Chinese idiom for Tablet Custom-Made for China’s Cadres

Finally, a tablet computer that’s custom-made to meet the needs of Chinese officials.

Or at least that’s how it’s advertised.

We’re not sure what’s custom made about it except that it’s red (to be fair it comes with a very nice case).

It’s basically an an Android-based tablet that costs twice as much as an iPad.

But if we did think it was custom-made, we’d use the Chinese idiom 量身定做 (liàng shēn dìng zuò).

量身定做 (liàng shēn dìng zuò) means “custom-made” and literally means to measure a body and custom make something based on those measurements. Here’s a breakdown of the characters in 量身定做(liàng shēn dìng zuò):

量(liàng): 审度(shěn duó). 英: measure; estimate.)

身(shēn): body (eg. 身材 – shēn cái – [human] figure)

定做(dìng zuò):  custom make

Here are examples of how to use 量身定做 (liàng shēn dìng zuò).

Usage 1) As a Verb.

Example 1 A)

“奥巴马为大选量身定做财政预算“

“ào bā mǎ wèi dà xuǎn liàng shēn dìng zuò cái zhèng yù suàn”

“Obama is custom-making the fiscal budget to fit the general election”

Example 1 B)

“…为中国市场量身定做 ”

“…wèi zhōng guó shì chǎng liàng shēn dìng zuò “

“…to custom make for the Chinese market”

Usage 2) 量身定做+的+Noun.

Example 2 A)

“…量身定做的服务 ”

“…liàng shēn dìng zuò de fú wù “

“…tailored service”

Example 2 B)

“…为那些商务人士量身定做的黑莓9000 ”

“…wèi nà xiē shāng wù rén shì liàng shēn dìng zuò de hēi méi 9000 “

“…the Blackberyy 9000, custom-made for those business people”

Example 2 C)

“知名装修师傅为您量身定做的房子，让您看一眼就不会忘记“

“zhī míng zhuāng xiū shī fu wèi nín liàng shēn dìng zuò de fáng zi, ràng nín kàn yī yǎn jiù bú huì wàng jì”

“A house custom-made for you by a famous renovation master — one look and you won’t be able to forget it”

Are you going to wait in line for one of these tablets?