Chinese Food Translated Into English

Here's a good list of Chinese food with English translations.

http://www.cybertranslator.idv.tw/glossary/chinese-food.htm

Commonly Used French Words

This is a list of French words or phrases often used in English. It is only a partial list from answers.com. I deleted many of the entries that did not seem all that common. Even so, it is still a surprisingly long list.

A

ancien régime

the previous administration/government/reign. Note that in English usage it is often used to mean in particular pre-Revolution France, or the past in general, but this is not the French usage, which has the particular meaning as given

après nous, le déluge

"after us, the flood"; that is, things will be disastrous after we have gone (or died). Attributed to Madame de Pompadour, mistress of Louis XV of France

au contraire

on the contrary

B

beaucoup

plenty, lots of, much; merci beaucoup: thanks a lot

belles-lettres

literally "fine letters"; literature regarded for its aesthetic value rather than its didactic or informative content; also, light, stylish writings, usually on literary or intellectual subjects

bon appétit

literally "good appetite"; enjoy your meal

bon mot

well-chosen word(s), particularly a witty remark

bon voyage

"have a nice trip" (as in, 'I wish you a pleasant trip')

bric-a-brac

small ornamental objects, less valuable than antiques; a collection of old furniture, china, plate and curiosities. Cf. de bric et de broc, corresponding to our "by hook or by crook", and brack, refuse.

C

cause célèbre

literally "famous case", but used to refer to any long-running social, legal and political situation involving public campaigning on one or both sides.

c'est la vie

"that's life"

comme ci, comme ça

"like this, like that"; or some people might say "so and so"

coup de grâce

a killing blow (literally "blow of mercy")

coup d'état

a sudden blow to a state (normally a sudden, often violent, regime change)

crème de la crème

best of the best (or "cream of the crop")

cul-de-sac

literally "bottom-of-the-bag" or "arse-of-the-bag"; refers to a dead-end street (or no through road)

D

déjà vu

"already seen"; seeing something you have seen again, probably in similar settings

E

encore

more, still, yet; encore une fois: once more, again

en masse

in a mass or group, all together

esprit de corps

team spirit

excusez-moi !

excuse me!; often used sarcastically

F

fait accompli

the thing is done, it is too late discuss whether to do it

faux pas

literally "false step"; a violation of accepted, although unwritten, social rules

femme fatale

literally "fatal/deadly woman"; an attractive woman who seduces and takes advantage of men in order to achieve personal goals after which she discards of or abandons the victim. Used to describe an attractive woman with whom a relationship is likely to result, or has already resulted, in pain and sorrow

fin de siècle

"end of the century"; relating to the culture pertaining at the end of the 19th century

H

haute couture

Paris-based custom-fitted clothing; literally "high sewing"

hors d'œuvre

appetizer (starter) ; literally "outside of the work" (of the main meal)

L

laissez-faire

"let do"; often used within the context of economic policy or political philosophy, meaning leaving alone, or non-interference

lieu

in lieu of: "instead of", "in the place of". For example, "In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the deceased's charity of choice."

M

maître d'

a shortening of maître d'hôtel, meaning "master of the hall"; used to refer to a head waiter

ménage à trois

"household of three"; a romantic and/or sexual relationship consisting of three individuals in a single household, an arrangement of three individuals engaging in simultaneous sexual activity with one another

O

œuvre

"work", in the sense of an artist's work (as in, for instance, "I am studying Molière's great œuvre, Le Misanthrope"), and often, by extension, an artist's lifetime's achievements (for example "I am studying Molière's complete œuvre, including his great comedy of manners Le Misanthrope")

oui

yes

P

pièce de résistance

"piece of endurance" or "piece of staying power"; item that excels in quality and/or value from the rest of a collection

plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose

the more things change, the more they stay the same; often shortened to plus ça change

R

raison d'être

the basic reason or purpose to exist

raison d'état

reason of state

rendez-vous

appointment, meeting place

RSVP

abbreviation of répondez, s'il vous plaît, which politely requests the recipient to reply to an invitation ("please respond")

S

sans-culotte

literally "without knee-britches/trousers"; refers to lower-class Parisian republicans in the French Revolution, in modern use to those holding strong republican views

savoir-faire

literally "know how to do"; to respond appropriately to any situation.

T

tête-à-tête

"head to head"; an intimate get-together or private conversation between two people

tour de force

"act of strength"; a brilliant feat

tout de suite

"at once", "immediately" (per Oxford English Dictionary). Sometimes shortened to tout suite

V

vis-à-vis

"face-to-face"; opposed to, compared with, in relation to

voilà !

this word is one of the most common and familiar French words in the English language^{[citation needed]}. A compound word formed from voir (to see) and là (there), it would be translated literally as "see there". Though having more uses in French, in English it is usually used in the same way as "presto", or "ta-da", as in when presenting or making something.

