070 Umbrella

Have you ever noticed that almost every girl in Asia carries an umbrella no matter it’s a sunny day or rainy day? Do you know it is very embarrassing if you give an umbrella as a gift in China or Taiwan?

In this episode, Josh from Transition and ShaoLan will explore the cultural insight and etymology of 傘 / 伞(sǎn) or “umbrella” in Chinese.

雨傘 / 雨伞 (yǔ sǎn) has the word 雨 (yǔ) which means “rain”

Along the same logic, the umbrella you use on a sunny day is called 陽傘 / 阳伞 (yáng sǎn).

Listen and find out the reason why it’s a bad idea to give an umbrella as a gift. Moreover, learn how to avoid some embarrassing situations. A hint, the pronunciation of “umbrealla”, sounds similiar to the word “breaking up” or “separate” in Chinese.