Friday/ ‘méi​ yǒu mayo’

Friday night found us in the Damiesha Sheraton’s lobby again for a beer and a burger (and other food).  One of us ordered the burger without mayonnaise. ‘Mei you mayo’ I chimed in, and we all laughed at the instant double entendre (of sorts).  Méi ​yǒu (没有) means have not / has not / does not exist / to not have / to not be. Here is another example. Some time ago I called the front desk after I had settled in my room.  There was no internet connection cable in the wall (there usually is). Up to my room comes a guy, takes a look under the desk, looks up at me – somewhat surprised – and says ‘méi​ yǒu’.  Yes, yes, ‘méi​ yǒu cable’ I said, grinning. (The cable was actually tucked away in another place in the desk).  And what is mayonnaise in Chinese?  Dàn​ huáng​ jiàng, literally ‘yellow egg jam’.