Re:The Man Who Became a Billionaire Through His Fight to the...
by thaumasiotes on Sunday November 03, 2013 @04:55AM
(#6662698)
Well, without asking for help from an actual Chinese person, I can say the following:
- my dictionary includes several words where 娃娃 seems to refer to a child and not a doll, e.g. 抱娃娃 娃娃兵 娃娃车. It's conceivable that they're all metaphors, I guess.
- I tried once to refer to a doll as 娃, mirroring an actual usage I'd seen, and my then tutor (from Guangzhou) complained that with just one 娃 you're referring to a human.
Having become ashamed of my lazy answer, I just asked a college student in Shanghai; she informs me "you can call a baby 娃娃".
- my dictionary includes several words where 娃娃 seems to refer to a child and not a doll, e.g. 抱娃娃 娃娃兵 娃娃车. It's conceivable that they're all metaphors, I guess.
- I tried once to refer to a doll as 娃, mirroring an actual usage I'd seen, and my then tutor (from Guangzhou) complained that with just one 娃 you're referring to a human.
Having become ashamed of my lazy answer, I just asked a college student in Shanghai; she informs me "you can call a baby 娃娃".