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06/16/11
Hitting the big Wu Ling
Filed under: General
Posted by: @ 7:37 am

Hitting the big Wu –Ling

P5270031

OK.

Last weekend, I got the privilege to celebrate my 50th birthday. Most of my milestone birthdays, another milestone birthday.

Not just making it up the hill, learning to count that high in Chinese.

Numbers, whether the big wu ling or zero, don’t translate

Along with the Chinese pronunciation, there is a Chinese character. Local markets do not use the 1,2, 3, 4,5 that Big Bird and Ernie taught us on Sesame Street,  but the characters below.

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10

 

 So everything in a Chinese 99 cent store is .

Trust me, even the simplified Chinese characters aren’t so simple.  Zero, or ling, is the most complicated of all. 零

Four, if you mispronounce it, means death. That is why phone numbers that contain a lot of fours are inexpensive. On the other hand, 8 or Bahhhh (like the sheep) is a lucky number. Chinese pay a premium on cell phone numbers that sound a lot like Mary’s Lil’ lamg.

You’d think hand gestures would help you out, but forget it.  One index finger up means one, bunny ears means two, but once you start using the second hand, things get a little crazy.

Six looks like a surfer’s hang loose sign, seven looks like a shadow picture of a decrepit one ear bunny, and eight looks like you just ate a bowl of chili and want someone to pull your finger. 

Check out all of the hand gestures below.

http://www.my-new-chinese-love.com/counting-in-chinese.html

So, that’s why turning big wu ling in china a big accomplishment.

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