Chinese Domaining Masterclass #2: “The Number Three”

TLD Registry, the registry of Dot Chinese Online (.在线) and Dot Chinese Website (.中文网) top level domains, is releasing the second installment of their Chinese Domaining Masterclass blog series.

In January 2015, TLD Registry presented the world’s first, and still currently the world’s only Chinese Domaining Masterclass, at the industry-leading domain investing conference, NamesCon. After several months of research, development, writing, and refining, they created a 120-page curriculum for western domain investors to use as a resource to help them confidently invest in Chinese-specific domains, without knowing a single word of Chinese.

I attended the “Chinese Domaining Masterclass” in NamesCon and I wrote a blog post about it: 10 Things I Learned About Chinese Domain Names.

Now, TLD Registry is releasing portions of the acclaimed and sought-after masterclass curriculum to the general public, in the form of a blog series, which will be weekly blog posts focused on providing tips and tricks to help you invest in Chinese IDNs, again, without knowing anything about the Chinese language.

The articles from the blog series are written by TLD Registry’s Mitch Watkins.

The first installment was about Chinese numerics, specifically, the number seven.

Today’s topic: “The Number Three”

3: 三, Pinyin: Sān

The number 3 in Chinese is considered “the limit,” “coming to the end of tolerance,” and “trying repeatedly” in old Chinese culture. This is due to an old saying, ““事不过三” (shì-bù-guò-sān), meaning “nothing should occur more than three times.” The English equivalent to this meaning would be “three strikes and you’re out.” Usually when people say this, they are giving you a warning, meaning “don’t make the same mistake again.” Also, 3 is traditionally a generic number which signifies a “small group.” There are many Chinese idioms that use the form “three people…” however, the idiom doesn’t necessarily mean exactly three people, it just means “more than one person.”

As mentioned before, the Mandarin word for three is “san.” The Cantonese word for three, is “sei.” The most common sound-alike for three is “a life.”

• The verb sound-alikes for three is: to become, loose, adjourn.
• The noun sound-alikes for three is: umbrella, mountain, clothes (Cantonese)
• The adjective sound-alikes for three is: leisurely

As we discussed in last week’s article about the number seven, let’s go over some references, puns, and symbols that involve the number three. […]

You can continue and read the entire blog post here.

In the meantime, you can take advantage of the free Chinese domain spinning tool over at ChineseLandrush.com. At ChineseLandrush.com, there are hundreds of free, premium-level Chinese domain suggestions made by real live native Chinese speakers, refreshed often, that are available at normal retail registrar “General Availability” prices.