved here just in time to celebrate your father's birthday tomorrow." "Yes, mother," the daughter replied, "we came today to warm his birthday" (nuan shou, to celebrate a birthday the day before). "Now go and toast your father," the mother urged her daughter. As the daughter took off her coat and shoes to change into dragging shoes (t'uo hsieh, slippers) she said: "I'm coming on horse" (ma shang, right away).

A few moments later a maid entered the living room and announced dinner was ready. "Please, ascend to your seats" (ch'ing shang tso, to be seated). "And please do not assume the air of a guest" (k'e ch'i, be polite). Guests rose, and being polite, each said to the other: "You first, please" (ning hsien ch'ing) as they went to the dining room.

As soon as everyone was seated, the host, Mr. Chang, rose with his cup of wine and offered a toast, saying: "Thank you for offering me your presence" (shang kuang, to attend or be present at a social function). "Please use the food" (please start to eat). "Don't be k'e ch'i." The guests returned the toast, saying: "May ten thousand things be as you wish" (wan shih ju i, may every­thing go well). "We will come ourselves" (we will help ourselves).

As the courses followed one another, guests named them: crystal chicken, West Lake sour fish, Chicken a la King Hua, King Hua jade tree chicken, paper wrapped fried chicken, homemade bean curd, old lady's bean curd, silver thread rolls, fire pot, ants crawling on trees, eight treasures rice, etc.

Tea was served after dinner. Chang Ta-ma said: "Four years ago my husband established a small export-import company dealing in Christmas lights and souvenirs. Two years ago he expanded his business to include general handicraft items and ready-to-wear clothes. This is how we man­aged to save enough money to buy this public residence" (kung yu, apartment). The guests responded, saying: "Mr. Chang is truly a man of high morals and heavy reputation" (good reputa­tion). "The Buddha has blessed him and given him such a beautiful family." Chang Ta-ma replied: "You are over-rewarding us" (over-praising). Sud­denly a Taiwanese guest said: "Miss Jade, you are of icy flesh and jade bones (ping chi yu ku, used to describe a beautiful girl) and your husband is as handsome as the crown jade (mien ju kuan yu). What head road is he eating" (chia t'ao lo, Taiwanese dialect, meaning what is one's profes­sion? ) Chang Ta-ma's son-in-law answered politely: "I'm in banking. It is a good vocation. I used to work in a private firm. I left because I could not stand the corruption. Since Premier Chiang called for a crackdown on corruption, many dishonest businessmen who tried to offer us red envelopes (hung pao, bribes) or allowed scalping (huei k'o, kickbacks in business deals, illegal commissions) have cut down on oil and water (you shui, illegal profit). Now they are like ants on a hot pot (je kuo shang te ma i, used to describe a state of anxiety, uneasiness). These employees joined the firm only to run the dragon set (p'ao lung tao, a term used in Peiping opera to describe extras with no lines) or to pat the horse's behind" (p'o ma p'i, to do everything to please the boss for personal gain).

One of the guests praised the young man: "You are really an upright man and a gentleman (cheng jen chun tzu) and have seen the blood with one penetration of the needle" (i chen chien hsieh, to hit the point directly). Another guest asked: "I heard that you have studied abroad; is that true?" The son-in-law answered: "Yes, I was a hall runner (p'ao t'ang, waiter) in a Chinese restaurant when I studied business administration in the United States. I don't say that I achieved anything but at least I drank foreign water for a while" (ho yang shui, to study abroad). Na li, na li," the guest said, "with your learning and your background you will be like a single sail in the right wind (i fan fung shun) and, besides, banking is a golden rice bowl" (chin fan wan, a secure job). Being such a bright young man, you will be as secure as the T'ai Mountain" (wen ju t'ai shan). The son-in-law smiled: "When I first joined the bank, someone tried to grab my position and got himself red in the face and in the ear" (mien hung erh ch'ih, to be angry and enraged).

