圖片來源：生活華語K1 Picture extracted from Living Mandarin K1

Mandarin Chinese is easier than you think! Once you've learned 大小, you've known the pith of it! Join us to learn more!

大小的最基本用法 ：

• 尺寸大小 (Size)：小腸與大腸、大腿與小腿

• 年齡大小 (Age)：一家大小、從小到大

• 學級制度 (Education System)：小學到大學

• 排泄系統 (Poop & Pee)：大小便或稱大小號

• 音樂調性 (Music Major and Minor Keys)：大小調

• 排行 (Ordinal Position)：大兒子與小兒子、大老婆與小老婆！

相對「小」而言，「大」總是比較正面：

In general, 小 is relatively negative while 大 is considered more positive.

大氣、大方、大器、大人物

小氣（小鼻子小眼睛）、小人物

In some exceptions, 小 is neutral, e.g., 小說 (novel, fiction), or even positive, e.g., 小心 (be careful).

難得「小」字沒有貶低的意義：小說、小心

難得「大」字帶有貶意：大手大腳＝大咧咧、大意

帶有弦外之音的延伸用法：

Some implications:

大材小用; 雷聲大雨點小; 沒大沒小; 大眼瞪小眼; 大小眼; 大腸包小腸

做首詩吧：

Here comes a poem:

大人、小人、小大人

大聲、小聲、大小聲

又是五行之一，由火生卻被木剋，乃「土」也！

這個在有機農業裡最重視的項目，與「有土斯有財」在某種程度上相互呼應，卻又有著截然不同的涵義；而後者的解讀與其出處《禮記‧大學》的原意又大相徑庭。正如同「土氣」跟「接地氣」怎麼就有著天壤之別的寓意？

This easy word, 土, is very down to earth! It could mean ground, soil, land, or local while it combines with other nouns. Interestingly, its syllables in different languages is always starting with the "t" initial, what a coincidence!

「雨」字也是個典型的象形字: 雨滴從雲端落下。當名詞時為單義字，在古文當動詞時則有落下的意思。

This character "雨,“ which shows the raindrops falling from the clouds, is the word for the "rain" in many languages used in Asia!

每個人心裡都有那一畝田，讓我們把「夢田」種成「福田」！

靠近肚臍的部位也有著神秘的「丹田」，總有人可以輕易掌握，但或許對許多人而言仍是一輩子丈二金剛。

「田」字極易望字生義，發音同「甜」(tián, sweet)，讓人有甜甜的聯想！田字用途離不開那一方有用的農地，應用在許多衍生詞仍具有正面意義。

田字在日本姓氏中使用程度似乎也遠超過在華語的單一姓氏，可見日本人對稻田的重視！

田 is a word which means a field/ farmfields (wouldn't you say: Knew it!) and is also a common surname or part of the surname!

The best examples would be the Toyota and Honda, both end with 田! They are 豐田 and 本田.

In Mandarin, its pronunciation is the same as sweetness/sweet （甜 tián). Most natural sweeteners are from the farm field, so they shall have the same pronunciation!

What a "sweet" coincidence!

「手」描繪著哺乳動物的手掌連結著五根手指頭，在華語裡，除了最基本的含義外，也因搭配的字詞可用來描述人之司職，從水手、黑手、扒手、兇手到選手、高手；或是機械，如怪手、手機；衍生詞從手癢、袖手到白手、槍手，所用的字都是初學三百字裡一定會包括的，但衍伸的詞彙量就是無比驚人！

Could you see a hand with 5 fingers in this character "手"? It simply means a hand, and phrases containing 手 could mean:

1. body parts related to the hand from fingers to arms

2. hand-related terms, e.g., 手語 (sign language)

3. a person with certain skills, e.g., 水手("water hand" means a sailor)

4. certain machinery or device, e.g., 手機("hand machine" means cell phones)

5.. many derived meanings, e.g., 手氣("hand gas," luck in gambling)

Interesting, right? Join us to learn more and you'll nail it in no time!

只要我們心連心，心有靈犀即會一點通！

讓有野心的我來耍點心機，用盡心力來提升美國小孩的心算能力，是否容易稱心？

再看看這些例子：「用點心」與「用『點心』」；

「心中 」和「中心」

「心」字在華語的用法是否讓您也「心驚」了？趕緊唸「心經」來寬寬心！

As you can see, this character, 心 represents the important organ, which has 4 chambers quite well and its meaning could be equivalent to the heart in English and beyond. Can you believe even the snack has a heart, i.e. 點心 (you may have heard of the famous "dim sum," the yummy Cantonese meal)?

