Dried Food or a Practical Lesson? Know the Chinese Expression “干货 (Gānhuò)”

While learning Chinese expressions, it’s important that you understand the literal meaning and also the figurative meaning as well. Knowing the figurative meaning will help you apply the language to the appropriate situation, while knowing the literal meaning will help you avoid embarrassing or funny misuse of the expression or idiom. Just as with the English "foggy memory" or "break a leg", we don’t actually mean that these things are a reality. It’s just an expression!

One Chinese expression that has gained popularity in the age of e-commerce is "干货 (gānhuò)." Before I explain how to use it correctly today, I’ll first explain how not to use it, based on a funny story from one of my Chinese classes. The teacher asked us to prepare and share, as homework, some Chinese learning tips. She asked us to:

Fēnxiǎng yìxiē zhōngwén cíhuì xuéxí de gānhuò.
分 享 一些 中 文 词汇 学习 的 干 货。
Share some Chinese vocabulary-learning "dry goods."

As you might expect from the literal meaning of this sentence, one of my classmates actually brought in some Chinese dried foods to the following class. So, why was the teacher laughing... Read More

分享 (Fēnxiǎng): to share.
干 (Gān): dry.
货 (Huò): goods.
干货 (Gānhuò): useful methods or experience.

Zhōu lǎoshī jīntiān fēnxiǎng le hěnduō gānhuò.
周 老 师 今 天 分 享 了 很 多 干 货。
Mr./Ms. Zhou shares lots of useful information.

Fēnxiǎng gānhuò: Sān tiān nèi xuéhuì hànyǔ pīnyīn!
分 享 干 货: 三 天 内 学 会 汉 语 拼 音！
Crash course: How to master pinyin in three days!

"我能借你的...? (Wǒ néng jiè nǐ de...) Can I borrow your…?"

What’s the word?

If you read this blog post before your meeting you would have been saved from embarrassment.

Never get caught in this situation at a business meeting ever again. The word the person was thinking of was "鼠标 (shǔbiāo) mouse." The next time you see your colleagues practice these basic Chinese IT vocabulary words together to impress everyone during your next meeting.

Start with the basics, including "鼠标 (shǔbiāo) mouse", "键盘 (jiànpán) keyboard", and "电脑 (diànnǎo) computer." "Mouse" quite literally begins with the word for mouse in Chinese followed by "sign." Therefore we can say the Chinese word symbolizes a mouse. Moving on to our next word, "键盘 (jiànpán) keyboard." This one makes a lot of sense how it is translated. It works out to mean "button plate." It is easy to picture a perfectly organized template or long serving plate of alphabet buttons for your spelling needs. Lastly we have "电脑 (diànnǎo) computer." This one sounds super sci-fi---"electricity brain." It makes sense and is easy to visualize an electric brain doing complex calculations for you.

鼠标 (Shǔbiāo):mouse.
鼠 (Shǔ): mouse.
标 (Biāo): mark; sign.

键盘 (Jiànpán): keyboard.
键 (Jiàn): button.
盘 (Pán): plate.

电脑 (Diànnǎo): computer.
电 (Diàn): electricity.
脑 (Nǎo): brain.

Since we use "电脑 (diànnǎo)" to mean desktop computer we have another word just for portable style computers. In English we say laptop but in Chinese we can use "notebook" to mean laptop. Actual notebooks are small and convenient just like laptops so we can easily remember the comparison. And instead of pad or tablet, in Chinese these ultra portable devices are called flat boards. It’s pretty applicable as well seeing how flat and compact they have become these days.

笔记本电脑 (Bǐjìběn diànnǎo): laptop.
笔记本 (Bǐjìběn): notebook.

平板电脑 (Píngbǎn diànnǎo): tablet; pad.
平板 (Píngbǎn): flat board.

This one is more interesting. In Chinese it is called... Read More

Quiz:
1. Read the dialogue and answer the question below:

Ann: Wǒ néng jiè nǐ de píngbǎn diànnǎo yòng yíxià ma?
Ann: 我 能 借 你 的 平 板 电 脑 用 一下 吗？
Bob: Kě yǐ, wǒ fàng zài jiànpán yòubiān le.
Bob: 可 以，我 放 在 键 盘 右 边 了。

What does Ann want to borrow?