iPartment Notes

This show has alot of cultural references, jokes, idioms etc and not all of them we've been able to add to the hardsubbed videos as there is just too much information for some of them. We'll list all the notes whether they are in the hardsubs or not.

Languages and Font Colours
iPartment is spoken in mandarin chinese like pretty much all mainland dramas, however random english is spoken (badly or well, full sentences) and some japanese as there is a japanese character.

Normal spoken text is purple with overlapping spoken text being blue. Spoken English is a dark gold colour, anything that's on the radio, tv or phone is dark green and japanese text is still purple but with the english translation beneath like this:

Onegaishimasu!
*Please!*

Episode 01
08.12
I am... Zeng Xiao Xian.
Xiao Xian = Little virtue(ous)

14.58
Huh? Hit someone to death?
Note: "chuang shi ren" means "founder" but sounds a lot like "zhuang si ren" which means "to hit a person to death."

18.58
What... Corn and Bean Noodles...
Note: Corn/Yu Mi is the name of Chris Lee's (Lee Yu Chun) fanclub and Bean noodles/liang fen is the name of Jane Zhang's (Zhang Liang Ying) fan club. They were both contestants in supergirl 2005 Chris won and Jane was 3rd place.

18.59
Pickle.
Note: Xian Cai = Pickle. It's a bad pun, his fanclub name Xian Cai is part of his name like the others, using the character IN his name it would mean virtuous vegetable, but it also sounds like Xian Cai meaning salted vegetable or pickle.

28.48
You... Why didn't you follow the example of Wu San Gui?
Note: Wu San Gui was a Ming Chinese general who was instrumental in the succession of rule to the Qing Dynasty in 1644.

28.54
If she is Chen Yuan Yuan...
Note: Chen Yuan Yuan was Wu San Gui's concubine.

28.59
She was Chen Yuan Yuan. But you're...
Note: Chen Yuan Yuan = Round
Chen Bian Bian...
Note: Chen Bian Bian = Flat

29.14
It's written on the collar, Thomas Cruise.
Note: She means Tom Cruise.

36.57
Ladies and Xiang Qin Men.
Note: he's saying something like "country relatives"

37.29
Do you agree the man be you zhang fu?
Note: Husband.

Episode 02

03.28
What's all the fuss about? You've never seen RMB?
Note: The currency of the People's Republic of China.

04.43
But well water doesn't mix with river water.
Note: This expression means to keep things separate or both things become dirty; I'll mind my own business and you mind yours.

05.29
You are a man among men. Lu Bu among the Lu Bu's.
Note: A powerful character from the classic novel "Romance of the Three Kingdoms".

11.05
Did you think you were my Diao Chan?
Note: Diao Chan is a mistress of Lu Bu in Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

13.11
Oh Guan Yu. Hello, my name is Lu Bu.
Note: Guan Yu is another character from Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

13.16
Are you an Uyghur?
Note: Uyghur is one the the minor ethnicities in China belonging to the Turkic ethnic group.

13.20
Oh, Japanese. A Yamato guy.
Note: Yamato is the dominate ethnicity of Japan, as well as the ancient name of the country.

14.36
Oh no. It's "Sen." "Ai Sen."
Note: He is mistakenly using the Japanese pronunciation of the character, which is "Sen," rather than the Chinese.

17.34
I've known your strands of intestines since you were little.
Note: A kind of gross way to say, "I know you inside and out."

20.45
This phone number has eight digits. You pressed eleven times.
Note: In China domestic land lines have eight digits while mobile phones have eleven.

20.57
You don't understand. In China, you must first press 110.
Note: In China 110 is actually the emergency number for the police.

29.41
How could you retire like this?
Note: He miss-heard "feng bi" (retire) as "fen bi" (chalk).

30.37
Barley? Barley is not something you eat?
Note: Again he misunderstood her. "Barley" and "to sell well" are both pronounced "da mai."

32.11
Do you have Torticollis?
Note: A condition where the head tilts to one side and the chin is elevated and turned in the opposite direction.

37.52
The Incredible Hulk!
Note: The Incredible Hulk is literally "Green Giant Man" in Chinese.

37.55
Drop your ass! Green hat!
Note: Wearing a green hat is a saying in China, it is said of a guy whose wife is having an affair behind his back. By extension, anything green can be linked to this meaning.

38.15
Red apricot extends beyond the wall.
Note: an idiom meaning, "a woman is being unfaithful."

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