ChinesePod
@ 41350 No Spring, No Wedding
A: 哎呀，雙休日兩天都在外面跑，累死人了。
āiyā, shuāngxiūrì liǎngtiān dōu zài wàimian pǎo, lèi sǐ rén le.
Geez, spending the weekend running around town is exhausting.
B: 是忙著準備婚禮吧，明年3月份，對吧？
shì máng zhe zhǔnbèi hūnlǐ ba, míngnián sān yuèfèn, duì ba?
You're busy preparing your wedding ceremony, yeah? It's next March, right?
A: 是啊。不過，最近的酒店倒是挺容易訂的。
shì a. bùguò, zuìjìn de jiǔdiàn dàoshì tǐng róngyì dìng de.
That's right. However, these days booking a hotel is actually quite easy.
B: 嗯。
ng4.
Yeah.
A: 你知道的，前兩年訂酒店那可難啦，要提前半年甚至一年才能訂到。我們昨天去訂，店家很爽氣，打了9折不說，還送了兩天的免費套間。
nǐ zhīdào de, qiánliǎngnián dìng jiǔdiàn nà kě nán la, yào tíqián bàn nián shènzhì yī nián cáinéng dìngdào. wǒmen zuótiān qù dìng, diànjiā hěn shuǎngqì, dǎ le jiǔ zhé bùshuō, hái sòng le liǎng tiān de miǎnfèi tàojiān.
You know, two years ago, booking a hotel was really hard. You had to book them a half a year to a year in advance if you wanted to get one. We went to book one yesterday. The manager was right to the point. Not only did they give us a 10% discount, they also threw in two free nights in a suite.
B: 嗯。
ng4.
Oh.
A: 你怎麼了？是不是有什麼話要說？
nǐ zěnmele? shì bu shì yǒu shénme huà yào shuō?
What's the matter with you? Is there something you want to say?
B: 其實，我有句話不知道該不該講。
qíshí, wǒ yǒu jù huà bù zhīdào gāi bu gāi jiǎng.
Actually, there is something. But, I don't know if I should say it.
A: 說啊，瞧你那慢性子，等你一句話等得我花兒都謝了。
shuō a, qiáo nǐ nà mànxìngzi, děng nǐ yī jù huà děng de wǒ huār5 dōu xiè le.
Say it! Look at you, slow-poke. By the time I'm done waiting for you, I'll be an old man.
B: 我媽跟我說，明年是寡婦年。
wǒ mā gēn wǒ shuō, míngnián shì guǎfu nián.
My mom told me that next year is a 'widow's year'.
A: 什麼寡婦年？
shénme guǎfu nián?
What's a 'widow's year'?
B: 就是說，明年無春，不適合結婚。
jiùshì shuō, míngnián wú chūn, bù shìhé jiéhūn.
In other words, next year doesn't have a spring. It's not a suitable year for getting married.
A: 有這種說法？我沒聽說過。
yǒu zhèzhǒng shuōfa? wǒ méi tīngshuō guo.
People say that? I've never heard that before.
B: 我媽說，明年立春比春節要早，所以新的一年沒有春天。
wǒ mā shuō, míngnián lìchūn bǐ chūnjié yào zǎo, suǒyǐ xīn de yī nián méiyǒu chūntiān.
My mom says, next year, the start of spring is earlier than Spring Festival, so next year doesn't have a spring.
A: 不是過完春節才立春嗎？
bùshì guò wán chūnjié cái lìchūn ma?
Doesn't spring start after Spring Festival is over?
B: 所以說明年特殊啊！2月14號是春節，可是2月4號就立春了。
suǒyǐ shuō míngnián tèshū a! èr yuè shísì hào shì chūnjié, kěshì èr yuè sì hào jiù lìchūn le.
So that's why it means this year is special! February 14 is Spring Festival, but February 4 is the start of spring.
A: 哦，怪不得現在訂酒店那麼容易，原來是訂的人少了。
ò, guàibude xiànzài dìng jiǔdiàn nàme róngyì, yuánlái shì dìng de rén shǎo le.
Oh. No wonder it's so easy to book a hotel right now. There haven't been many people booking them all along.
B: 可不是嗎，我媽一直催我，所以我今年就結了。
kěbushì ma, wǒ mā yīzhí cuī wǒ, suǒyǐ wǒ jīnnián jiù jié le.
Exactly. My mom kept rushing me, so I just got married this year.
A: 這種無厘頭的說法可真多。
zhèzhǒng wúlítóu de shuōfa kě zhēn duō.
There really are a lot of these random sayings.
B: 寧可信其有，不可信其無。這個說法還是挺嚇人的，寡婦年，倒黴的是咱們男人。
nìngkě xìn qí yǒu, bù kě xìn qí wú. zhè ge shuōfa háishì tǐng xiàrén de, guǎfu nián, dǎoméi de shì zánmen nánrén.
You're better off believing it in case it's true. This expression is pretty scary. 'Widow's year'; it's us guys that are the unlucky ones.
A: 你看，本來挺高興的事兒，被你說得那麼晦氣。
nǐ kàn, běnlái tǐng gāoxìng de shìr, bèi nǐ shuō de nàme huìqì.
See, at first this was a happy thing. Now you've jinxed it.
B: 哎，別走啊，不是你硬要我說的嗎？說出來你又不高興！
āi, bié zǒu a, bùshì nǐ yìngyào wǒ shuō de ma? shuōchūlai nǐ yòu bù gāoxìng!
Hey, don't go. You're the one who insisted I tell you. Now that I've said it, you're all upset!
Key Vocabulary
雙休日 shuāngxiūrì
提前 tíqián
甚至 shènzhì
爽氣 shuǎngqì
……不說 bùshuō
套間 tàojiān
慢性子 mànxìngzi
等得花兒都謝了 děng de huār dōu xiè le
寡婦 guǎfu
說法 shuōfǎ
立春 lìchūn
怪不得 guàibude
催 cuī
無厘頭 wúlítóu
寧可信其有，不可信其無 nìngkě xìn qí yǒu, bù kě xìn qí wú
倒黴 dǎoméi
晦氣 huìqì
硬要 yìngyào
Supplementary Vocabulary
封建迷信 fēngjiànmíxìn
農曆 nónglì
節氣 jiéqì
立夏 lìxià
立秋 lìqiū
立冬 lìdōng
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