Xi'an Dialect - legacy of an elegant language
Some special features of the dialect:
Body organs are very often used as part of an adjective, which makes the
expressions of the dialect much more vivid. The following are some of the
frequently used phrases with body organs as part of the words.
Eye. Good looking is usually called pleasing to the eye. Ugly is being
harmful to the eye. Troublesome is being numbing to the eyes. Going back on
one's word is staring at the white eye. Being without resources is called
looking on in despair. Being messed up is without eyebrows and eyes. Being
envious is becoming red-eyed. Being not flexible or stubborn is dead-eyed. Being
resourceful is orderly eyed. Being narrow-minded is small-heart-and-eye.
Hand. Being deft is called an old hand. Just like in English, giving a hand
means help. Competing hands can acquire a hard-to-get thing. To sell is to get a
thing off the hands. A thief has a third hand. Being prudent and hardworking is
a guy with a grabbing hand.
The twelve Chinese zodiac
animals are often used to describe people according to special features. For
instance, a person could be as cunning as a mouse, as stubborn as a maverick, as
fierce as a tiger,
as fast as a rabbit, as big as a dragon,
as poisonous as a snake, as happy as a pony, as mild and gentle as a sheep, as
clever and deft as a monkey, as red as a rooster's cockscomb, as stupid as a
pig, or as light as a dog's tail.
Author: Jeff
|