15 SEP 2012 by ideonexus

 Mandarin for "Riddle"

"Word" plus "to get lost"; thus, a riddle is words that you become lost within. The word "to get lost" is also interesting, a combination of "path" and "rice", which reminds us of leaving breadcrumbs to find our way back.
Folksonomies: mandarin chinese
Folksonomies: mandarin chinese
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谜 =     米 (riddle)

迷 =    米 (to get lost)

11 AUG 2012 by ideonexus

 Mandarin for "War"

Is to divine by the dagger-axe (an ancient weapon).
Folksonomies: mandarin
Folksonomies: mandarin
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占 戈 = 战

29 MAY 2012 by ideonexus

 Seckilling

Chinese term for when two people are playing a video game and one kills the other before they even have the chance to act. Also can refer to people snapping up a good deal at the store, leaving others with not-so-good deals.
Folksonomies: mandarin
Folksonomies: mandarin
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秒杀

12 JAN 2012 by ideonexus

 Hackers Loved Chinese Food

Because they discovered, through Chinese dictionaries, that there was another menu for Chinese patrons with better food that had fantastic names.
Folksonomies: mandarin chinese food hackers
Folksonomies: mandarin chinese food hackers
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Chinese food was a system, too, and the hacker curiosity was applied to that system as assiduously as to a new LISP compiler. Samson had been an aficionado from his first experience on a TMRC outing to Joy Fong’s on Central Square, and by the early sixties he had actually learned enough Chinese characters to read menus and order obscure dishes. Gosper took to the cuisine with even greater vigor; he would prowl Chinatown looking for restaurants open after midnight, and one night he found a tiny little cellar place run by a small family. It was fairly dull food, but he noticed some Chinese people eating fantastic-looking dishes. So he figured he’d take Samson back there.

They went back loaded with Chinese dictionaries, and demanded a Chinese menu. The chef, a Mr. Wong, reluctantly complied, and Gosper, Samson, and the others pored over the menu as if it were an instruction set for a new machine. Samson supplied the translations, which were positively revelatory. What was called “Beef with Tomato” on the English menu had a literal meaning of Barbarian Eggplant Cowpork. “Wonton” had a Chinese equivalent of Cloud Gulp. There were unbelievable things to discover in this system! So after deciding the most interesting things to order (“Hibiscus Wing? Better order that, find out what that’s about”), they called over Mr. Wong, and he jabbered frantically in Chinese disapproval of their selections. It turned out he was reluctant to serve them the food Chinese-style, thinking that Americans couldn’t take it. Mr. Wong had mistaken them for typically timid Americans—but these were explorers! They had been inside the machine, and lived to tell the tale (they would tell it in assembly language). Mr. Wong gave in. Out came the best Chinese meal that any of the hackers had eaten to date.

31 DEC 2011 by ideonexus

 Mandarin for "USA" is "Beautiful" plus "Kingdom"

Perhaps they were referring to our expansive open spaces and national parks.
Folksonomies: language mandarin chinese
Folksonomies: language mandarin chinese
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31 DEC 2011 by ideonexus

 Mandarin for "White" is a "Drop" of "Sun"

Scientifically accurate whether it was intended or not.
Folksonomies: mandarin chinese characters
Folksonomies: mandarin chinese characters
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 and 日 = 白