IM – Instant Message

I'm not the big fan of text messaging or instant messaging.  But I have to do it at work or with my sisters once in a while. 

My youngest sister and I were exchanging IM (Instant Message) lately.  At the end of the conversation, she sent me this one,  "88".  Men...I was scratching my head and wondering what in the world she was talking about. 

Then, I thought maybe it meant "Bye bye".  In Chinese, "8" is pronounced as "ba".  So, two "8" together must symbolize something sounds very similar.  So, I asked her.  And it is. 

If this is communicated to my American husband or people that Chinese is not their mother language, how would they think?  Not to mention about the “slang” and “slang-im”.

8/8/2008 Olympics China

My husband talked to me about this topic yesterday. He said, "The game is going to be 8/8/08 and start at 8 o'clock. So many 8s. I bet the number 8 is big in China, huh?"

I believe that he is not the only one having this same question.

It is true. Chinese is big on 8. It means quick, expansion, wealth and prosperity. It can't be any better. Don't you think?

Melon

Summer is the time to enjoy the melons.

Melon in Cantonese and Mandarin is called “Gua”. Any kind of melon in the similar texture, such as watermelon, honeydew, winter melon, cucumber, cantaloupe and etc., the Chinese called them “Gua”. Of course, there are different combinations of other Chinese characters to make them sound different and differentiate each of them .

If somehow you come across to celebrate a birthday party with a Chinese friend, never ever serve any “gua”. Why? Because…..we call a dummy, stupid or silly person as “Sho Gua”. If you use any kind of the above, in essence, you are saying that birthday boy or girl is stupid.

Although no one can blame you if you don’t know, you sure don’t want to ruin the party, right?