Upper-Intermediate - Fan Death (D1981)

A: 你听说过Fan Death吗?
nǐ tīngshuō guo Fan Death ma?
Have you heard of fan death?
B: 什么Fan Death?
shénme Fan Death?
What's fan death?
A: 你搜一下“风扇,死,韩国”。关着门窗吹风扇会死,韩国人民都相信。
nǐ sōu yīxià" fēngshàn, sǐ, Hánguó”. guān zhe ménchuāng chuī fēngshàn huì sǐ, Hánguó rénmín dōu xiāngxìn.
Search for "fan," "death," and "Korea." All Koreans believe that if you close all the doors and windows and turn on the fan you'll die.
B: 哈哈哈,太搞笑了!“风扇会把空气分子搅碎,就没有气体可以呼吸了”!
hā hā hā, tài gǎoxiào le!" fēngshàn huì bǎ kōngqìfēnzǐ jiǎosuì, jiù méiyǒu qìtǐ kěyǐ hūxī le”!
Ha ha ha, that's ridiculous! "Electric fans pulverize the air molecules so that there's no air left to breathe!"
A: 你看下面,还真的有事实。
nǐ kàn xiàmian, hái zhēnde yǒu shìshí.
Look below. It's really happened before.
B: 韩国的风扇也太强劲了。
Hánguó de fēngshàn yě tài qiángjìng le.
Korean fans are really powerful.
A: 我刚看到的时候也笑死了。我还专门问了一个韩国朋友,他说是啊,吹风扇体温会越来越低,人就死掉了。
wǒ gāng kàndào de shíhou yě xiào sǐ le. wǒ hái zhuānmén wèn le yī gè Hánguó péngyou, tā shuō shì a, chuī fēngshàn tǐwēn huì yuèláiyuè dī, rén jiù sǐdiào le.
When I'd just read it I laughed really hard too. I went and asked one of my Korean friends directly about it. He said that yes, the air from the fan chills a person's body temperature until they die.
B: 那你怎么说?
nà nǐ zěnme shuō?
How did you respond?
A: 我没好意思继续跟他讨论。
wǒ méi hǎoyìsi jìxù gēn tā tǎolùn.
I didn't have the heart to continue talking with him about it.
B: 哎,你相信半夜三更出去会碰见鬼吗?
āi, nǐ xiāngxìn bànyèsāngēng chūqù huì pèngjiàn guǐ ma?
Hey, do you believe that if you go out in the middle of the night you'll see ghosts?
A: 这不是迷信吗?不过虽然不相信,但是我可不敢半夜一个人出去。
zhè bùshì míxìn ma? bùguò suīrán bù xiāngxìn, dànshì wǒ kě bùgǎn bànyè yī ge rén chūqù.
That's just superstition, isn't it? But even though I don't believe it, I still wouldn't dare to go out by myself in the middle of the night.
B: 你相信打喷嚏是因为有人想你吗?
nǐ xiāngxìn dǎ pēntì shì yīnwèi yǒurén xiǎng nǐ ma?
Do you believe that when you sneeze it means that someone is missing you?
A: 这个嘛,就是说着玩的。
zhè ge ma, jiùshì shuōzhewánr de.
That? That's just a joke.
B: 那“风扇死”可能也就是这样的迷信或者谣言。
nà" fēngshànsǐ” kěnéng yějiùshì zhèyàng de míxìn huò zhě yáoyán.
Then "fan death" may also just be a similar kind of superstition or rumor.
A: 这可不是同一级别的。要是睡觉吹风扇这么恐怖,全世界的科学家都能得出一样的结论。
zhè kě bùshì tóng yī jíbié de. yàoshì shuìjiào chuī fēngshàn zhème kǒngbù, quánshìjiè de kēxuéjiā dōu néng déchū yīyàng de jiélùn.
This isn't on the same level. If sleeping with the fan on were really this terrible, scientists all over the world would've come to the same conclusion.
B: 实践是检验真理的唯一标准,等你有机会去韩国的时候,试试关着门窗吹风扇吧。
shíjiàn shì jiǎnyàn zhēnlǐ de wéiyī biāozhǔn, děng nǐ yǒu jīhuì qù Hánguó de shíhou, shìshi guān zhe ménchuāng chuī fēngshàn ba.
Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth. When you have the chance to go to Korea, try closing the doors and windows and leaving the fan on.
A: 那还是算了。如果韩国的风扇真的跟我们的不一样,我不就回不来了吗?
nà háishì suànle. rúguǒ Hánguó de fēngshàn zhēnde gēn wǒmen de bù yīyàng, wǒ bù jiù huíbulái le ma?
Forget it. If Korea's fans really are different from ours, then I won't come back, will I?
B: 哈哈哈......
hā hā hā......
Ha ha ha...

Key Vocabulary

搅碎 jiǎosuì to smash
强劲 qiángjìng powerful
半夜三更 bànyèsāngēng middle of the night
迷信 míxìn superstition
谣言 yáoyán rumor
级别 jíbié level
恐怖 kǒngbù terrible
得出 déchū to come to
结论 jiélùn conclusion
实践 shíjiàn practice
检验 jiǎnyàn to test
空气分子 kōngqìfēnzǐ air molecule

Supplementary Vocabulary

调侃 tiáokǎn to ridicule
讽刺 fěngcì to satirize
原子 yuánzǐ atom
搅碎机 jiǎosuìjī pulper
真空 zhēnkōng vacuum space
理论 lǐlùn theory

Online Review and Discussion .   ©2012 Praxis Language Ltd.