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Faux Pas Derived From Chinese Pronunciation
The following '' faux pas'' are derived from homonyms in Mandarin and Cantonese. While originating in Greater China, they may also apply to Chinese-speaking people around the world. However, most homonymic pairs listed work only in some varieties of Chinese (for example, Mandarin only or Cantonese only), and may appear bewildering even to speakers of other varieties of Chinese. Certain customs regarding good and bad luck are important to many Chinese people. Although these might be regarded as superstitions by people from other cultures, these customs are often tied to religious traditions and are an important part of many people's belief systems, even among well-educated people and affluent sectors of society. Clocks Giving a clock () is often taboo, especially to the elderly as the term for this act is a homophone with the term for the act of attending another's funeral, "to send off for one's end" (). In 2015, a UK government official, Susan Kramer, gave a watch to Taipei May ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Homophonic Puns In Mandarin Chinese
Standard Chinese, like many Sinitic varieties, has a significant number of homophonous syllables and words due to its limited phonetic inventory. The Cihai dictionary lists 149 characters representing the syllable "yì". (However, modern Chinese words average about two syllables, so the high rate of ''syllable'' homophony does not cause a problem for communication.) Many Chinese take great delight in using the large amount of homophones in the language to form puns, and they have become an important component of Chinese culture. In Chinese, homophones are used for a variety of purposes from rhetoric and poetry to advertisement and humor, and are also common in Chinese loans, for example phono-semantic matching of brand names, computer jargon, technological terms and toponyms. This article lists common homophonous puns in Mandarin Chinese, though many of the examples given are homophones in other varieties as well. Asterisks before the entry denote near-homophones. Terms in ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Faux Pas
English words {{Short pages monitor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Susan Kramer
Susan Veronica Kramer, Baroness Kramer PC (''née'' Richards; born 21 July 1950) is a British politician and life peer who served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Richmond Park from 2005 to 2010. A member of the Liberal Democrats, she was their Treasury Spokesperson from 2015 to 2017 and 2017 to 2019. Born in Holborn, Kramer was privately educated at St Paul's Girls' School before studying at St Hilda's College, University of Oxford and the University of Illinois. Prior to entering the House of Commons, she pursued a career in infrastructure finance and in 2000 was a candidate in the London mayoral election. She served as Minister of State for Transport in the Cameron–Clegg coalition. Early life and career Susan Veronica Richards was born in Holborn, London, on 22 July 1950. She was educated at St Paul's Girls' School, an independent school in London. She then read Philosophy, Politics and Economics at St Hilda's College, University of Oxford. She served as the Pre ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Etiquette
Etiquette ( /ˈɛtikɛt, -kɪt/) can be defined as a set of norms of personal behavior in polite society, usually occurring in the form of an ethical code of the expected and accepted social behaviors that accord with the conventions and norms observed and practiced by a society, a social class, or a social group. In modern English usage, the French word ''étiquette'' (label and tag) dates from the year 1750 and also originates from the French word for "ticket," possibly symbolizing a person’s entry into society through proper behavior. There are many important historical figures that have helped to shape the meaning of the term as well as provide varying perspectives. History In , the Ancient Egyptian vizier Ptahhotep wrote '' The Maxims of Ptahhotep'' (), a didactic book of precepts extolling civil virtues such as truthfulness, self-control, and kindness towards other people. Recurrent thematic motifs in the maxims include learning by listening to other people, ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Tetraphobia
Tetraphobia () is the practice of avoiding instances of the digit . It is a superstition most common in East Asian nations and is associated with death. Rationale The Chinese word for "four" (, pinyin: sì, jyutping: sei3) sounds quite similar to the word for "death" (, pinyin: sǐ, jyutping: sei2) in many varieties of Chinese. Similarly, the Sino-Japanese, Sino-Korean and Sino-Vietnamese words for "four", shi (し, Japanese) and sa (사, Korean), sound similar or identical to "death" in each language (see Korean numerals, Japanese numerals, Vietnamese numerals). Tetraphobia is known to occur in Korea and Japan since the two words sound identical, but not at all in Vietnam because they carry different tones (in the case of the word for "four", whether it is the Sino-Vietnamese reading ''tứ'' or the more common non-Sino-Vietnamese reading ''tư'', neither sounds like the word for "death" which is ''tử'') and Vietnamese nor use Sino-Vietnamese numerals as often in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
List Of Unlucky Symbols
Bad luck is an unpredictable outcome that is unfortunate. This is a list of signs believed to bring bad luck according to superstitions. List *Breaking a mirror is said to bring seven years of bad luck *A bird or flock of birds going from left to right (Augury, Auspicia) (Paganism) *Certain numbers: **The number 4. Fear of the number 4 is known as tetraphobia; in Numbers in Chinese culture#Unlucky numbers, Chinese, Japanese, and Korean languages, the number sounds like the word for "death". **The number 9. Fear of the number 9 is known as enneaphobia, in Japanese superstitions#Numbers, Japanese culture; this is because it sounds like the Japanese word for "suffering". **The number 13_(number), 13. Fear of the number 13 is known as triskaidekaphobia. **The number 17_(number), 17. Fear of the number 17 is known as heptadecaphobia and is prominent in Italian culture. **The number 39_(number), 39. Fear of the number 39 is known as the curse of 39, especially in Afghan culture. **The nu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Umbrella
