Author Archives: Terry

13 May

rug vs carpet

Rug (source: cb2.com)

For the first time in my life, I bought a rug for the living room. When I was trying to buy, shopping around online which means I did not see it physically, I used this word, a rug.

But, when it was delivered to my house which means I was able to see it physically, I kept calling it a carpet. So, I had to ask myself. What happened? Why do I call it a carpet from the moment that I can really see it physically? Here is my thought about the reason.

So, in Korea, my parents used to put a rug in the living room in front of a sofa every winter. When it comes to that time, my mother called me and my brother, saying “Boys! It is the time to put the carpet down in the living room.” I hated that time because we need to pull it out from the storage and clean and put it down. Well, the point is that she has been using the English word, carpet, all the time to mean, I think, a rug.

Actually, that makes me ask another question. What is the difference between a rug and a carpet? Is it the size? I bought a 4’*6′ rug. Can I also call it a carpet?

I am confused. I feel like carpet should cover the whole floor, not part of it. My friends, I need your help here.

Speaking of carpet, I learned an expression that is related with a carpet but it has nothing to do with meaning a carpet. Let me give you an example when I can use this one. Suppose that you are my son and you managed to drive my car without telling me and got an accident. I would be totally unhappy about it, right? Then, as you got home back, I will definitely call you. Here is the moment that you can use this expression. What you can say is “Oh no! I am sure my father calls me on the carpet for the accident.”

CAN YOU FEEL IT? I guess not.

It means “to question someone for his/her action.” No wonder why these days people like wood floor, not carpet, huh? 🙂

11 May

neighbor vs neighborhood

Who taught: Jake

 

Neighborhood (source: http://www.websiteneighbors.com/)

Yesterday evening, there was a farewell party for Carol because it was her last day at her current work. She will be starting her new chapter in her life as a Rails developer of a new startup. (For those of you who are not familiar with Rails, simply speaking, it is a programming language that is used to create a new web site or application such as Twitter.)

 

You know what is the most fun part of being a software developer or engineer? You get to see a cool or ugly stuff right away in front of your eyes. Anything you develop does not tell a lie. If there is any problem in your code, it complains. If everything is fine, even though this does not guarantee it is perfect, it at least shows a happy face. There is no poker face in your code. Not everything in life is in this way.

Anyway, Carol! Good luck and congratulations again!

As I was talking to Jake in the party, we talked about my new house. And, Kara was with us while we were talking about the house. She actually lives in the same neighborhood where my new house is.

Did you notice that I used ‘neighborhood’ here? When I write, I can find a correct word but, yesterday, I said, “Kara! Finally, we live in the same neighbor.”

As Jake heard this, he said, “Terry. You should say ‘neighborhood’ instead of neighbor. Neighbor means a person or people who live right next to your house. It could be on your righthand side or lefthand side. Or, front or back. They are your neighbors.”

So, that means I cannot have a lot of neighbors unless they have a huge family with a huge house. 🙂 This is another case where I can write correctly but I make mistakes all the time when I speak. I just forget to add “hood” at the end.

Why? I think it is because of culture. In Korea, when I say a Korean word, “ėīė›ƒ(Yi-Ut),” it could cover many people who live in the same neighborhood. Korean people have a tendency to maintain very tight relationships with their neighbors. There is a Korean saying in this context, “ėīė›ƒė‚ŽėīŒ(Yi-Ut-Sa-Chon).” Literal translation into English is “neighbor cousin,” meaning neighbors are like cousins or even closer than your cousins.

So, here is my conclusion that I would like to think of when it comes to the comparison of neighbor and neighborhood. I will think of a person or people when I think of the word, neighbor, whereas I will think of area or land when I need to think of neighborhood.

Better way to remember these two words correctly is asking these questions to myself all the time to train my brain.

Where is your neighborhood? vs. Who are your neighbors? Can you feel it?

06 May

hammock and banana hammock

Who taught: Sangeetha, Alex, Phil, Pat, Mark and Kelly

banana hammock (source: http://www.sampa.com/)

Last Saturday, I moved all of my stuff from my old apartment into the new house. Many friends showed up to help the move. I would like to thank all. It was a lot easier with their help. Luckily, the weather was also amazing. To take advantage of it, I bought hot dogs, pizzas and some drinks to have a small spontaneous party at my house.

The move was done pretty quickly and we hang out in the backyard. Hack ya! That was something I have always wanted to do with my friends when I buy a house. Yay! Finally, it happened. And, I am sure there will be a lot more parties. It was so great to have them in my place.