One of the good friends of the family inter­rupted the conversation, saying: "We all forgot to wash the dust (welcome-home party or celebra­tion) for your son-in-law." The young man said humbly: "No, that is not necessary. I went abroad only to get gold painted (tu chin, to get an academ­ic degree abroad) and to get married." Miss Jade turned to her husband and said: "Stop covering (kai, meaning to boast), dead look" (ssu hsiang, derogatory nickname often used by girls in scolding naughty boys). The young man said: "It's true." His wife retorted: "Stop discarding your face (pu yao lien), you dead ghost" (ssu kuei, said of a husband who has been naughty). The young man smiled and said: "See, ladies and gentlemen, the tigress (mu lao hu, said of a woman with a bad temper) is having her feminine rage again" (fa ts'u wei, said of an angry woman).

The young man continued: "One thing good about modern marriages is, as they said in the old days, follow a chicken after marrying a chicken and follow a dog after marrying a dog" (chia chi sui chi, chia ko sui ko, meaning not to regret a marriage). The young wife retorted: "One com­pensation in our marriage is that at least my husband is not a big stupid cow (ta pen niu, said of one not bright). He is a smart man but he re­gards money as his own life (shih ch'ien ju ming, to be miserly). When we first dated, I thought he was like the other pursuers, a toad thinking of eating a swan's meat (lai ha ma hsiang ch'ih t'ien o jou, said of someone who wishes to marry a girl above his social status. The boy is symbolized by the toad and the girl by the swan). But he won out because he was on the balcony near the waterside and got the moon first (chin shui lou t'ai hsien te yueh, to be at a vantage point and get the prey). At first he came to me with his mouth sealed as the bottle (shou k'ou ju p'ing, said of someone who does not reveal anything) but when he suddenly made his proposal, he made it difficult for me to go forward or retreat (chin t'uei liang nan, in an awkward position). At first I thought he was not serious but after his life or death pursuit (szu ch'an huo ch'an) I fell in love. When he met my parents all knots were loosened as they met the knife (ying jen erh chieh, to solve all problems with one stroke). Actually he was considered a dark horse (hei ma, from English). He promised to step over boiling water and trot over fire (fu t'ang tao huo, to risk anything). One time he saved me from a hoodlum who tried a fairy's leap (hsien jen t'iao, to con someone) on me. Another time he fought and caught a gentleman on the beam (liang shang chun tzu, a thief). His personality is upright (cheng chih) and sometimes as hard as steel (kang, said of someone of unswerving character) and as stubborn as a mule (luo tzu p'i ch'i, the same as English). I like the way he manages things as if using a sharp knife to chop down unruly straw (k'uai tao chan luan ma). Another thing I like about him is his dedication and devotion. He doesn't like girls who extend their flowers and branches luringly (hua chih chao chan, said of those who use feminine wiles to attract males) nor those who walk like the three-inch golden lilies (san ts'un chin lien, said of weak and femi­nine women who walk daintily as if by inches and on bound feet). He also dislikes the thirteen­-o'clock and three-eight women (shih san tien and san pa, both describing women who overdo their charm, san pa is short for March 8, Women's Day.) He is not a man who assumes the strange air of yin-yang (yin yang kuai ch'i, said of someone queer) and he is never horse horse tiger tiger (ma ma hu hu, careless, imprecise, unparticular). He sees things squarely and never adds feet in drawing a snake (hua she t'ien tsu). To me he is never motherly motherly and grandmotherly grand­motherly (p'o p'o ma ma, describing the Jewish mother type). Maybe he got his bank job because he argues for every catty in financial affairs (chin chin chi chiao, to argue or calculate every cent in a miserly way). But he is never so aggressive as to advance a foot after gaining an inch" (te ts'un chin ch'ih).

A guest unintentionally looked at the clock on the wall and the daughter noticed. She said: "Enough about my husband. Let us all go into the living room and continue our talk there." There the TV was blasting out commercials. "Ladies, to be a thousand times charming and a hundred times attractive (ch'ien chiao pai me), please use Top Shampoo, a quality product that will not be met again in another thousand years" (ch'ien tsai nan feng). And "Ch'ieh Ah Mien (noodles) will make your mouth water three feet" (ch'ui hsien san ch'ih). And another: "Mo Mo Pu Sen Wan will give you an armful of strength (i pi chih li) and will drive your weariness away like a shot of escaping smoke" (i liu yen erh).

