You say potato, I say tomato

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People in Taiwan use the term woxin to indicate the feeling of warmth and happiness, but the same word means the exact opposite, "upset", on the mainland.

Tudou, which means potato on the mainland, refers to peanuts in Taiwan.

People who travel between Taiwan and the mainland are often puzzled by such differences in the vocabularies used on the two sides of the Taiwan Straits.

In an effort to solve the problem, a group of literary people from Taiwan and the mainland compiled a Cross-Straits Dictionary of Life, which explains common vocabulary words from Taiwan with their equivalents on the mainland.

Designed to be a manual for mainlanders who travel to Taiwan, the dictionary was released by the Culture and Art Publishing House at the Third Cross-Straits Chinese Character Art Festival, which concluded recently in Zaozhuang, Shandong province.

Presented by the Chinese National Academy of Arts and the General Association of Chinese Culture of Taiwan, the festival gathered a group of experts from both sides of the Straits to discuss the "origin and evolution of Chinese characters."

According to Yang Tu, editor-in-chief of the dictionary, the differences in the vocabularies of Taiwan and the mainland can be attributed to historical, social and cultural reasons.

Taiwan has been separated from the mainland for most of the time since 1895, when it became a colony of Japan. Japanese and the dialect of the Fujian people who make up the majority of Taiwan's population have influenced the Chinese language they speak.

The dictionary is titled Taipei Daodi, Didao Beijing, using two words that both mean "authentic" but spelled out in reverse, in Taiwan and the mainland.

The writing systems are also different on the two sides of the Straits, as the mainland adopts simplified Chinese characters, while Taiwan uses traditional ones.

However, Liu Chao-shiuan, president of Taiwan's General Association of Chinese Culture, believes the difference in the languages from both sides of the Straits will decrease.

"Exchanges between Taiwan and the mainland have become more common, and it's natural that we are learning from each other's vocabularies," he says.

Pop songs, films and TV shows from Taiwan have long influenced mainlanders. Since 2008, Taiwan has opened to mainland tourists, and more than 4 million mainlanders have traveled to Taiwan so far, accelerating exchanges between the two sides.

Words not only flow from Taiwan to the mainland, but also the other way around. Liu says many words from the mainland, such as "geili" ("giving strength"), are now understood by Taiwan people.

In February, the "Repository of Chinese Language" website went online, a collaboration between experts from the mainland and Taiwan, in the hope of presenting a platform for the comprehensive documenting and understanding of the Chinese language.

"I have a dream, that all users of the Chinese language in the world will get to know both the traditional and simplified Chinese characters from this website, and they will eventually choose which characters they prefer and thus form a common system," says Liu, who is director of the website's compilation committee on the Taiwan side.

Liu says that the new system may consist of both traditional and simplified characters, but the making of the system should be through a democratic process, based on people's practice rather than administrative methods.

Questions:

1. What does woxin mean in Taiwan?

2. What does the same word mean on the mainland?

3. What does tudou mean in Taiwan?

Answers:

1. Feeling of warmth and happiness.

2. Upset.

3. Peanuts.

About the broadcaster:

Nelly Min is an editor at China Daily with more than 10 years of experience as a newspaper editor and photographer. She has worked at major newspapers in the U.S., including the Los Angeles Times and the Detroit Free Press. She is also fluent in Korean.