The deer on my heart (Body)

In Justin Bieber’s One Time, he sings, “. . . butterflies in my stomach won’t stop stop.” Here “butterflies in someone’s stomach” refers to the nervous or excited feelings one have. Some students showed an expression of disgusted when I explained the phrase literally. We have a similar expression in Chinese to describe such feelings when you see someone you have a crush on, we say 心頭小鹿亂撞(xin tou2 xiao3 lu4 luan4 zhuang4), the deer on your heart’s stampeding.

You心頭小鹿亂撞when you see your 心上人(xin shang4 ren2), the one on your heart; that is, the one you love or have a crush on. You might be absent-minded thinking about your心上人. 心不在焉(xin bu2 zei4 yan). 焉 means here, your mind is not here. You feel 傷心(shang xin), sad, or 心碎(xin cui4), heart-broken when you see your 心上人 is with someone else.

You’re hard-headed because you’re not easily moved or deceived. In Chinese, we have a similar expression 硬著頭皮(ying4 zhe tou2 pi2), to harden one’s scalp, but with different meaning. For example, it is known just an hour before a play starts that the protagonist can’t make it for an accident. Being the only one who knows his part, though you’re not prepared, you have to pluck up your courage, leave your nervousness behind, walk onto the stage and just do it. You are left with no other choice but硬著頭皮to do it.

When you’re troubled by some problem you’re unable to solve, you’ll say 這問題讓我很頭大(zhe4 wen4 ti2 rang4 wo3 hen3 tou2 da4), literally meaning “this problem really makes me big-headed.” But in English, big-headed means conceit. Now we take this English expression and make a Chinese phrase 大頭症(da4 tou2 zheng4), big-headedness.

A couple of months ago I kept hearing a commercial on ICRT, an English radio in Taiwan, from an English teaching institute, where it said, “Do you have trouble learning English grammar? Let our experts help you and solve your大頭症” English teachers to cure you of your big-headedness?

Hearing this wrong expression, I really had an impulse to call this institute and tell them, being an English-teaching institute with so many “experts,” they really should pay more attention not to make errors of this kind.

When a friend goes to you for a shoulder to cry on, you want to play the role of a good listener and say, “I’m all ears.” In Chinese, when you’re ready to listen to others, especially advice or teaching form your superiors or someone you respect, you say 洗耳恭聽(xi3 er3 gong ting), you wash your ears and listen respectfully.

If you’re worried about something or someone, or you’re missing someone a lot, you may say 牽腸掛肚(qian chang2 gua4 du4) to describe what it is like to be haunted by those thoughts. 牽掛 means to worry, to have something on your mind. 腸 is your intestine while 肚 is your belly, stomach. Though your intestine has nothing to do with your thought, I think here we use it for its long and winding shape, comparing it to the subtle feelings that never seems to end. 

Last year I got the admission of a grad school but was replaced because I forgot to check in to the school on the designated date, which was nothing like me to do. I was visiting China and left this all behind me. Perhaps I

took it too lightly, which is 不把它放在心上(bu4 ba2 ta fang4 zei4 xin shang4), not keep something in your mind. It turns out that next week I have to take another entrance exam for another grad school, which means I have to cut down on my writing for the coming week and 專心(zhuan xin), focus my mind on preparing for it.

But please 放心(fang4 xin), relax and don’t worry. I’m talking about cutting it down. Even if I won’t show up for a whole week, I’ll come back when I’m done with it. Though I’m not well-prepared, I’ll 硬著頭皮to finish the exam.

心頭小鹿亂撞=心头小鹿乱撞

傷心=伤心

硬著頭皮=硬着头皮

這問題讓我很頭大=这问题让我很头大

大頭症=大头症

洗耳恭聽=洗耳恭听

牽腸掛肚=牵肠挂肚

專心=专心