View Full Version : Why does 'Da Lu' mean China
kimpossible
09-05-2002, 06:38 PM
I hear this all the time but on one can explain it to me. Why do people refer to mainland China as 'Da Lu' - Big Road?
sandra
09-05-2002, 06:41 PM
as in 'da lu mien'? my favorite noodle dish. *slurp*
in that context, i think it means big brother or something--but i'm not quite sure.
deez nuts
09-05-2002, 06:49 PM
it means big deer! j/k
It means big land
kimpossible
09-05-2002, 06:51 PM
Originally posted by Chasiubao_Boy@Sep 5 2002, 06:49 PM
it means big deer! j/k
It means big land
hey, you never know. 'giraffe' had me going for a while, 'long-necked deer' and all.
thx. you've put two years of mystery to rest.
SunWuKong
09-05-2002, 07:16 PM
the PC term now is nei di - literally "inner land". :)
Ayers
09-05-2002, 08:24 PM
Not being Chinese, or speaking a lick of it, means I'm probably coming out of left field, but doesn't the translation come out to be something like 'middle land'? Or central ... or something?
SunWuKong
09-05-2002, 08:29 PM
Originally posted by Ayers@Sep 5 2002, 11:24 PM
Not being Chinese, or speaking a lick of it, means I'm probably coming out of left field, but doesn't the translation come out to be something like 'middle land'? Or central ... or something?
that would be zhong guo - which literally means "middle kingdom". the chinese name for china. da lu is the term that chinese people use to refer to mainland china.
Chris
09-05-2002, 08:29 PM
the meaning in chinese mean big land. But big road??
Ayers
09-05-2002, 08:30 PM
Originally posted by SunWuKung@Sep 5 2002, 08:29 PM
that would be zhong guo - which literally means "middle kingdom". the chinese name for china. da lu is the term that chinese people use to refer to mainland china.
Thanks for the Chinese lesson :)
SunWuKong
09-05-2002, 08:36 PM
Originally posted by Chris@Sep 5 2002, 11:29 PM
the meaning in chinese mean big land. But big road??
i think she was thinking of http://132.229.12.115/cgi-bin/char.cgi?8def.gif instead of http://132.229.12.115/cgi-bin/char.cgi?9678.gif.
i think they're pronounced the same in mandarin.
<!--EDIT|SunWuKung|Sep 5 2002, 11:36 PM-->
sandra
09-05-2002, 11:10 PM
in college we used to ask the fobs if they were from the 'big six' or the 'big green'. kind of a geeky joke, but it sounded funny at the time.
Chris
09-06-2002, 12:01 AM
Originally posted by SunWuKung@Sep 5 2002, 08:36 PM
Originally posted by Chris@Sep 5 2002, 11:29 PM
the meaning in chinese mean big land. But big road??
i think she was thinking of http://132.229.12.115/cgi-bin/char.cgi?8def.gif instead of http://132.229.12.115/cgi-bin/char.cgi?9678.gif.
i think they're pronounced the same in mandarin.
yeah that right they both off sound. different tone. I think lu 'road' is first tone and land in fourth tone.
AliBabaIncorporated
09-06-2002, 04:36 AM
Originally posted by Chris@Sep 6 2002, 08:01 AM
yeah that right they both off sound. different tone. I think lu 'road' is first tone and land in fourth tone.
both words are pronounced in fourth tone. "lu" in first tone is only used as onomatopaeic sound, i think ...
CrX3183
09-06-2002, 01:18 PM
Doesn't it mean like main land or something?
kimpossible
09-06-2002, 01:37 PM
yeah, I asked why it meant the mainland when I thought the literal meaning was Big Road, then bun boy said it's Big Land and MK sez, yeah it's Big Land but the more P.C. term is nei di, Inland, so I said yeah thanks and now I'm writing this big run on sentence
I'm just playing with you. I have an hour before I return to work so I'm goofing off. :P
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