Monthly Archives: February 2012

23 Feb

rediscovering a word series 2: flash

Who taught: Melissa

There are three rivers that run across or around Pittsburgh, PA. And there are more than 29 bridges cross the three rivers in Pittsburgh city boundary. That is a lot of bridges. Don’t you think? Do I know the names of all of the bridges? Not at all! I know a few such as the Liberty Bridge and the Fort Pitt Bridge.

Because of these crazy number of bridges and the three rivers, there is a very interesting aspect of the city. People in the South and the North do not get along with each other. Also, they do not even think about taking a trip to the other side of the town. They stay where they are from. In my opinion, because of this, people from Pittsburgh always come back to the city after a few years of living in other states or cities. They just love the city, or I should say the area they are from, either South or North.

Where do I live? I live the Eastern part of Pittsburgh. Kind of neutrality zone, I guess.

Well, today’s story is about another experience of rediscovering a word for me. Everybody knows what “flash” means. It is a light or something that reflects light that shine in a bright but brief, sudden, or intermittent way. Like camera flash.

That was the only definition I have known till this morning. Today, I was briefly checking my facebook feed and I found a very interesting youtube video shared by Melissa.

The title of the video is “Have you ever flashed someone?” I thought this question should be related with taking a picture at night or something. But then next thing I thought about was what is so interesting about taking a picture at night? Not much, right? So, I decided to watch the video. Oh My …..

What the heck? Flash has that kind of definition? No way! Here I am embedding the video here. You should really watch it to understand it.

Oh.. also, you should watch it till the end. If not, you would not be able to understand what it means. At the end, there is a lady who shows what it means by really doing it.

Hey, have you watched it? If not, watch first. …

………

By now, I assume you did watch it. Do you get it? Can you feel it? Here is the definition of flash: To show an “inappropriate” body part by quickly moving an object or article of clothing out of the way then back “flashing” the part at someone.

So, the thing is I do not think it is “inappropriate” body part if a woman flashes. What do you think, my friend?

 

16 Feb

walk it off

Who taught: Sam

Walk it off (source: http://almondspeaks.blogspot.com/)

My mother-in-law really likes watching movies. Before she came and had stayed with me for a few months, I had no idea that she is into movies. In some sense, it is not a surprise at all because Jessy also loves movies.

So, for that reason, ever since she came to the United States, I have been watching more movies than any before. It is fun and also at the same time it is an amazing chance for me to learn new expressions.

About two weeks ago, I watched a movie called “Happy Thank You More Please.” It was an interesting movie but most of all I heard something that I have never heard of.

While two guys were talking about their tough lives, one guy said, “I can now sort of understand what it means to just walk it off.” He used “walk it off” as he was also talking about his baseball coach when he was young.

Can you feel it? Here is the situation. Suppose that you and I were ice-skating and you fell down on your butt. Oops! That sounds very hurt. Then, I can say to you like, “Oh man! That looks hurt. But you gotta walk it off here! There are a lot of girls watching you now.” In the story, you have to be a man. I think it is an expression that can only be used between men. But, I am not sure. Maybe, my friends can fill me in here.

That is what walk it off means. If things are tough, just move on like a man or be strong. Can you do it? I think I can walk it off after falling on the ice but I do not think I can walk it off after falling down on the slope while I am snowboarding, especially with very fast speed. That really hurts and cannot even get up if you know what I mean. 🙂

Hey, my friends, when life gets tougher and tougher, sometimes you need to really walk it off.

10 Feb

beefcake

Who taught: Monk

Recently, Jessy and I have been watching this TV show, Monk, almost everyday on Netflix. As a private detective, Monk is amazing. But he has OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder). Because of that, he does not even want to shake hands with other people. Once you hear the theme song and see the lyrics from the Youtube video that I am attaching here, you will totally understand what kind of person he is.

I like this line, “You better pay attention or this world we love so much might just kill you,” from the song. Isn’t it so true? We should not love things in the world, they will eventually kill you in one way or the other.

Well, anyway, he used this word in one episode, “beefcake.” Jessy and I was confused because, as far as we know, there is no beefcake in America. I mean no cake made of beef. So, we looked at each other, saying “That word gotta mean something else.”

You know what it is? It means an attractive man with well-developed muscles. As soon as we found out the definition, we looked at each other again, saying “Oh… that makes sense because he used the word when he saw a good looking guy with muscles.”

I am not sure who would be a good example for this word. How about Arnold Schwarzenegger? No? He is not attractive? But he has well-developed muscles.

Maybe he is just a piece of beefcake? Also, who knows there might be a literal beefcake in southern states like Texas.

 

01 Feb

rediscovering a word series 1: hint

Mighty mango juice from the Naked juice (source: The Naked Juice)

Last weekend, I visited my brother-in-law’s family who lives in Virginia. As a preparation for a trip that takes around 6 hours one way, my parents-in-law and I went shopping at Costco. We bought some fruits and juices. What kind of juices did you buy? We bought the Naked juices. It is a juice brand in the U.S. and it is pretty expensive because it claims that it does not have any artificial flavors but has only pure juice from fruits.

We bought mango juices and have drank most of them but some were left over during the trip. This morning I took that out from the refrigerator and drank it with my breakfast.

As I drank, I happend to pay attention to the bottle.

It says:

1 1/4 mangoes, 1/2 orange, 1 3/4 apples, 1/3 banana, and a hint of lemon.

As I was reading through, one word caught my eyes. It was a “hint” of lemon. Hint! I know that word. It means “a slight or indirect indication or suggestion.” I, sometimes, give out hints to students when they are struggling to solve a problem. I am sure we all know what it means in this context.

What is a hint of lemon? Is it like a small piece of lemon? That was my first guess. Luckily, it was correct. Hint also means “a very slight or hardly noticeable amount.”

It was my first time to see this word, hint, used to mean hardly noticeable amount. I gotta pay more attention to small things around me to learn, or I should say rediscover, English words.

Wow, a hint of lemon! Let me give you a hint! We do not know anything until we really dig into it.