01 Nov

cheer up vs cheer on

Who taught: Phil

Cheer on (source: http://wehearyouamerica.readersdigest.com/)

Yesterday, I once again realized that a proper usage of the preposition is so hard. Mondays are soccer days for Phil and me in winter. It is so fun to play a soccer game with good friends. Jessy usually stay at home while I am away playing soccer. But, yesterday, I managed to allure her to come with me to watch my playing. ๐Ÿ™‚

It was my turn to pick Phil up on the way to the sports complex where we play soccer. To let him know that Jessy is also coming, I texted him, “Jessy might go too to cheer us up!” Sounds very fine to me. How about you, my non-native English speaker friends? Do you see anything wrong with what I said to Phil?

After Phil hopped into my car, he told me how native English speakers would feel as they hear ‘cheer up’. For example, if Phil told Patrick, “I need to cheer Terry up,” then Patrick would think I am sad or depressed now so that Phil has to be with me to cheer me up. Once again, let’s try to feel it. Where is up? Up means above you like sky. Then, cheer someone up means make someone who is so down to be up by your cheering.

So, it is not correct to say ‘cheer up’ for soccer players who do definitely not feel depressed. In that case, you need to use ‘cheer on.’

As I was researching about the expression, I found that there was no ‘on’ part at first. And, in 1800s, this expression was augmented by having ‘on’ in the end. Well, I am not sure how I can feel this one. Probably, let soccer players stay on where they are already excited. What do you think, my native English friends? Do you guys have that feeling when you say ‘cheer on’?

For Korean people and my own reference, “cheer up” means ๊ฒฉ๋ คํ•˜๋‹ค(GyukRyeoHaDa) whereas “cheer on” means ์‘์›ํ•˜๋‹ค(EungWonHaDa).

26 Oct

battery

Who taught: Mikey and Big Bob

domestic battery (source: http://www.newser.com/)

Have you ever experienced a moment in which you say “Oh,, this word has also that definition? I did not know that.”? It is like rediscovering a word.

There is one radio station that I hear almost every morning while I am on my wat to work, 96.1 FM. The Morning Freak Show is on. DJs of the show are Mikey and Big Bob. I do not know how but they find very funny stories from everywhere.

One day, they were talking about a woman who threw cupcakes to her husband. She was allegedly very upset of course. Funny thing is that she was the one who called the cops and admitted that she threw cupcakes to her husband. You know what happend? She was arrested. What the…!!

The reason of arrest? Domestic Battery! As Mike and Big Bob was talking about this, I was talking to myself, “Wait! I know what domestic abuse or domestic dispute means but what is battery here? Does it even have the same spelling as the battery I know?”

So, I looked it up. Yup, it is the same spelling but just different definition. Battery can mean;

The unlawful and unwanted touching or striking of one person by another, with the intention of bringing about a harmful or offensive contact.

Do you guys know that already? Well, I did not. I thought battery is the thing that we all use to generate electricity. In fact, it has some other meanings too. I would not list all of them here because it might confuse you. Today’s expression is domestic battery. One step per day!

Oh.. today’s lesson! Do not throw cupcakes to your spouse! Also, if you already did, do not call the cops! I still cannot understand why she called the cops. What was she thinking?

20 Oct

cop a feel

Who taught: Kelly and Phil

cop a feel (source: http://www.2pep.com/)

October 14, 2011 was a pretty normal day for me until I got this text message from Phil. Phil asked me this question, “Do you know the phrase, cop a feel?”

I know what “cop” is and also know what “feel” is. Cop is Police who catch criminals. Then, I should be able to feel this expression, right? I thought it is pretty easy for me to figure out. So, I texted back to Phil, saying it should mean “keeping a feel.” You know when you have a good feeling about something, you want to keep it as long as possible.

Huh.. Am I joking? I was far away from the truth.

Phil told me that it means to grab a woman’s breasts or butt without her consent. I was like who would do that? But, then I remembered that one time when I was a swimming pool with a few other girls. One of the girls was not good at swimming and she touched my thing (you know what I am talking about here, right?) while she was trying to get out of the water. But, I was not sure she was intentional or not. I asked Phil whether this is a good example of copping a feel. He said the most important thing is that it should be deliberate. She might try to cop a feel but not sure. Oops! Don’t tell Jessy about this story. Nothing happened after that. ๐Ÿ™‚

Based on my research, the best place to cop a feel is like New York City or an amusement park like Disney World where it is so crowded. But, I am sure this is a crime. So, please do not do this! Ironically, in this expression that basically describes an act of crime, there is “cop.”

Anyway, Phil said, “Kelly’s mind is in the gutter now. :)”

17 Oct

snap out of it

Who taught: Insider.

Snap out of it (source: http://www.galleryplanb.com/)

Every life has its ups and downs. When things are good, everybody is happy. But, when things are not good, it is hard to be happy and sometimes it makes people depressed or sad.

In my case, one of the saddest moments in my life was when my first girlfriend ditched me to marry someone else when I was in the Army. My seniors and friends tried to cheer me up but it was so hard for me to feel better.

They said the same kind of expressions again and again. They are “Cheer up! It will get better” and “Keep your head up!” Now, the other word that they used a lot is this one, “์ •์‹ ์ฐจ๋ ค(Jeong-Sin-Cha-Ryeo),” in Korean. At that time, I still had to stay in the Army for 2-3 more months. My seniors worried about any possible accident that I can cause if I were depressed too long because I had to carry 30 bullets for my rifle, 1 grenade and ย 200 bullets for my machine gun every day as I guarded west coast line.

So, for this specific Korean expression, ์ •์‹ ์ฐจ๋ ค(Jeong-Sin-Cha-Ryeo), I have thought that I can use “Wake up!” in English if I were to translate… till a few days ago. Watching a TV show, I heard this expression, “Snap out of it.” As soon as I heard it, it was like someone slap my face to tell me that is it. That is the perfect English expression that I can use to meanย ์ •์‹ ์ฐจ๋ ค(Jeong-Sin-Cha-Ryeo). Interestingly, on the show, a woman really was slapping her boyfriend as she said this expression to him. (She could just snap her fingers. Women must enjoy slapping guys.) What a perfect one! If you want to be more effective and strong, you could say “Slap out of it!” as you really slap her (I am not sure who is your her? ๐Ÿ™‚ ).

Even though I am happy to get to know this expression, I do not want to personally hear it or use it to my friends. But, you never know what’s around the corner in your life. So, better to know any expression that can be perfectly used. Don’t you agree?

13 Oct

stone fox

Who taught: Sears

 

Today, I have wonderful news for you. What would you say when you misspoke to your girlfriend or wife and you are looking for a word to make up for it? I have one perfect word for you that can solve the problem right away.

Recently, I have seen this Sears Optical commercial many times. But, it was yesterday that I really paid attention to what a guy says. Did you catch it? He said, “How did I get a fox like you?” The fact is that he said that after he cut his wife’s hair, not just the price tag. What a mistake! He failed because he did not wear glasses.

Anyway, as soon as I heard him saying, “fox,” I was surprised because we, Koreans, also use the same word to describe a woman. A woman who is attractive and sexy.

So, you can say to your wife or girlfriend, “You are a fox!” But, then what is a stone fox? If your wife or girlfriend is a stone fox, then you should probably be proud of yourself.

Why? Here ย is the thing. Stone is so hard and strong to break, right? So, if a lady is not only a fox but also a stone fox, then she is sexy but at the same time is not easily attainable.

Oh, man.. I am going to say this to Jessy today, “Jessy! How did I get a stone fox like you? I must be very foxy, right?” ๐Ÿ™‚