常說語(3-2)：just for fun----well, it's 魏

Well, it's 魏 (pronounced as wei ˋ )。The Chinese character in which hide eight thousand female ghosts is 魏(wei ˋ ), which is also a family name (last name) in Chinese. Find them in this character. On the upper half of the left side of the character, you'll see a 「八」(pronounced as ba ) and a 「千」(as chian ). On the lower half, you see a「女」(as nüˇ ). And on the right side of the character, you simply see a 「鬼」(as gueiˇ ). All of those are organized into an 「魏」(weiˋ ). The following characters, up to down,  are (1) the Chinese character 魏。 (2) the same character in another writing style. (3) it in yet another writing style. (4) and yet another style.

常說語(3-1)：just for fun----eight thousand female ghosts (八千女鬼)。

Eight thousand female ghosts (八千女鬼)hide in a Chinese character, which actually is a family name. Do you know what character it is? No, nothing mysterious, only you can see  " eight thousand female ghosts" in this name. I won't tell now. Let me show it to you next week.

常說語(2)：just for fun----好久不見(Long Time No See)

Hi, everybody! long time no see!(好久不見)。Nowadays in English-speaking countries, people sometimes say "long time no see" to their friends whom they haven't seen for a long time. Many believe that it is from Chinese greeting saying「好久不見」，though British and World English--Oxford Dictionary says this expression is "in humorous imitation of broken English spoken by an American Indian."  好久不見--好(very)久(long)不(no, not)見(see)----好(hauˇ)久(jiouˇ)不(buˋ)見(jianˋ)----hauˇ-jiouˇ-buˋ-jianˋ(when saying this, change the buˋ to buˊ.)--好久不見。By the way, as for this「好」，you  may know that Michael Jackson once sang "The girl is so dangerous," this Chinese character, however, says  girl (女子) is good (好)。You write and juxtapose the two Chinese characters 「女子」， which mean "girl, woman, lady,"， then what you  see is 「好」--good. Try to remember: 女子is 好， 好 is 女子。

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成語(4)：心有餘而力不足。Chinese Idiom: My Heart Is Surplus, But My Capability Is Inadquare (literally translated).

心有餘而力不足。This is Chinese version of the English idiom “The spirit is willing (but the flesh is weak).”心(heart)有(has, have)餘(surplus)而(but, and )力(ability, power, capability, force, strength)不(not, no)足(adequate, enough)。心(shin)有(iouˇ)餘(yuˊ)而(erˊ)力(liˋ)不(buˋ)足(tzuˊ)。This Chinese idiom is often used when you try to let someone know that you’d like to help him but you are incapable of. Having to say this, you may be of shortage of power, ability, techniques, or money they need. Or you, hypocritical enough, actually have no willing to help him. You can also use it to tell someone that you’d like to do something but don’t have the energy or strength to do it. Once one of my friends, who married a wife much younger than him, told me that he sometimes felt 心有餘而力不足 when going to bed with her. He used this idiom wittily. Down from top: 1. the Chinese character: 心; 2.your spiritual heart. This is also "心" in Chinese. 3. your physical heart. This is also "心" in Chinese. In daily language, however, this is 「心臟」(shin tzangˋ)。 

常說語(1)：just for fun----Chinese Saying: 大家有飯吃；有飯大家吃。

大家有飯吃；有飯大家吃。大(daˋ)家(jia)有(iouˇ)飯(fanˋ)吃(chi)；有(iouˇ)飯(fanˋ)大(daˋ)家(jia)吃(chi)。大家：everyone, all (of the people)；有：have, has, there is, there are；飯：steamed rice, food；吃：eat, have(food)。By saying 「大家有飯吃」, you mean "There is enough food for everyone to eat." No one has nothing to eat. Changing the sequence of all the same five Chinese characters into 「有飯大家吃」，now there is necessarily enough food no more. Still, no worry, let's all share the food even though we have only a little or little--「(When)有(some)飯，大家吃」。By saying 「有飯大家吃」，you mean " When there is some food, let's all share it." In China, 大家有飯吃 after Deng Xiau-ping's economic reform. Before it, when Mau Ze-dong ruled,  有飯大家吃 or 大家沒(no, there isn't, there arn't; pronounced as: meiˊ)飯吃 。 The following (down from top)are 1.Chinese character "飯"; 2.飯 (steamed rice); 3. rice with pork dice--a classic Taiwanese food; 4. fried rice(chau fan, as you see on menus in Chinese restaurants in western countries.)

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成語(3)：一肚子火。Chinese Idiom: A Belly of Fire (literally translated)

While you say ‘fire in one’s belly’ in English, we in Chinese say nearly all the same things: 一肚子火。一(a, one)肚子(belly)火(fire)，pronounced as一(i)肚子(duˋtz)火(huoˇ)。Do they denote the same thing too? No. In English, one has energy and determination to do something when he has a fire in his belly. In the “Chinese” belly, however, the fire is angriness. So, I am very angry or furious when I say「我一肚子火」----我(I)一(a)肚子(belly)火(fire)；woˇ-i-duˋ-tz-huoˇ。What this Chinese idiom actually says is “My belly is full of fire.” You say this to others to let them know that you are furious at something. Just like you read ‘a loaf of bread,’ I like to transliterate this idiom into ‘a belly of fire’ ----一肚子火。 The following is the Chinese character 'fire' :

 

成語(2)：騎虎難下。 Chinese Proverb: He Who Rides a Tiger is Afraid to Dismount.

It is said that the English idiom "Ride a Tiger" comes from a Chinese proverb "He who rides (騎) a tiger (虎) is afraid (難) to dismount (下). " John Ayto in his Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms explains this Chinese proverb very well. It says that "ride a tiger" denotes "take a responsibility or embark a course of action which subsequently cannot be safely abandoned." Why cannot be safely abandoned? Because the responsibility or the course of action has now changed into a 'tiger'--uncontrollable, doesn't listen to you, hard to tell to stop. There was no 'tiger' in the first place, but now you have it. Chinese-speaking people say "now you 騎虎難下了," while English-speaking ones say " Now you are riding a tiger." Pronounce it : 騎(chiˊ)虎(huˇ)難(nanˊ)下(shiaˋ)。By the way, the Chinese word「難」isn't 'afraid,' , but ' difficult, hard.' This Chinese proverb has said nothing about someone 'afraid' of doing something. It says that the dilemma--riding a tiger (騎虎)--is difficult (難)or hard (難) to resolve. Look, the Chinese character ' tiger':