Chinese humor on love: Flower and the cow shit 鲜花-牛粪

[wangll08]

http://blog.chinesehour.com/wp-content/ ... w_shit.jpg
Among China’s three most powerful directors, Feng Xiaogang (冯小刚) is perhaps the only grassroots hero. People often refer to Zhang Yimou and Chen Kaige as masters, but when talking about Feng, they smile as if he is a sweet neighbor who always invites you to share his dumplings.

wife, Xu Fan ( (徐帆), is also a pretty and famous movie star in mainland China.

When talking about their family life and the love on his wife, Feng is very proud. He feels very lucky to get married to her, because he thinks that his wife is a beautiful woman but he is very common-looking guy. There is a colloquial expression used often to describe such a marriage “a beautiful girl got married to an ugly man” in a humous way:
一 朵 鲜花 插 在 牛粪 上.
yī duǒ xiānhuā chā zài niúfèn shàng.

A good flower planted in the cow shit — a beautiful girl given in marriage to an ugly man.

鲜花 xiānhuā, good flower
牛粪 niúfèn, cow shit
插 zài, plant, insert between, transplant

Example:

我 老婆 总 觉得 自己 是
Wǒ lǎopó zǒng juéde zìjǐ shì

My wife always complains that

一 朵 鲜花 插 在 牛粪 上。
yī duǒ xiānhuā chā zài niúfèn shàng

she got married to me as a beautiful flower was planted on the cow shit.

不 过 这 牛粪 也 挺 肥沃 的 哟
búguò zhè niúfèn yě tǐng féiwò de yō！

To my mind, the truth the cow shit is really of fertileany way!

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Main movies directed by Feng

– 2006 The Banquet (Ye Yan)

– 2004 A World without Thieves (Tianxia Wuzei)

– 2003 Cell Phone (Shou Ji)

– 2001 Big Shot’s Funeral (Da Wan)

– 1998 Be There or Be Square (Bujian Busan)

– 1997 The Dream Factory (Jiafang Yifang)