[00:00.00]惹惹惹敲破锣 罗罗缸卖鲜姜Idle meddler惹惹惹, Bang a broken gong; A stack of jars罗罗缸, selling ginger@
[00:03.00]天津方言锣锣缸形容麻烦的事情@
[00:07.00]或者是不好解决的问题 In Tianjin dialect, "Luo Luo Jar" describes a troublesome situation or a difficult problem to solve.@
[00:10.00]那么这句罗罗缸是打哪来的呢 So where does this phrase 'Luo Luo Jar' come from?@
[00:13.00]相传啊很早以前 Legend has it that long ago,@
[00:15.00]天津三岔河口跟前 near the Sancha River mouth in Tianjin,@
[00:17.00]有一家专门烧制各种尺寸大缸的土窑 There was a kiln specializing in making various sizes of jars@
[00:21.00]有一次发生了那么一档子事 One time, an incident occurred.@
[00:24.00]东门里的罗麻子杂货店 The Dongmenli Luomazi General Store@
[00:26.00]和西门里的罗拐子杂货店 and the Ximenli Luoguai General Store@
[00:29.00]都在他这订了不少的大缸 both ordered many large jars from him@
[00:31.00]按规矩 According to the rules, @
[00:32.00]介伙计们要提前在人家订好的@
[00:35.00]尺寸不一的缸上@
[00:37.00]写上订货人的名字the workers had to write the names of the buyers on the jars of different sizes that had been pre-ordered.@
[00:39.00]可二掌柜的觉得嘛呢 But the second shopkeeper felt @
[00:41.00]写上麻子拐子 that writing "Mazi" and "Guai" @
[00:43.00]这是对自个客户的不尊重 showed disrespect to his customers. @
[00:46.00]于是便让伙计只写罗字 So he instructed the workers to only write "Luo" on the jars@
[00:49.00]以大小区分 for differentiation by size.@
[00:50.00]谁想啊因此发错了缸 As a result, this led to the wrong jars being sent out.@
[00:53.00]结果转天人介两家都找上门来讨个说法 The next day, both stores came to complain about the mix-up. @
[00:58.00]伙计们一看介个就挺委屈地说 The workers, feeling quite wronged, said,@
[01:00.00]介个罗和罗谁能分得清啊 "How can anyone tell the difference between 'Luo' and 'Luo'? @
[01:03.00]错就错在写码的人身上了 The mistake was with the person who wrote the labels@
[01:06.00]写码的伙计说是按照二掌柜的话做事儿 The person who wrote the labels explained that he had followed the second shopkeeper's instructions.@
[01:09.00]二掌柜的则对买缸的两家说 The second shopkeeper then told the two stores,@
[01:13.00]我如果写麻子拐子 "If I had written 'Mazi' and 'Guai,'@
[01:15.00]这都是对你们东家的不尊重啊 it would have been disrespectful to your bosses."@
[01:18.00]他们东家一听见 When the bosses of the jar store heard this,@
[01:19.00]赶紧出来打圆场 he quickly came out to mediate@
[01:20.00]说你们两家要不就相互调换一下成不成 and suggested that the two stores swap jars with each other to resolve the issue.@
[01:25.00]可罗姓的两家 However, the two parties with the surname "Luo"@
[01:26.00]非要为这白费力的运输讨个真章 insisted on getting a formal resolution for the wasted transportation effort.@
[01:30.00]说来说去@
[01:31.00]纠缠不清 After much back-and-forth and entanglement,@
[01:32.00]最后东家赔偿了运费 the end result was that the boss compensated for the shipping costs.@
[01:35.00]并数落了自个店铺的伙计们 And he scolded his own shop’s workers,@
[01:37.00]说以后做事啊@
[01:39.00]仔细着点telling them to be more careful in the future@
[01:40.00]别再弄出这罗罗缸理不清的事来了 and not to let similar mix-ups with the "Luo Luo" jars happen again.@
[01:44.00]说打那之后@
[01:44.00]这罗罗缸就在天津卫流传开了 Since then, the story of the "Luo Luo" jars has spread around@
[01:47.00]当然了 Of course,@
[01:48.00]介只是一个民间传说民间故事 this is just a folk legend and story.@
[01:51.00]人家天津南开大学（误，实为天津师范大学）教授谭汝为先生Professor Tan Ruwei from Tianjin Normal University, @
[01:55.00]在其著作《介就是天津话》中 in his book This Is Tianjin Dialect,@
[01:58.00]说的可不是介样的 describes it differently. @
[02:00.00]人家说啊@
[02:01.00]介罗罗缸其实是怎么一档子事呢 He explains that the term "Luo Luo jars" refers to something specific: @
[02:05.00]罗罗缸三个字写在书面上 the character "Luo" in "Luo Luo jars"@
[02:07.00]那个罗字应该是一个提手@
[02:10.00]一个累字的摞 should be written with a radical "提" and a "累" character stacked, @
