jenny's blog

Sūn: nǐ shǔshá ya?
孙： 你 属 啥 呀？
Sun: What is your zodiac sign?

Gāo: shǔzhū.
高： 属 猪。
Gao: It’s the pig.

Sūn: guònián liùshí le?
孙： 过 年 六 十 了？
Sun: You are going to be 60 this year?

Gāo: sānshíliù de zhū.
高： 三 十 六 的 猪。
Gao: 36.

Āiya, wǒde māya. Zhè yǎnjing zhǎngde yě tài zìsī le, tā néng kànjiàn biéren, biéren kànbújiàn ta.
“哎呀，我的 妈呀。 这 眼 睛 长 得 也 太自私了。它 能 看 见 别 人，别 人 看 不 见 它。”
Oh my god, these eyes are so selfish. They can see others but others cannot see them.

1. 我的妈呀（wǒde māya）can be directly translated to ‘my mother!’ It has the same effect as ‘oh my god’, is a way to express surprise or excitement.

2. 自私（zìsī）means selfish. 长得自私（zhǎngde zìsī）means grows to look selfish

3. 看见（kànjiàn）means can see and 看不见（kànbújiàn）means cannot see.

《演戏给你看》这部小品有三个主角，分别是村主任，句主任、被要挟去吹捧村主任的村民，孙二愣子和暗访的干部，高科长。

‘yǎnxìgěinǐkàn (meaning Act For You)’ has three main characters, head of a village ‘Director Ju’, a villager who is leveraged to say nice things about Director Ju ‘Sun Erlengzi’ and an undercover official ‘Section Chief Gao’

1.

Sūn èrlèngzi: nǐ méigěiwǒ cíer zěnme chuī?
孙二愣子：你没给我词儿怎么吹？
Sun: How can I talk you up if you do not provide me a script?

小品是一种幽默的短剧，是春节联欢晚会的常驻节目。每年春晚的小品节目都给家家户户带来极大的欢乐，时不时引起哄堂大笑。
“xiǎopǐn” is a type of humorous skit. It is a resident programme on the Spring Festival Gala. Every year, Xiaopin can bring tremendous joy to households, bring out a good laugh from time to time.

如果你还是汉语入门者，你有可能不理解它的笑点，在别人乐不自禁的时候感到格格不入。
If you are a beginner in Mandarin, you may not be able to understand the laughing point and feel like an outsider when others are laughing.

没关系！我们来看一下今年的一些金句。
Do not worry! Let’s look at some of the golden sentences in this year’s gala.

Keywords:

“除夕”，因为是农历中一年的最后一天（十二月三十号），所以又叫做“大年三十”。
‘chúxī’, is the last day of a year according to the Agricultural Calendar(Dec 30th), so it is also referred to as ‘dàniánsānshí’.

还记得除夕要做什么吗？
Do you still remember what we need to do on Chuxi?

1. 贴春联，贴“福”字。
Pasting ‘chūnlián’, the Spring Festival Couplets, as well as ‘fú’ character, which represents prosperity.

2. 把家中的破损旧物都扔掉，大扫除。
Throw away any items which are broken or too old and do a thorough cleaning.

3. 穿红衣服！
Wear red!

1. 诸事如意（zhūshìrúyì），诸事顺利（shùnlì），诸事顺心（zhūshìshùnxīn）

“诸”谐音“猪”，有着“所有”的意思。“诸事”便代表所有的事情。
The Chinese characters for ‘all’ and ‘pig’ are both pronounced ‘zhū’. ‘zhūshì’ represents everything.

这三个成语祝福大家，所有的事情都要：
These three idioms wish everyone that everything will be:

- 如意（rúyì）go according to wishes
- 顺利（shùnlì）smooth, successful
- 顺心（shùnxīn）go after one’s heart

2. 青春永驻（qīngchūnyǒngzhù），朱颜鹤发（zhūyánhèfà）

“驻”谐音“猪”，有着停留的意思。
‘Stay’, zhù, sounds like ‘pig’, zhū.

自1月28日以来，美国中西部受到北极寒流影响，气温骤降，气温低至零下18摄氏度。
Since 28th Jan, Midwest region of the US has experienced ‘polar vortex’ which results in a significant drop in temperature to as low as -18 Celsius degree.

在这样的温度下，在室外待几分钟都有可能冻伤。
In this kind of temperature, staying outdoors for even a few minutes could result in frostbites.

受低温影响，学校关门了，飞机停飞了，取暖中心也建起来了。
Due to the low temperature, schools have closed, flights have been cancelled, sheltered have been set up.

中国人有春节放鞭炮和烟花的习俗，这起源于一个神话故事。
Chinese have the custom of set off firecrackers and fireworks during CNY. This custom originates from mythology.

传说，很久以前，有一头叫“夕”的怪兽。一到冬天下大雪的时候，因为没有食物，就到村庄里攻击村民，吃掉他们的牲畜。
In the legend, a long time ago, there was a monster named ‘Xi’. When Xi cannot find food in winter due to snow, Xi would go to villages, attack villagers and eat their livestock.

村民都很怕夕，有的关紧门窗，有的躲到山里。
Villages were so afraid of Xi. Some of them tightly close the doors and windows, some of them hide in the mountains.

今年的农历腊月二十五是阳历一月三十日。
This year, 25th Dec of the Agricultural calendar falls on 30th Jan of the public calendar.

为什么人们要“推磨做豆腐”呢？
Why do people ‘grind and make tofu’?

虽然豆腐很好吃，但是它是一个很平凡的食物，更是清贫的象征。
Although tofu is delicious, it is indeed a very normal food and can be seen as a symbol of a simple life.

美国司法部已正式起诉华为及其首席财务官孟晚舟。
The US Justice Department has officially filed lawsuits against Huawei and its chief financial officer Meng Wanzhou.

指控的罪名一共有23项，包括银行欺诈、妨碍司法、窃取商业机密等等。
There are a total of 23 charges, including bank fraud, obstruction of justice, theft of technology and etc.

华为和孟晚舟均否认这些指控。
Both Huawei and Meng Wanzhou have denied these allegations.

与此同时，中国高级官员将会于本月30日至31日访问华盛顿，进一步协商贸易战分歧。
In the meantime, senior officials from China will visit Washington from 30th to 31st Jan and continue trade war talks to achieve an agreement.