Daimashin

我們這裡不流行吃湯圓, 只喜歡一家人坐在一起吃頓飯而已. 然後跟你一樣看電視, 等倒數.

Unless Google is self aware and knows exactly the context that you want translated, it's always better to ask another human that knows the language well. This is because, humans know how to think and give correct translations based on the context that you're looking for. Google translate can only be used as a reference at best.

Very well said @littlebelgianwriter. Languages are different so there different ways to say things. There is not one correct way to determine how a language is used so claiming a language is backwards is inappropriate. Just like one destination with different routes, they all lead to one place, it's just the way they reach there is different. There is no backward or forward.

還有兩天就年三十了，好興奮. 吃過團圓飯以後你們有什麼節目啊?

杯弓蛇影 (Bēigōngshéyǐng) - Imaginations.

Literal meaning - Bow in cup snake in silhouette.

Once upon a time there were two buddies A and B. One day A treated B to a meal and they drank a lot of alcohol. B loved drinking so he got drunk, while drinking he saw that there was a poisonous snake in the cup he was using. B thought that he had swallowed the snake and immediately ran away in shock. That night, while he was sleeping he thought that the snake was biting his insides and he was awoken in fear.

The next day B wrote a letter to A citing that he can't meet with A because he had felt sick due to swallowing a snake that was in his cup. A being a smart person felt strange and decided to pour a cup of wine and see for himself. What he realized was that the snake in question was actually a reflection of a bow that was hanging on the wall. The bow's silhouette resembled that of a snake so A immediately went over to B's house and told him the truth. Upon hearing it, B immediately recovered.

杯弓蛇影 (Bēigōngshéyǐng) is used to describe someone who is imagining things.

Example:

"這裡那裡有鬼，是你自己「杯弓蛇影」而已."

Other than the Chinese English I mentioned, we also speak out version of English here called Manglish. It's a fusion of Malay and English. We also have Singlish spoken by Singh people. Living in a multiracial country has these cultures.

This is very admirable indeed. It takes tremendous effort to pull something like this through. I've been there but was confused with the navigation. It's still in an early stage I assume?

These are universally used for both Mandarin and Cantonese. If you watch any awards show be it from Mainland China or Hong Kong, these terms are used to refer Gold, Silver, and Bronze or First, Second, and Third or Champion, Runner up, and Second Runner up respectively.

Yeah like Miya said, a lot of the Chinese streaming sites have Japanese shows. A heads up though, these sites usually require you to install their software and sometimes the software has a lot of spams and ads. There are also a couple of other that does direct streaming.

合浦珠還 (Hépǔ zhū huán) - regaining something lost.

合浦 (Hépǔ) - a name of a village during the East Han era,

珠還 (zhū huán) - Pearls return.

This folklore is about a village that existed during the East Han era called Hepu. Hepu was famous for having produced a lot of valuable pearls. One day, a corrupt official came and ordered his men to take all of the pearls that were available there. The villagers were left with nothing and had to endure poverty. The clams under the sea heard of this and decided to leave the area as they didn't want their hard work being robbed by the corrupt official.

As time passed, the village became worse because there were no more pearls to harvest. Having seen that the village had nothing else to pillage, the corrupted official left. Not long after, another official came to govern but this time he was a good and clean person. The clams heard of this and decided to return to the village and in the end everything was back to when it was.

合浦珠還 (Hépǔ zhū huán) means that something you thought lost returns to you.

Example:

"本來以為我的手錶已經不見了，沒想到可以找回來. 果然是「合浦珠還」失而復得."

When you're relaxed your mind tend to slack off a bit which is why it's harder to recall words you've learned. When you're doing an impromptu or debate, you have a heightened state of mind, your brain processes stuff faster which is why things pop up without having to think much.

It seems like you're anticipating to be blind in the future?  Anyway, I guess it won't hurt to have the added knowledge, but as for me, I don't really think that I would want to spend my time learning about something that I would not be able to use.

Who knows, maybe some bad thing happens and I might be blind so it's better to be ready  Or someday I may have to face a blind person so knowing it can be useful. I don't know, I guess if I have the time I'll look into it and see (no pun intended) if it's hard to learn.

