Today’s Classifier: 條

一條路 (Yat tiu lou) (one stick of road.) Well, footpath really, but you get my little driftie. Yeah, I love 條。It’s the classifier for long and thin, bendable or bending things, like a river:

一條河 (Yat tiu ho) or a snake: 一條蛇 （yat tiu se), a pair of trousers: 一條褲 (yat tiu fu) or a towel! 一條毛巾 (yat tiu mou gan) (A stick of hair towel.)

A carton of fags, interestingly, also takes the classifier 條： 一條煙 (yat tiu yin) and then there’s my favourite way to introduce my friends, causing some people to laugh and others to frown (they are good friends so used to a lot) 呢條友 (Li tiu yao) (This stick of friend) which translates roughly as “this creature” or “this git.” I’m still waiting for the real explanation!
But apparently the 條 (tiu) rather than 個（go) which is the normal classifier for people, makes the “friend” less than human. A stick of person – yeah, that must be an insult.