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Emergencies 3
B: Emergencies come in all shapes and sizes. After last night’s spicy Sichuan meal, my
stomach has been in a state of revolt. And I know it’s not the sort of thing we like to talk about,
but, I’ve got diarrhea. How do you say diarrhea in Chinese, Y?
Y: Argh, you can say: fu4 xie4,
B: fu4 xie4,
Y: fu4 means belly,
B: fu4,
Y: xie4 means have loose bowels,
B: xie4,
Y: fu4 xie4,
B: fu4 xie4, diarrhea,
Y: Of course you can say it in a colloquial way, like this: la1 dui4 zi
B: la1 dui4 zi
Y: la1 means suffer from diarrhea,
B: la1,
Y: dui4 zi is more informal way of saying belly,
B: dui4 zi,
Y: la1 dui4 zi
B: la1 dui4 zi, diarrhea,
Conversation 1
A: 不好,我要拉肚子。洗手间在哪儿?
B: 一直向前,然后左转。
Coryright 2007 cchello.com
www.cchello.com
B: So, if need arises, where’s a restroom?
Y: Learn this expression and you’ll get there quicker, xi2 shou3 jian1 zai4 na3er? Where’s a
restroom?
B: xi2 shou3 jian1 zai4 na3er?
Y: xi2 shou3 literally means to wash hands, so it’s a euphemism for toilet,
B: got it, xi2 shou3,
Y: jian1 means the room,
B: jian1,
Y: zai4 na3er means at where?
B: zai4 na3er?
Y: xi2 shou3 jian1 zai4 na3er?
B: xi2 shou3 jian1 zai4 na3er? Where’s the restroom?
B: And just before disappearing into the xi2 shou3 jian1, I need some toilet paper, do you
have some Y?
Y: I’m afraid I don’t have any either… how about asking someone in Chinese? Like this: ni2
you3 wei4 sheng1 zhi3 ma? Do you have some toilet paper?
B: ni2 you3 wei4 sheng1 zhi3 ma?
Y: ni2 you3, do you have something,
B: ni2 you3,
Y: wei4 sheng1 zhi3, toilet paper,
B: wei4 sheng1 zhi3,
Y: ma is used at the end of a question,
B: ma,
Y: ni2 you3 wei4 sheng1 zhi3 ma?
B: ni2 you3 wei4 sheng1 zhi3 ma? Do you have some toilet paper?
Conversation2
A: 请问,你有卫生纸吗?
B: 对不起,我也没有。
B: Thank god that little unpleasant bout is over. And more seriously, a friend of mine suffers
from asthma, how do I explain He’s having an asthma attack?
Y: Asthma can be serious, we call it xiao4 chuan3,
B: xiao4 chuan3.
Y: And this is what you should say, ta1 you3 xiao4 chuan3, He’s having an asthma attack.
B: ta1 you3 xiao4 chuan3
Y: He in Chinese is ta1,
B: ta1,
Y: you3, here it means suffer from an illness,
B: you3,
Y: xiao4 chuan3 is asthma,
B: xiao4 chuan3
Coryright 2007 cchello.com
www.cchello.com
Y: ta1 you3 xiao4 chuan3
B: ta1 you3 xiao4 chuan3 He’s having an asthma attack.
Conversation 3
A: 他怎么了?好像很难受的样子。
B: 他有哮喘。
B: It’s really a paradox today, as we don’t really want any listener to have to use today’s
keywords, but just in case.
Y: All the same, we do want you to answer our question of the day, how do you say,
“Diarrhea” in Chinese.
Coryright 2007 cchello.com