Author Archives: Terry

06 Jan

muffler vs scarf

Who taught: Jake and John

Scarf handmade by my mother-in-law

My in-laws have been staying with me in the U.S. for about 3 and half months. My mother-in-law is a great cook when it comes to Korean food. Jessy and I have been enjoying a lot of good authentic Korean foods. She is also very good at knitting. A few days ago, I bought her one pound yarn and needles. In just two days, she had finished knitting one thing for me. It is a scarf. Actually, I am wearing it now. It is so warm that I can even feel her love.

Anyway, when I first saw the scarf. I was wondering… wondering about the correct English word for it. In Korean, it is 목도리(Mok-Do-Ree). And, people in Korea also call it muffler. They also use another English word, scarf. But, when Korean people say a scarf, it usually means a thing that is worn mostly by women and made of silk.

Influenced by this memory, I decided to use muffler instead of scarf when I uploaded the picture of it on my twitter and facebook. Not long after I put the picture along with the caption, “My mother-in-law made me a beautiful muffler. I love it,” on my twitter, Jake replied, asking whether I mean a muffler on a car. Jake meant to ask whether my mother-in-law made a part of a motor vehicle’s exhaust system, serving to muffle the sound of the vehicle, for me. Well, that would be so great if she could really make a new muffler in that sense. I will definitely put it on my car.

About 5 seconds later, John also replied to me on twitter, saying “A muffler belongs on a car. That looks like a scarf to me.” So, my conclusion from these replies is that people in the U.S. do not use muffler to mean scarf at all.

The thing that makes me still confused is that one of the definitions of muffler is a synonym of scarf. If you cannot believe it, google it.

So, what is happening? Do you guys think Jake and John are correct? Or, do you still say a muffler to mean a scarf? If not, come on….. I will make a complaint to all of the dictionaries to remove the definition. It is so confusing. Don’t you think, my non-native English friends? No fair!

03 Jan

dougie

Who taught: Sujin

It’s 2012. We have all said, “Happy New Year!,” to our family and friends for the last few days. Let me say something different. My friends, Happy New Day! I think we should all celebrate every day just like we treat a new year. Today is the last day of our life because tomorrow will be different from today and it will never be back. We should enjoy today and be happy every day. So, I wish you Happy New Day today!

Do you guys remember one of my old posts about boogie? Today’s expression sounds very similar to it but has a different meaning.

On new year’s eve, I was with my family and some of my friends. As soon as the clock hit 00:00, we all celebrated and hugged. After that, we were talking and watching TV. One of the songs he heard was Party Rock Anthem by LMFAO. Those guys danced like crazy. Watching their dancing, Sujin said something that I have never heard. She said, “Teach me dougie!”

I said, “What? Dougie? What is it?” She said, “It means dance.” At that time, I thought it would mean any dance. But, I was not quite right. After some research, I realized that it is a specific type of dance mostly by hiphop people. You might want to see the video here to learn the move. This hiphop group, Cali Swag District, even has a song called, Teach Me How To Dougie.

According to urbandictionary, it also means hip style. This is kind of questionable to me. For those people who like dougie dance, dougie would mean hip too. But, how about the people who do not like it? Would they also think dougie means cool or hip? Not sure.

What do you think, my friends? Can you help me out?

By the way, do you see a word, “swag,” in the group name, Cali Swag District? Actually, swag also means hip or cool. I believe this is pretty universal. Happy Swag Year to you!

29 Dec

rag

Who taught : Bob

Rag (source: http://inphotos.org/)

How was your Christmas, my friends? Hope yours was wonderful! Mine was great. It was so nice spending some time with family. Right before Christmas, I had two plumbing problems with my house. So, I hired a plumber to take care of them. Luckily, he came before Christmas and fixed them but, on the other hand, I experienced an embarrassing moment. Well, of course, it was related with a new English expression.

As he was working on rusted valves in my basement, he asked me a question, “Do you have a rag?” Sadly, I did not get it. Do you already know it? All right! Good for you! In my defense, I have never heard of this word, rag, yet. I thought he was talking about a rug. Well, I do have a rug but it does not make sense that he wants to have my rug to fix the valves. So, I said, “What? A rag?” I carefully enunciated the word. He said, “Yes, a rag. You know sort of cloth that is used to clean things. I need it to wipe some water and dirt here.” With that, I got what he meant.

