yìmiáo (yì·miáo epidemic · {seedling → [vaccine]} → [vaccine] 疫苗) ← Tap/click to show/hide the “flashcard”
[Note: Tap/click on a Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to reveal its “flashcard”, tap/click on a “flashcard” or its Pīnyīn (Pīn·yīn {Piecing Together} · Sounds → [Pinyin] 拼音) expression to hide the “flashcard”.]
As of this writing, deep in the year 2021, the subject of the COVID-19 pandemic has been, to say the least, on people’s minds now for a while. So, it would be good to be able to refer to things related to it in Mandarin when speaking to people in the Mandarin field, or when speaking to our brothers and sisters in the truth.
An electron microscope image of SARS-CoV-2—also known as 2019-nCoV, the virus that causes COVID-19
NIAID
This week’s MEotW, “yìmiáo (yì·miáo epidemic · {seedling → [vaccine]} → [vaccine] 疫苗)”, means “vaccine”. Interestingly, this expression’s literal meaning is “epidemic seedling”, which is appropriate considering that vaccines have been made from disease-causing microorganisms, without being live, full-grown versions of them.
Examples
To say something meaning “I have received one dose of vaccine” in Mandarin, one might say:
📖 📄 📘 “Wǒ (I 我) dǎle (dǎ·le {have been struck with → [generalized verb]} · [indicates a change] 打了) yìmiáo (yì·miáo epidemic · {seedling → [vaccine]} → [vaccine] 疫苗) yí (one 一) cì (time 次).”
To refer in Mandarin to “an arrangement that will be even more effective than vaccines at eliminating disease”, we could use this phrase:
📖 📄 📘 “yí (one 一) ge ([mw] 个 個/个) huì (will 会 會) bǐ ({compared to} 比) yìmiáo (yì·miáo epidemic · {seedlings → [vaccines]} → [vaccines] 疫苗) gèng (more 更) yǒuxiào (yǒu·xiào having · effect → [effective] 有效) de (-ly 地) xiāochú (xiāo·chú eliminate · {get rid of} 消除) jíbìng (disease 疾病) de (’s 的) ānpái (ān·pái {placing in a suitable position} · arranging → [arrangement] 安排)”