和谐英语

您现在的位置是:首页 > 英语视频 > 英语新闻视频

正文

电视节目禁用外语缩略词为"保护"汉语?

2010-04-08来源:和谐英语

An increasing number of Chinese TV viewers are English-literate, especially the younger generation What do they think about this issue? I am now joined by my colleague Wang Guan. So Wang Guan, do Chinese young people think banning English and English abbreviations on TV is a good way to preserve the Chinese language?

Wnag Guan: Well, it's true that much of the English vocabulary has made it into the Chinese language. But, it is also true the other way around. I mean, you find quite a few Chinese expressions in the English vocabulary. For example, food. Many people around the world love Chinese food, and if you ask them what they like they can tell you Kung pao Chi Ting and Ma Po Tofu. Another example. Many of my foreign friends here told me they actually built their homes or arranged their furniture comforming to Chinese "Feng Shui" and in their spare time they watch Kung fu movies. Also some say they are particularly interested in Yin and Yang, which of course represents the Chinese understanding of how things work in life. As we know the outer circle represents everything, while black and white represents the interaction of Yin and Yang, which causes everything to happen. They are not completely black or white, just as things in life are not completely black or white. So we feel that languages are just like Yin and Yang, they can preserve their own uniqueness while absorbing and enriching each other.

ANCHOR: But we do see a worrying situation, that is, many young Chinese these days are not as good as they should be at writing in Chinese. Many of them have actually invented new words on the Internet, which soon became extremely popular in mainstream culture.

Wang Guan: Yes, for example, if you look at the screen you will see this word 囧. Some of you may know it, but many of you may not. Honestly I just recently learnt that it's pronounced as Jiong, meaning embarrassed. As you see, it looks like a face with down cast eyes and a mouth. And amazingly, it has the same pronunciation as the word embarrassment in Chinese.So out of thin air, young people created this word and began using it when they are sad or depressed. And now it's very popular.

And similarly, people created this word 呆呆. There is a double of 呆 which means silly or stupid. Two 呆 or "sillys" together, of course, mean VERY VERY stupid. I guess that amounts to a moron or an idiot.

So these Internet languages are fast becoming everyday language.