Monthly Archives: June 2010

15 Jun

PUN series 1

Who taught : Andrew, Jake, Stan, Carol and Pat

First of all, you should read today’s post really carefully because it is hard for non-native English speakers to understand.

One day, Andrew wanted to ask a question to Jean. He said, “Jean, can I interrupt you for a sec?” As soon as she heard the question, Jean said, “Oh, I have not started my flow yet.” Following Jean’s answer, there was a pause for a few seconds because they all did not know what to say. Do you know why? Well, when Jean said it, she meant her work flow. She was saying that she did not really get into a specific work now so that Andrew can ask the question to her. But, the sentence Jean used has a different meaning for women.

It could mean that a woman is not having her period yet even though it is about the time that she is supposed to have menstruation. Similar expression is “shark week.” So, if any woman says that “it is my shark week,” then you should be careful. Although I doubt any woman would say that to you if you are a guy unless you are her husband or something. So, basically this kind of expression is called “PUN.”

The official definition of PUN is :

a clever and amusing use of a word or phrase with two meanings, or of words with the same sound but different meanings.

pun cartoon

There is a story Andrew told me today which is another perfect example of PUN.

When he was young, his father was coaching basketball in a school. Whenever there is a practice, they were using balls owned by Andrew’s father. The practice was done in a court where all of the other students were also using. One day, the practice was done and his father was talking to the students. But then, his mother realized that there were some missing balls. She looked around to find them but was not able to find them. So, she thought that maybe the other students were using a few of her missing balls. To make sure, she approached the male students who were practicing in the court and asked, “Hey boys! Have you seen balls with Cox on them?” Do you get it? Well, if you are native English speakers, I am sure you get it. But I am also almost 100% sure you would not get it if you are non-native English speakers. So, Andrew’s last name is Cox and of course his father wrote down his last name on the balls. “Cox” on the balls! Now, pronounce “Cox”! Can you feel it? What? you can’t… OK, here is the thing! There is a word which has very similar pronunciation but different meaning. It is “Cock.” Well, the word usually means rooster. But for some reason, it also means penis. Again, I became so curious why people decided to use the word, cock, to mean penis. Here is what I found from the WikiAnswer.

A penis is called a cock because it is said to resemble a bird, and because the rooster is a symbol of masculinity in some cultures. Similarly, in Spanish a penis is commonly called a pajaro (bird), a pavo (turkey), or a polla (chicken). Perhaps the most bird-like penises are those that tend to tilt or curve slightly southward when erect (similar to the natural curvature of a rooster neck and head), the pubic hair at the base of the penis could also be said to resemble the ring or collar of feathers displayed by some roosters. The large wattles (i.e. the fleshy sack) that form on both turkeys and some roosters can also be said to resemble a man’s scrotum.

Isn’t it very interesting to know the origin?

Can you now understand why the sentence that Andrew’s mother used to the boys would be so funny? Yeah, that is right. They would be thinking like, “Well…. I think I have seen them but should I show them to you right now?”, in their minds. (You know, they are all boys and it is not a surprise that they have balls and Cocks.)

What a funny thing to learn, PUN! Well, there is another story related with PUN. I will amuse you with that later. 🙂

14 Jun

don’t judge a book by its cover

Who taught: Jerome

Brooklyn Bridge (1875)

Last night, I came back from my 4th New York City trip. The city is always fun to visit and spend a few days there. There are so many things you can do there. This time, Jessy and I decided to explore the places we have never been to, such as Greenwich village, SOHO, Middle East Side and Civic Center. On the last day, we went to the Brooklyn bridge. Initial impression of the bridge was not really good. You know, it looks like just a regular suspension bridge. (I have seen bunch of bridges in Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh is a city of three rivers and thus it is not a surprise at all to see many bridges.) After we walked to one of the towers of the bridge, we were surprised by many of stories related with the bridge. First of all, it was completed in 1883 (1883 is a long time ago, isn’t it?) and it is the first steel-wire suspension bridge. The most interesting part of the bridge was about the towers. There are two towers, one is Brooklyn tower and the other is New York tower. To build them, they used a hollow object which placed at the bottom of the tower and of course in the water, caisson, in which people actually go down to move mud and rock debris. To make people breathe, they supplied air into the caisson. And, most of the caisson workers suffered the same decompression disease of divers because they got back to the normal (decompressed) atmosphere too quickly from the compressed in caisson. Based on the record, all of the caisson workers experienced the disease and three people actually died and fifteen percent of the workers were paralyzed. That is why, the disease, bends, is now also called “caisson disease.”

So, if you go to New York City, you should really visit and walk the bridge. You also get a very nice view of the river and the city.

Speaking of the first impression of the bridge, I have a few questions for you? How many times have you ever judges people by their looking, especially by their first impression? Do you know anyone whom you thought really good and nice based on the first impression or looking but it turns out that he/she is really mean and arrogant, or vice versa? I have one person. When I first saw her, I thought she is really mean and fastidious. But, it turns out that she is very thoughtful and generous. Do you know who she is? Yeah, that is Jessica. Everybody loves Jessica.

There is a good expression you can use if your friend, not you, judges people based on their appearances. “Do not judge a book by its cover!” I mean, you can easily understand its meaning, right? But, you would be surprised that how hard to use the proper expression at a proper time if you do not know the expression. To be able to use any expression, I think you should at least hear and know and then also try to use it a few times even if you use it in a wrong context. That’s why you need good friends like mine because they will understand and help you out to correct you. Well, I can be your friend for that. So, please feel free to add any comments or questions if you have any! Remember! If you want to speak English, you should use it. You think you can speak without any practice and just thinking in your brain. That ain’t gonna work.

