# adam's housecat



## viajero_canjeado

大家好！

請問，如果你要強調人家是陌生人的話，用中文要怎麼說呢？例如：
A: That guy in the elevator was looking at you, didn't you notice?
B: Yeah, but I pretended not to. I didn't know him from Adam's housecat!

就是說，他是完全陌生人。請多分享好玩的成語！謝謝。


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## Ghabi

Is it the same as "I don't know him from Adam"? I haven't heard your version before. I might say something like: 壓根不認識,今生沒見過,上輩子也沒有. A literary idiom is 素昧平生.


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## no9ronaldo

I'm afraid there are little 好玩的成語 concerning this case. All those expressions Ghabi listed above are just can be deemed as idiomatic phrases, but not funny.

However, a rather new internet phrase comes into my mind: "这谁啊！这熊孩子到底是谁啊！".
It comes from the chinese translation (very talented translation really) of a japanese funny anime called <搞笑漫畫日和> (ギャグマンガ日和).


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## midismilex

一定要好玩嗎？那B句可以翻成＂喵的咧，不曉得他一直看著我幹嘛！＂


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## SuperXW

Hm. Actually in Chinese 成语 are considered to be those classic, elegant idioms, often with rich cultural reference. Those are hardly "funny". 
For other idioms or sayings, we prefer call them slangs: 俚语, 俗语, 说法... They are usually more funny, but like all the slangs, will vary according to time and locations.


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## viajero_canjeado

SuperXW said:


> Hm. Actually in Chinese 成语 are considered to be those classic, elegant idioms, often with rich cultural reference. Those are hardly "funny".
> For other idioms or sayings, we prefer call them slangs: 俚语, 俗语, 说法... They are usually more funny, but like all the slangs, will vary according to time and locations.



Thanks for the information. I requested 好玩 (fun) 的成語 because they're fun to learn and use. I wasn't really looking for anything funny (好笑). On the mainland, do 好玩 and 好笑 mean the same thing?


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## SuperXW

I didn't realized "fun" and "funny" has this difference... I just thought "fun" is the noun and "funny" is the adjective...
Thanks for the English lesson...
And yes, in Chinese 好玩 and 好笑 are basically the same, both mean "funny". The word 有趣 may be more close to "fun" rather than "funny".
For the literary 成語, I can think of 素不相識, 素昧平生... They are both common and literary. Er...nothing special I guess...


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## viajero_canjeado

I see. Thank you!


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## Neon1300

Yes, 好玩 and 好笑 are basically the same.
However, there are still some differences among them.

For example, 你真好玩 VS 你真好笑
你真好笑(you are so funny) can be used in an offensive and sarcastic way, but "你真好玩" is rarely used in the same manner.


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## midismilex

Neon1300 said:


> Yes, 好玩 and 好笑 are basically the same.
> However, there are still some differences among them.
> 
> For example, 你真好玩 VS 你真好笑
> 你真好笑(you are so funny) can be used in an offensive and sarcastic way, but "你真好玩" is rarely used in the same manner.



Supplement:

＂你真好玩＂ has the meaning of "You are humorous." (for man), "It's so cute." (for doggies or cats) It's a nice complement, no offense language.

"你真好笑＂, me too, would translate "You are so funny." as Neon1300 did. Of course, it's totally offensive language.

So, well, I don't agree that "好玩＂and "好笑＂is the same thing. But at the first glance of these 2 terms, most people will say them basically the same, including me.


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## midismilex

viajero_canjeado said:


> 大家好！
> 
> 請問，如果你要強調人家是陌生人的話，用中文要怎麼說呢？例如：
> A: That guy in the elevator was looking at you, didn't you notice?
> B: Yeah, but I pretended not to. I didn't know him from Adam's housecat!



Another suggestion is "八竿子不認識＂.  e.g. for the latter phase of the sentence B: "我八竿子不認識他。＂= ＂我壓根兒就不認識他。＂


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## YangMuye

压根(儿) sound fine.
But “八竿子” is usually followed by “打不着”。“八竿子不認識＂ sounds a litter strange to me.
“上辈子(都)” is a very common idiom.
上辈子都没见过(他)
上辈子都不认识(他)


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## midismilex

對呀，我也一直覺得八竿子不認識是從八竿子打不著變來的說，噗！


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## SuperXW

唔……没听过“八杆子不认识”……只有“八竿子打不着”吧……意思是“一点关系也没有”。


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## midismilex

喔，對呴，是要成語，我只想到＂流行語＂（好玩），哈，應該說＂過時語＂，嗯，放棄。


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