Category Archives: From friends

As a non-native English speaker, it is fun to learn new English expressions from friends. I am not afraid of asking questions to my friends. Luckily, my friends are so nice that they always do their bests to explain to me. Thank you, all!

23 Mar

on the ball

Who taught: Kathy

On the ball (source: http://www.choicehow.com)

One more week! Then, I will become a homeowner for the first time in my life. Not sure whether it is a good thing or not because many of my friends have told me, “Terry! You are getting yourself into a series of troubles but it is kind of fun.” I kind of get what they mean but it is still pretty exciting. About a month ago when I first singed on the sales agreement, I felt like I am just buying a thing, which is true. The only difference from the things I have ever bought so far is that I cannot take it with me. It is kind of irony. Isn’t it? Buy something that cannot be taken with you. Well, as time goes by to get closer to the closing date which is March 31, 2011, I feel that this is real. That house is mine and I will live in it soon.

But, it has not been just simple. Ever since I signed on the sales agreement, I have been very busy with home inspection and documents preparation, etc. What can I say? Nothing is easy in the world! During the process, I have been keeping in touch with a few different people and one of them is Kathy who works for my mortgage company. A few days ago, she asked me to buy a home insurance and keep her informed as the last step. So, I did it and sent an email where I put quote number and name and phone number of the sales agent I talked to, etc.

A few hours later, she sent me a response. It was very short. She said, “Boy! You are on the ball.”

When I first read it, I thought I was able to understand what she meant but not sure whether my feeling was right or not. One thing I can say, though, my feeling about a new expression is getting better and better. 🙂 So, my first feeling about the expression, on the ball, was “I am doing good.” To find out whether I am right or not, I googled it. Here is the meaning of the expression! “Well-informed and be in complete control.”

But, the more important part is its etymology. Where is it from? Doing my research, I found this forum in which you can find a lot of different stories about its origin. I will leave it up to your discretion. Being a huge soccer fan, my choice is that it is from soccer just like a English guy’s argument. Baseball is too small to have a feeling of being on the ball. Soccer ball is big enough to have my foot be on the ball. Hence, I can totally imagine that I am in full control over the ball by putting my foot on the soccer ball. I am sure you would have the same feeling if you’ve ever played soccer.

What do you think?

21 Mar

chip in

Who taught: Rachel, Emily, Liz and Nadire

Chips (source: http://www.donotyet.com/)

Spring is here! Yesterday was warm and beautiful in Pittsburgh. How about where you are? Hope you enjoy a lot today!

Today’s story is Nadire’s. If I remember correctly, she is from Turkey and has been in the U.S. for only a month. She lives with Rachel, Emily and Liz. A few days ago, they decided to have a small party at home. As Emily prepared the party, Nadire asked Emily, “Hey, Emily! Is there anything I need to do or bring?” “No, not really! Maybe if you can chip in with a bottle of wine, that would be great but do not worry about it too much,” said Emily. It is a very typical answer, right? Nothing special or hard for you, my American friends. A few hours later, Rachel saw bunch of chips and asked Emliy, “What are these chips? I do not think we bought them.”

I guess you probably realize it now. That is right. When Nadire heard Emily saying, “chip in,” she thought Emily want her to buy chips for the party. FYI, “chip in” means “contribute money or labor.” I think it is from the usage of chips for gambling. At least, that is my feeling about its etymology but I might be wrong.

Anyway, this is very possible. Nadire! If you get to read this post, do not worry about it too much. I have been here in the U.S. for about 5 years and I still have the same issue you just experienced. It will take time and you need patience. And also, most of all, you need to ask a lot of questions. In my case, whenever I am with my American friends, I do ask a lot of questions to them about expressions they use. Rachel and Emily said they now realize that native English speakers use a lot of expressions that might be hard for non-native English speakers to understand.

Admitting that you are a non-native English speaker and asking a lot of questions is the most important step to take to be able to learn new expressions. A lot of times, non-native English speakers are afraid of what native English speakers would think if they ask questions about expressions. They would think I am stupid. I think that thought itself is more stupid. If someone who is non-native Korean speaker would try to learn Korean, asking many questions, I would really do my best to explain expressions to them.

So, be always open to learn and ask questions to learn new expressions and probably use them later. I now get to use some of the expressions I learned from my friends. I feel very thrilled when I use them to my friends who taught them to me. I am sure they are proud of me too. Learning new things is so much fun. Keep up your good work, Nadire!

16 Mar

scumbag

Who taught: Andrew

scumbag (source: http://www.sodahead.com/)

A few days ago, I stumbled upon this blog post about being super-rich. The sentence that caught my eyes was this one.

Nobody has the excuse of ‘lack of money’ for not being at peace and living in integrity. If they choose to live otherwise, that’s their business.

This is one of the responses from a millionnaire who was interviewed with regard to “why the poor should be happy.” If I meet him/her personally, I would like to ask one more question, “If you were one of the poor, would you be able to say the same thing?” If the answer were yes, then I would not be able to say anything further. I guess we can all agree that it is easier said than done. Regardless of whether he/she can do what he/she said or not, what he/she said itself is correct. At least to me! These days, people are getting more and more materialistic. And, sometimes, there are people who are so disgusting and hard to be accepted. Or, probably, it is not sometimes but rather many times which makes me kind of sad.