The attention of the guests turned to a conversation between Chang Ta-ma's high-school-age cousin and niece. No one older really under­stood what they were saying. The cousin said, "I am certainly not a cover fairy (kai hsien, some­one who boasts). I only said that your friend was vegetable and donkey (ts'ai and lü, both meaning stupid). What I say is iron (t'ieh, sure, absolutely right). If you don't believe me, go ask his classmate. He often tilts upward during class hours (ch'iao k'e, to skip class) and he even tilted upward from home (ch'iao chia, to run away from home) once or twice. He was caught one time tilting tickets on bus rides (ch'aio p'iao, to take the bus without paying the fare). At school he got slaughtered (pei tsai or pei tang, to fail in class). He has been a grade 4 middle school student (ch'u ssu hsueh sheng, junior middle school graduate who fails to enter high school) for two years and a grade 4 high school student for a year (kao ssu hsueh sheng, high school graduate who fails to enter college). This character (hsing tzu, a boy) likes to be with horses (ma tzu, a girl). All he did last summer was to hold onto to horses (pa ma tzu, to pursue a girl, the same as tiao ma tzu and p'ao ma tzu, meaning to hook horses and submerge with horses). He often hangs around with flying kids (fei tsai, Cantonese dialect, meaning juvenile delinquents) who are on his road (shang tao, said of persons who get along together well). He is straight (cheng, meaning good looking and not conventional, as in English), has character (hsing ke, said of a person of unusual mannerisms), very shaky (hao tou, commanding in appearance) and sometimes chaotically lovable (luan k'o ai; luan, literally meaning chaotic, is used to mean very; k'o ai is lovable). One time he got angry because a girl made him stand guard (chan wei ping, being stood up) and missed a floor scrubbing party (ts'a ti pan, a dance). He is a very heavy grass smoker (cigarettes, not marijuana). At a friend's party he not only smoked a lot but he even moved a lot of volcanoes (pan huo shan, to drink alcoholic beverages) and stuck candles (ch'a la chu, to eat without pay). He is not a horse show (pu ma hsi or not a horse circus, meaning he does not take things seriously) with friends."

The clock struck 10 and the guests took their leave.

Many nouns also visualize. These are a few examples: tap water (self coming water); piano (steel musical instrument); cement (water mud); coat (wind clothes); automobile (gas vehicle); the underworld of the dead (yellow fountain or the ninth fountain). Some are the same as in English: ice box (ping hsiang), atomic reactor (yuan tzu fan ying lu), sex (hsing), to lose one's foothold (shih tsu, shih means to lose), to lose one's voice (shih sheng), to lose faith in something (shih hsin), cold blooded (leng hsieh), cold eye (as in English, the cold shoulder). Descriptive words such as cold (leng), icy (ping) and sea (hai can be used in many ways: cold words and cold speech (leng yen leng yu), cold hearted (or icy hearted, ping hsin), cold arrow hurts a person (leng chien shang jen, said of sarcasm), cold as ice and frost (leng jo ping shuang, said of a cold-hearted person or one lacking emo­tion), clear as ice and bright as jade (ping ch'ing yu jun, said of a filial daughter and upright son­-in-law), ice disappears and the tiles are loosened (ping hsiao wa chieh, meaning that all troubles have disappeared), clear as ice and clean as jade (ping ch'ing yu chieh, said of someone who is upright and honest), icebergs are not to be leaned on (ping shan nan k'ao, petty bureaucrats who depend upon persons in high position will not last long), ice and charcoal do not mix (ping t'an pu hsiang jung, said of two incompatible things), city on the sea (hai shih shen lou, said of a day­dream or mirage that does not come true), corners of the sea and cliffs of the sky (t'ien ya hai chaio, everywhere), until the sea runs dry and the stones decay (hai k'u shih lan, forever), to swear by the sea and to pledge by the mountains (hai shih shan meng), to pledge everlasting devotion, love, friendship), to deliver charcoal in the snow (hsueh chung sung t'an, said of loyalty to friends).

Chinese has more than 100,000 descriptive expressions, most of four characters. Without an understanding of them, the language is likely to remain inscrutable. Yet they are vivid, mostly based on common-sense experience and easy to learn. Children master them along with the Chinese vocabulary. They are appropriately called ch'eng yu - ready-to-use expressions.