#heck forget historically china is STILL arguably the most advanced and powerful country in the world | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

unforth · 1 year ago

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I was today years old when I learned that the word for Mandarin in Mandarin is 普通话 and now I'm lmao because it is the most Chinese thing ever for the Middle Kingdom around which the world revolves to call their language "ordinary talk" in contrast to everyone else.

And to be clear I don't mean this disparagingly, I think it's fascinating as an example of how history and language frame word creation, how cultures see themselves, etc. I think it's so cool. I will never forget this word. It will be on my slowly fomenting next list of more of my favorite words in Chinese. It's absolutely intriguing and neat.

But I was also extremely "wut" at first because I know all the characters individually and didn't realize that TOGETHER they meant Mandarin so I just thought DuChinese was being weird about comparing Cantonese with other Chinese dialects (the reading was about dialects). 🤣🤣🤣

#unforth rambles #chinese langblr #i really.hope no one takes this wrong #i was just so offended at first cause i was like WHY WOULD DUCHINESE CALL IT ORDINSRY TALK THATS SO MEAN TO CANTONESE #and then i actually checked the entire definition #and now im just lmao at myself and at history #culture is amazing #how people as a nation see themselves in relation to other cultures is fascinating #and yes ive studied chinese for 2 years and only learned the chinese word for mandarin today #idk either life just be like that i guess #im so worried someone will think im laughing about hahaha china thinks theyre language is the best but i know better #when i dont mean it that way at al #language and words are historical and cultural #and i think this is amazing from a historical and cultural standpoint #and im laughing at myself for not getting it #and because i should have realized because this is just SO CHINESE of chinese to dk #heck forget historically china is STILL arguably the most advanced and powerful country in the world

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