17 Apr

crocodile tears

Who taught: Julie and Ari

crocodile tears

crocodile tears (Mar)

Do you like popcorn? I love it, especially buttered one. Jessy does not like buttered one but I love them. They are so great when you watch movies or when you are having a happy hour with your friends, right?

I think Mar, Ari’s daughter, has the same kind of spirit. Last Friday, Ari holds a happy hour and some of my friends and I were there too.

As soon as Mar came back from her school, she did not wait too long to get some popcorn for us (or for herself?). Ari said that she bought popcorn a few days ago and told Mar that she can eat on Friday. Fair enough, it was Friday.

After she finished the first bowl of popcorn, she brought another one out from the kitchen. Unfortunately, she dropped the bowl and popcorn got dirty.

So, as you can expect, she wanted more but Ari said no to her. As she said, Mar started crying(???). Of course, she got attention from all of us. Ari, as a mom, did not want us give attention to Mar.

That’s very good! I like how she disciplines her kids. I am not sure I can do it. So, she said to us, “Please don’t look at her.” We all heard and Julie said, “Oh, it’s crocodile tears.”

From the context, it was so easy for me to understand what it means. I am sure you all can now, right? The more interesting part is its origin. Wikipedia has a great reference to it. Ancient anecdote says that crocodiles weep in order to lure their prey. An alternative explanation is that crocodile tears cannot be authentic because they cannot cry. On this note, there is a very interesting truth. Crocodiles can generate tears but they have no sense of crying. How interesting it is, huh!

What happend to Mar? She stopped crying soon after. Oh…. you know what? Crocodile tears could work between husband and wife. Have you tried? You should! 🙂

10 Apr

crunch time

Who taught: Ravi

crunch time

Crunch time (source: http://blog.myhappyenglish.com/)

I am co-teaching a Data Mining course every spring. For this course, Ravi was the TA this spring and he has done amazing job helping us and students. He has been working on the final submission of his thesis as he was doing the TA.

Well, that is not easy. As we are discussing having a review session for students, I wanted to make sure that his thesis is going well.

In his response, he said, “The thesis will be done on time – but it is definitely crunch time : )”

As I was reading his email, I realize that there is this expression, crunch time. I have heard of it before but it did not stay in my memory. You know what I mean, right? There are so many phrases that you hear but you cannot remember and thus no chance of using it afterward.

Well, crunch time was one of them. In fact, people in software industry use this phrase often. When do they use? Mostly, when the project is due or right before the due.

Haven’t you been in that situation where you gotta really finish things up but you do not have enough time? And….. you have to be really fast, getting things done?

I am sure most of my students experience crunch time in every two or three weeks. 🙂 They need to finish all their reports and coding and submit the final deliverables for a project in two or three weeks. Once they are done, there is another project waiting for them. Very intense! What would you expect? It’s Carnegie Mellon.

So, Ravi’s usage of the phrase in his email about his final thesis made me feel it very well.

Question! What kind of mode are you in, when the time is crunch? That’s right! You are in crunch mode. Some of my friends really enjoy being in crunch mode. I do not. In fact, I hate being in crunch mode. When things are due, I would rather be in review mode with majority of the work are done.

How about you, my friends? Do you enjoy crunch time?

03 Apr

egghead

Who taught: Steve

Two days ago, I was so surprised by my friends at the church. They prepared a surprise party for Jessy and me. Well, two weeks ago, they gave me a heads up by asking me to be in the church on that day but I had no idea that there would be lunch and a special song and a game.

Do you know this song called Rainbow Connection? The song is beautiful and I like the lyrics. So, what Tim did for us was rewriting the song and singing it for us. Another thing that they were being so considerate for us was that Mandie sent me an email with the link to the video of Rainbow Connection Saturday night so that Jessy and I would know what song Tim sings for us. Aren’t they so kind?

It was one of those days you cannot forget. I am so happy that I have these amazing friends. Pittsburgh is my home and I am glad that I can stay here with you, my friends. The lyrics is so funny. You can find it at the end of this post.

After lunch, Steve and I had a little chat and he used one expression, “egghead.” You know what’s so funny now? These days, most of my friends know that I am trying to learn new expressions and, when they say those, they stop for a while to make sure I actually understand it or not. If I do not, they start to explain them to me. How amazing! So, I am telling you, my non-native English friends. Don’t be afraid to ask and make mistakes. They will help you out.

Anyway, when I heard it, my first feeling was that it would only describe shape and size of a head and probably refer to baldness. You know what I mean. Haven’t you seen those heads that are just like an egg? Where do you usually see those? Why don’t you think for a while? ……. Come on! You know where. It is usually at colleges. Think of your professors! Now, can you get what I say?