I talked to myself, “Embarrassing but interesting. I have never questioned myself about an English word for Geol-Re (걸레) which is the Korean word for rag,” as I was walking up the stairs to get a rag.

Maybe I should clean my house more often and ask this question, “What is an English word for this tool?”, to myself every time I see a new tool. Don’t you think so? Also, one day, I should go through all of the tools I have in my shed and think about their English words. I am sure I won’t forget what rag is from now.

My American friends, feel free to try me later if I still know the word or not. 🙂

EDIT: Following up Phil’s feedback, I looked up the urbandictionary. I would not include all of the definitions here. (You can easily find them out by clicking here.) Also, after my initial post, Jason pointed out that Geol-Re(걸레) also means a slut in Korea. Interestingly, according to the urbandictionary, rag could mean a woman in the U.S. but not in a sense that she is a slut. When a woman have a period, they need to use a thing which is kind of similar to a rag. For this, when a woman is on her period, we can also say that she is on her rag. Keep in mind that this is considered to be offensive to women. So, my recommendation is do not use this expression to women. 

P.S.: I am not sure I will have a chance to write another post before the end of 2011. If not, I wish you a very Happy New Year! Don’t forget! Life is learning.

 

22 Dec

party pooper

Who taught: Carol, Jake and Flula

Party pooper! What do you think it means? We know that pooping means defecating. A pooper then should mean someone who poops. Having said that, we can guess that a party pooper would mean someone poops at parties.

Stop right here! And, watch this embedded video here before you proceed.

I am so happy seeing this German guy whose name is Flula. Look at his face! He is like, “What the heck! I do not understand.” I can feel what he feels. Don’t you agree, my non-native English speaking friends? Look at his facial expression! Man, all I can say is “misery loves company.”

However, we cannot just complain about new expressions. Time to learn and make this expression ours!

So, have you ever gone to a party? What? You are a party animal? Oh! I am sorry. Then, I should ask differently. How many parties have you ever gone to? Maybe you cannot even count because there have been so many. 🙂 Good for you! You should mingle and socialize.

Let me then ask this question! Have you seen any person who ruins the mood of a party? There it is. That person is a party pooper.

The other day, when my friends and I talked about this expression and Jake said that there is another similar expression. You can call a person who ruins any fun or joy a “killjoy.”

For example, if someone does not want to play a specific game that everyone else wants to play, then he/she is either a party popper or a killjoy.

Are you a killjoy? Hope not! Also, when you poop at a party that you are going in this holiday season, close the restroom door. 🙂 People are watching you.

P.S.: My friends, I have a question. What kind of actions are considered to be party pooping or killing joy?

19 Dec

slice and dice

Who taught: Jessy and Today show

Slice and dice (source: http://csassignment3.wordpress.com/)

Two days a week, Jessy gives me a ride to my work. Today was one of those days. On our way to my work today, Jessy asked me a question, “Hey! Do you know what ‘slice and dice’ means?”

Having a career in the information technology area, I have known the expression for a while. So, I was able to answer, telling Jessy the definition of the expression.

However, the way I remember this expression has nothing to do with my career. I think of this expression, imagining myself slicing and dicing a cucumber for salad so that I can eat the pieces of the cucumber easily.

Jessy said, “I heard that expression this Morning, watching the Today show. On the show, a reporter said,’When it comes to checking a return policy, slicing and dicing is better.'”

You know that this does not mean that you are physically cutting the return policy horizontally and vertically. That would not be a good idea. You would lose your receipt.

Oh.. Whenever I think of this expression, another word comes to my mind. It is “scrutinize.” What do you think? Pretty close, right? When you slice and dice a return policy, that means basically you are scrutinizing it so that you can keep yourself from being caught in a bad situation.

Now, I have always thought this expression has a negative connotation. Slicing and dicing is like being too picky about things. What do you think? Am I right? Enlighten me, my friends!