[02:11.00]那是动词 which denotes an action or verb.@
[02:12.00]要把东西重叠的往上码放的意思 It means stacking items on top of each other.@
[02:16.00]比如说吧@
[02:17.00]把箱子一个个的摞起来 For example, you would stack boxes one on top of another.@
[02:19.00]旧时天津有专门批发出售缸盆的商店 In old Tianjin, there were stores specializing in wholesale and selling jars and basins.@
[02:24.00]满院里的水缸@
[02:25.00]堆满了各色各样大小成套的缸盆The yards of these stores would be filled with all kinds of jars and basins in various sizes and sets.@
[02:29.00]因为地界有限@
[02:30.00]为了节省空间 Due to limited space,@
[02:31.00]就在大缸里头放小缸 they would place smaller jars inside larger ones.@
[02:34.00]同一品种的缸盆 The same type of jars and basins,@
[02:35.00]大中小号规格呀成龙配套 in various sizes, @
[02:38.00]一个套一个@
[02:39.00]一摞压一摞 would be nested together as sets, with one fitting inside the other.@
[02:40.00]缸店院里头是压压差差满搂搂 The yard of the jar store was crammed full, @
[02:44.00]但套缸摞着套缸 with jars stacked on top of jars.@
[02:45.00]挪动和搬运都特别费劲 Moving and transporting them was particularly laborious.@
[02:49.00]缸盆码得高就立不稳 When the jars were stacked too high, they became unstable.@
[02:51.00]稍有不慎就稀里哗啦 A slight mishap could cause them to topple over, @
[02:53.00]一旦破损就是接二连三 leading to a cascade of breakage.@
[02:56.00]牵五挂六@
[02:57.00]一破就是一大摞呀 Once damaged, it could result in a whole stack of jars being ruined all at once.@
[02:59.00]现在讲话@
[03:00.00]那就是骨牌多米诺效应 Nowadays, this is referred to as the domino effect.@
[03:02.00]所以天津人用罗罗缸 So, Tianjin people use "Luo Luo jars" @
[03:03.00]比喻一连串纠缠不清的麻烦事 to describe a series of tangled troubles.@
[03:07.00]为嘛人家是南开大学（误，实为天津师范大学）教授呢@
[03:09.00]说的哎确实挺有理 While Professor Tan from Tianjin Normal University has a reasonable explanation, @
[03:12.00]但是也有不同意他观点的 There are others who disagree. @
[03:14.00]持不同观点者认为 those with a different viewpoint believe that,@
[03:16.00]罗罗缸三个字 The term "Luo Luo jars" consists of the character "Luo"@
[03:18.00]罗字应该是那个绿萝的萝 which is the "green vine" character, @
[03:20.00]就是草字头那个 with the grass radical on top,@
[03:21.00]缸则应该是那个上纲上线的纲@
[03:25.00]乱绞丝那个纲 and "gang" is the character for "gang," with the "line" radical. @
[03:26.00]为嘛呢Why@
[03:27.00]因为萝字通常指某些能爬弯的植物 The reason for this is that "罗" usually refers to climbing or winding plants,@
[03:31.00]比如藤萝 such as wisteria.@
[03:32.00]我们知道 We know,@
[03:33.00]这些个植物的萝蔓@
[03:35.00]很容易互相缠绕在一起 These plants' vines easily become entangled with one another.@
[03:37.00]因此这个萝就有纠缠缠绕的意思 Therefore, the character "Luo" conveys the idea of entanglement and intertwining.@
[03:41.00]我们小时候还经常说啊 When we were young, we often said,@
[03:43.00]你看你这衣服怎么穿的@
[03:45.00]都打萝了 "Look at how you're wearing your clothes; they're all 'tangled up'."@
[03:46.00]打萝的意思就是衣服穿得不平整@
[03:49.00]都缠绕在一起了 The term "打萝" means that the clothes are not neatly worn and have become all tangled up.@
[03:51.00]其次是纲字 Secondly, the character "gang"@
[03:52.00]他本意呀@
[03:53.00]就是编的那大网子的总绳 originally refers to the main rope used in weaving large nets.@
[03:56.00]常用的词有提纲挈领 纲举目张 Common phrases like "提纲挈领" (to outline the main points) and "纲举目张" (to set the general principles and clarify the details)@
[04:00.00]说白了也就是绳子的意思 emphasize its meaning related to ropes.@
[04:03.00]萝萝纲的意思就是指一堆缠绕在一起@
[04:07.00]纠缠不清的乱绳子 Thus, "萝萝纲" suggests a tangle of intertwined, messy ropes.@
[04:09.00]这样用萝萝纲来形容事情互相牵扯@
[04:13.00]纠缠不清@
[04:14.00]就解释得通了 Using "Luoluo Gang" to describe a situation conveys the idea of complex and entangled problems.
