Hi @YuQinCai, @Constance_Fang @Fiona and the ChinesePod team, my question is this:
I often see people reply a thread saying “沙发” but I have no idea what it means? Does it really mean “sofa” but I don’t think “sofa” can be fit in such a context? Really appreciate if you could shed some light on it.
I also know 沙发 as “sofa”, and a quick search didn’t yield any alternative uses. I’d also be interested in this - maybe it’s Internet language?
I heard Internet and youth slang differs substantially from region to region, so it could be a very specific way it’s used.
Hi @Jeremypu2019, @Susanna330666400,
沙发 is the first replying post. There are two origins: 1. Some people say it comes from “second floor”. In the beginning, it’s abbreviated to “SF”. Afterward, it became “sofa”. 2. Other people say it comes from “so fast” because it’s the first replying. But whichever is the right origin, people use this phrase just to want to tell people that he/she is the one-upmanship. So you might also hear “坐沙发喽 [zuò shāfā lou]” or “抢沙发喽 [qiǎng shāfā lou]”.
Betty
Thanks Betty. I think I now know what it is.
My old Chinese teacher told me that the pronunciation of "沙发” is translated according to the English pronunciation “sofa”.
A lot of English loanwords found their way into Chinese through various Chinese dialects, which can make their pronunciation sounds strange in Mandarin. 沙发 for instance sounds a lot more like sofa in Shanghainese
I’ve seen this before, never got it. Thanks for explaining, you never stop learning!
Hi @gracechen7874, @233415764 ,
You’re right. Besides 沙发, there’re still many other loanwords in Chinese. And it happens not only in Chinese, but also in Korean, Japanese, and Vietnamese. That’s why people say ‘languages are alive’ There are new words, new loanwords, new slangs every year. And it makes learning languages interesting, doesn’t it?