When I don't know how to say something in another language that I know how to say in English, or when I foresee that a long explanation will be needed somewhere down the line and know that I don't have the vocabulary or patience for such an explanation, I usually switch tracks and simplify my answers, most often in Chinese, to a quick "I don't know" or "not much of anything, really." This tactic, while very efficient for me, leads many Chinese people I meet to believe that I am quite dull, and not of the boring variety, but the plain stupid kind.
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