「耳」除了在與之相關的基本生理構造、功能、疾病的詞彙中出現蹤跡，形狀像耳朵的，如「木耳」跟「貓耳朵」帶上「耳」字不稀奇，連代表年紀的「耳順」、、意味著領袖地位的「執牛耳」也都跟「耳」沾上邊，想當然「耳」，有更多翻譯的詞彙也都用上這個耳字，像是能量/功的單位『焦耳』、國家名如『土耳其』、種族名.....！

曾幾何時，「大飽耳福」的現代說法可是「耳朵懷孕了！」

耳, another pictograph shows an important organ, may need a bit imagination to figure it out as it has transformed from its oracle bone script. Did you get it? 耳 means ears or hearing related when used in phrases.

Interestingly, cat ears (貓耳朵) could be referring to a famous Chinese pasta while holding the cow ears ( 執牛耳) may stand for taking a leading position.

簡單兩筆畫的「刀」存在於各類工具中，材料從石頭、金屬、塑膠、瓷器...林林總總，連雷射或放射線（伽瑪刀）都被極佳地應用做成各種不同的「刀」。

人人都要學會『捉刀』，畢竟『刀子嘴豆腐心』還是讓人『心如刀割』啊，不如『刀下留人』，致力到耄耋之際還讓人稱讚『寶刀未老』如何？

還有，連續升息，您看得清『美刀』的走向嗎？

Could you spot a holder at the hook with the curvy blade in "刀," which means a knife (you bet!) or one-edge swords in Mandarin Chinese, Japanese, and Korean with just a bit discrepancy. As it was used as a currency 2000+ years ago, plus its pronunciation is similar to the 1st syllable of "dollars," the slang definition for 刀 would be dollars.

「石」的本意即為那最堅硬的地殼基層與山崖本體。因此，不難理解博大精深又深入淺出的華語中所有算得上石頭的詞彙均帶有「石」，「寶石學」似乎就比較容易入門，您覺得呢？

還記得度量衡單位嗎？「秉石斗升合勺撮」「噸石衡斤兩錢克」

這個蛋，喔不，是「石」（要『發蛋音』）代表著一百公升（當體積單位用）或是一百公斤（當重量單位用）。

Do you see "a rock falling from a cliff" or "a sort of rock platform in the cave" from the word, 石? Tell us what you see!

石 does mean rocks and you can spot it in all stone related phrases, including those precious rocks, e.g., jewels (寶石), diamonds (鑽石) or fossil (化石)and fossil oil (石油)!

Interestingly, this word is also used as a unit of volume or weight when pronounced as the egg (蛋dàn) in Mandarin.

傳統既定女性溫柔婉約的形象在「女」字上完整呈現，很有趣的是這個跪拜禮幾乎是亞洲限定，現代醫學對偶爾為之的「正坐」（跪坐）賦予了養生、保健的正面註解，或許間接提醒這華夏文化並非僅止於禮，您覺得呢？

Look at this beautiful character "女" showing a girl sitting on her knees, I bet you've figured out its meaning. Yes, it does mean female and can be seen in many characters that are associated with female, such as daughters, girls, or goddess.

子」字在當代華語中使用的頻率絕對是數一數二的，除了最基本的孩子、子目錄、烏魚子，以及古聖先賢的諸位夫子乃至於現今白話中最常使用的尾字，舉凡桌子、櫃子、襪子、鼻子、腳丫子、爪子、兔子到書呆子都有他/牠/它的蹤跡。

遙想當年連胡適先生的『「老子」都不「老子」呀！』既便在若干「甲子」後，仍讓許多「學子」的「腦子」晃了「一下子」！

Do you know, thousands of years ago, the current female symbol was the character for the child/ son/ used in Ancient China? "子" is the modern form. In addition to its original meaning as a descendent, "子," one of the most commonly seen characters in Mandarin, may not possess any meaning when used as a suffix for objects, body parts, or animals with the exception of the titles for teachers. In a way that expresses respect when attached to the teacher's surname, e.g., 孔子 (Confucius).

