English Dictionary

"Two, three, four, five, south! Six, seven, eight, nine, north!" Strange as it may sound, this is the way the people on the Chinese mainland complain about the lack of clothes, food and other necessities.

Two, three, four, five, south! Six, seven, eight, nine, north! Strange as it may sound, this is the way the people on the Chinese mainland complain about the lack of clothes, food and other necessities. Absent from the phrases are one and ten—i and shih in Chinese Mandarin. The words for clothes and food sound alike. Also missing are east and west. Their Chinese equivalents when put together as tung-hsi, stand for things, objects or matters.