08 Jun

blue blood

Who taught : Jessy

“A women struck by lightening and died a minute before a proposal.”

This is a real story which happened today in North Carolina. Richard Butler who planned to propose to his girl friend, Bethany Lott, took her to a hike to a mountain in NC to make her think it is just a hike. He was going to propose to her on the top of the mountain. But, a few minutes before they got to the top, lightening struck her and she was dead. She was just 25 years old. What a sad story!  I feel really sorry and do not know what to say. My condolence to her!

King Sejong of Joseon Dynasty

Moving on to today’s expression, if you hear someone saying the following sentence, what would you think the guy is?

“That guy’s blood is so blue.” or “That guy has blue blood.”

My first impression was that he must be very cold-blooded. I think blue sounds very cold. Maybe it is because of reptiles. What do you think? Wouldn’t you agree?

Two days ago, Jessy and I were on the way to a driving range. In our car, she told me a story about a celebrity women who is going to marry a guy whose family is noble. She asked me, “Do you know what they say in this situation?” “I don’t know. Maybe like, she is marrying a rich and arrogant guy. How long they will stay together?” I said. Well, she said “No, she marries blue blood.”

So, blue blood is the expression to describe nobility and royal family members. Based on the Urban Dictionary, it comes from the medieval belief that aristocratic blood was blue.

Well, apparently, I have red blood and I am not a royal family member. But, maybe, Jessy has blue blood because her ancestor was royal member in South Korea. One of her ancestors was a Queen in the Joseon Dynasty. She married to Sejong, the Great of Joseon and her official title was the Queen Consort Soheon. Now, it is funny! I actually married blue blood.

07 Jun

stage fright

Who taught : Andrew and Pete

Do you know what are the top 10 fears people have in the world? It looks like there are some differences based on different surveys but here are the ones I found.

1. Acrophobia (The fear of heights)
2. Aerophobia or Aviophobia (The fear of flying)
3. Glossophobia (The fear of public speaking)
4. Lygophobia (The fear of the dark)
5. Arachnophobia (The fear of spiders)
6. Ophidiophobia (The fear of snakes)
7. Rejection (The fear of rejection)
8. Claustrophobia (The fear of confined places)
9. Kakorrhaphiophobia (The fear of failure)
10. Agoraphobia (The fear of open spaces)

Let me see…. I think I definitely have 4, 5 and 6 and a little bit of 7 and 9. How many do you have? Speaking of phobia, a few weeks ago, I was having lunch with Andrew, Pete and Brian. For some reason, we started to talk about stage fright. What would you think first when you hear this expression? Well, here is the definition I found from the wikipedia.

The anxiety, fear, or persistent phobia which may be aroused in an individual by the requirement to perform in front of an audience.

Stage Fright in men's restroom

I guess you should get it right. But we did not talk about that fright. It was the fright or fear males feel when they stand next to each other at a urinal. I actually do not have this fear but it seems like there are people have this fear and suffer from it. Or maybe even worse thing would be the time that you need to line up and many of other people behind you watching you peeing. To be honest, I do not like it. One day, I was in DC during the cherry blossom festival and there were one restroom in the Lincoln Memorial. So many people lined up to pee and there was my turn. I mean I could feel that people behind me watching me. That was really not a good experience. I think I do have a little bit of stage fright in that sense. Guys, do you also have it? How about women? Do they also feel some sort of stage fright when people are waiting for you lined up? I guess not because they can close the door. Well, there is another different thing I noticed in the U.S. from South Korea. The door in restroom! How come there is a big space at the bottom. I do not like that. In Korea, the door reaches all the way to the bottom which makes me feel more secure and private to do my business. That door should be renovated in the U.S.

06 Jun

I am down like a clown charlie brown

Who taught : Andrew

One of the TV shows I really like is Sunday Morning of CBS. I strongly recommend you to watch it to learn English because it is not only very informative and fun but also easy to understand. One of the stories in today’s show is about company called Zapppos, an online shoe retailer, which was acquired by Amazon.com last fall. Amazon.com paid $1.2 billion. The most amazing thing about this company’s success story is its philosophy. Tony Hsieh, its CEO, said,

It’s actually possible to make employees happy, make customers happy, and still make investors happy … and you know, still have profits.

Basically, if a company can make its employees happy, then they will be very happy to come to work and enjoy their work and, as a result, they will make customers happy and eventually company will make profits. Well, almost all of the Zappos employees CBS interviewed said the same thing, “I feel the company really cares about me.” Well, do you feel that your company cares about you? I guest the management team of any company should ask this question to themselves, “What can company do to make the employees feel they are taken care well?” Or, “Do I even know how employees feel about the company?”

I few weeks ago, I organized to play basketball with my friends at work. Andrew was going to play but then he realized that he had some other things to do so that he was not able to come to the game. Two weeks later, I sent out an email to some of the friends, trying to organize another game. This time, Andrew checked his schedule and he knew that nothing was going to be a problem for him to join the game. And he responded to the email and, in his email, he said, “I am down like a clown Charlie Brown.”

Do you know what does it mean? Well, let’s make it simple. Usually, if someone asks you that whether you are interested in doing something together and you know you will do it together, what would you say to him/her? What? Do you want me to be more specific? OK…. So, your friend asks you to go to the movies together with many of other friends at Friday night and you decide to join. What would you say? Maybe something like, “I am in!” or “That sounds like a plan. I will be there!” Right?

Well, one of the expressions you can use is “I am down.” or “I am down for it.”

And I think the expression Andrew used has the same meaning. I was trying to figure out its origin but not successful. Does anybody know its origin? Why there is Charlie Brown in the expression?