Back to Back, Face to Face

Back to Back, Face to Face 1994

背靠背，脸对脸 bèikàobèi， liǎn duì liǎn

Wang Shuangli is Deputy Director of the local Cultural Centre, and hopes to be appointed Director. However Old Ma is brought in from the country and installed as Director. This starts a long train of events with Wang's cronies using the bureaucracy to try to oust the new director.

HSK 1
2
3
4
5
6
7
4.5 Intermediate

Vocabulary

Filter the words you want to study before watching.

混 混 hùn to mix; to mingle; muddled; to drift along; to muddle along; to pass for; to get along with sb; thoughtless; reckless HSK 6
说实话 說實話 shuō shí huà to speak the truth; truth to tell; frankly HSK 6
股 股 gǔ thigh; part of a whole; portion of a sum; (stock) share; strand of a thread; low-level administrative unit, translated as "section" or "department" etc, ranked below 科; classifier for long winding things like ropes, rivers etc; classifier for smoke, smells etc: thread, puff, whiff; classifier for bands of people, gangs etc; classifier for sudden forceful actions HSK 6
理 理 lǐ texture; grain (of wood); inner essence; intrinsic order; reason; logic; truth; science; natural science (esp. physics); to manage; to pay attention to; to run (affairs); to handle; to put in order; to tidy up HSK 6
样 樣 yàng manner; pattern; way; appearance; shape; classifier: kind, type HSK 6
服 服 fú clothes; dress; garment; to serve (in the military, a prison sentence etc); to obey; to be convinced (by an argument); to convince; to admire; to acclimatize; to take (medicine); mourning clothes; to wear mourning clothes HSK 6
犯 犯 fàn to violate; to offend; to assault; criminal; crime; to make a mistake; recurrence (of mistake or sth bad) HSK 6
英雄 英雄 yīng xióng hero HSK 6
招 招 zhāo to recruit; to provoke; to beckon; to incur; to infect; contagious; a move (chess); a maneuver; device; trick; to confess HSK 6
副 副 fù secondary; auxiliary; deputy; assistant; vice-; abbr. for 副词 adverb; classifier for pairs, sets of things & facial expressions HSK 6
尽 儘 jǐn to the greatest extent; (when used before a noun of location) furthest or extreme; to be within the limits of; to give priority to HSK 6
逼 偪 bī variant of 逼; to compel; to pressure HSK 6
啥 啥 shá dialectal equivalent of 什么; also pr. [shà] HSK 6
便 便 biàn plain; informal; suitable; convenient; opportune; to urinate or defecate; equivalent to 就: then; in that case; even if; soon afterwards HSK 6
入 入 rù to enter; to go into; to join; to become a member of; to confirm or agree with; abbr. for 入声 HSK 6
特 特 tè special; unique; distinguished; especially; unusual; very; abbr. for 斯, tex HSK 6
超 超 chāo to exceed; to overtake; to surpass; to transcend; to pass; to cross; ultra-; super- HSK 6
作 作 zuō worker; workshop; (slang) troublesome; high-maintenance (person) HSK 6
同 同 tóng like; same; similar; together; alike; with HSK 6
啦 啦 lā (onom.) sound of singing, cheering etc; (phonetic); (dialect) to chat HSK 6
与 與 yǔ and; to give; together with HSK 6
过河拆桥 過河拆橋 guò hé - chāi qiáo lit. to destroy the bridge after crossing the river (idiom); fig. to abandon one's benefactor upon achieving one's goal Idiom ∼HSK 5
怀恨在心 懷恨在心 huái hèn zài xīn to harbor hard feelings Idiom ∼HSK 5
疑神疑鬼 疑神疑鬼 yí shén yí guǐ to suspect everyone; overly suspicious Idiom ∼HSK 5
六亲不认 六親不認 liù qīn bù rèn not recognizing one's family (idiom); self-centered and not making any allowances for the needs of one's relatives Idiom ∼HSK 5
高抬贵手 高抬貴手 gāo tái guì shǒu to be generous (idiom); to be magnanimous; Give me a break! Idiom ∼HSK 5
龙飞凤舞 龍飛鳳舞 lóng fēi fèng wǔ flamboyant or bold cursive calligraphy (idiom) Idiom ∼HSK 5
混蛋 混蛋 hún dàn scoundrel; bastard; hoodlum; wretch Xiehouyu ∼HSK 5
滚蛋 滾蛋 gǔn dàn get out of here!; beat it! Xiehouyu ∼HSK 5
臭美 臭美 chòu měi to show off one's good looks shamelessly Xiehouyu ∼HSK 5
丢面子 丟面子 diū miàn zi to lose face Xiehouyu ∼HSK 5
点鬼火 點鬼火 diǎn guǐ huǒ to stir up trouble in secret; to instigate Xiehouyu ∼HSK 5
走着瞧 走著瞧 zǒu zhe qiáo wait and see (who is right) Xiehouyu ∼HSK 5
臭 臭 chòu stench; smelly; to smell (bad); repulsive; loathsome; terrible; bad; severely; ruthlessly; dud (ammunition) Xiehouyu HSK 5
软柿子 軟柿子 ruǎn shì zi (coll.) pushover; soft touch Colloquialism ∼HSK 5
破烂 破爛 pò làn worn-out; dilapidated; tattered; ragged; (coll.) rubbish; junk Colloquialism ∼HSK 5
收拾 收拾 shōu shi to put in order; to tidy up; to pack; to repair; (coll.) to sort sb out; to fix sb Colloquialism HSK 5
熊 熊 xióng bear; (coll.) to scold; to rebuke; (coll.) weak; incapable Colloquialism HSK 5
阎 閻 Yán village gate; surname ∼HSK 5
镭射 鐳射 léi shè laser (loanword); Taiwanese term for ∼HSK 5
凤 鳳 Fèng male phoenix; symbol of joy ∼HSK 5
凭什么 憑什麼 píng shén me (spoken) why?; for which reason? ∼HSK 5
私房 私房 sī fáng privately-owned house; private rooms; private ownings ∼HSK 5
胡说八道 胡說八道 hú shuō bā dào to talk rubbish ∼HSK 5
帐 帳 zhàng tent; account ∼HSK 5
撵 攆 niǎn drive away, expel, oust ∼HSK 5
侯 侯 Hóu marquis, lord; target in archery ∼HSK 5
会议室 會議室 huì yì shì meeting room; conference room ∼HSK 5
我操 我操 wǒ cào (substitute for) fuck; WTF ∼HSK 5
家俱 傢俱 jiā jù variant of ∼HSK 5