The Chinese Riddles thread (Specific Languages) Language Learning Forum

The Chinese Riddles thread
Tags: Chinese Characters \| Vocabulary learning \| Mandarin
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Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages

13 messages over 2 pages: 1 2

indiana83
Groupie
United States
ipracticecanto.wordp
Joined 5493 days ago
92 posts - 121 votes

Speaks: English*
Studies: Cantonese, Italian

Message 9 of 13

20 May 2010 at 10:49pm | IP Logged

Here's an easy one my coworker taught me when I was first learning to read Chinese. I just remembered this one last night. This would fall under "1) Riddles refering to the shape of Chinese Characters".

有1，沒有2，有3，沒有4，有東，沒有西。
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QiuJP
Triglot
Senior Member
Singapore
Joined 5858 days ago
428 posts - 597 votes

Speaks: Mandarin*, English^C2, French
Studies: Czech, German^B1, Russian, Japanese

Message 10 of 13

22 May 2010 at 7:16pm | IP Logged

QiuJP wrote:

Here are 3 riddles for you:

1)谁也写不正（Guess a character）

2)暗访山东（Guess a name of a country）

3)(very difficult) 水 (Guess a four-character set pharse)

Any takes? If there isn't I will post the answers and 3 more riddles tomorrow
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QiuJP
Triglot
Senior Member
Singapore
Joined 5858 days ago
428 posts - 597 votes

Speaks: Mandarin*, English^C2, French
Studies: Czech, German^B1, Russian, Japanese

Message 11 of 13

26 May 2010 at 4:00pm | IP Logged

QiuJP wrote:

Here are 3 riddles for you:

1)谁也写不正（Guess a character）

2)暗访山东（Guess a name of a country）

3)(very difficult) 水 (Guess a four-character set pharse)

Any takes? If there isn't I will post the answers and 3 more riddles tomorrow

The answers:

1)歪
2)秘鲁
3)小心翼翼

Explaination:
1) The characters 不 and 正 form the character 歪, which means crooked. In fact, 歪 is the opposite of 正 staight.

2) This riddle is a combination of type 2 and type 3 riddle. In the first part, 暗访 = 密, sercet which rythms with 秘. In the second part, the alternative name of the province 山东 is 鲁. Together,秘鲁 refers to the country of Peru.

3) The character 水 resembles the heart（心） portion of the character 小 which have grown two wings (翼). Combine these elements together, you will form the pharse 小心翼翼. It means to be extremely careful.
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Astrophel
Tetraglot
Senior Member
United States
Joined 5735 days ago
157 posts - 345 votes

Speaks: English*, Latin, German, Spanish
Studies: Russian, Cantonese, Polish, Sanskrit, Cherokee

Message 12 of 13

27 May 2010 at 5:52pm | IP Logged

I don't know any Chinese but you do an excellent job of explaining the riddles. :) It's so fascinating how these riddles are completely untranslatable and nothing similar exists in any language I know. Reminds me why I started learning...

I like the "wife holds umbrella" one best :)
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wuyou
Triglot
Groupie
Fiji
Joined 6808 days ago
90 posts - 97 votes

Speaks: Mandarin*, Japanese, English
Studies: French

Message 13 of 13

31 May 2010 at 7:51am | IP Logged

QiuJP wrote:

Asiafeverr wrote:

上不在上，下不在下，天没有它大，人没有它大。

The answer is "一" right? If you remove a stroke ( 一 ), 上 is not 上 , 下 is not 下 . If you remove the top stroke of 天, it become 大. If you add a stoke to 人 ,it become 大 .

and the last sentence should be "人有了它大"

well, it should be:
上不在上，下不在下，人有它大，天没它大

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