02 Feb

stoned or baked

Who taught: Stan and Braverman family

Stoned or Baked (source: http://www.nogoodforme.com/)

A few days ago, I wrote about “edible.” Well, yesterday, I learned a new thing about the word, edible. What if someone on the street asks you like, “Hey do you have any edible?” What would you answer? I would try to think whether I have my lunch box or not. If I have, then maybe my answer would be, “Yes, I do. Why?” Well, that answer could be very dangerous. Do you know why? It is because the word, edible, also means something else. It means marijuana. In my opinion, this usage of the word is not very common in the east coast but in the west coast. How funny is it? You can say “it is edible” to mean something people can eat. And, all of a sudden, the other people would possibly think you have marijuana.

Speaking of marijuana, drug is a big issue in the United States. Hunting my house around, I have learned a lot. One of the things I got to know is related with the size of high schools. Some parents prefer to move to a school district where its high schools are small in terms of class size. The reason is that it is better to prevent their kids from getting into troubles with drugs. Another thing that I learned is that there are many cops in high schools during the day with dogs to find out whether there is any drug or not in the schools. That is scary to hear. In my whole life, I have never even seen any drug.

There are a few expressions that are related with drugs. When you do drugs, you become very happy and kind of abnormal, laughing a lot with no reason. At least, that is what I heard. 🙂 Then, people say, “Are you high?”, which sounds easy to understand. But, there are other expressions such as stoned or baked. Some people say, “Are you stoned?” or “You are baked, right?” These are ridiculous. There is no way we, non-native English speakers, can figure out what they mean. It is like, “Are you saying that some people throw stones at me and I got hurt? or Are you saying I was in the oven for a while?” I actually do not get these. What are the origins of these expressions? Can anyone tell me? For example, a few weeks ago, Stan posted his old picture in which he is smiling on his Facebook. I commented, “Stan, you look so happy.” And, a few hours later, one of his friends added another comment, “You look totally baked.” I was like, “What is going on? What the heck does this baked mean?” I had to look up all the dictionaries to find out what that means. Luckily, there was Urban Dictionary. Without it, my life in the U.S. would be a lot harder. Urband Dictionary is my friend and…… your friend too.

24 Jan

Is it edible?

Where : Walmart

Terry, groomsman!

About two and half years ago, one of my close friends got married and I was invited to the wedding as one of the groomsmen. It was a new experience for me because there is no groomsman and bridesmaid in Korea. Well, I was excited to be the part of the wedding.
By the way, it was so beautiful to see autumn leaves with yellow and red colors on the way to Philadelphia from Pittsburgh. I would recommend you to take highway 76 in fall, if you can. There is nothing but mountains and leaves but it is so beautiful.

On wedding day morning, the groom called me to buy a few bags of ice for the party. My friend, one of bride’s friends and I went to Walmart close to the wedding venue. And we took some other stuff and bags of ice. At a counter, I wanted to make sure whether the ice is fine to eat or not. So, I tried to ask the clerk, “Is this ice fine for us to put into drinks. blah blah blah,” and the clerk was looking at me, trying to understand me. In the middle of my asking, the bride’s friend said one thing, “Is the ice edible?” As soon as the clerk heard her, she answered very quickly, “Oh, yeah. I do eat and it should be totally fine to eat.”

At that moment, I was talking to myself, “Huh! I know that word, edible. How come have I not thought about it at all?” A little bit embarrassed, I acted like I do not care. But, I felt I am so stupid. How easy and simple is it? “Is it edible?” Even elementary school students can say that. Knowing words is totally different from using them in conversations. To be able to use an expression or word, you have to speak it as often as possible. To be honest, I have written 180 posts into this blog but I do not remember and have not used all of them. If you want to get better in speaking English, you have to speak English. There is no other shortcuts.

Let’s start from an easy one, shall we? “Is it edible?” I am not gonna forget that expression in the rest of my life. Also, don’t forget to check the proper pronunciation before you speak. If not, no one would understand you.