An umbrella or parasol is a folding canopy supported by wooden or metal ribs that is mounted on a wooden, metal, or plastic pole. It is usually designed to protect a person against rain. The term ''umbrella'' is traditionally used when protecting oneself from rain, while ''parasol'' is used when protecting oneself from sunlight, though the terms continue to be used interchangeably. Often the difference is the material used for the canopy; some parasols are not waterproof, and some umbrellas are transparent. Umbrella canopies may be made of fabric or flexible plastic. There are also combinations of parasol and umbrella that are called ''en-tout-cas'' (French for "in any case"). Generally speaking, parasols and umbrellas are small, handheld, personal use items. Golf umbrellas are the biggest hand-portable umbrellas available. There are two types of umbrellas: completely collapsible umbrellas, which can be folded up into a small enough bag because of the supporting metal pole's ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Fan (implement)
A handheld fan, or simply hand fan, is a broad, flat surface that is waved back and forth to create an airflow. Generally, purpose-made handheld fans are folding fans, which are shaped like a sector of a circle and made of a thin material (such as paper or feathers) mounted on slats which revolve around a pivot so that it can be closed when not in use. Hand fans were used before mechanical fans were invented. Fans work by utilizing the concepts of thermodynamics. On human skin, the airflow from hand fans increases the evaporation rate of sweat, lowering body temperature due to the latent heat of the evaporation of water. It also increases heat convection by displacing the warmer air produced by body heat that surrounds the skin, which has an additional cooling effect, provided that the ambient air temperature is lower than the skin temperature, which is typically about . Next to the folding fan, the rigid hand screen fan was also a highly decorative and desired object among t ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Cantonese People
The Cantonese people ( zh, s=广府人, t=廣府人, j=gwong2 fu2 jan4, cy=Gwóngfú Yàhn, first=t, labels=no) or Yue people ( zh, s=粤人, t=粵人, j=jyut6 jan4, cy=Yuht Yàhn, first=t, labels=no), are a Han Chinese subgroup originating from Guangzhou and its satellite cities and towns (as well as Hong Kong and Macau), who natively speak Yue Chinese. In a more general sense, "Cantonese people" can refer to any Han Chinese originating from or residing in the provinces of Guangdong and Guangxi (collectively known as Liangguang), or it may refer to the inhabitants of Guangdong province alone. Historically centered around Guangzhou and the surrounding Pearl River Delta, the Cantonese people established the Cantonese language as the dominant one in Hong Kong and Macau during their 19th century migrations within the times of the British and Portuguese colonial eras respectively. Cantonese remains today as a majority language in Guangdong and Guangxi, despite the increasing influ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Ko Wen-je
Ko Wen-je ( zh, c=柯文哲; born 6 August 1959), also known by his nickname, Ko P, is a Taiwanese politician and physician who served as the Mayor of Taipei, mayor of Taipei from 2014 to 2022. He founded the Taiwan People's Party (TPP) in 2019 and served as its first Party chair, chairman until 2025. Before entering politics, Ko was a surgeon at National Taiwan University Hospital and a professor at National Taiwan University College of Medicine. He played leading roles in standardizing organ transplant procedures in Taiwan and introducing extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) technology to Taiwan. Apart from his practice, he is known for his numerous media appearances and interviews as a social and political commentator. Ko ran as an independent candidate in both the 2014 Taiwanese local elections, 2014 and 2018 Taiwanese local elections, 2018 Taipei mayoral elections. After serving two terms as mayor, he ran as the TPP President of the Republic of China, nominee in the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Taipei
, nickname = The City of Azaleas , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Taiwan#Asia#Pacific Ocean#Earth , coordinates = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Taiwan , established_title = Settled , established_date = 1709 , established_title1 = Renamed Taihoku , established_date1 = 17 April 1895 , established_title2 = Provincial city (Taiwan), Provincial city status , established_date2 = 25 October 1945 , established_title3 = Retreat of the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan, Provisional national capital , established_date3 = 7 December 1949 , established_title4 = Reconstituted as a Yuan-controlled municipality , established_date4 = 1 July 1967 , capital_type = City seat , capital = Xinyi District, Taipei, Xinyi District , largest_settlement ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
Clock
A clock or chronometer is a device that measures and displays time. The clock is one of the oldest Invention, human inventions, meeting the need to measure intervals of time shorter than the natural units such as the day, the lunar month, and the year. Devices operating on several physical processes have been used over the Millennium, millennia. Some predecessors to the modern clock may be considered "clocks" that are based on movement in nature: A sundial shows the time by displaying the position of a shadow on a flat surface. There is a range of duration timers, a well-known example being the hourglass. Water clocks, along with sundials, are possibly the oldest time-measuring instruments. A major advance occurred with the invention of the verge escapement, which made possible the first mechanical clocks around 1300 in Europe, which kept time with oscillating timekeepers like balance wheels., pp. 103–104., p. 31. Traditionally, in horology (the study of timekeeping), the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] [Amazon] |
