Fuzzy communications (London)

This happened about 25 years ago.

    I was helping out an ex-student with her MA Linguistics dissertation (for a different institution), so we'd meet up to discuss the points she was making, including the examples she was using to illustrate her arguments.  This meant sessions that could go on for hours.

    When she was my student on the BA course, she'd often sought me out for a shoulder to cry on:  her issues with the head of department; her family problems (being deserted by her father for a new family); etc.  These conversations also took up a bit of time, often a few hours going for a walk or a few pints in the pub.

    Imagine, therefore, my receiving a text from her, just saying, "Are you free on Friday?"

    Which part of Friday?  How long for?  To do what?  Urgent or not?  Where?

    I needed the details to see if I might be able to fit her in, because I might have other things to do (hence the "where?" as well for the logistics in case I had to go to another place in London).

    Her vague question meant my having to go back to ask for more information.  It would've saved a lot of time, not to mention money (I was on PAYG [pay as you go] for my mobile at the time, being on a half salary; as a foreign student, she'd need to be careful about outgoings, too), if she'd spelled it all out in one go in the first place, e.g.:  "Are you free on Friday, any time that suits you, to go over my dissertation in the students' coffee bar at SOAS?"

(SOAS:  School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London)

(London)

"Huh?!?" conversations: 05 (USA)

Someone's been invited for a meal "next Friday".

    He texts back and asks:  "Do you mean Friday tomorrow, or next week?"

    The reply:  "I meant next Friday."

    What is wrong with spelling it out?  Do people read anything properly these days?  Are they always doing things on the hoof??

(USA, 2026)

Chinese homophones: Unfortunate setting

 

In the mainland Chinese drama series I'm watching at the moment, which is set mainly in a hospital, one of the doctors asked his colleague to go and collect some 医嘱 yīzhǔ / doctor's orders (or medical orders).

    I immediately thought of 遗嘱 yízhǔ / "leave-behind instructions", differing only by the tone in one of the characters, meaning "will" (what is left behind by a dead person).

    Imagine a patient's family mishearing 医嘱 yīzhǔ / doctor's orders and thinking their doctor's been asked to go and collect the patient's 遗嘱 yízhǔ / will.

    People do die in hospitals, but doctors won't have anything to do with a patient's will, so maybe it won't get mixed up after all...

Good practices: 06 (Catching food that drops)

Another good practice I've spotted in one of the mainland Chinese drama series I'm watching at the moment is:  when bringing a spoonful of food to the mouth, place the other hand somewhere under the jaw in case some of the food falls out of the spoon.

    The food would more likely be a liquid form, e.g., soup, stew or gravy, but can be any food, especially if the person's mouth is not immediately over the plate or bowl.

    This practice is helpful to the person who has to clean up the table afterwards.  Sitting with messy eaters, I often find myself cringing and feeling sorry for whoever has to clear up later (or for the tablecloth).

    It is certainly a good practice to cultivate when using chopsticks, as they don't always grip the food properly -- particularly when used by people who are not adept at handling them.

    I've seen even mainland Chinese people (who are supposed to be good at using chopsticks) doing it, especially when dining out in a restaurant on some kind of business do, so it seems to be some unspoken etiquette for more formal social events.

    Something to incorporate in a child's upbringing, I feel.  From what I've seen around me these days, that and a whole raft of other good practices as well wouldn't go amiss.

Good practices: 05 (Protecting a passenger's head)

I've seen this done in more than one mainland Chinese drama series now.  It might be a common practice in other countries as well.

    The person opening the car door for the passenger to get in will put a hand just under the top rim of the door frame (in the car body).  This will either draw the passenger's attention to where the top rim is (to lower the head appropriately), or take the blow should the passenger actually bump into it.

    The same would happen as the passenger alights.

(China)

Chinese homophones: Taboo presents

There are two types of presents that I know of which are taboo to the Chinese.

    One is an umbrella (or parasol):  傘 / 伞 / sǎn.  It sounds like 散 sàn / to scatter, to part ways, to split up, therefore would apply mostly to people who are in a relationship, particularly a romantic one.

    The other is a clock:  鐘 / 钟 / zhōng.  To give something as a present = 送 sòng, so "give [as a present] clock" = 送鐘 / 送钟 sòng zhōng, which unfortunately matches 送終 / 送终 / sòng zhōng / "see-off-sb final[-journey]" / to attend a funeral.

    A few years back, pre-Covid I think, I saw an article in one of the newspapers here about the UK's Trade Minister (or someone representing some UK high-level body) presenting a small Big Ben to her counterpart in Taiwan on her visit there.

    The article carried a photo of the handing over of the present, with the journalist drawing attention to the face of the recipient as he was accepting it and posing for the camera.

    Well, if she was there to drum up trade between the two countries, I'm not sure what the lack of homework prior to her going over would say about her side as a prospective trade partner.  In this day and age, and at that level, surely it's a shocking oversight?

Chinese homophones: Taboo number

 

The Chinese (and the Japanese; maybe the Koreans, too) have taboo numbers that they'll try and avoid.

    The biggest-taboo number is 4 (四 sì), because it sounds a bit like "死 sǐ / die, death" -- just a difference in the tone.

    An obvious situation to avoid it is when it appears in a car registration number.  Most Chinese people would not want to tempt fate by driving a ton of steel around with "4 [/ death]" on it.  They'd get it changed, even if it's at great expense.

    In Japanese, the number 4 is read as よん / yon, as well as し / shi, which also sounds like "die / 死ぬ / shi-nu, death", so (from googling) Quote is mostly avoided in daily life, though it is still used in certain fixed phrases and formal contexts Unquote.

    For my SOAS (School of Oriental and African Studies) BA degree course Special Subject, Japanese, one of the set texts was A Topical History of Japan.  In one of the chapters, mention was made of four men (in medieval Japan), with the reading for "the four men" being yo-nin / "four persons", because shi-nin sounds like "dead persons".

    Given my love of punning, I remember thinking at the time, "Well, if one were to read it wrongly, it wouldn't make any difference anyway, because they are indeed all dead."