So you are learning to speak Mandarin. That’s great! But can you speak with native Chinese people? The first step to doing so is to use a little slang or at least be able to understand when you hear it in conversation. Today’s slang word is used as an exaggeration for describing something in its entirety.
Have you ever been amazed by how some people are so impatient or careless that they seem to talk faster than thinking? In Chinese, we say “他们把话一股脑儿全说完了 (Tāmen bǎ huà yìgǔnǎo’r quán shuō wán le)。” or “他们把事情一股脑儿都做了 (Tāmen bǎ shìqíng yìgǔnǎo’r dōu zuò le)。” which mean “They said all the words very quickly.” or “They have done everything in one go.”Basically, it means they blurted out their entire thought process without considering their words first. The key phrase means, completely, “一股脑儿 (yì gǔ nǎo’r)”.
一股脑儿 (Yì gǔ nǎo’r): altogether; all in one package; completely.
一 (Yī): one.
股 (Gǔ): share.
脑儿 (Nǎo’r): brains.
Let’s say you had an intense week at work since it’s your first time working in China. There was laughter and there were tears. You get home and your new Chinese friend calls you on the phone to ask about your day. You may want to tell them all the stories, so you start with:
Wǒ jiù yìgǔnǎo’r dōu gàosù nǐ ba.
我 就 一股 脑儿 都 告诉 你 吧。
I’ll tell you everything.
I hope you’ve never been unfortunate enough to experience this next situation. Imagine your mom decides to redecorate your home in Feng Shui style. It might not go as planned. You come back home from a day of shopping only to realize she went a little overboard.
Tā bǎ wūli de dōngxī yìgǔnǎo’r quán bān zǒu le!
她 把 屋里 的 东 西 一股脑 儿 全 搬 走 了！
She completely removed everything in the house!
This last example might be more familiar for those with children in their lives. Video games are so popular these days that they are becoming a problem. Perhaps you notice your children are always asking for money. But you just gave money to them last week for new clothes! It may be that they spent it on the most recent video games.
Yǒuxiē xiǎo háizi yì nádào qián jiù bǎ tāmen yìgǔnǎo’r quán huā diào le.
有 些 小 孩子 一 拿 到 钱 就 把 它 们 一 股 脑儿 全 花 掉 了。
Some children spend all their money as soon as they get it.
Anna: Wǒ yìdiǎn’r dōu bù xǐhuān wǒmen lǎobǎn!
Anna: 我 一 点 儿 都 不 喜欢 我 们 老 板！
Jack: Wèishénme?
Jack: 为 什 么？
Anna: Tā jīngcháng bǎ gōngzuò yìgǔnǎo’r quán rēng gěi wǒ.
Anna: 他 经 常 把 工 作 一 股 脑儿 全 扔 给 我。
Which of following statements is true?
A. Anna likes her boss because her boss often helps her at work.
B. Anna doesn’t like her boss because her boss often makes her do all of the work.
C. Anna likes to finish her work as soon as possible.
D. Anna doesn’t like her work at all.