Why we curse. What the F***? by Steven Pinker

Normally I would avoid this subject matter, but it's about language and Steven Pinker is a world-renowned scientist.

he strange emotional power of swearing--as well as the presence of linguistic taboos in all cultures-- suggests that taboo words tap into deep and ancient parts of the brain. In general, words have not just a denotation but a connotation: an emotional coloring distinct from what the word literally refers to, as in principled versus stubborn and slender versus scrawny. The difference between a taboo word and its genteel synonyms, such as shit and feces, cunt and vagina, or fucking and making love, is an extreme example of the distinction. Curses provoke a different response than their synonyms in part because connotations and denotations are stored in different parts of the brain.

Selected Vocabulary

taboo	n. - 禁忌,忌諱
genteel	adj. - 彬彬有禮的;有教養的
swear	v. - 咒罵; 發誓
connotation	n. - 含蓄;言外之意
denotation	n. - 意義;本義
synonym	n. - 同義字
curse	v. - 詛咒,咒罵
curses	n. - 詛咒,咒語

Science Related Vocabulary

Below are a list of science related words. Many of them can be used to describe the quality of evidence. The first five entries are linked to the British National Corpus, giving 50 (or fewer) random samples of sentences using the word. At the beginning of each sentence there is a link to the source of the sentence as well. Although it focuses on British English, I still think it is useful for students more interested in American English. I haven't found a similar site for American English. If anyone knows of one, please e-mail me the link.

For example, a search for flimsy evidence will return only 12 sentences. One of them is:

G15 363 `;They can't go around alarming people on the basis of flimsy evidence.'
In this case you will see that the source is a mystery called A midsummer killing.

I think this is a fun way to see how words are used in real world. Please note that about 10% of the sentences are taken from oral sources.

Adjectives
conclusive	決定性的;確實的;最終的
convincing	有論據證實的
doubtless	毫無疑問
empirical	以經驗(或觀察)為依據的
implausible	難以置信的
impossible	不可能的
improbable	不大可能
inconclusive	無疑的
incontrovertible	無疑的
logical	合邏輯的;合理的
plausible	貌似可信的;花言巧語的
probable	可能
questionable	不確定的
reasonable	合理的
theoretical	理論
unconvincing	不令人信服的
unlikely	不太可能的
unscientific	不科學的
Adverbs
absolutely	絕對地, 完全地, 正是如此
apparently	顯然地
certainly	確定地
clearly	清楚地
doubtless	毫無疑問
presumably	推測上, 大概, 假定上
probably	大概
undoubtedly	毫無疑問地;肯定地
Nouns
evidence	證據
experiment	實驗
hypothesis	假設
methodology	方法學, 方法論
odds	機會,可能性
probability	概率
proof	證據;物證
theory	理論
Phrases
burden of proof	【律】提供證據之責任
circumstantial evidence	旁證;間接證據
deductive method	演繹法
find out	找出;發現;查明
flimsy evidence	站不住腳的證據
physical evidence	實物證據
scientific method	科學的方法
solid evidence	確鑿的證據
without a doubt	無疑地
Verbs
determine	確定
examine	審核;檢查;診察

Periods of Life

Infant: Usually from birth to about 12 months (before they can walk).

Baby: a very young child (includes infants and slightly older children).

Toddler: 12-36 months (after being able to walk).

Preschooler: 3 - 5 years of age (a child not old enough to attend kindergarten).

Child: Between birth and Puberty (in the US around 11 for girls and 13 for boys).

Adolescent: Between the ages of 12 or 14 to 19 or 21 (in the US).

Teenager: From 13 to 19 years of age.

Adult: In most countries the legal definition is usually someone over the age of either 18 or 21.

Middle Age: Between 35 and 54 years of age (according to the US Census).

Old Age: Roughly after 65 years of age (this age group is also known as the elderly, seniors or senior citizens).

Centenarian: someone who has lived to the age of 100 and above.

Frequency of Words

Three Useful Sites:

1. WFWSE frequency lists
2. Children's Printed Word Database
3. British National Corpus (for sample sentences)
   

You can find many kinds of word lists at http://iteslj.org/links/TESL/Vocabulary/.

I found two particularly useful. The first, and perhaps the most authoritative, is based on the British National Corpus. You can either go there directly by clicking on frequency lists, or get to it through the main site at http://www.comp.lancs.ac.uk/ucrel/bncfreq/.

