禁 – Jin4 – Prohibit, Forbit

禁運 – Jin4 Yun4 – Prohibit Transport — Embargo

Word of the Day EMBARGO is officially ON! We’ll be back May 2^nd, and word of the day will be back some time soon afterwards.

旅 – Lu3 – Travel, Trip

旅館 – Lu3 Guan3 – Travel House — Hotel

絆 – Ban4 – Trip, Stumble

絆腳石 – Ban4 Jiao3 Shi2 – Stumble Foot Rock — Stumbling Block

窩 – Wo1 – Nest, Den

狗窩 – Gou3 Wo1 – Dog Den — Doghouse

One Doghouse Dormer, two Doghouses Dormer.

護 – Hu4 – Protect

護蓋物 – Hu4 Gai4 Wu4 – Protect Cover Matter — Mulch

Jenny thinks it would be a good idea to buy some ground up tires and spread them around our garden.

繅 – Sao1 – Reel Silk from Cocoons

Yes, there is a word just for that.

岐 – Qi2 – Divergent

岐義 – Qi2 Yi4 – Divergent Meaning — Ambiguous

訂 – Ding4 – Arrange, Settle, Subscribe, Book

訂機票 – Ding4 Ji1 Piao4 – Book Airplane Ticket

Booked! We’re going to Tokyo and Singapore! We leave next Tuesday and will be in each place for about a week.

連 – Lian2 – Connect, Join, Successive, Link

連鎖 – Lian2 Suo3 – Connect Lock — Chain

Guess what: chain restaurants just aren’t that good.

黏 – Nian2 – Sticky

黏土 – Nian2 Tu3 – Sticky Dirt — Clay

藝 – Yi4 – Skill, Art

藝妓 – Yi4 Ji4 – Art Prostitute — Geisha

Memoirs of a Geisha seemed to be about the most straightforward, shallow, and bland way you could have made that book into a movie.

元 – Yuan2 – Head, Primary, Dollar (Yuan)

Renminbi? New Taiwan Dollar? It’s all just 元.

悖 – Bei4 – Perverse, Rebellious, Counter

悖論 – Bei4 Lun4 – Perverse Theory — Paradox

型 – Xing2 – Model, Type

字型 – Zi4 Xing2 – Letter Type — Font

癆 – Lao2 – Tuberculosis

Only in Wikipedia will the article on Tuberculosis end with this fact: The character Tachibana Ukyo from the Samurai Shodown series of games had Tuberculosis, and frequently coughed blood before and after matches.

帕 – Pa4 – Kerchief

手帕 – Shou3 Pa4 – Hand Kerchief — Handkerchief

受 – Shou4 – Bear, Stand, Endure

受虐狂者 – Shou4 Nue4 Kuang2 Zhe3 – Endure Cruelty Mad Person — Masochist

You might wonder how it is that I end up seeing so many bad movies. Answer: I read reviews like this one. Then I watch the movies. ON PURPOSE.

爛 – Lan4 – Overcooked, Soft, Rotten

The Promise: Rotten!