What does 地道 (지도) mean in China?

ANSWER: As a noun, 地道 (지도) can mean either "tunnel" or "causeway," but as an adjective, it means either "authentic," "genuine," or "proper."

By itself, the character 地 (지) can mean "ground," "earth," "land" or "place." And by itself, 道 (도) can mean either "road" or "path." So, together 地道 (지도) literally means "ground (地) road (道)," where "ground" here seems to mean "underground (地下 지하)."

So, in China, I guess the phrase 地道地道 (지도지도) could be translated as "a (一個) real (地道) tunnel (地道)," not a fake one.

By the way, in Taiwan, 地道 (지도) is also used to mean "tunnel," but it is not used to mean "authentic." Instead, in Taiwan, they switch the characters and write 道地 (도지) to mean "authentic."

    

What does the Chinese phrase 開夜車 (개야차) literally mean?

ANSWER: "to drive (開) a night (夜) car (車)"
And what does "to drive a night car" mean in Chinese? It means "to burn the midnight oil" or "to work late into the night."

In the following Taylor Swift (泰勒絲 태륵사) song, the sentence "I stay out too late" was translated into Chinese as 昨晩開了夜車 (작만개료야차), which can literally translate as "Last night (昨晩) [I] drove (開了) a night car (夜車)."

 

What does the Chinese word 的士 (적사) mean?

ANSWER: taxi

Why does 的士 (적사) mean "taxi" in China?

ANSWER: Apparently because its Chinese pronunciation is similar to that of the English word "taxi" /dīshì/. 

The Chinese word 的士 (적사) can also be shortened to just 的 /dī/, as in the words 的哥 (적가) and 的姐 (적저), which literally mean "taxi (的) elder brother (哥)" and "taxi (的 elder sister (姐)." In other words, 的哥 translates as "male taxi driver," and 的姐 as "female taxi driver."

But what does 的哥的姐 (적가적저) mean when they are written together? Does the combination mean "male taxi drivers (的哥) and female taxi drivers (的姐)? Or does it mean "a male taxi driver's (的哥的) elder sister (姐)"?

By the way, the Chinese word 的確 (적확) means "in fact" or "really." Why? Probably because when foreigners see the word, many of them might say to themselves, "Com'on! Really?" Yes, really.

Koreans even use 적확 (的確), though they use it to mean "precise," "accurate," or "exact," which is the same meaning for 정확 (正確), the more popular Korean word.

Finally, if you add 高 (고), the character for "high," to 的士 (적사), the Chinese word for "taxi," you get 的士高 (díshìgāo), which is the Chinese word for "disco." Why? Because it sounds similar to the English pronunciation of "disco."

 

Why is a clock considered an inappropriate gift for an elderly person in China?

ANSWER: Because in Chinese Culture, a clock is "a symbol of the end of life." That is why the grandfather in the following sentence is angry when he receives a clock as a gift. (The sentence comes from the book Schaum's Outlines: Chinese Grammar.)

我(아)送(송)給(급)爺(야)爺(야)一(일)個(개)鐘(종). 爺(야)爺(야)不(불)但(단)不(불)高(고)興(흥), 反(반)而(이)非(비)常(상)生(생)氣(기).

I 我 gave 送給 grandfather 爺椰 a 一個 clock 鐘. Grandfather 爺爺 was not only 不但 not 不 happy 高興, on the contrary 反而, [he] was extremely 非常 angry 生氣.

It reminds me of the old song "My Grandfather's Clock."
   a

What does 餓鬼 (아귀) literally mean?

 ANSWER: hungry (餓) ghost (鬼)

Since it is getting close to Halloween, here is a short Chinese ghost story from the Chinese grammar book Schaum's Outlines: Chinese Grammar. I did, however, add the Korean pronunciations to the Chinese characters from the book.

城(성)西(서)邊(변)有(유)一(일)所(소)房(방)子(자). 房(방)子(자)又(우)大(대)又(우)老(노). 沒(몰)有(유)人(인)住(주).
On the town’s 城 west side 西邊 there is 有 a 一所 house 房子. The house 房子 is both 又 big 大 and 又 old老. No one 沒有人 lives 住 [there].

有(유)人(인)說(설)房(방)子(자)裏(리)有(유)鬼(괴). 還(환)說(설)如(여)果(과)你(니)要(요)跟(근)鬼(괴)做(주)朋(붕)友(우), 你(니)得(득)拿(나)飯(반)進(진)去(거)給(급)鬼(괴)吃(흘).
Some people 有人 say that 說 inside the house 房子裏 there are 有 ghosts 鬼. [They] also 還 say that 說 if 如果 you 你 want to要, with 跟 the ghosts 鬼, make 做 friends 朋友, you 你 must 得 take 拿 food 飯, go inside 進去, and give it 給 to the ghosts 鬼 to eat 吃.

