Loud thunder, little rain

雷聲大，雨點小 (lei2 sheng1 da4, yu2 dian3 xiao3; ph) a lot of talk but little action.

After weeks of threatening rhetoric from North Korea, some of us might wonder how the dispute will end. There had been no signs of war in the past few days and the high-pitched provocation from Pyongyang seems like a dream now. 打，還是不打？

Related words:
北韓 bei3 han2 (n) N. Korea
南韓 nan2 han2 )n) S. Korea
衝突 chong1 tu2 (n/v) conflict; to collide
威脅 wei1 xie2 (n/v) threat; to threaten

Tax Thief

稅金賊 (shui4 jin1 zei2), literally means "tax thief," is a term used to describe incompetent "public servants." A perfect example would be the government's recent cover-up of the bird flu outbreak.

Related words:
稅金 shui4 jin1 (n) tax
賊 zei2 / 小偷 xiao3 tou1 (n) thief
公僕 gong1 pu2 (n) public servants

Linsanity makes me lose my sanity

It seems that all Taiwan news channels are engulfed by Jeremy Lin mania. Don't get me wrong, I do think he's a great player. What bothers me is the amount of useless Linformation on the news. (and I just read about his undie being sold online!) I believe there are things other than Jeremy Lin's life that worth our attention. 不要再林來瘋了！(bu2 yao4 zai4 lin2 lai2 feng1 le5) No more Linsanity!


瘋 feng1 (adj) insane, crazy, wild

cheating is like making a split

劈腿 (pi1 tui3, verb), literally means to split legs, is commonly used to describe one's cheating on his or her partner in a relationship. Similar words in Chinese are:

外遇 wai4 yu4 (n) an adulterous affair
出軌 chu1 gui3 (v) to leave the rails; to overstep bounds; to cheat
偷吃 tou1 chi1 (v) to eat sneakily

Happy the year of the Dragon

It's been a while since my last post, and another new year is coming. Today (the 22nd of January) is the eve of CNY. In my family, we'd gather at my aunt's house and have dinner together. It's called 圍爐 wei2 lu2 in Chinese. When I was little, the most exciting part of the new years was to get red envelopes (hong2 bao1紅包), within which money was put.
So, I wish you all will have a great year. 龍年快樂，吉祥如意！(long2 nian2 kuai4 le4, ji2 xiang2 ru2 yi4) happy the year of the dragon, wish you lucky and may everything goes as you wish.

Happy New Year

我昨天看了台北101的煙火。(wo3 zuo2 tian1 kan4 le tai2 bei3 yi1 ling2 yi1 de yan1 huo3)
I watched the fireworks show at Taipei 101 yesterday. 

煙火非常壯觀。 (yan1 huo3 fei1 chang2 zhuang4 guan1)
The fireworks were spectacular.


希望大家新的一年開心`健康！(xi1 wang4 da4 jia1 xin1 de yi4 nian2 kai1 xin1 . jian4 kang1)
I wish you all stay happy and healthy in the new year.


新年新希望 xin1 nian2 xin1 xi1 wang4 (n) new year's resolution
煙火 yan1 huo3 (n) fireworks
壯觀 zhuang4 guan1 (a) spectacular

Kim Jong-il dies 'of heart attack'

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il dies 'of heart attack'

北韓領導人金正日死於‘心臟病發’

(bei3 han2 ling2 dao3 ren2 jin1 zheng4 ri4 si3 yu2 xin1 zang4 bing4 fa1)


Analysts say that with the process of transition from father to son incomplete, Mr Kim's death could herald "very unstable times" in North Korea (BBC).
分析家指出父子交棒過程不完整，金的逝世可能預示北韓“動蕩時代”的來臨。
(fen1 xi1 jia1 zhi3 chu1 fu4 zi3 jiao1 bang4 guo4 cheng2 bu4 wan2 zheng3, jin1 de shi4 shi4 ke3 neng2 yu4 shi4 bei3 han2 dong4 dang4 shi2 dai4 de lai2 lin2)

北韓 bei3 han2 North Korea

南韓 nan2 han2 South Korea

領導人 ling2 dao3 ren2 (n) leader

金正日 jin1 zheng4 ri4 Kim Jong-il

金正恩 jin1 zheng4 en1 Kim Jong-un

心臟 xin1 zang4 (n) heart

心臟病發 xin1 zang4 bing4 fa1 (ph) heart attack
交棒 jiao1 bang4 (ph) transition
預示 yu4 shi4 (v) herald; forebode

Resources:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-16239693