Imagine you want to go to a concert, and discover that all the tickets sold out.What would you do in your country?
In China, we’ll probably go look for a 黄牛 huángniú 😎
❗️Today’s post comes from @savvamarina_sova. You might know her already as the author of many YM videos in Stories. She works in a very special Chinese office as a professional interpreter (and problem solver), and always has a unique view on things. So we’re really lucky to finally have her here 💛
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黄 huáng – yellow
牛 niú – cow
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黄牛 huángniú – ticket tout 🇬🇧 (or scalper 🇺🇸)
Synonym: 票贩子 piào fànzi 🇨🇳
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So, 黄牛 huángniú is Shanghainese slang for a more common word 票贩子 piào fànzi, or ticket touts. These people buy high-demand music tickets, theatre tickets, or even train tickets, to resell them later – and earn on the price difference💸
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Literal translation for 黄牛 is ‘an ox’. You may wonder, what do an ox and a scalper have in common? Actually, nothing! But as my professor used to say, “There must be a 故事 (story) behind every word”.
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So the story behind 黄牛 tells us that in the past, people used ox carriages for public transportation. And people who drove these carriages wore yellow jackets, so the carriages got a nickname 黄牛.
Then trains and buses came into service, but tickets were really hard to get. That’s when 黄牛s found themselves a new job! Since they spent a lot of time at train stations and usually had ‘friends’ working at ticket offices, they could easily get a ticket – saving time and effort in exchange for a small tip 💴
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Later on, they just extended their ‘services’ to other types of tickets. So today, you will spot them on your way to any music concert, show, or sports event🏸
黄牛票 huángniú piào – a ticket from scalpers
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How would you say: ‘Tickets to Bruno Mars’s concert sold out, so now you can only buy a ticket from scalpers, for twice the original price”?
(Concert – 演唱会 yǎnchànghuì, sold out – 卖完了 màiwán le, twice the original price – 原价的两倍 yuánjià de liǎngbèi)
@silvanabianchi.arch: 👏👍🏻
@marthadianka: Calo in Indonesian
@yourmandarin: @marthadianka 👍 ‘calo’ means ‘yellow ox’ or ‘ticket tout’?😄
@chino_con_lulu: 我最讨厌黄牛!
@yourmandarin: @chino_con_lulu 嗯,我也觉得他们很烦人😤
@l00m4ever: Bruno mars 的演唱会的票卖完了,所以你就可以从黄牛买原价的两倍票😭😭
@yourmandarin: @l00m4ever 👍🏅Nice work! Imho it’s a tough sentence, Marina set the bar high😅 In your sentence, change 就 to 只 (only), 可以 (allowed to) to 能 (can)😉
@l00m4ever: @yourmandarin it was a really good sentence I tried many times to get it closer to the right one😁
@yourmandarin: @l00m4ever A possible option, how I’d say this: ”BrunoMars演唱会门票都卖完了 (现在)只有黄牛票 不过价格是蛮贵的,原价的两倍”