Americans are fond of referring to their country as "the greatest nation on earth". Until recently, I didn't believe any country deserved that description. But today I think there is a strong contender for the title.

China is the world's oldest living civilisation. It has recovered from over a century of colonial oppression and lifted its citizens out of poverty. As its growth continues, China is poised to become the world's largest economy and a technology leader that is second to none. By 2030, I believe it will be an indisputable fact that China is the greatest nation on earth.

I need to understand China, from a Chinese perspective. This is my journey.

Saturday 10 July 2021

When I Didn't Have (没有 méiyǒu) The Appreciative Audience I Deserved

In a previous post, I had mentioned that the only exception to the use of the word 不 bù ("not") to negate a verb is when the verb is 有 yǒu ("to have"). In that case, the correct negation word is 没 méi. 没有 méiyǒu is used to mean "don't have".

I watched both the Chinese war action movies "Wolf Warrior" and "Wolf Warrior II" some months ago. (The second movie was better, but one may need to see them both in order to be properly introduced to the characters.)

I was watching "Wolf Warrior" (the first movie) late one night. I was alone in my living room, my entire family having retired to bed earlier.

There's a tense scene where the hero (played by Wu Jing) is caught in a desperate situation and is under heavy enemy fire. It's not clear he will survive. He's in radio contact with the Chinese control room, and his commanding officer is a woman (played by Yu Nan) on whom he has a crush.

It was the classic melodramatic movie scene where the question had to be popped.

Above the noise of gunfire, he asks her, "Do you have a boyfriend?". The entire control room is silent, including his crush. He repeats the question.

I guess he must have asked, "你有男朋友吗? nǐ yǒu nán péngyǒu ma?".

I confess I only understood the question from the English subtitles, but I blurted out her expected answer in Chinese, "没有 méiyǒu (Don't have)".

I'm a veteran of enough movies to be able to guess at corny dialogues.

An instant later, she said, "méiyǒu".


"Méiyǒu!" I won the lottery that day

I was ecstatic and looked around the room, seeking the admiringly astonished faces that were my due. Alas, I was alone, and my jaw-dropping linguistic accomplishment went unacknowledged and unapplauded.

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