Explaining modern Chinese catchphrases and Web terms, such as:

“Dàndìng” – 淡定 – a popular expression commonly used among young people. Independently, the two characters mean “cool” (dàn) and “stable” (dìng). However, together they are used to put across “take it easy” or “calm down”. Here's an example of how to use it in a sentence:

Marc says:

Míngtiān wǒ jiù yào cānjiā HSK kǎoshì le. Wǒ hěn jǐnzhāng, zěnmebàn? 明天我就要参加HSK 考试了。我很紧张,怎么办？

Tomorrow I'm sitting the HSK exam. I feel very nervous, what should I do?

Lisa says:

Dàndìng dàndìng. Jǐnzhāng shénme ya. Shénme dōu zhǔnbèi hǎo le jiù méiwèntí. 淡定,淡定。紧张什么呀。什么都准备好了就没问题。

Calm down; take it easy. Don't be nervous. If you prepare well, there's no problem.

Marc says:

Wǒ zhīdào, dànshì wǒ jiù shì hái méi fù xí hǎo yā. Erqiě zuówǎn wǒ bǎ bǐjìběn nòng diū le. Jīnwǎn wǒ yào qù jīchǎng jiē wǒ de biǎogē … wǒ gēnběn máng bú guòlái. 我 知道,但是我就是还没复习 好呀。而且昨晚我把笔记本弄丢了。今晚我 要去 机场接我 的表哥 … 我根本忙不 过来。

I know, but I didn't revise enough and I lost my notebook last night. I need to go to the airport to pick up my cousin … I'm too busy to deal with so many things.

Lisa says:

Méiguānxì. Jiù dàng shì qù dǎjiàngyóu le. 没关系。就当是去打酱油了。

Don't worry. Whatever you do will be fine.

Marc says:

Xièxiè nǐ, dànshì tīngshuō zhè cì kǎoshì hěn nán. Wǒ háishì yǒu diǎnr jǐnzhāng. 谢谢你,但是听说这次考试很难。我还是有点儿紧张。

Thank you, but I've heard this exam is really hard. I'm still a little nervous.

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