妹(매)妹(매)和(화)我(아)都(도)聽(청)說(설)了(료)這(저)個(개)故(고)事(사), 想(상)要(요)看(간)看(간)鬼(괴).
Younger sister 妹妹 and 和 I 我 both 都 had heard 聽說了 this 這個 story 故事 [and] wanted 想要 to see 看看 the ghosts 鬼

我(아)們(문)問(문)媽(마)媽(마)鬼(괴)喜(희)歡(환)吃(흘)什(십)麽(마)? 他(타)說(설)他(타)們(문)喜(희)歡(환)吃(흘)米(미)飯(반), 也(야)喜(희)歡(환)吃(흘)餃(교)子(자)和(화)豆(두)腐(부).
We 我們 asked 問 mom 媽媽, “Ghosts 鬼 like to 喜歡 eat 吃 what 什麽?” She她 said 說 they 他們 like 喜歡 to eat 吃 rice 米飯 and also 也 like to 喜歡 to eat 吃 dumplings 餃子 and 和 tofu 豆腐.

他(타)們(문)還(환)喜(희)歡(환)吃(흘)麵(면)也(야)喜(희)歡(환)喝(갈)酒(주)和(화)可(가)樂(락).
They他門 also 還 like to 喜歡 eat 吃 noodles 麵 and also 也 like to 喜歡 drink 喝 wine 酒 abd 和 so cola 可樂.

所(소)以(이)我(아)們(문)做(주)了(료)紅(홍)燒(소)豆(두)腐(부)另(령)外(외)包(포)了(료)很(흔)多(다)餃(교)子(자).
So所以, we 我們 made 做了 simmer-fried 紅燒 tofu 豆腐 and also 另外 wrapped 包了 a lot of 很多 dumplings 餃子.

我(아)們(문)還(환)買(매)了(료)酒(주)和(화)可(가)樂(락).
We我們 also 還 bought 買了 wine 酒 and 和 cola 可樂.

等(등)到(도)天(천)黑(흑)了(료), 我(아)們(문)就(취)到(도)那(나)所(소)房(방)子(자)去(거)了(료).
Waiting until 等到 it became dark 天黑了, we 我們 then 就, to that house 到那所房子, went 去了.

進(진)了(료)房(방)子(자), 妹(매)妹(매)就(취)問(문)你(니)想(상)鬼(귀)今(금)天(천)會(회)喝(갈)酒(주)還(환)是(시)喝(갈)可(가)樂(락)?
[We] entered 進了 the house 房子, [and] younger sister 妹妹 then 就 asked 問, “Do you 你 think 想 the ghosts 鬼 today 今天 will 會 drink 喝 the wine 酒 or 還是 drink 喝 the cola 可樂?”

忽(돌)然(연)我(아)們(문)聽(청)見(견)一(일)個(개)聲(성)音(음), 好(호)像(상)跟(근)人(인)說(설)話(화)一(일)樣(양), “酒(주)還(환)是(시)可(가)樂(락)都(도)好(호). 我(아)們(문)也(야)喜(희)歡(환)渴(갈)水(수).”
Suddenly忽然 we 我們 heard 聽見 a 一個 sound 聲音 as if 好像 someone 跟人 were saying 說話 this 一樣, “Wine酒 or 還是 cola 可樂 both 都 are good 好. We 我們 also 也 like to 喜歡 drink 渴 water 水.”

餃(교)子(자)和(화)酒(주)都(도)掉(도)在(재)地(지)上(상).
The dumplings餃子 and 和 wine 酒 both 都 fell 掉 to the ground 在地上.

我們跑出房子去了, 又跑回家了.
We我們 ran out of 跑出 the house 房子去了 and 又 ran back home跑回家了.

第(제)二(이)天(천)回(회)房(방)子(자)裏(리)一(일)看(간).
The next day第二天 [we] returned 回 to look inside the house 房子裏一看.

在(재)房(방)子(자)後(후)頭(두)找(조)到(도)了(료)幾(기)個(개)酒(주)甁(병), 全(전)部(부)是(시)空(공)的(적).
Behind the house在房子後頭 [we] found 找到了several 幾個 wine bottles酒甁, and they were all empty 全部是空的.

地(지)上(상)有(유)一(일)封(봉)信(신)說(설) “謝(사)謝(사)你(니)們(문)給(급)我(아)們(문)菜(채)和(화)酒(주).” 我(아)們(문)以(이)後(후)再(재)見(견).
On the ground地上 there was 有 a letter 一封信 that said 說, “Thank you for 謝謝你們 giving 給 us 我們 food 菜 and 和 wine 酒. We 我們 will see you later 以後再見.”