At one point during the party, Phil said, “You guys should sling a hammock in the backyard here. That would be perfect.”

Do you guys know what hammock is? Here is the definition!

A bed made of canvas or of rope mesh and suspended by cords at the ends, used as garden furniture or on board a ship.

I am sure you’ve seen this when you were on a vacation at a resort. The most important thing you should keep in mind is that the shape of hammock, especially if someone lies in it. It becomes very narrow because of the weight of the lying person and its shape is very round. Can you imagine? I am sure you have a great imagination here.

As we talked about hammock, Sangeetha said, “Hey, speaking of hammock… Terry, have you heard the expression, banana hammock?”

I said, “I have but I totally forgot what it means. Does it have something to do with sexual stuff? Oh, does it mean a banana-shaped penis?”

Phil said, “Good guess but not that one.”

Actually, I was pretty close because it has something to do with penis. So, instead of telling you the definition of banana hammock, let me remind you of the shape of hammock when you lie in it. Imagine yourself being a penis, then what is hammock? It is something men wear but very tight. It’s a speedo or male thong.

What a great expression! It is so perfect. I am sure somebody, looking at the shape of a hammock with a person in it, thought of speedo or thong that men wear. Don’t you think they look exactly same?

Now, what if I go to a department store and ask a sales person like, “So, I am looking for a banana hammock? Do you carry them?” Would they understand what I mean? Would they look at me like a crazy person? Probably yes in the U.S., right?

03 May

make out

Who taught: Emily

Making out(source: http://www.toothpastefordinner.com)

Two days ago, Jessy and I went to a restaurant to have lunch together with my friends. We were late because Jessy had a headache and, thus, we needed to stop by a grocery store to buy painkillers.

As we walked around the grocery store to find painkillers, Emily texted me. Here is what she sent.

“Stop making out in the car and get in here. I’m hungry! :)”

Frankly, I did not know what she meant by making out in the car. Besides, I was trying to get to the restaurant as soon as possible. So, instead of texting her, asking what she meant, I just sent a text, “Sorry! Will be there soon.”

If you are a native English speaker, you may imagine what happened in the restaurant. All of my friends were like, “What? Terry did not deny making out in the car. What the heck!” Yeah yeah yeah! They had to laugh. At least, I made my friends happy for a few minutes, right?

So, as Jessy and I got into the restaurant and sat in chairs, Emily had to ask me this question, “Terry! Tell me… Do you know what ‘making out’ means?”

I said, “No! not really.” Then, they were all like, “Oh, that is why.. At least your response now makes sense.”

The thing is we did not really go into details about what it really means. You know what my guess was? I thought making out in the car means having a sex in the car, which can happen in many cases. Don’t you agree?

Then, I had to look it up on Urban Dictionary after I got back home. Interestingly, it means just a long kiss, especially french kiss. But, I still think that is kind of weird. I mean, once you got into a long french kiss, how could you keep yourself from having a sex? I think that making out should mean “having a long kiss and eventually end up having a sex.”

To make it clear, we did not make out in the car on that day. I mean just on that day. 🙂

28 Apr

stud

Who taught: Jake

Stud earrings (source: http://www.diamonds-earring.net/)

Do you know types or designs of earrings? I bet there are many different designs. Do I know them? Not at all. Should I know? Probably!

A few weeks ago, I learned one type of earrings from Jake. It is stud. How does it look like? It is hard to explain. Please refer to the image here in this post. One thing I know is that stud earrings are not the ones that are dangling and, if any man wears earrings, chances are he is wearing stud ones.

Well, Jake did not really talk about earrings with me. I mean,,, why would he and I talk about earrings?

So, what happened is that he used “stud” in his sentence and I did not get it. I said, “What? Stud? What is it?” From the context I gave you so far, can you guess why he used stud? Once again, we did not talk about earrings at all. I am sure you cannot guess at all.

He used stud to mean a good looking guy or a guy who is popular among ladies. I think he was saying, “Terry, you are a stud.” He said something good about me and I did not get it. How poor am I? 🙂

Since I asked what stud means, he tried to explain it to me. He said stud is a type of earrings and it also means a male animal that is very desirable for breeding, especially a racehorse.

My guess is that, at some point in farms, people started to use stud to mean a good looking guy because it means a male racehorse that is very good for breeding. After all, man is a male animal.

So… how about you? Are you a stud?

You think you are? Then, I have an idea. Why don’t you wear stud earrings? That could make you look even studder. (Wait! Is studder even a word?) 🙂