The British National Corpus includes a wide variety both written (90%) and unwritten (10%) material. The nice thing is that you do not need to download any files to use it. The disadvantage is that it focuses solely on British English.

Note that many of the frequency lists have two versions, by lemma and not lemmatized.
A lemma is a headword in the dictionary. This is the "main" entry that you will find. Other forms of the word will be grouped underneath it. On the lists, a lemmatized word means that all forms of a word (derived or plural) are counted as a lemma or headword. For example, when you check the Frequency list of verbs (by lemma): list, you will find no entries for woke, but a frequency count of 41 for wake. All other forms of wake were counted as wake. The not lemmatized versions of lists simply count words as they occur.


The second list is the Children's Printed Word Database based on reading material of children between 5 and 9. Developed by the Department of Psychology, University of Essex in the UK.

Finally, if you would like to find sample sentences using a word, you can use the British National Corpus website. The source of each sentence is given (book, magazine, newspaper, etc.).

What is the proportion of English words of French, Latin, or Germanic origin?

From askoxford.com

• Latin, including modern scientific and technical Latin: 28.24%
• French, including Old French and early Anglo-French: 28.3%
• Old and Middle English, Old Norse, and Dutch: 25%
• Greek: 5.32%
• No etymology given: 4.03%
• Derived from proper names: 3.28%
• All other languages contributed less than 1%

Why Westerners Think Confuciounism is a Religion

The following are some reasons Westerners think of Confucianism as a religion, though most Taiwanese do not consider it a religion.

The words "temple," "worship" and "pray" are often used by Taiwanese when referring to Confucianism. In English each of these words is closely linked to religion.

temple: this is usually a building for religious worship and the Chinese word for a building associated with Confucious. In contrast, when in America we wish to show our respect to a great individual without implying that he was a divinity or a god, we would build a memorial, such as the famous Lincoln or Washington memorials, in the person's honor.

worship: this is a deep respect and love usually shown or expressed for a god or divinity.

pray: before a big exam, students often pray for good scores at a Confucian Temple. But normally only a divine power can influence the future so again Westerners will conclude that Taiwanese believe Confucious was more than just a great man.

It is certainly true that Confucious is not regarded by anyone as a creator god, such as exists in the Western monotheistic (one God) religions. But the Taiwanese attitude towards Confucious suggests to Westerners that at the very least he is considered divine.

I should also mention Wing-Tsit Chan's (A Source Book in Chinese Philosophy) commentary on K'and Yu-Wei, the Chinese philosopher and reformer (1858-1927): "K'ang was the first to regard Confucious as the founder of a religion, and he vigorously advocated Confucionism as the state religion." This of course suggests my opinion is in the minority.

Some Suggestions for Speaking on the Phone

SOURCE: University of Florida, IFAS Extension
http://edis.ifas.ufl.edu/CD018

[Also] pay attention to your vocal quality , consisting of rate, pitch, volume, clarity, and tone . Is your voice rate too fast or too slow? The average speech rate is 140 words per minute. Fast talkers come across as untrustworthy or too busy to talk. Callers may think of slow talkers as mentally slow. Pitch is the highness or lowness of your voice. High-pitched talkers tend to grate on people's nerves, while low-pitched talkers sound mechanical, almost robotic. Volume is how loud or soft you talk. Loud people are perceived as brash, overbearing; soft speakers are seen as shy, wimpy. Clarity takes in how your words are understood. Do you articulate your words, or do you slur them together? A problem in the South is dropping end consonants ("droppin'" for "dropping") or mispronouncing some words ("git" for "get"). Lastly, tone is the expressiveness in your voice. It makes up 38 percent of the communication message, so make it count. Be expressive.

vocal quality: 聲音的品質
rate: 率
pitch: 高/低音
volume: 音量
clarity: 清晰
tone: 音調

Telling Time

P.M., PM, p.m. means afternoon
(post meridiem in Latin)

A.M., AM, a.m. means before noon
(ante meridiem in Latin)

Usage Note
12 A.M. = midnight and 12 P.M. = noon

To be clear it is better to say 12 noon and 12 midnight.

A common error is to combine o'clock and PM or AM.
Use only one or the other:

CORRECT: Two o'clock in the afternoon. OR Two o'clock.
INCORRECT: Two o'clock PM.

