Veronica had been chairing Solomon Brothers' hiring committee for several months, and while she had interviewed countless candidates from the nation's leading schools, none of the recent graduates seemed to possess the killer instinct required in investment banking. And yet today's candidate seemed different. While his attire was certainly unorthodox, his near vivisection of one the downstairs guards suggested a certain ruthlessness that might be useful to the firm.

Learning Chinese? In today's intermediate Chinese podcast, Echo and David talk a bit about the difference between sincere and insincere compliments in China. There are plenty of situations where this will come in useful, and its nice to be able to pick up on the subtle signals Chinese people use to signal approval or disapproval when describing others. So if you're learning Chinese listen in and let us know what you think. And if you have suggestions on other topics we can cover, write anytime at service@popupchinese.com.

 said on
July 16, 2011
Aaaarrr, 船长你回来了,我们想死你这个个别的海盗僵尸船长!
 said on
October 14, 2012
@Echo, i've been putting in memory 'qíguài' meaning strange/odd

is 'qítè' a slang adj. more colloquial ? i don't see it in dictionary

richard
 said on
October 15, 2012
@ma1942,

Hi Richard, yes, 'qíguài' means strange. 'Qítè' means strange and special. It's not a slang. You can say some scenery is qítè, and it means sth strange but good.

--Echo

echo@popupchinese.com