Chinese sayings: 01 (倾巢而出; 囊中羞涩)

Some of my favourite Chinese sayings:

1. 倾巢而出 qīng cháo ér chū / “tilt nest and exit”, sometimes 倾巢出动 qīng cháo chū dòng / “tilt nest exit move”.  

倾巢而出 / 倾巢出动 are defined as “turn out in full force”, for a military campaign.  

My perverse sense of humour has this graphic image for it:  the birds are sitting happily in the nest, all settled down; a hand comes along and tilts the nest, tipping them out (thus forcing them into action).

2. 囊中羞涩 náng zhōng xiū sè.  The online dictionary gives it as “to be cash strapped”.  I love the literal breakdown of the phrase:  “pouch inside shy astringent”. 

羞 xiū / “shy” is easier to imagine: there’s not enough money for the inside of the pouch to be seen, hence “shy (to be seen)”.  

涩 sè is a trickier word to convey adequately in English but common in Chinese.  It’s most often used for the feeling on one’s tongue if one’s eaten fruit that’s not fully ripened.  Not tart / acidic / sour / sharp like unripe mango or apple.  Rather, more like unripe persimmon (kaki / sharon fruit / 柿子 shìzi), so that it furs up one’s tongue, giving it a slightly rough feeling.  Another definition of 涩 is “unsmooth”, like the furred-up feeling on the tongue, which is closer to 涩 than tart / acidic / sour / sharp.  It is this “unsmooth” quality to the inside of the (money) pouch that makes me laugh: there’s not enough money to be moved smoothly (out of the pouch).  

Calling the inside of the pouch 羞涩 / “shy unsmooth” is such a euphemistic solution for describing being cash strapped, haha.

Victim of my own success (London)

The dementia lady I’ve been massaging (left leg which had no strength, and sciatic point) now lifts her feet when she walks instead of dragging them along.  She even recognises people at the Chinese community centre, it seems, as she smiles at some of them. 

Unfortunately, she’s now regained enough brain activity and awareness for her to feel jealous of me, as I’ve been massaging her carer husband (neck for his Bell’s Palsy and bad shoulder from holding her up when they walk).  She growls and snarls at me, especially when I’m massaging him.  

On Monday, I was at the table in front of hers in the karaoke corner, minding my own business.  She got up and pulled my hair, growling at me, murder in her eyes.  

It’s good that she seems to be more aware now than her previous zombie state, but I’m getting worried about my already diminishing amount of hair...!

(London, 2022)

Quick identification (London)

There’re so many similar looking/colour suitcases around in the market that some people tie something like a small strip of ribbon/cloth to theirs for easy identification when at the carousel claiming their luggage at the destination.  This was the tip given by my aunt when I took my first flight out of Singapore as a teenager.

The syntax module of my MA Linguistics course at SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London) had 120 (150?) students, with the different colleges (SOAS, UCL, Birkbeck) pooling their students.  

The professor would set homework each week.  He’d then put the stack of 120 (150?) pieces of marked homework on the corner of his desk, for us to go up and retrieve at the end of the lecture.

A long queue would build up as each student took ages going through the pile.  A4 sheets of paper all look the same.

After the first time, I came up with a fast way.  I snipped off the corner of an envelope that is not white (often brown, sometimes electric blue or red if it was for a special card), slotted it into the top right hand corner of my A4 sheet of homework, and stapled it.

It’d take a second to retrieve, as I could see it from miles away and just pull it out of the pile.

(London, 1992)

Giving people a chance to give too (London)

Whenever I went away on holiday, I’d bring back something for then-landlord and landlady, Fred and Nora:  chocolate from Switzerland, caviar from Sweden.

One day, Nora gave me a little bottle of red wine that she’d got free on her flight back from their timeshare in Portugal.  

In my typical-Chinese-politeness way, I immediately protested, “Oh no, keep it for yourself!”

She said, “YOU are always giving people things.  You must let people have a chance to give you something sometimes.”  Yes, indeed. 

Since then, I’d relate this story to people, especially when I’m giving them a free massage, and say,  “Thank you for accepting my massage and making me feel useful.”

(London, 1980s onwards)

Timing it right (London)

Staff lunch at the Chinese community centre where I’m teaching Mandarin and English.

    Bobby the raconteur was telling story after story about being a civil servant in Hong Kong.  

    I said to the group (all from Hong Kong) that it should’ve been video’d as it was all so witty.

    One of them said to me, “You seem to be able to understand all the profound Cantonese expressions he uses.”  

    I said, “Not really.  I just know how to laugh at the right moments.”

(London, 2022)

Miracle!! (London)

Dementia lady has so far worn a dead-eyed down-in-the-mouth look.  I’d thought when I first saw her some six months ago that she disliked me — gave me this dead-eyed down-in-the-mouth look when I smiled at her.  I only found out later that she had dementia.  Then the husband said she had lost strength in the left leg, which is why he asked me for a massage for her — not for her dementia.

Thursday, I gave her another massage: 5th leg massage and 3rd sciatic point massage.  Hubby said her sleep has improved with my massages.  

She even started to join in a bit of the karaoke singing, seeming to remember something.

When they walked past me as they were leaving, she actually raised a hand (slightly) and waved at me with a smile!!!

(London, 2022)

How to get children to eat their food: 02 (London)

The two boys (aged 7 and 4.5) that I babysit now and then will take ages to finish their food.  (Confession: I was a difficult eater myself as a child — taking ages over half a bowl of rice.)

They also often say the portions are too big and they can’t finish it all.

One day, I decided to try a new trick.  With a spoon, I drew a line down the middle of the lasagne they were having for dinner that evening, and said, “You eat this half, I’ll help you with the other half if you can’t eat it, OK?”  Readily and eagerly accepted, and they started eating.

Half way through the meal, their spoon crossed the line a bit into the other half.  I said, “Oh!  Your spoon’s touched that half now, so you’ll have to eat it, since I won’t.”

(London, 2022)