To make yourself be prepared for the situation that you meet those people, you need to learn today’s expression. This is perfect. So, yesterday, Andrew and I had a chat using IM in which he taught me the expression. The reason why he thought of teaching me that one was that he just found out its etymology that he had no idea before even though he’s been using the expression all the time. So, are you ready? When you see someone who is so disgusting or an asshole, you can say, “That guy is a scumbag!” Etymology of this expression is so perfect that, once you know it, you will not forget this expression.

Scum is equal to cum. Do you know what cum is? It is another word for semen. Now, a bag that holds semen or cum is…… ? That is right it is condom. Even worse, scumbag means “a used condom.” Nobody want a used condom. I do not even want to see or touch it, would you? Now, do I need to ask your feeling about this expression? I guess not. Having that feeling, you can connect this expression with a person who is so contemptible and disgusting. To make even more obvious, let me give you a very specific example. How about Tiger Woods? I can totally say that he is a scumbag. As you know, he is super-rich.

Then, my final thought or more like question is, “Is it really hard to be super-rich and, at the same time, not a scumbag?” If the answer were yes, I would rather stay poor or hungry just like Steve Jobs said.

There is another expression that is very similar to scumbag. It is “scum of the earth.” Search for it! That is today’s homework for ya.

14 Mar

manicure and well-manicured

Who taught: Patty

Well-manicured (source: http://www.designelegant.com/)

It has been more than a week since my last post. Sorry about that! Last week, I went on a business trip to the bay area, specifically San Jose and San Francisco, and came back yesterday. I had a chance to meet my friends there. It was great to see some friends that I have not seen for almost 4 years. Cannot believe that it has been that long. Time really flies. It was funny because I enjoyed talking with them but Jessy said we all talked about something most people would not understand at all. Well, what can I say? All of my friends are CMU alumni and they are software engineers. I mean, literally, every single one of them is software engineer. How cool is it? It is awesome.

Anyway, during the  trip, we either drove or took a train to get to meeting places. One of the things I noticed was that house style of the west coast is very different from that of the east. In Pittsburgh, houses are built mainly of bricks. But, I did not see any houses that are built of bricks there. They are usually one-story house that are painted with very different colors. It is actually very beautiful to see them. Along the bay, there are hills that have houses with different styles and colors. It was even more beautiful because of sunny sky and blue ocean. As we were passing by those houses, Patty said, “Some of the houses are really well-manicured. Don’t you think?” That’s an easy expression to understand but I did not know that we can use the verb, manicure, to describe houses that are painted. My feeling with the expression is that the color of a house should matter. It seems like the house should be painted with a vivid color like yellow or multiple colors. What do you think, my friends? Does my feeling sound correct? What if the inside of a house is painted well? Can I say also that the house is well-manicured?

I need to admit that the bay area is very beautiful but my heart is in Pittsburgh. It is my home. 🙂

Oh, for your future trip to the bay area, I would like recommend you to visit Los Gatos downtown. It is a small but very lovely place to walk around and there are nice restaurants too. Speaking of restaurant, I went to this French restaurant called Le Garage in Sausalito. The food was amazing. You should check it out too.

03 Mar

What starfish?

Who taught: Jake, Andrew, Carol and Mark

Chocolate Starfish (source: http://www.choconet1.com/)

You would not believe what I learned lately. This one is literally crazy. Whoever came up with this expression, he/she must have an amazing imagination. Or, maybe it is a kid. Very possible!

OK! So, I was with my friends, having dinner a few days ago. I cannot remember how we ended up talking about this expression but I do remember the expression so vividly. This is definitely one of the expressions that I would not forget at all. Anyways, Jake said, “chocolate starfish.” And.. I was totally puzzled and asked, “What? What starfish?” “Can you guess what it is, Terry?” said he.

I tried to think of the meaning of it. I knew it cannot be a kind of starfish at all because that is too easy. Besides, all of my friends started to giggle as they heard it. So, it’s gotta be something very funny. “What the… I cannot think of any. You gotta tell me.” And, Jake was like, “Think about the color of chocolate and the shape of the starfish.” Poor Terry… I tried again but no success. So, I had to cheat, looking up urban dictionary.

As the search result showed up, I had to be shocked. “Oh My …. What? Really? This is amazing.” Guess what I found? For this expression, I do not ask you to feel it because you have to feel it as I reveal what it means.

It means….. Oh man.. It is so embarrassing that I feel like I should not tell you. OK… Here we go! It means… “Asshole.” Wait!!! Here comes more specific one! It is “asshole, specifically when it is encrusted with fecal matter.”

I am sorry if you are reading this post while you are eating something. 🙂 Now, you could understand why Jake asked me to think of the color of chocolate and the shape of starfish, right?

Let me guess! This post would be one of the favorites for you guys. Am I right? I am not sure whether I can eat chocolates for a while or not. I will think of this expression every time I see chocolate from now on.