Besides “美女,” how many ways do you know to say “beautiful girl” in Chinese? Are you ready to say some or all of them to your beloved girl, or are you ready to hear some or all of them from your beloved boy? Just check them out!
Category: Advanced Learning
天地 Heavan and earth
You must have seen such expressions during the festivals: 欢天喜地过大年/闹元宵。Why not use only 欢喜？What difference is there between 欢喜 and 欢天喜地？
天地 literally means heaven and earth, and is used very often with another two-word phrases such 欢喜, 长久, 昏暗, 惊动, 感谢, etc. to form four-word phrases, also called set phrases, to achieve the effect of emphasis, e.g. 欢喜 with joy 欢天喜地 with extreme joy；长久 for a long time 天长地久 everlasting and unchanging.
Why “闹”元宵?
To learn 闹, it’s better to know the meaning of 市 first. You can see 闹 is composed of 门 door and 市 market. A market is a noisy place, so the original meaning of 闹 was noisy, which is very well expressed by the phrase, 闹市 noisy market.
In Chinese, many adjectives can be turned into verbs which have meanings related to these adjectives, e.g. 闹. The meaning of 闹 is extended from noisy to noisy-related verbs such as make a noise 吵闹, celebrate 闹元宵, suffer from 闹水灾, etc.
两情若是久长时,又岂在朝朝暮暮
“两情若是久长时,又岂在朝朝暮暮。/ 兩情若是久長時，又豈在朝朝暮暮。If love between both sides can last for aye, why need they stay together night and day?”
海内存知己，天涯若比邻
“海内存知己，天涯若比邻。/海內存知己，天涯若比鄰。A bosom friend afar brings distance near. ”