I've heard of the word before but never thought that it's that old. I have always thought that "twerk" was some kind of new age word that was made up after the 2000's, before Miley Cyrus used it. "Twerk" sounded so much like some new age slang.

Yeah, the link sends me back to the main page. By the way, I didn't know about the guy before so thanks for pointing the video out again. Yes, I do agree that anyone can achieve this given enough effort but for him, it's definitely a natural talent because I doubt anyone his age can do that.

圖窮匕現 (Tú qióng bǐ xiàn) - The truth is finally revealed.

Literal meaning - Map ends dagger shows.

This is from one of the famous historical attempted assassination of the King of Qin (荊軻刺秦). Jing Ke was sent by the Kingdom of Yan to assassinate Ying Zheng who was the ruler of Qin during the Seven Warring States. In order for Jing Ke to close in on Ying Zheng, he brought a map of Yan saying that he represented Yan as an envoy of surrender. As he slowly rolled open the map, a dagger was concealed at the end. Jing Ke pulled out the dagger from the map and attempted to kill Ying Zheng with it but failed.

圖窮匕現 (Tú qióng bǐ xiàn) means that when something reaches the end, the truth will be revealed.

Example:

"當一件事到「圖窮匕現」的時候，真相就會大白."

Interesting topic. I've always had problem differentiating when to use un, in, and im for words of the opposite meaning. After reading the posts, some of it are clear to me.

I can understand that native speakers speak fast but I also find them irritating. Yes, they speak fast because they are used to it but they also have to consider that the person they're talking to may not be as good as them at listening. I believe the point of conversation is not to get everything out as fast as possible but is so that the other person understands what you're saying.

A couple of weeks, these past weeks I haven't got out much and meet people so I couldn't get to speak in other languages. I still however still type and write in different languages that I know so I'm not rusty at it yet.

草木皆兵 (Cǎomùjiēbīng) - Panic over nothing.

Literal meaning - Grass and wood treated as soldiers.

This happened during the era of East Jin during the invasion of King of Qin. After Qin arrived at the border of Jin, King of Qin set up camp there. He ordered his spy to get information from Jin and got the news that Jin's army counterattacked their camp. King of Qin immediately went out to have a look. Arrows flew over his head scaring him to death. Being a coward, he started having hallucinations that the swaying grass and tall trees around his camp were enemy soldiers. He thought that Jin had a huge army and he would surely lose so he ordered his forces to retreat.

草木皆兵 (Cǎomùjiēbīng) is used to describe people that get scared over own imaginations.

Example:

"見到一條繩子就說是一條蛇， 真是「草木皆兵」自己嚇自己."

I hardly meet any blind people actually. I was just curious if Braille can be useful in some part of our life. Who knows, anything can happen and it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

Maybe his learning period has passed as he grew up. A lot of people I know have the same problem. Could also be genetics problem, same like everything else. While some excel, some are completely bad at it.

Sometimes people overlook things and the same goes with big companies. Car makers need to launch their vehicles worldwide and there are a lot of countries. There are many other things to prepare so usually they just let the name be as soon as it's decided. It's very common these days, get the product out into the market first and worry about the problems later.

Do you think it's useful to pick Braille up even though I can see? I'm thinking maybe knowing it will help understand blind people sometimes like knowing what they write and read.

螳臂擋車 (Táng bì dǎngchē) - Doesn't know own's limits.

Literal meaning - Mantis arm against carriage.

Once upon a time, there lived a mantis that thought very highly of itself. One day the mantis came across a bunch of ants trying to cross the road but the ants weren't able to because there were too many horse carriages crossing it. The mantis thought that it could stop the carriages offered to help. It walked into the path of a running carriage and got killed.

螳臂擋車 (Táng bì dǎngchē) is used to describe someone that doesn't know ones own limits and wants to go up against huge odds.

Example:

"你這樣的身手，想跟李小龍比， 簡直是「螳臂擋車」."

I never knew that there are different sign languages. I'm always under the impression that there is only one type of sign language like braille. If it's true then what's the point in learning them if what you learned might not be understood by another?