Intermediate - Simple Electrical Stuff (C1094)

A 哎,怎么回事?插不进去。
ái, zěnmehuíshì? chā bu jìnqù.
Agh, what's the matter? I can't get it in.
B 哦?
ó?
Huh?
A 哎,哎!
ài, ài!
Agh, agh.
B 我看看你的插头。外国插头啊。
wǒ kàn kan nǐ de chātóu. wàiguó chātóu a.
Let me see your plug. It's a foreign plug!
A 怎么,不一样吗?
zěnme, bù yīyàng ma?
What-- are they different?
B 当然咯,我的插座是斜的。
dāngrán lo, wǒ de chāzuò shì xié de.
Of course! My outlet is diagonal.
A 你这是什么破插座?
nǐ zhè shì shénme pò chāzuò?
What kind of crappy outlet do you have here?
B 中国都是这样的。
Zhōngguó dōu shì zhèyàng de.
Chinese outlets are all like this.
A 啊?我的美国电脑不是白买了?
ǎ? wǒ de Měiguó diànnǎo bùshì báimǎi le?
Huh? Doesn't that mean I wasted my money buying an American computer?
B 你傻啊,买个转换插头就好了。
nǐ shǎ a, mǎi ge zhuǎnhuàn chātóu jiù hǎo le.
You knucklehead, just buy a converter and you'll be fine!
A 噢,你真聪明!
ō, nǐ zhēn cōngming!
Oh, you're so smart!

Key Vocabulary

怎么回事 zěnmehuíshì what's the matter
插 chā to insert
插头 chātóu plug
插座 chāzuò socket
斜 xié slanted
破 pò busted
白买 báimǎi to buy in vain
转换插头 zhuǎnhuàn chātóu converter
傻 shǎ foolish
聪明 cōngming intelligent

Supplementary Vocabulary

电线 diànxiàn electrical cord
电压 diànyā voltage
功率 gōnglǜ power
接线板 jiēxiànbǎn connection strip
转换器 zhuǎnhuànqì converter
变压器 biànyāqì voltage converter