Monthly Archives: May 2010

16 May

pink slips


Who taught: Phil and Alex

Terry and James in control

Yesterday, for the first time, I went to Autocross with James, Mike, Brian, Kim and other friends. Oh, FYI, autocross is a form of car race, competing based on time. And, for safety, one car runs at a time. Here is the more detailed information about autocross. It was a total new experience for me. I have been driving my car, Mazda miata, for 2 and half years but have never driven in that manner. When James showed me how to drive in autocross using my car, I thought my car would roll over. It was so scary. But then I kind of picked up the way of driving in autocross and finally beat 50 second. My record was 49.16 seconds when other experienced drivers hit around 44 seconds. Well, I guess it was not bad after all. If you like cars, you should really try it. It is so much fun.  The only thing you need to worry about is tires. By the way, my miata was the most famous car in the autocross. Everybody loved it.

Oh there were two tricks I learned from James with regard to autocross driving. First, always two hands on the wheel and second, try not to use clutch and instead stay in the second gear.

Phil was also thinking to come. So last Friday when I talked to him, he said, “Racing for pink slips?” Well, I knew what “Race” is but I did not know what “pink slips” are. So, “What is racing for pink slips?”, I asked. He told me that if any people race for slips or pink slips, then winner gets the loser’s car. Alex told me that it originated from the title of the car which is also called slip, or a small piece of paper. I was also curious about the origin of “PINK” color and I found one good explanation from the wikipedia. It says,

The “pink slip” reference is based on California state vehicle titles that were printed on pink paper. It was referenced in the 1978 film Grease and also on the Speed Channel racing series Pinks.

So, if someone says, “Do you want to race for pink slips?”, do not say just “yes” unless you really want to do it. I think when Phil said that, I should have said yes because I do not have title slip due to the fact that my car is lease. He’s got a bimmer. Who knows I might win. Phil, let’s race for slips next time, shall we? 🙂

13 May

beauty in the world

Who taught: Patrick

Hey! Do you know “Beauty in the world” sang by Macy Gray?

Recently, I have been listening to this song so many times and I like this song because it makes me so happy and being positive especially when the economy is bad like these days. I hope you also like it. Listening to the song, I found one interesting line in its lyrics. “Shake your booty!” You know what “booty” is? 🙂 It is butt. I think the reason why booty is in the lyrics is because of the rhyme with “beauty.” Speaking of booty, you should know another expression. “Booty call”

Definition is somewhat embarrassing but I guess I should give you the definition here. Well it simply means “a call for sex.” And here is more detailed definition from Urban Dictionary.

A late night summons — often made via telephone — to arrange clandestine sexual liaisons on an ad hoc basis.

booty call agreement

There is an image about a booty call agreement in the urban dictionary. I doubt people do really sign on that agreement, right? Anyways, you would hear this expression from time to time in conversations, especially if a guy is trying to call a girl at night. His friends may say, “What? Are you making a booty call now?” Isn’t it funny? If you think about it, it literally means “butt call.” (ė—‰ëŠė´ ė „í™”, Eong-Deong-Yi-Jeon-Hwa) Here is a question for you, my American friends? How many times have you made booty calls? Andrew? Let me guess! How about 10? Come on, be honest! It should be more than that. 🙂

Korean equivalent :  ėŒëž€ ė „í™”(Eum-Lan-Jeon-Hwa) I am not sure this is really correct but cannot think of any. Literal translation would be “obscene call.” Frankly, I like “booty call” better. It is a lot cuter, I think.

11 May

Who’s wearing the pants?

Who taught: Julie

This evening, Jessy and I talked about something and Jessy used one Korean expression.

ė‚Ŧ돈 남말 하ė‹œë„¤! (Sa-Don-Nam-Mal-Ha-Si-Ne.) Korean people use this expression a lot. This can be used in a situation where someone is talking about something but it basically applies to himself/herself.

For example, supposed that Jessy is telling me that I have to stop shopping, then I can say this expression to her because she is the one who should stop shopping. 🙂

When she used that expression, I was like, “What would be the best English equivalent for that?” And, I searched the Internet. The closet one I found was “Look! Who is talking?” Frankly, I would not have a hard time to use this English expression in a proper context but I had a hard time to find the equivalent one when I use Korean first and try to place the proper English equivalent.

Do you know why? It is because I was trying to translate the Korean expression into English one. It is harder to translate an expression than to just get to know an equivalent expression and use it. This is something, I guess, most of non-native English speakers have trouble to overcome. Especially, if they moves to English-speaking countries after they become older than 20 or so. In that sense, one of the best ways to learn and be able to speak English better is memorizing as many expressions as possible. It is even better to memorize the whole sentences or paragraphs. I strongly recommend this study methodology.

By the way, do you think “Look! Who is talking?” is the best equivalent here? Or, are there any other better ones?

