Suggested Difficulty: intermediate/upper intermediate
Video on Qingwen
Lesson Idea: Hi @Constance_Fang and Team,
Dear Qing Wen, with all due respect,
I still get confused with the terminologies for respect in Chinese and how they differ from the various ways we use the term “respect” or “disrespect.”
How do you say of a popular pop idol “I respect his skill, but I don’t respect the person?”
As I understand it there are different ways to express the different concepts that are covered by the English term “respect”.
The idea that we should respect our elders is different from the idea contained in I respect your need for personal space.
In America street fights can be started from a look interpreted as “disrespecting” somebody.
Another example that I can’t quite express in Chinese is to say something along the lines of “If you respect your tools, you won’t use a chisel as a screwdriver.”
At a funeral we “pay our respects” to the deceased. Is that phrasing used when speaking Chinese about such an event?
Is there any possibility that clearing this up might be worthy of a future episode of “Qingwen”?
Respectfully,
A Rice Eater in Taiwan