Chinese characters: 01 (花 huā)

 

花 huā is most commonly known as “flower” as a noun, and “to spend / expend [money, time, effort]” as a verb.

    As an adjective, there’s the more obvious “flowery / floral” (patterned / multi-coloured, as in printed fabric), and the less obvious “blurred [vision]” and “scratched [surface]”.

    What a lot of students don’t get taught, even those at an advanced level, are the less common uses of this character.  Less common, and often derogatory.

    A long-standing student (on and off over 18 years) recently recommended me to his colleague.

    She’d learned some Chinese in London, after which she went to Taiwan where she got given a Chinese name, 花花 huāhuā / “flower flower”, which sounds sweet.

    My student then said in Chinese, “我也是花花 (wǒ yě shì huāhuā / I’m also 花花),” which made me do a double take.

    It turned out that (some of?) his Chinese friends had called him that — why, he knows not.

    I warned him not to say “我是花花 (wǒ shì huāhuā / I’m 花花)” ever again, adding that:

• No man has a name using the characters 花花.  If his name has a “hua” sound in it, it wouldn’t be the character 花 huā / flower.  (One cannot always account for parents’ choices, so this is not a 100% rule, which applies to all language rules anyway, I keep telling my students.)

• 花 has derogatory meanings / uses as well.

• He could at least say, “我的朋友叫我花花 (wǒ de péngyǒu jiào wǒ huāhuā / My friends call me 花花),” rather than “我是花花 (wǒ shì huāhuā / I am 花花).”  (Here, I have in mind the Chinese love of word play, so they’d pounce on his “我是花花 / wǒ shì huāhuā / I am 花花”, and invoke the derogatory qualities associated with 花 — see my list below.)

    Since then, the poor chap has been receiving those derogatory-meaning compounds and phrases whenever they surface in my knowledge bank.

    Here’s my list (off the top of my head for this blog), arranged alphabetically for ease of reference (not in any order of frequency of usage).

1. 花边新闻 huābiān xīnwén / “flowery edge news” = news of illicit love
2. 花船 huāchuán / “flower boat” / floating brothel
3. 花和尚 huā héshàng / “flower monk” / monk who violates religious discipline
4. 花花肠子 huāhuā chángzi / “flower flower intestines” = to be full of cunning
5. 花花公子 huāhuā gōngzi / “flower flower young master” = playboy
6. 吃 (/ 喝) 花酒 / chī (/ hē) huā jiǔ / “eat(/drink) flower alcohol” / to drink with prostitutes
7. 花柳病 huā liǔ bìng / “flower willow illness” = VD (venereal disease)
8. 花娘 huā niáng / “flower woman” / (a) prostitute; (b) entertainer (which in the old days wouldn’t earn much respect)
9. 花瓶 huā píng / “flower bottle” / (a) vase; (b) woman employed for her beauty [as decoration]
10. 花拳绣腿 huā quán xiù tuǐ / “flower fist embroider leg” = boxing for show and without strength
11. 花天酒地 huā tiān jiǔ dì / “flower sky alcohol land” / indulge in sensual pleasures
12. 花心 huā xīn / “flower heart” / unfaithful, fickle in love
13. 花言巧语 huā yán qiǎo yǔ / “flower speech clever/cunning language” / slick talk
14. 花招 huā zhāo / “flower move” / a ruse

(From googling) “花”还可以引申出一些负面的含义，比如“花招”、“花言巧语”等，表示虚伪、欺骗或不切实际的东西。

(Google translate) “Hua” can also be extended to some negative meanings, such as “tricks”, “sweet talk”, etc., which means hypocrisy, deception or unrealistic things.

(From googling) “花娘” 在中文里有多重含义，最常见的指旧时从事歌舞表演或娼妓行业的女性，也可指司花的女神，或者在某些方言中，用来形容人三心二意、喜新厌旧。

(Google translate) “Hua Niang" has multiple meanings in Chinese. The most common one refers to women who were engaged in singing and dancing performances or prostitution in the old days. It can also refer to the goddess of flowers, or in some dialects, it is used to describe people who are indecisive and easily bored with the old and love the new.