From: john@jfeldredge.com   
      
   On Fri, 26 Sep 2014 20:15:24 -0700, William Vetter wrote:   
      
   > On Wednesday, September 24, 2014 10:54:52 PM UTC-4, Jymesion wrote:   
   >   
   >> Chinese - it's like ghost script   
   >>   
   >> Cantonese - it's like chicken intestines   
   >>   
   > I believe that these are references to Western alphabetic writing, and   
   > not general as including speech or technical jargon.   
   >   
   > This is a problem with these translation dictionaries and online lists.   
   > They offer equivalent idioms, but the equivalents don't always have   
   > quite the same scopes.   
      
   I had a college roommate who was from Hong Kong.  I once used the term   
   "goosebumps" (referring to the little bumps formed when you are cold or   
   scared, causing your hair to raise).  He didn't recognize the term.  When   
   I explained, he laughed and said the equivalent term in Chinese meant   
   "chicken skin".  So, two different languages, two different cultures, but   
   the same metaphor.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)