Mandarin Monday: How to Talk About Pollution With PG Tips Monkey Stickers

Mandarin Monday: How to Talk About The Pollution With PG Tips Monkey Stickers

Tracy Wang, Senior Editor | Jan 23, 2017 10:00 am | Add a comment | 1707 reads

Mandarin Monday is a weekly column where – similar to our Mandarin Month series earlier this year – we help you improve your Chinese by detailing fun and practical phrases and characters.

The wind was never going to stay here forever, and the pollution has come back, but even that stifling smog couldn't stop people from creating. These are some of the things we've seen floating around the internet.

Some catch phrases have come up, such as 雾霾太严重了(wùmái tài yánzhòng le)！The smog is severe!

因为雾霾我啥也看不见(yīnwéi wùmái wǒ shá yě kànbújiàn)。I can't see anything because of smog.

你应该多喝水(nǐ yīnggāi duō hēshuǐ)。You've got to drink a lot of fluids.

明天这里有超强大风(míngtiān zhèlǐ yǒu chāoqiáng dàfēng)。There will be strong wind tomorrow.

Toutiao even shone a spotlight on a designer (NewBeRen) who made a series of WeChat stickers for polluted days, using the adorable Monkey from PG Tips Tea. “If you also live in Beijing, and have some complaints about the weather, maybe these stickers come in handy,” explained by the creator.

“If one of your friends wants to come to Beijing on a smoggy day, you can send him this sticker to welcome him/her,” said the designer.

顶你个肺 (dǐng nǐ gè fèi), literally means “Perk your lungs”, which comes from Cantonese, and means: 1) really? (as surprised); 2) f* you.

“When s/he arrives, but as a result of the thick smog you can't find each other, you can send this sticker.”

你搁哪呢 ( nǐ gē nǎ ne) means "where are you?"

我感觉自己快要窒息了 (wǒ gǎnjue zìjǐ kuàiyào zhìxī le) means "I feel like I’m out of breath now."

麻痹我忘戴口罩了(mābī wǒ wàngdài kǒuzhào le) Shit, I forgot my mask. But the designers translation is “I am going to die”.

我为祖国当绿萝 (wǒwèi zǔguó dāng lǜluó) means `"I am serving as a pollution eating plant for the motherland."

When the designer saw that Beijing ranked 26th on the list of the most polluted cities in China (above), he cast his doubt it in the following way:

这不科学(zhèbù kēxué) means "that’s not scientific," but he translated it as “are you shitting me?”

这空气辣眼睛 (zhè kōngqì là yǎnjīng) literally means "the air burns my eyes."

And then, “when people get upset as a result of pressure, you can send them this one asking them to calm down.”

吸口霾冷静一下(xīkǒu mái lěngjìng yīxià) means "take a deep breath of the smog, and calm down." The designer translated it as “be a cool man, snap” mimicking Beyonce’s signature pose in the "Single Ladies" music video.

“If you are wealthy and have enough time to go abroad on a vacation, you can share this one with your friends to show your excitement.”

不小心吸了口新鲜空气(bú xiǎoxīn xīle kǒu xīnxiān kōngqì) means "I breathe some fresh air (when I’m abroad)." He translated it as “I’m getting high (on the fresh air).”