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bane

How about this example, "bring me the má

má http://mandarin.about.com/library/audio/tones/2.mp3

vs.

"Bring me the mǎ"

mǎ http://mandarin.about.com/library/audio/tones/3.mp3

One will get you some hemp, the other a horse.

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my favorite one is: mā ma qí mǎ, mǎ màn, mā ma mà mǎ. Which translated literally is: mom rides horse, horse slows, mom scolds horse.

That's the first line of a classic Chinese couplet (duìlián). The second line usually goes: Niūniū qiān niú， niú niù， niūniū níng niú. It translates to "little girl leads along the cow, the cow is stubborn, the little girl pinches the cow".

I had no idea. Even as an ABC who still speaks semi-competently, I'm having trouble figuring out Niūniū, niù, and, níng. What are the characters? Isn't pinch 捏?

妞妞牵牛，牛拗，妞妞拧牛。妞 means girl, 妞妞 is a common name for little girls; 拗 has two different pronunciations, ao and niu; the ao pronunciation is usually used as a verb for bending something, while the niu pronunciation is usually an adjective for stubbornness. I guess 拧 is better translated as to wring or to squeeze and twist, but you get the idea.

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