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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


Page: 12

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