 qi1 - seven sai1 - gill (of a fish) man2 - eel The lamprey is an odd looking aquatic vertebrate that has suckers instead of jaws. They tend to be parasitic, attaching themselves to other fish by means of their sucker mouthparts. |
March 1, 1998The Lamprey Family Zoology Class Dissects Lampreys Definitely check out this link!!! |
 qi4 - air; gas; vapor; atmosphere men2 - door; gateway; opening Here is another of those obvious, everyday words that are not always the easiest to find at the time you're looking for them. |
February 28, 1998 |
 tie3 - iron (Fe) gong1 - male (animal) ji1 - chicken gong1ji1 - cock; rooster Once in a while I find a new word or expression in another language that brings a smile, chuckle or laugh. When I first ran into this word, I couldn't suppress a laugh. And then came admiration for a very descriptive term for a miser - an iron rooster or iron cock. And of course, part of the humor was based on the slang usage of the word cock in English, which probably doesn't play a role in this word in Chinese. For those of you familiar with the slang term ji1ba5 in Chinese, there is a tenuous connection. Anyhow, every time I run across this word in my review program, I smile. |
February 27, 1998
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 mei3 - each; every fen1zhong1 - minute zhuan4 - turn; revolve; rotate; revolution shu4 - number; a count Here's a common and useful term from the field of mechanics or mechanical engineering. |
February 26, 1998
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 shi2 - ten; complete; (in this word - used for its shape) zi4 - word; character shi2zi4 - a cross gou1 - groove tou2 - head Here you are!! The Chinese for the "other" type of screw (other than flathead, that is.) The word is obviously refers to the shape of a phillips head screw. |
February 25, 1998
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 shou4 - to sell huo4 - commodities; goods; products ji1 - machine This is a pretty straightforward word and its component characters spell out the meaning. For Chinese word review, I would favor giving this word in English with the answer given in Chinese. |
February 24, 1998GameroomAntiques - HISTORY OF VENDING MACHINES |
 ren2lei4 - man; mankind; the human race ji1yin1 - gene zu3 - organize; form ji1yin1zu3 - genome ji4hua4 - plan; project; program Here's a word from the forefront of modern science. As you can see, it's a compound word consisting of several component words which will greatly inflate my dictionary attached to this web project. Take special note of the word for gene - ji1yin1. The characters were obviously chosen for their phonetic value, but the characters ji1 (base, foundation; primary, base; radical, base [chem]) and yin1 (cause, reason) or, roughly, "basic cause", have a conceptual value as well. (All this speculation is my own personal opinion.) I've found some interesting web sites that address the Human Genome Project. The one from the U.S. DOE has quite a bit of info about the science behind the project. |
February 23, 1998To Know Ourselves: The U.S. Department of Energy and the Human Genome Project An overview of the science underlying the Human Genome Project. Human Genome Centers HUGO - The Human Genome Organisation |
MAIL© 1997 edjaggard@bigfoot.com