In Chinese, « 打» is a verb which means "beat", "hit" or "strike". However when it combines with another character to become a word, the word's meaning could be very different. The following are some examples:

打人 : hiting someone
打电话 : make a phone call
打电脑 : play computor
打毛衣 : knit a sweater
打水 : lift a barrel of water
打字 : typing
打球 : batting
打鱼 : piscation
打赌 : bet
打鼾 : snore
打牌 : playing mahjong or cards
打气 : pumping up a tyre
打胎 : have an abortion
打仗 : fight a battle
打折 : sell at a discount
打战 : shivering, trembling
打针 : give or receive injection
打主意 : think of a plan
打坐 : sit in meditation
打盹儿 : doze off
打劫 : rob
打滚 : wallowing
打官司 : go to court
打扫 : clean, sweep

Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 12/10/2008 08:24PM by Olive.

There is another one, but my friend refused to give me the meaning, wich must be something funny are they keep laughing when I'm asking: 打飞机.
What could be so funny with « hitting the plane »?

Just some comments on the connotations or translations you've posted:

打水 : lift a barrel of water

I think this means in general to get water from a water source such as a well or a pump.

打鱼 : piscation

To fish, usually for commercial purposes, like that of a fisherman, and not recreation.

打气 : pumping up a tyre

Not sure if this is a Mandarin vs. Cantonese difference, but in Cantonese, this would mean to cheer on, or give moral support, as in doing this for a friend at an athletic competition.

打主意 : think of a plan

Again, not sure if this is a Mandarin vs. Cantonese difference, but this usually means to take advantage of opportunistically and has rather negative connotations.

打官司 : go to court

Or to litigate in general.

Don't know if you're being honest or just trolling here, Arnold...

打飞机

is Cantonese slang for male masturbation.

"打" you can just take the meaning as "to do something".

Muppetwonder is correct - 打飞机 da fei ji - Male Masturbate (slang term)

Though it's not just Cantonese, it's also used in Mandarin a lot as well. Maybe started in Cantonese though, not sure.

Quote:
Don't know if you're being honest or just trolling here, Arnold...
打飞机
is Cantonese slang for male masturbation.

Well, it should not be something asked just by chance or bad Chinese


The explanation according to this site (http://cantonese.ca/ very interesting for Cantonese vocab) is :

Quote:
jerk off 打飛機 da fei gei Lit. to shoot airplaines (cocking motion of early anti-aircraft artillery)

What could be funny is a mix of mandarin and cantonese phonetics. In Cantonese 坐飛機 is 搭飛機. If the above site is correct, the tone for 打 in 打飛機 is tone1. Then, according to Mandarin prononciation, 搭飛機 and 打飛機 would be the same. While in cantonese it is definitely different (da1 and daap3).
That could make one funny story about mandarin / cantonese speakers

I never really thought of that! Though I suppose a lot of words in Chinese are like this. They mean very different things in different contexts.

The word "get" in English is a little similar...

GET over here
I'm GETTING bored
I GET to have a party
Do you GET it?
When you GET done...

THe second and last are similar in meaning though..

Can anyone else think of words like that in English?

Takat
Writing away about my latest 3 week adventure through China at [katacomb.blogspot.com]

How about 打死 that means to kill; to beat to death. To beat to death in English also has a figurative meaning, i.e. to exhaust a subject by discussing it endlessly. Is the same true for the Chinese equivalent? If not, what is the correct expression in Chinese?

Takat, i like your English exercise and offer "to take" that has many different meanings:

to take prisoners - to capture
to take a summer cottage - to rent
to take your own life - to commit suicide
to take someone out to lunch - to invite someone and pay the bill
he took me for Chinese - to falsely assume, to mistake
to take out a loan/insurance - to obtain, procure
i'll buy this suit if you can take 10% off the price - to give a discount
to take to drugs - develop a habit
to take to each other right away - to like
to be on the take - to steal or accept bribes
a new take on something - a new interpretation
my take on this forum - opinion

The list on "to take" is endless but i'll stop here.