Boundary-shifting wordplay (or mishearing) in Chinese?

Question

In English, ambiguity (mishearing, or intentional wordplay) can be created by boundary shifting. Do you have anything like this in Chinese? Thank you. HH

(written space -shifting)

notable -- no table -- not able

AMIABLE TOGETHER = AM I ABLE TO GET HER? (by Dmitri Borgmann)
              is a perfect longer example.

(aural (spoken?) "juncture" -shifting) -- (moving of perceptual grouping?)

grade A    ---   gray day 
night-rate   ---  nitrate 
I scream     ---   ice cream 
a nice man   ---   an ice man 
home-acre    ---   hoe-maker

Intended tags: Wordplay, Speech-error, Humor

Something interesting to read: http://www.matrix67.com/blog/archives/2571 — user23013, Jul 29 '16 at 16:07
This is my thread (my question) so I can comment, but to comment on other threads, I apparently need 50 reputation points ! -- ( All these rules ! -- and this rule makes zero sense.) After I get to 50 points I will feel more comfortable about this site. (Currently I feel deprived, handcuffed.) ______________________________________ Thank you for the 3 answers so far. They are all excellent. HH — HizHa, Jul 29 '16 at 21:03

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Jul 29 '16 at 05:20

7

喜欢上一个人

to get to like someone or to get to like being alone

喜欢上一个人

to like the previous man/woman

喜欢上一个人

to like to f-word someone

answered Jul 29 '16 at 05:20

ElpieKay

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score 5 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 29 '16 at 03:15

5

Chinese do have mishearing issue, because of the limited pronunciation and tones.

The classic example may be all foreigners know when they were starting to learn Chinese tones is:

请问shui jiao 多少钱一 wan ？

If foreigners don't pay attention to the tones, It could be: 请问水饺多少钱一碗？(How much for one bow of dumplings, please?), or 请问睡觉多少钱一晚？(How much for sleeping with you for one night, please?). 睡觉 and 水饺 have same pronunciation but different tones, 晚 and 碗 have the exactly same pronunciation and tone.

answered Jul 29 '16 at 03:15

thinwa

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Mandarin only has 4 sounds, in contrast, Cantonese has 9 sounds, mishearing problem is less common. – Tang Ho Jul 29 '16 at 04:21
I don't think mishearing is common issue in any language, but Chinese do have. – thinwa Jul 29 '16 at 05:32

score 4 · Answer 3 · answered Jul 29 '16 at 03:24

4

There are wordplay in every language, Chinese is no exception.

Example:

"下雨天留客，天留人不留。"
"Raining day make the guest stay, although heaven keeps the guest, the host does not."

"下雨天，留客天。留人不?" "留！"
"Raining day, a day to keep the guest. Do you keep the guest ?" (answer) "Keep!"

Example:

From Steven Chow's movies-

西人，狠樣 ( can't explain here because these are vulgar terms)

answered Jul 29 '16 at 03:24

Tang Ho

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西人，狠樣 ( can't explain here because these are vulgar terms) --( it is in Cantonese) – Tang Ho Jul 29 '16 at 04:22

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Aug 02 '16 at 03:34

1

Another example, "小處不可隨便" is a motto which means one should be serious even on small matters.

answered Aug 02 '16 at 03:34

velut luna

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Boundary-shifting wordplay (or mishearing) in Chinese?

4 Answers4