Here is one quick question for you! Are you in a relationship? Then, who is in charge of the relationship? Is it you?

I hope it is you. Well, maybe, it would be a easier life that your significant other is in charge so that you just listen to what he/she says. There is an expression you can use to describe someone who is in charge of the relationship.

“Wearing the pants in the relationship!” For example, if you want to figure out whether your friend is in charge of the relationship. Then you can simply ask, “So, who is wearing the pants?” And, I believe, it should be “THE” pants, right? Always be careful with Article. It is very tricky and only because of missing Article, the meaning of the expression could be totally different. What about “wearing the skirts in the relationship?” I guess, if I use it, people might understand what I am talking about even though that is not exactly an expression American people use, right?

10 May

bonding?? bondage??

Who taught: Carol

Hey, my friends! First of all, I am sorry that I miss a post today. Yesterday, Jessy wanted to watch a movie together and by the time the movie ended, it was too late for me. So… I went to bed. Did you miss me?

A few months ago, I saw Carol was wrapping up a present in the office. “Carol, what is it?”, I said. She said, “Oh this is a birthday present for Andrew. UX (User Experience) team members chipped in to buy this and I am wrapping it up now.” I thought it was so nice of them. So, I told her, “Wow, that is cool. I like the UX team because you guys have very strong, you know,”…….(Terry was trying to find the proper word here…So, it takes some time…)…… “bondage.” As soon as she heard, she was smiling and told me, “Well, Terry, bondage is not correct there? It should be ‘bonding’.” She continued, “Bondage has a different meaning.” I cannot remember whether she explained me the meaning of it or not. (I think she did!) OK, are you ready? Here is the definition of bondage. (source : urban dictionary)

Derived from a term for slavery, Bondage has come to mean sexual slavery, particularly dealing with the simple practice of restraining one’s partner to beds, posts, from ceilings, etc. Usually entails either rope (asian forms) or leather, chains, and other equipment specially designed for the purpose (western.)

Bondage considered a fetish, as enthusiasts generally prefer the thought or presence of a fully-clothed restrained partner to a fully nude and unrestrained partner.

Example) Hey, honey, would you like to try a little bondage play?

Bunny Bondage

I know! This is totally inappropriate. But, you know what, this is something you need to know so that you do not make the same mistake as I did. Thank God! It was Carol. Man, I do not even want to imagine the situation I use this one to someone I totally do not know or barely know. Thank you, Carol, for your kind understanding and explanation!

Oh, the other thing you need to be careful is “bandage.” Because if you pronounce “bandage” incorrectly, people would think you are talking about “bondage.”

So, try now to look up the dictionary to find out the proper pronunciation of bondage and bandage and practice them as much as you can!

06 May

elephant in phrases

Who taught: Zac and Jean

Project management is one of my main responsibilities as an applications engineer. To manage projects, I have to be in so many conference calls. About 40 to 50 % of my daily hours are dedicated for calls with different customers. There are some of the expressions I have heard so many times in the calls.

1. At the end of the day : It means “When everything else taken into consideration.”  Similar expressions would be “eventually” or “in the end.”

2. Takeaways : any piece of information learned from a lecture or discussion. For example, as the conference call is getting closer to an end, you can say, “So, takeaways from today’s meeting would be, ‘You guys should listen to me!'” 🙂 Hey, I am joking here. You know it, right?

Elephant in the room

3. Elephant in the room : Frankly, I have never heard of this one in meetings or calls yet. But, this is definitely an expression which would be used in meetings. It means an issue which is important and everybody knows it but no one actually wants to talk about it. Look at the picture! How can you not notice the elephant in the room? But, also, if you take a look at the picture closely enough, you will notice that all of the people do not look at the elephant. They almost look like trying not to see the elephant. So… what would be a good example of the elephant in the room these days? How about immigration issue?

Speaking of elephant, Jean, today, also taught me another expression with elephant in it which I really like.

“Seeing pink elephant.”

I personally like pink color and it has a meaning you would never figure out by just hearing it. Here is the definition!

a euphemism of drunken hallucination.

Simply, it means “drunken.” The origin of this expression goes back to 1913. Based on Wikipedia, Jack London used this expression to describe a sort of alcoholic. I am very curious why he used “PINK” elephant for the purpose of describing drunken but I guess I would not be able to find out ever. Then, later, one of the Belgium beer brand, delirium tremens, used pink elephant as its label.

delirium tremens

So, next time if you are out with your friends in a bar. You should do the followings.

1. Order a bottle of delirium tremens. It is actually pretty good beer and has high ABV (Alcohol By Volume).

2. Then drink as fast as possible until you feel drunken.

3. Once you feel you are drunk, say, “I think I am seeing pink elephant” instead of “I feel like I am drunk” to your friends. They will think you are so hip. 🙂

Good luck!