(Thanks to Lulu for this one)
I don’t know if it’s true, but I’ve heard that:
Shànghǎi zìláishuǐ láizì hǎi shàng
(Shanghai’s tap water comes from on top of the sea)
I’m all in favor of fun little word games and/or tongue twisters as a way of learning new vocabulary (tap water), practicing pronunciation, and earning the undying respect and admiration of friends. Well, at least I know it works for vocabulary and pronunciation.
喜欢这个:
扁担长，板凳宽。
板凳没有扁担长，
扁担没有板凳宽。
扁担要绑在板凳上，
板凳偏不让扁担绑在板凳上。
S.H.E. has even a song for it.
上水居民居水上，長洲賓客賓洲長。
大圍三姑三圍大。
昆明擺檔擺明昆。
大院高曾高院大。
Billy,
Could you give us the translations (and pinyin) for those? They look interesting but I’m afraid I can’t decode them.
I’m a new learner (8 months studying Chinese in an American university), and I was so fascinated by the idea of a Chinese palindrome that I asked some of my own informants about them as soon as I found this post. I was only able to come up with one other, but I think it’s a good one:
山冻落花生花落东山。
Shāndōng luò huā shēng huā luò dōngshān.
In Shandong (province) the luohuasheng (kind of peanut) flower falls on the eastern mountain.
There’s quite a collection on Wikipedia:
http://zh.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=回文
大院高僧高院大。
da1 yuan 4 gao1 seng1 gao1 yuan4 da1,,
Bamboo,
Could we have an approximate or literal English translation?
I’m a native chinese,
but honestly, even i can’t decode them.coz they don’t really make any sense.
大圍三姑三圍大。
昆明擺檔擺明昆。
大院高曾高院大。
if u hv to translate it into English, guess it would be:
大圍三姑三圍大
LITERALLY:
大圍:plumy,plus-size(woman),”围”means a closed circle or circumference
三姑：means ur third oldest aunt, or “meddling women”
三围:means women’s size, bust/waist/hips
plumy/plus-size woman
PINYIN:
da4 wei2 san1 gu1 san1 wei2 da4
INTERPRETATION:
“plumpy auntie has big breasts”
or
“aunt from Dawei(大围could be a place)is plumpy”
昆明擺檔擺明昆
LITERALLY:
昆明：capital of Yunnan province
摆档：a booth or a very small store
the 2nd摆：verb.,means set up (a booth), or lay out(goods)
明昆：guess it’s somewhere coincidently called Mingkun.
PINYIN:
kun1 ming2 bai3 dang4 bai3 ming2 kun1
INTERPRETATION:
“Kunming booth be set up in Mingkun”
大院高曾高院大
LITERALLY:
大院：means bid courtyard
高曾(actually”僧”, means monk)：means a senior monk, or hierarch. here”高” means senior or high class
intead of “height/tall”.
the 2nd高：means the high or tall (height of the fences/walls/trees/moutains etc. or humen body)
PINYIN:
da4 yuan4 gao1 seng1 yuan4 gao1 da4
曾pronounces as ceng2
INTERPRETATION:
“that hierarch live in the courtyard, his yard has tall fences and is big”.
by the way,
扁担长，板凳宽。
板凳没有扁担长，
扁担没有板凳宽。
扁担要绑在板凳上，
板凳偏不让扁担绑在板凳上。
these are tongue twisters, not palindromes.
sorry,some edit errors
大院高曾高院大
LITERALLY:
大院：means big courtyard
高曾(曾actually is”僧”,means monk)：means a senior monk, or hierarch. here”高”(adj.) means senior or high class intead of “height(noun.)/tall(adj.)”.
the 2nd高：(adj.)means high or tall (height of the fences/walls/trees/moutains etc. or humen body)
高院 is also a homophone of testes in Cantonese.