Call me a cow, call me a horse ... Chinese proverbs about cows/oxen
I've talked before about how the poor 'egg' features so prominently in many Chinese insults and swear words. Today I was mulling over a Chinese proverb that goes 呼牛呼马hū niú hū mǎ. Literally it translates as: "Call me a cow, call me a horse".
Ostensibly the meaning is: "It's all the same to me". "Call me whatever you want to". At a stretch it might mean: "Stick and stones might break my bones but names will never hurt me".
Then I started looking at other proverbs hat involve cows/oxen. In Chinese, to talk or brag is 吹牛 chuī niú or 吹牛皮 chuī niúpí - it means to blow air through cowhide. What they're saying is that bragging is like blowing air through cow hide - wasted breath, a huge effort for nothing.
In English we say to 'work like a dog'. In Chinese, it's 当牛作马 dāngniúzuòmǎ or 做牛做马 zuòniúzuòmǎ. The first is 'act as a cow, work as a horse'. The second means 'work like a cow, work like a horse'. Both mean that you're acting like a beast of burden and working hard.
A bullfight is 斗牛 dòuniú which means 'to duel a cow/ox'. There's been a lot of news coverage lately about the bull fights in Spain.
Casting pearls before the swine / talking over someone's head as mentioned before is 对牛弹琴 - playing a lute at a cow.
多如牛毛 duōrúniúmáo means: 'like the hairs on a cow' and means innumerable or countless.
发牛脾气 fā niúpíqì means to 'release the temper of a cow' which means to vent a bad temper or blow up in anger.
Then there is 犯牛脖子 fàn niúbózi which literally translates as 'to be guilty of having a cow's neck' which means to be bullheaded or very stubborn
费九牛二虎之力 fèi jiǔniú'èrhǔ zhī lì means using the strength of 9 cows and 2 tigers and is how you describe that something involves tremendous work/effort.
In English we say 'neither fish nor fowl' but in Chinese you say 非牛非马 fēiniúfēimǎ which means 'neither cow nor horse'.
In English we say 'a drop in the ocean', in Chinese it is 九牛一毛 jiǔniúyīmáo which means one hair on nine cows.
A stubborn/unreasonable person is a 蛮牛 mánniú - ferocious/uncivilised/barbaric/wild cow :)
牛不喝水强按头 niúbùhēshuǐ qiáng'àntóu translates as: "if a cow does not want to drink, you cannot force it to bow its head" and it means to try to impose one's will on someone.
牛刀割鸡 niúdāogējī translates as using a blade for killing cows to kill a chicken and means to use great talent for petty things.
牛耳 niú'ěr literally translats as 'cow ear' but means to hold power or rule the roost.
牛年马月niúniánmǎyuè translates as 'Year of the Cow, Month of the Horse' and means a time that will never come.
牛心 niúxīn means heart of a cow. 牛性 niúxìng means characteristics of a cow and both mean stubbornness.
牛饮 niúyǐn translates as to drink like a cow and means to drink heavily.
牛仔裤 niúzǎikù are jeans in Chinese and translate as 'cowboy pants'.
气喘如牛 qìchuǎn rú niú translates as 'to pant like an ox' but means to gasp for breath.
钻牛犄角 zuān niújījiǎo translates as drilling holes in a cow horn but means to split hairs or reach a dead end
I had to laugh at this one. I had no idea that there was a Chinese word for 'John Bull' ie. Britian/British. It is 约翰牛 Yuēhànniú. Yuē Hàn Cow with the Yuē Hàn supposedly sounding like 'John' although it doesn't really at all. The annoying thing about Chinese is that the word for Britian and England are exactly the same in Chinese - 英国 Yīngguó. It's transliterated so isn't supposed to have 'meaning' but it's actually quite a nice name because it literally means 'nation or country of heroes'. There are separate words for Ireland, Scotland and Wales but the fact remains that to a Chinese person, there is no difference between being British and being English :P *gasp*
Finally there is 望子成牛 wàngzǐchéngniú. Literally it means to hope one's son/child becomes a cow ie. works hard.
It should be contrasted with 望子成龙 wàngzǐchénglóng which literally translates as to hope one's son'child becomes a dragon ie. to hope one's children will have bright futures........
