老虎英文分析:Those Interesting Words About Tiger

　　編者按：在中國有關于老虎的解釋有許多，例如紙老虎，母老虎等詞，是你有聽說過的，我們一起來看看用英語怎么解釋中國這些文化吧。

　　When talking about the word about "tiger (老虎lǎohu)" in Chinese, most of foreigners know the idiom on 馬馬虎虎 (mǎ mǎ hu hu), which means “careless” or “so-so”!

　　The word is one of the easiest and most fundamental idiomatic expressions in all of Chinese. If one asks your opinion on something you weren’t too crazy about, you can reply with 馬馬虎虎(mǎ mǎ hu hu).

　　Apart from this word, actually, there are more interesting words about "tiger (老虎lǎohu)" in Chinese and they are lots of fun!

　　1

　　紙老虎

　　zhǐ lǎohu

　　paper tiger

　　紙老虎, literal English translation of "paper tiger"(zhǐ lǎohu), refers to something that seems threatening but is ineffectual and unable to withstand challenge. The expression became well known in the West as a slogan used by Mao Zedong's Chinese communist state against its opponents, particularly the U.S. government.

　　2

　　秋老虎

　　qiū lǎohu

　　Autumn tiger

　　Nooooo....秋老虎(qiū lǎohu\Autumn tiger) has nothing to do with the tiger. It simply means the weather is as tough as a tiger (still very hot) after the autumn falls.This is known as an Indian summer in English.

　　3

　　母老虎

　　mǔ lǎohu

　　female tiger

　　An interesting word! Let's look at the Pleco dictionary first:

　　Character母老虎

　　Pin Yinmǔ lǎohu

　　Pleco Definition1. tigress

　　2. (fig.) fierce woman

　　3. vixen;shrew;termagant

　　When describing a fierce woman in figuratively, this word, 母老虎(mǔ lǎohu \ female tiger) is used. Usually, this saying refers to those tough wifes .

　　A: 我得回家了。回去晚了老婆又得說我了!

　　B: 你老婆肯定是個母老虎，要不你為什么這么怕她?

　　A: wǒ děi huíjiā le. Huíqù wǎnle lǎopó yòu děi shuō wǒ le!

　　B: nǐ lǎopo kěndìng shì gè mǔ lǎohu, yàobù nǐ wèishénme zhème pà tā?

　　A: I must go home. My wife would blame me again if I am back late!

　　B: Your wife is a "female tiger", otherwise why you are scare of her?

　　Source: wikipedia; theworldofchinese; weeklychinese

　　公眾號：HanFan漢風

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