Please Stop! Learn What to Do When Someone Does a “Petty and Mean Action”

It’s important to learn Chinese words that also have negative connotations. This is why I have been teaching my students the word "小动作 (Xiǎo dòngzuò)".

小动作 (Xiǎo dòngzuò) has two meanings:

1. Its first, literal meaning, is "small movement/action."
2. Its second refers to simply a petty and mean action.

As you listen for this word in conversation you will need to figure out the meaning by the context. Let’s breakdown the second meaning together so you can understand how to best use it yourself in conversation:

小动作 (Xiǎo dòngzuò) n. petty and mean action.

小 (Xiǎo): adj. small, tiny
动作 (Dòngzuò): n. action, movement

When we use "小动作 (Xiǎo dòngzuò)" in daily conversation we usually want to express the frustration with someone who is committing some sort of bad behavior to disturb a group of people. For example, in my class there is a student (we will call him Li Ming) who is constantly interrupting or disrupting his classmates.

Here’s how I would say this in Chinese:
Lǐ míng jīngcháng zài kètáng shàng zuò xiǎo dòngzuò gānrǎo tóngxué.
李 明 经 常 在 课 堂 上 做 小 动 作 干 扰 同 学。

Here is one way to say this in English:
Li Ming is always doing something irrelevant and petty to disturb his classmates in class.

In daily Mandarin conversation, we are also using "小动作 (Xiǎo dòngzuò)" to refer to the improper activities committed by... Read More

Chinese Slang is my favorite thing to teach because there is so much meaning contained in the phrases. This week I taught my students two Chinese slang phrases because they contain the same word/character in them.

That character is: 底 (Dǐ). What does it mean?
底 (Dǐ): bottom, underneath, underside.
You will find this in the first phrase at the very end of it.

Chinese Slang Phrase 1: 心里没底 (Xīn lǐ méi dǐ)
When you’re first learning a new language there is one thing you are always absolutely sure of: You’re not sure. Trying to remember a word? Still not sure? That is most of my beginner students most of the time in class. Don’t worry, you’re not the only one! A lot of us are unsure about a lot of things in life. So if you can learn how to say this word in Mandarin you are able to communicate a lot about what you’re feeling.

Chinese Slang Phrase 2: 底子薄 (Dǐzi báo).
This next Chinese slang word I use a lot when describing my students. I use it to categorize mostly the new students, whether they are learning English or Chinese. It’s common for a lot of my students to walk into their first class in either language with a very poor foundation for the language of choice. I, as a teacher, need to start from the very bottom with them, helping to build their skills brick by brick. Here’s a good way to say that in Chinese:

底子薄 (Dǐzi báo): have a poor foundation to start with.
底子 (Dǐzi): foundation.
薄 (Báo): thin, weak, poor.

Example:
Jack de yīngwén dǐzi báo.
Jack 的 英 文 底子 薄。
Jack has a poor foundation in English.

You can also use this to describe...Read More

Quiz:

Nǐ de bìyè lùnwén xiě de zěnme yàng le?
Jack: 你 的 毕业 论 文 写 得 怎 么 样 了？

Wǒ yǐjīng xiě wán le, dànshì xiě de hǎo bù hǎo, zhège wǒ xīnlǐ méi dǐ.
Lily: 我 已经 写 完 了，但 是 写 得 好 不 好， 这 个 我 心里 没 底。

Which of the following statements is true?

A. Lily hasn’t finished her graduate thesis.
B. Lily is not sure if she wrote a good graduate thesis.
C. Lily is sure that she wrote a good graduate thesis.