介绍:
Xiaohua: Hello and welcome to Round Table’s Word of The Week. Today we’re going to talk about things girls say versus what they actually mean.
Mark: Now Xiaohua, before we start, do you mind talking about this subject.
Xiaohua: I don’t mind at all.
Mark: Are you just saying that. I have to interpret what you mean.
Xiaohua: And by the end of the conversation, you’ll know whether I do mind or not.
Mark: Yeah, ok, which one should we start with?
Xiaohua: Let’s just say with one thing girls say all the time. Girls tend to say when they are dating ”I’m not very hungry right now, I have a very small appetite.”
Mark: The translation though is “After you leave, I’m going to eat an entire cake.”
Xiaohua: That unfortunately can be true, especially on the first or second date.
Mark: I didn’t know that. Interesting.
Xiaohua: It’s just to leave a very good first impression.
Mark: I am learning actually quite a lot from this already. Now I know that sometimes at a date, a girlfriend will say “It’s fine. Oh no, Mark, don’t worry about it. It’s fine.” They say it in a certain way. I never know what that means. What does that one mean?
Xiaohua: Now guys hear this line “I’m fine” are not in luck. Because what we actually mean is “I would appreciate if you could have a long conversation about this. No shorter than 45 minutes. If not, I would appreciate if you get out of here right now”.
Mark: Yes, I know from sometimes, from the consequences that must have been what they meant. Why didn’t they just say it at the time?
Xiaohua: As a girl who used to say this a lot, I’ve no idea. The thing is we want to appear strong, but deep down we are still very vulnerable and we want someone to comfort us and to make us feel better about something.
Mark: Here’s another one I like off the list. Number three, when girls say “I just want a guy who makes me laugh.” What they actually mean is “I just want a hot guy with a great personality who is rich. And if he can make me laugh, that would be great.”
Xiaohua: I think that is a little bit mean. Now I don’t know about guys, Mark. But I don’t think a lot of girls know exactly what they want. That’s why they say “I just want a guy who makes me laugh”. What about guys? Do you actually know what kind of girls you want, and you can describe it, and be straightforward about it?
Mark: Yeah. Obviously it varies doesn’t it? One who is not needy and clingy; one who is independent. This is to describe personal sort of…I might as well use this radio show for something useful to get myself a date. Independent, interested in things in life, with an opinion about things that she’s willing to discuss. Oh, I think describing Zhou Heyang.
Xiaohua: Oh okay! I’m gonna tell her. And I think our listeners are hearing it as well.
Mark: Okay, so here’s another one that girls sometimes say when you are in the middle of talking to them about something. They’ll just say “it’s whatever”.
Ok. So here’s another one that girls sometimes they say, when you’re in the middle of talking to them about something, they’ll just say: “It’s whatever!” As though they really don’t care. Apparently the translation, though, what they really mean is: “Actually it’s very significant and it’s affecting every single part of my day!”
Xiaohua: Oh, I like this, and unfortunately I think it’s true for a lot of women. Again, we’re just generalizing here, right? But, I like the following two generalizations a lot. So when women say: “I like him, but…” what they actually mean is “I don’t like him at all”. It’s just a nice thing of putting things forward.
Mark: It’s just so confusing, Xiaohua.
Xiaohua: Because there’s a but, right? I like him, but…you know. But then there’re some aspects of him that I don’t like that much. And that actually means I don’t like him at all.
Mark: But then, later they might say: “I don’t even like him anymore”, which translates, we’re told, as “I cry myself to sleep at night thinking about him”.
Xiaohua: That is the worst. This sentence is usually heard when there’s a breakup. And the girl says “I don’t even like him anymore”, and it actually means “I’m extremely hung up on this guy”.
Mark: Do you know, finally, after years of trying to work out what women mean, I think I’ve worked out a formula for understanding what women mean.
Xiaohua: What?
Mark: I think whatever women say, they’re not talking about the present moment. They’re talking about an ideal situation. So for example, if she says I don’t even like him anymore, that’s what would be perfect, but it’s not the truth at the moment. The fact is she thinks the complete opposite and she’s crazy about him. I think this formula works. For example, if she says I’m not hungry right now, this would be in an ideal situation. So what she actually means is I am hungry right now. I think we’ve cracked it. I think we could write a book about it.
Xiaohua: You’ve cracked it. I’m not sure I’ll be on board. But let’s give it one more try on this sentence. When girls say “I don’t care where we go to eat”, what they actually mean, or we actually mean is, “I care a lot about where we go to eat and actually have some very specific preferences about where we need to go. And I just need you to start naming restaurants. And make sure to name the right one within five attempts.”
Mark: So it’s absolutely right. The formula actually works with this. So if she says “I don’t care where we go to eat”, it means in an ideal situation I wouldn’t care where we go to eat. But it’s not ideal, therefore I do. So I wish I didn’t care where we go to eat, but I do. I’m beginning to see how to interpret what women say. And when women say: “You don’t know when my birthday is”, the translation of that is “you’re dead”.
Xiaohua: That is true 100% in any circumstances. And that’s all we have for this week’s Word of the Week.
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