Tā bòfàng le yì zhāng sānshí niándài de hēijiāo chàngpiàn, liúshēngjī fāchū shāshā de shēngyīn.
She played a 1930s vinyl record, and the gramophone gave off a crackling sound.
Tips
memory
留 (retain) + 声 (sound) + 机 (machine) = 'sound-retaining machine'. The Chinese term captures Edison's idea exactly — a machine that keeps sound for later. Modern speakers say 唱片机 or 黑胶机 for vinyl players; 留声机 evokes the antique horn-speaker era.
culture
Tied to Republican-era Shanghai nostalgia in Chinese popular culture — appears constantly in films and novels set in 1920s-30s Shanghai (老上海) alongside 旗袍, 月份牌, and 爵士乐 (jazz).
