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
chā to insert
插头 chātóu plug
插座 chāzuò socket
xié slanted
busted
白买 báimǎi to buy in vain
转换插头 zhuǎnhuàn chātóu converter
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