Moo! :)
Amended: I updated to include the image of Ferdinand. I was going to try to make an icon out of him which is why I added the text but when I shrank it .... I couldn't read the text anymore. Clearly I was not meant to be an icon maker ....
Ostensibly the meaning is: "It's all the same to me". "Call me whatever you want to". At a stretch it might mean: "Stick and stones might break my bones but names will never hurt me".
Then I started looking at other proverbs hat involve cows/oxen. In Chinese, to talk or brag is 吹牛 chuī niú or 吹牛皮 chuī niúpí - it means to blow air through cowhide. What they're saying is that bragging is like blowing air through cow hide - wasted breath, a huge effort for nothing.
In English we say to 'work like a dog'. In Chinese, it's 当牛作马 dāngniúzuòmǎ or 做牛做马 zuòniúzuòmǎ. The first is 'act as a cow, work as a horse'. The second means 'work like a cow, work like a horse'. Both mean that you're acting like a beast of burden and working hard.
A bullfight is 斗牛 dòuniú which means 'to duel a cow/ox'. There's been a lot of news coverage lately about the bull fights in Spain.
Casting pearls before the swine / talking over someone's head as mentioned before is 对牛弹琴 - playing a lute at a cow.
多如牛毛 duōrúniúmáo means: 'like the hairs on a cow' and means innumerable or countless.
发牛脾气 fā niúpíqì means to 'release the temper of a cow' which means to vent a bad temper or blow up in anger.
Then there is 犯牛脖子 fàn niúbózi which literally translates as 'to be guilty of having a cow's neck' which means to be bullheaded or very stubborn
费九牛二虎之力 fèi jiǔniú'èrhǔ zhī lì means using the strength of 9 cows and 2 tigers and is how you describe that something involves tremendous work/effort.
In English we say 'neither fish nor fowl' but in Chinese you say 非牛非马 fēiniúfēimǎ which means 'neither cow nor horse'.
In English we say 'a drop in the ocean', in Chinese it is 九牛一毛 jiǔniúyīmáo which means one hair on nine cows.
A stubborn/unreasonable person is a 蛮牛 mánniú - ferocious/uncivilised/barbaric/wild cow :)
牛不喝水强按头 niúbùhēshuǐ qiáng'àntóu translates as: "if a cow does not want to drink, you cannot force it to bow its head" and it means to try to impose one's will on someone.
牛刀割鸡 niúdāogējī translates as using a blade for killing cows to kill a chicken and means to use great talent for petty things.
牛耳 niú'ěr literally translats as 'cow ear' but means to hold power or rule the roost.
牛年马月niúniánmǎyuè translates as 'Year of the Cow, Month of the Horse' and means a time that will never come.
牛心 niúxīn means heart of a cow. 牛性 niúxìng means characteristics of a cow and both mean stubbornness.
牛饮 niúyǐn translates as to drink like a cow and means to drink heavily.
牛仔裤 niúzǎikù are jeans in Chinese and translate as 'cowboy pants'.
气喘如牛 qìchuǎn rú niú translates as 'to pant like an ox' but means to gasp for breath.
钻牛犄角 zuān niújījiǎo translates as drilling holes in a cow horn but means to split hairs or reach a dead end
I had to laugh at this one. I had no idea that there was a Chinese word for 'John Bull' ie. Britian/British. It is 约翰牛 Yuēhànniú. Yuē Hàn Cow with the Yuē Hàn supposedly sounding like 'John' although it doesn't really at all. The annoying thing about Chinese is that the word for Britian and England are exactly the same in Chinese - 英国 Yīngguó. It's transliterated so isn't supposed to have 'meaning' but it's actually quite a nice name because it literally means 'nation or country of heroes'. There are separate words for Ireland, Scotland and Wales but the fact remains that to a Chinese person, there is no difference between being British and being English :P *gasp*
Finally there is 望子成牛 wàngzǐchéngniú. Literally it means to hope one's son/child becomes a cow ie. works hard.
It should be contrasted with 望子成龙 wàngzǐchénglóng which literally translates as to hope one's son'child becomes a dragon ie. to hope one's children will have bright futures........
Moo! :)
Amended: I updated to include the image of Ferdinand. I was going to try to make an icon out of him which is why I added the text but when I shrank it .... I couldn't read the text anymore. Clearly I was not meant to be an icon maker ....