Character roundup
The things I find.
The first character this week is 烂 (làn) which I saw in one of those magazines that's so popular among school children here. This was one of the small-format magazines with the picture of some cover model pretending to be a school girl, but looking more like Chinese jailbait. The story at the start of the magazine seemed to be all about some guy getting into Beijing University (北京大学) as far as I could tell.
Further on, the header of the magazine had 星光仙烂 (xīngguāng xiān làn). I can actually read the first three characters, although I'm wary about saying that they mean X without consulting a dictionary. I didn't know 烂, though. That's composed of the fire-radical and the character for "orchid", which suggested something jolly romantic. [Jolly romantic? I'm feeling queasy. –ed.] Actually, 烂 turns out to be a bit of a tramp with meanings such as "sodden; rot; messy; worn-out". I've seen the pejorative phrase "a worn out shoe" meaning "slut; whore" a few times, and I assume that this is the character. We also have such pleasant words as 烂货 (lànhuò) "lazy woman of easy virtue" and 烂污 (lànwū) "watery faeces; (of a woman) loose; dissolute".
Here 烂 must have the literary meaning "bright; shining" which restores some face to the character. What does 星光仙烂 mean? Literally, "starlight fairy (or immortal) bright", but I wonder if 烂 is being used as a personal name, perhaps. If the magazine is still around in class next week, I'll see what more I can discern, if anything.
This is also the simplified character. The traditional form is 爛 which is composed of the fire-radical, door, and a character meaning "card; note; letter". Quite how you get "sodden etc." out of this lot, I don't know, but it's worth noting that the parts of a character don't necessarily impart any hint of the meaning of the character itself.
Another character I've seen a few times is 免 (miǎn) "excuse or free (sb. from sth.)" which is also used in words such as 免票 (miǎnpiào) "free ticket" and 免税 (miǎnshuì) "tax-free, duty-free". As I found out, you add a dot and the character becomes 兔 (tù) "hare; rabbit".
Well, that's all the characters we have time for today. Microsoft is telling me that I have to restart my computer.
The first character this week is 烂 (làn) which I saw in one of those magazines that's so popular among school children here. This was one of the small-format magazines with the picture of some cover model pretending to be a school girl, but looking more like Chinese jailbait. The story at the start of the magazine seemed to be all about some guy getting into Beijing University (北京大学) as far as I could tell.
Further on, the header of the magazine had 星光仙烂 (xīngguāng xiān làn). I can actually read the first three characters, although I'm wary about saying that they mean X without consulting a dictionary. I didn't know 烂, though. That's composed of the fire-radical and the character for "orchid", which suggested something jolly romantic. [Jolly romantic? I'm feeling queasy. –ed.] Actually, 烂 turns out to be a bit of a tramp with meanings such as "sodden; rot; messy; worn-out". I've seen the pejorative phrase "a worn out shoe" meaning "slut; whore" a few times, and I assume that this is the character. We also have such pleasant words as 烂货 (lànhuò) "lazy woman of easy virtue" and 烂污 (lànwū) "watery faeces; (of a woman) loose; dissolute".
Here 烂 must have the literary meaning "bright; shining" which restores some face to the character. What does 星光仙烂 mean? Literally, "starlight fairy (or immortal) bright", but I wonder if 烂 is being used as a personal name, perhaps. If the magazine is still around in class next week, I'll see what more I can discern, if anything.
This is also the simplified character. The traditional form is 爛 which is composed of the fire-radical, door, and a character meaning "card; note; letter". Quite how you get "sodden etc." out of this lot, I don't know, but it's worth noting that the parts of a character don't necessarily impart any hint of the meaning of the character itself.
Another character I've seen a few times is 免 (miǎn) "excuse or free (sb. from sth.)" which is also used in words such as 免票 (miǎnpiào) "free ticket" and 免税 (miǎnshuì) "tax-free, duty-free". As I found out, you add a dot and the character becomes 兔 (tù) "hare; rabbit".
Well, that's all the characters we have time for today. Microsoft is telling me that I have to restart my computer.
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