Key Learning Point (Preview):
光棍儿 (guānggùnr): n. bachelor
The day of Nov. 11 (11.11) is the so-called “光棍儿节 (Guānggùnr jié) Single’s Day,” because the four number “1’s” in the date look like four sticks with smooth surface. In Chinese the phrase “光棍儿 (guānggùnr)” first appeared in ancient China, and referred to those people who were not mindful of their own work and had no family or children. Nowadays, the phrase just means bachelor. “光 (guāng)” means smooth and “棍 (gùn)” means stick. In Chinese, “光棍儿 (guānggùnr)” refers to a man, so how does one address a single woman? You can say “单身 (dānshēn)” to address a single woman. “单身 (dānshēn)” can also be used to refer to a single man.
Are you still single? If so, how do you want to celebrate this day? Let’s see how Chinese people celebrate “光棍儿节 (Guānggùnr jié) Single’s Day.” On this day, many single people choose to have a party just for single people. Otherwise, they just stay alone. Some non-single people choose this day to get married because of the significance of the phrases “一心一意 (yìxīnyíyì) whole-heartedly” and “一生一世 (yìshēngyíshì) for life” attributed to this day. These meanings are associated with this day because the Chinese character “一 (yī)” has the same Chinese pronunciation as the Arabic numeral “1.”
Key Learning Point:
光棍儿 (guānggùnr): n. bachelor
The character “儿” is always added after the phrase in the spoken language.
For examples:
Hāi, tīngshuō nǐ yào jiéhūn le, gōngxǐ a.
Mike: 嗨，听说 你 要 结婚 了，恭喜 啊。
Hi, I heard that you are getting married. Congratulations.
Xièxie. Nǐ ne?
Jim: 谢谢，你呢？
Thanks. How about you?
Hēhē, wǒ hái shì guānggùnr yí ge ne.
Mike: 呵呵，我还 是 光棍儿 一 个呢。
Hehe, I’m just abachelor.
Jiějie zhìjīn hái shì dānshēn, lǎomā zhěng tiān cuī tā jiéhūn ne.
姐姐 至今 还 是 单身， 老妈 整 天 催 她 结婚 呢。
My older sister is still single. My mother pressuresher every day to get married.
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