Light at the End of the Tunnel

It is the seventh and second to last week of this program. In a week, I will be packing my bags and heading out to ChongQing to see my maternal grandparents. Just had another delicious language table. The vegetarians got segregated again, but we also got to order our own food which was a fair tradeoff as far as my stomach is concerned. We ate at a Korean place where you cook slices of meat or veggies on this hot skillet in the middle of the table. Deliciously fried.

As the difficulty level rises each week, the most reliable indicator of how long its going to take to memorize the characters is the number of four letter phrases we have that night. Whereas English is a language where length and eloquence are oftentimes not directly related (both long and short flourishes can be found), in Chinese the formality and quality are directly correlated to the absence of words. When the Chinese want to say something very important or special, they take phrases you would fin in normal speech and cut out about half the words. The 书面of almost every word is simply the combination of one character from two phrases that have the same meaning.

Below, I am going to list some of my favorite four word phrases learned thus far:

忧心忡忡：to be deeply worried

四面楚歌：besiged from all sides

千娇百媚：bewitchingly charming (of a female)

不识时务：to show no understanding of the times

不择手段：by fair means or fouls

眼高手低：to have high aims but low abilities

墨迹未干：before the ink is dry

遗臭万年：to leave a name that will stink to eternity (infamy?)

打草惊蛇：to beat the grass and startle the snake (to let others know what you are up to, which is usually something devious)