Time	Ways to Say the Time
04:00:00 AM	Four o'clock
02:15:00 AM	Two-fifteen Quarter past two
06:30:00 AM	Six-thirty Half past six
02:45:00 AM	Two-forty-five Quarter to three
07:50:00 AM	Seven-fifty Ten to eight
08:11:00 AM	Eight-eleven Eleven minutes past eight
11:48:00 AM	Eleven-forty-eight Twelve minutes to twelve
12:00:00 PM	Twelve o'clock Noon (middle of the day) Midnight (middle of the night)

For more examples and explanations see:
http://arcytech.org/java/clock/telling_time.html

English Words From Chinese

List of Commodities

Commodity	Chinese Translation
Aluminum	鋁
Azuki (Red) Beans	紅豆
Barley	大麥
Canola	菜籽油
Cocoa	可可
Coffee	咖啡
Copper	銅
Corn	玉米
Cotton	棉花
Crude Oil	原油
Gold	黃金
Heating Oil	取暖油
Lead	鉛
Lean Hogs	瘦豬
Live Cattle	活牛
Lumber	木料
Natural Gas	天然氣
Nickel	鎳
Oats	燕麥
Orange Juice	橙汁
Palladium	鈀
Platinum	白金
Rice	稻,穀
Rubber	橡膠
Silver	銀
Soybean Meal	玉米粉
Soybean Oil	黃豆油
Soybeans	黃豆
Sugar	食糖
Tin	錫
Wheat	小麥
Zinc	鋅

This list is based on The Rogers International Commodities Index. Some of the commodities were ommitted. Please see http://www.rogersrawmaterials.com/page3.html for details.

Nationalities

COUNTRY	ADJECTIVE	NOUN	LANGUAGE*	CURRENCY+
America, The USA	American	an American	English	Dollar
Argentina	Argentinian	an Argentinian	Spanish	Peso
Austria	Austrian	an Austrian	German	Euro
Australia	Australian	an Australian	English	Australian Dollar
Belgium	Belgian	a Belgian	Dutch, French, German	Euro
Brazil	Brazilian	a Brazilian	Portuguese	Real
Britain, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland	British	a Briton, Britisher	English	British Pound (Pound Sterling)
Cambodia	Cambodian	a Cambodian	Khmer	Riel
Chile	Chilean	a Chilean	Spanish	Chilean Peso
China	Chinese	a Chinese	Chinese; also Mandarin or Cantonese	Yuan
the Czech Republic	Czech	a Czech	Czech	Koruna
Denmark	Danish	a Dane	Danish	Danish Krone
England	English	an Englishman, English-woman	English	British Pound
Finland	Finnish	a Finn	Finnish, Swedish	Euro
France	French	a Frenchman, French-woman	French	Euro
Germany	German	a German	German	Euro
Greece	Greek	a Greek	Greek	Euro
The Netherlands (Holland)	Dutch	a Dutchman, Dutch-woman	Dutch	Euro
Hungary	Hungarian	a Hungarian	Hungarian	Forint
Iceland	Icelandic	an Icelander	Icelandic	Icelandic Krona
India	Indian	an Indian	Hindi, English plus 21 other official languages	Rupee
Indonesia	Indonesian	an Indonesian	Indonesian	Rupiah
Iran	Iranian	an Iranian	Persian (Farsi)	Iranian Rial
Iraq	Iraqi	an Iraqi	Arabic, Kurdish	Dinar
Ireland	Irish	an Irishman, Irish-woman	Irish, English	Euro
Israel	Israeli	an Israeli	Hebrew, Arabic	Shekel
Italy	Italian	an Italian	Italian	Euro
Japan	Japanese	a Japanese	Japanese	Yen
Korea (South Korea)	Korean	a Korean	Korean	Won
Luxembourg or Luxemburg	Luxembourg	Luxembourger(s)	Luxembourgish, German, French	Euro
Mexico	Mexican	a Mexican	Spanish	Mexian Peso
Norway	Norwegian	a Norwegian	Norwegian	Krone
the Philippines	Philippine	a Filipino	Filipino, English	Philippine Peso
Poland	Polish	a Pole	Polish	Zloty
Portugal	Portuguese	a Portuguese	Portuguese	Euro
Russia	Russian	a Russian	Russian	Rouble
Saudi Arabia	Saudi, Saudi Arabian	a Saudi, a Saudi Arabian	Arabic	Saudi Arabian Rial
Scotland	Scottish	a Scot	English, Gaelic, Scottish (Scots)	British Pound (Pound Sterling)
Spain	Spanish	a Spaniard	Spanish	Euro
Sweden	Swedish	a Swede	Swedish	Swedish Krona
Switzerland	Swiss	a Swiss	German, French, Italian, Romansh	Swiss Franc
Thailand	Thai	a Thai	Thai	Baht
Turkey	Turkish	a Turk	Turkish	Lira
Vietnam	Vietnamese	a Vietnamese	Vietnamese	Dong

*Only the official or primary languages are listed.
+The adjective preceding the currency name is only used if needed for clarification.

Sources: To Learn English, Yahoo Currency Converter