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Post by siuyiu on Nov 19, 2020 2:23:38 GMT
i like watching the singing competitions, but because my mandarin is limited, i'm coming across a lot of terms i don't understand. could someone please explain:
嗨 - the way i understand it, this is a compliment about a singer's ability to sing, e.g., 唱得很嗨
牛 - as far as i can tell, this is a compliment to say someone is great, but why use this description? why call them a cow?
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Post by kyc on Nov 19, 2020 11:55:40 GMT
i like watching the singing competitions, but because my mandarin is limited, i'm coming across a lot of terms i don't understand. could someone please explain: 嗨 - the way i understand it, this is a compliment about a singer's ability to sing, e.g., 唱得很嗨 牛 - as far as i can tell, this is a compliment to say someone is great, but why use this description? why call them a cow? Although I'm not from the mainland, 嗨 I think comes from English "high", meaning the singer makes you feel "high" with his or her singing. Or that the singer is feeling high him or herself. 牛 or 牛逼 are slang terms for "awesome", meaning that the person has great ability. I don't know where this term comes from, maybe from something vulgar.
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Post by siuyiu on Nov 19, 2020 23:58:38 GMT
kyc thanks for the explanations! still don't get the 牛逼 in terms of how that could mean "awesome", but that's language for you!
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Post by chefying on Nov 20, 2020 13:22:36 GMT
牛 - as far as i can tell, this is a compliment to say someone is great, but why use this description? why call them a cow? I have travelled to and in China many times and I have heard this word used by the locals. As I understand it, this term is used to describe a mix of tenacity, obstinacy and determination. So it is a compliment? I would say it is not so much a compliment but more of grudging admiration e.g. surviving and succeeding in some task through sheer bullheadedness, and that task, more often than not, yields no real profit but certainly bestows bragging rights. This is the context I have often heard the word 牛 used. Hope this helps.
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Post by yenchin on Nov 23, 2020 5:54:09 GMT
牛逼 is from 牛屄, since 屄 is the equivalent of 'c_nt' in Mandarin, it is usually typed as B or 逼. The usage of '牛' is also probably to omit the vulgarness of such a phrase. 牛 is also used to describe things/people that are great, extreme, outstanding...etc According to the Mandarin Wiki (yes, there is an entry on this phrase ) it seems that people have been using it for ages and probably is related to the more common and not so vulgar "吹牛皮".
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Post by siuyiu on Nov 24, 2020 23:39:30 GMT
baidu gives a supplementary explanation on how the modern idea came about.
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