細數各界「執牛耳」之「牛鬼蛇神」，是否「多如牛毛」的「牛人」似乎都有「牛脾氣」，還是這樣的解讀有點「牛頭不對馬嘴」？

別「吹牛」，「牛皮癬」是自身免疫系統失調，目前醫學尚未有方法可以根治，「再牛」的醫術也只能緩解症狀，所以實踐「庖丁解牛」仍為上道！（註：此番「牛刀小試」實屬「對牛彈琴」也乎？）

感覺不論生活在何處，「牛」真的在我們實質或精神生活層面有著舉足輕重的地位，想想『牛頓』雖沒去念『牛津大學』卻也悟出

「地牛」...，不，是地心引力，讓我們的科學發展不致停留在「蝸行牛步」現象！

What animal do you see from this word "牛“? I bet you got it with your first instinct, it does represent either a cow or a bull or both. Yes, Mandarin is much easier and simpler in this regard! Interestingly, snails in Mandarin also contain the character of 牛 as “蝸牛”！Also, do you recall that "holding the cow/bull ears ( 執牛耳)" refers to the acknowledged leaders?

牛 could also be used to describe someone who is awesome, powerful or stubborn when used as an adjective. Simple, but not easy!

Beware! The meaning of the "beef show" is far different from "show me the beef," ask your Mandarin friends for details!

當個「領頭羊」在這種滿「羊蹄甲」的「羊腸小徑」上「牧羊」，還是得謹慎，不要「羊入虎口｜成了「代罪羔羊」，但求到時還可以「亡羊補牢」！

據說「羊水」是古語，來源不可究，但卻跟其英文同義詞(amniotic fluid, 源自於古希臘語) 有著相同的淵源: 羊！是巧合還是「羊頭狗肉」？ 就別鑽牛角尖了（跑錯棚了，該去『牛棚』才對），就此打住，別讓看倌們看穿「羊質虎皮」才好！

The look of 羊 tells it all, don't you think so? 羊, pronounced yáng, means goat/ sheep/ antelope and most words derived from it have very positive meanings all because of 羊 denotes beauty, gentleness, luck, and peace. However, it may sometimes

refer to weakness especially when it coexists with 虎 (tiger).

Interestingly, 羊水 (lamb water) actually means amniotic fluid as 羊膜 (lamb membrane) appears to have the same origin as amnion, which is from Ancient Greek ἀμνίον "little lamb."

「米酒」、「米蘭」、「米其林」，

「玉米」、「百米」、「篷來米」。

「一種米養百種人」【一种米养百样人】

『米』的多樣性除了老天爺賞賜以及賢人們育種，再加上各種發酵反應產生各式產品，豐富我們的生活，滿足我們的味蕾！

它的發音也正巧是許多語言常用的，因此也廣泛地在翻譯詞上見其蹤影。毫米、微米都還有使用漢語本義詞（毫-3、微-6），但納米(nanometer-9) 或皮米(picometer-12) 就直接音譯，學點外來語吧！

Can you see a few grains flying in this pictogram, 米?

米, pronounced mǐ, mainly means hulled or husked uncooked rice, and sometimes may refer to other seeds, such as corns (玉米 "jade rice") and peanuts (花生米).

Fun fact: 米老鼠("rice mouse") is Micky Mouse's Mandarin name simply because the 1st syllable of Micky is the same as the rice in Mandarin. Similar reasoning applies to another definition for 米 as meters (so-called loanword transcription).

香瓜、甜瓜、苦瓜、酸辣黃瓜；

冬瓜、西瓜、南瓜、還有北瓜呢！

哈密瓜（網紋甜瓜）、澎湖絲瓜（稜角絲瓜），還有韓國香瓜，到處都有瓜！

用「腦袋瓜」猛一想，「瓜」真的在華人生活中扮演著不可或缺的重要角色，從吃的（瓜果、瓜子），到用的（瓜瓢、菜瓜布、絲瓜露）通通離不開；連「瓜子臉」也從不退流行！

造些句吧！

「瓜田李下」，還是別有任何「瓜葛」，像個「傻瓜」等著「吃瓜」，到時權益被「瓜分」可就不好了！

把秘笈背得「滾瓜爛熟」，待「瓜熟蒂落」之時，就準備「瓜瓞綿綿」吧！

What can you or what do you expect to see under the trellis? 瓜! 瓜 represents most of fruits in two taxonomy families, they are Caricaceae (papaya family) and Cucurbitaceae (cucumber family). With that being said, once you've recognized this character, it would be easy for you to hunt down the Mandarin names of papaya, cucumber, watermelon, cantaloupe, honeydew, pumpkin, gourd, or loofa! Mandarin Chinese is quite scientific!