第一百一十八天

[nnozomi]

语法
了 to indicate change of state: having-become-X
https://resources.allsetlearning.com/chinese/grammar/Change_of_state_with_%22le%22
(哎呀, here comes the first of the zillion different usages of 了. Let’s just start with the first part of the page, adjectives only)

词汇
分, minute (or point/part/etc.) (pinyin in tags)
https://mandarinbean.com/new-hsk-1-word-list/
(分 is also part of many compounds, but keeping it to “minutes” for now...)

Guardian:
为了你我们可牺牲了龙城的一分钟啊, we’ve sacrificed a minute of Dragon City’s time for you
算了，编一个谎言要用千万种方式去圆。我累了。Never mind, telling one lie requires so many others to keep it going [?]. I’m tired.
老头儿，你老了. You’ve gotten old, old man.

Me:
让我再睡五分钟 (又是歌词又是真实)
我侄女又可爱了，怎么办。她越长大越可爱。
我看那个新闻只要生气了。

Comments

[presumenothing]

圆 in this usage is quite literally(?) to "round off" the cracks in a lie so it turns out consistent and therefore truth-like, very possibly by telling more lies. This also sorta extends to similar(??) usages like 圆梦 to fulfil a dream, and… other things I can't quite think of right now but definitely exist XD

[trobadora]

Oh, that's fascinating and delightful. :D

The pop-up dictionary describes this meaning as "to make consistent and whole (the narrative of a dream or a lie)", and now I'm really curious what other uses might fit in there, so if you think of any more, do share?

[presumenothing]

Found it! 打圆场 aka to mediate a situation, bless Wiktionary for its overly excessive related phrases list.

[trobadora]

Thanks muchly! So fascinating, those are not situations I would have thought related, and yet it totally makes sense when you think about it. :D

[nnozomi]

谢谢你！ 这些词句感觉很好。I love 圆梦.

[presumenothing]

Yep, it's… kinda literal in a different way to English? Super helpful for guessing meaning from context too, at least if you've already seen a usage of the word along a similar vein.

[presumenothing]

成全 is another similarly-evocative word, now that I think about it! (or more like "words that are weirdly literal when you actually think about them" LOL)

[nnozomi]

成全 is another similarly-evocative word, now that I think about it! (or more like "words that are weirdly literal when you actually think about them" LOL)
The better to memorize them, thank goodness.
(Problem! I learned 圆梦 and 甜甜圈 on the same day, coincidentally, and now my brain has conflated them into 圆圆圈. Dreamnuts?)