Business Chinese: Resigning or Making a Speech

I was greatly encouraged to read in the news this morning that some Chinese reporter made the ol’ 2-syllable-mix-up mistake that’s been my Achilles heel these past 10+ years of speaking Mandarin.

I get bizarre looks when I ask a store clerk if they sell any “honeybees” (mì fēng 蜜蜂) when I really mean “honey” (fēng mì 蜂蜜), but this reporter apparently got suspended for mixing up:

• cí zhí 辞职 = to resign
• zhì cí 致词 = to make a speech

And it was about the current president of China! (He actually made a speech and did NOT resign, by the way.)

I’d also like to mention the grammar involved (as you can see from the screenshot in that news link) was:

zài cízhí zhōng shuō 在辞职中说 = “(The President), while resigning, said…”

I’ll write more in detail later about the different words for ending a job in Chinese, but just one final thought before rushing off to the office this morning. Look at how quirky English is: a hyphen can change a word into it’s opposite.

• resign = cí zhí 辞职
• re-sign = xù qiān 续签

That’s almost as fun as the fact that the word “cleave” can mean “stick together” or “separate!”

Have a great day full of careful proof-reading!