Tag Archives: mark

22 Jul

popular vs famous

Who taught : Jake

Honda Civic

Popular and famous….

Is anyone out there who does not know what these words mean? I doubt it.  In English-Korean dictionary, they have almost same meaning in Korean. It is pretty hard to distinguish each other. I am not sure how they are in other countries’ dictionaries.

Yesterday, I made a mistake with these words. It was a very subtle thing but Jake taught me the correct usage of the words.

After we had dinner together, Pat, Jake, Carol, Mark and me started to walk to the street where we all parked. As we were approaching to the cars, we realized that there are so many people who have Honda Civic in our company. Pat has Civic SI which he really loves. (I mean he is really into it.) Jake has Civic Hybrid. Kara has Civic coupe. Jessy has a regular 4-door Civic. Wow, I realized another thing, writing this. We have all different kinds of Civics we could have in our company. It is such a practical and fuel-efficient car. In addition, reliability is so great that you can easily drive it more than 100,000 miles without any major issue. So, if you are now considering buying a car, I would totally recommend it to you. Well, so, yesterday, I said, “I think Civic is the most famous car in our company.” Hearing it, Jake told me, “T-Bone, you should say the most popular car in our company.” Till that moment, I was not sure what is the difference. “Why? What is wrong with famous?” said I. Jake added, “So, for instance, I would say ‘Ferrari is the most famous car in the world.’ But, when you are tying to describe that many people like and have Civic, I would say, ‘Civic is the most popular car in the company.'” By hearing Jake’s examples, I was able to catch the subtle difference of the two words. Could you also understand? Interesting, isn’t it? Maybe, if I was writing, I would be able to find the proper word but it is again hard to find and use the proper word in speaking. Sigh! But, I really appreciate Jake’s help to make my English better and preciser.

21 Jul

peach fuzz

Who taught: Jake, Carol, Kara, Mark, Patrick, Angela, Stan, Alex and Andrew.

Last Friday, Andrew, Jake, Angela, Stan, Alex and I were having lunch together. Angela used to live in New York City area and, more specifically, her place was in New Jersey. Her house was on the second floor and there was a hair weave place on the first floor of the house. Do you know what the weave is? Here is the definition for you I found from the Wikipedia.

a very general term used to describe human or artificial hair used to alter one’s natural hair appearance by adding additional hair to their natural hair or by covering the natural hair all together with human or synthetic hair pieces.

I think I saw a lot of African American women try to have this weave. One thing I am curious is that how they can maintain or wash the weft hair. It would be really hard to wash regularly.

Speaking of washing hair, on our way to a restaurant this evening with my friends, Mark and Jake taught me one expression that some of the women would use when they would like to say no to some sort of asking from a guy or her friends. Supposed that Jessy, my wife, is a single and a guy asked her out and she really does not want to say straightforwardly no to him, then what she can say to him is “Oh… that is sweet but I am sorry. Tonight, I need to wash my hair.”

Mark and Jake told me it is an expression that WOMEN (maybe men with long hair) can use and it is politer than just saying no. Then, I thought that it is harsher than just saying no. What do you think?

peach fuzz

In relation to hair story, there is another expression I learned in the restaurant today from my friends. During dinner, we ended up talking about some women with bunch of different body hair, especially hair on face.

Do you know what you can use to describe bunch of short hairs on face? Jake said, “peach fuzz.” So, I just wrote that down on my iPhone. But, here is the thing!! So, I looked that expression up in the Urban Dictionary. And…… look what I found here. Jake!!! Can I really use ‘peach fuzz’ for short hairs on face? It sounds dirty. 🙂

26 May

Mile high club

Who taught: Mark, Andrew, Jake, Pete and Shawn

Peanut butter jelly

First, let me start with a very simple story. I think one of the favorite lunch box menu in America is peanut butter jelly. Do you know what peanut butter jelly is? I am pretty sure there are some people do not know what it is. Here I am adding a picture for you. Yeah, it is a sandwich which has peanut better and jelly in it. I found one interesting statistics from the Wikipedia.

A 2002 survey showed the average American will have eaten 1,500 of peanut butter jelly sandwiches before graduating from high school.

So, if you go to a Walmart or Giant Eagle (if you are in Pittsburgh), check the Jam aisle. You will find some different types of stuff. They are Jam, Preserves and Jelly. You know what the difference is between them? Here is the good comparison I found from TLC cooking.

It all depends on the form that the fruit takes.
1. In jelly, the fruit comes in the form of fruit juice.
2. In jam, the fruit comes in the form of fruit pulp or crushed fruit (and is less stiff than jelly as a result).
3. In preserves, the fruit comes in the form of chunks.

So, which one is your favorite? Mine is preserves. I like to chew something. So, jelly is not my cup of tea. Well, then, what if you put preserves into your sandwich along with peanut butter. Is it “peanut butter jelly”? Technically, NO! Some may argue though. 🙂

Mile High Club?

Shall we move on to the main expression I learned today? Eating lunch, we were talking about some stories. And, suddenly, Mark used an expression, “Mile High Club.” At first, I thought it is a sort of special mileage membership club. But, it turns out it has nothing to do with mileage. Here is a great definition from the Wikipedia.

a slang term applied collectively to individuals who have sex while on board an aircraft in flight.

Well, one of the questions I asked my friends was “Is there really a club?” Well, it turns out there is. Check this (www.milehighclub.com) out! They also have an instruction page about how to become a member. Here is one of the steps they mentioned. “Before you start your aerial pleasures, make sure you are at least 5,280ft AGL (a mile high above the earth), just to make it official.” So, if you dare to become a member, please keep in mind this rule! I was not able to find any benefit information page though. They should have some benefits to make people be motivated. 🙂