So, I was pretty sure that egghead means that kind of head and it does not have anything more than that. As usual, I was very wrong. I mean shape and size do play an important role but it has a deeper meaning. Can you guess? Here, I will give you a hint. One of its synonyms is geek. That’s right. That is what egghead means.

Fortunately, Wikipedia has everything about this expression. It even tells you historical background of it.

Ironically, both Steve and I teach at universities. Am I an egghead?

 

***********************************************

“The Green Card Connection” by Tim

I know of somebody who’s staying in Pittsburgh, the place where they’ve longed to reside.
It’s been a long, hard, tumultuous process, not knowing where they’re going to be.
But finally, they have it! The Green Card connection, for Terry and Jessica Lee.
Terry and Jessica hail from Korea, a place they’d lived all their lives.
One day they realized they don’t have Primanti’s or bridges seen far and wide.
After they got here I guess that they decided they like Yinzers more than Kimchi.
Now yinz guys got it: The green card connection for Terry and Jessica Lee.
They’re “Learning English from Friends” like nebby and gumband and slippy.
Now that you’re permanent. It’s time to get real: There’s things we expect from you.
We have a cleaning list and grass that needs cutting . And the new guys buy donuts, too.

All this to say, That we’re really excited . You’re staying here at BHBC.

Cuz finally you have it: The green card connection for Terry and Jessica Lee!
La da da dee da da dog, I hope that this gets on your blog!

**Disclaimer** I am well aware that Jessica’s last name is Sim.  However, Sim does not rhyme with “eee”, so instead I chose to use “Terry and Jessica Lee”.  Please, just deal with it.

 

27 Mar

stop a clock

Who taught: Amber, Patty and Tami

Ugly face would stop a clock

Stop a clock (source: http://aarontodd.wordpress.com/)

Do you know what day is on Mar 17? It is St. Patrick’s Day which of course commemorates Saint Patrick who is credited with bringing Christianity to Ireland. It is a huge day for Irish people. In many countries including the U.S., there are parades on St. Patrick’s Day. I was in San Francisco with Amber, Patty and Tami this year and we all went out to see the parade.

The parade started at 11 am. So, we decided to walk to the Civic Center to see people and preparations for festivals. Oh boy! As we got closer to the San Francisco City Hall, we saw so many homeless people. After buying some souvenirs, we decided to walk back up Market St to see the start of the parade.

On the way up, I stopped by a restroom (nature’s call). As soon as I came out, Tami and Amber told me a new expression that Amber just used.

Amber said, “I just saw a face that would stop a clock.”

My first impression was that she must see someone very handsome or beautiful. In Korea, if someone is amazingly beautiful like Jessy, people say that she would stop a clock. You know what I mean? It’s like you saw someone so beautiful and all of a sudden time stands still for a while because your focus were solely on her and the whole world started to run around you and her.

Very very surprisingly, the meaning of the expression, stop a clock, in the U.S. is the opposite. If you saw someone whose face would stop a clock, that means his or her face is so ugly. It was hard for me to find its etymology. But, my guess is that even a clock cannot function properly because of someone’s face is so ugly and it is shocked by that.

What do you think, my friends?

My non-native English speaking friends, this is a good lesson for you. Be careful! Do not try to literally translate expressions that you used to use in your own countries! That can cause a huge trouble. 🙂

 

20 Mar

shack up

Who taught: Patty, Amber and Tami

shacking up

Shacking up (source: http://www.cartoonstock.com/)

Hello there, my friends! It’s been more than a week without a new post. Sorry about that!

I was in San Francisco for a biz trip last week with my colleagues. Unfortunately, we did not have usual Californian sunshine but rain the whole week. But, we got to visit a few great companies and meet great people. We used public transportation a lot. During the time we sit in a Caltrain, we had a lot of talks about random things.

For some reason, we started to talk about me not wearing my wedding ring. Jessy also does not wear a ring. She actually does not have it at all. As we were talking about it, Patty said, “So, you guys are shacking up.”

Of course, I did not get what she said. Shack is a small and sort of dirty hut built from wood. Jessy and I bought a house and I can say that it is not just a shack in my opinion. Then, what is shacking up and what does it have to do with marriage or wedding ring?

If you shack up with someone, that means you guys live together (often while having sex) but not married. Why there is shack? My guess is that living together with someone else without marrying happens when people are young and, at that age, they cannot afford a nice place to live together. They usually end up being in a place like a shack. Don’t you think so?

So, literally, you live together in a shack which is “shacking up.” What do you think, my American friends? Am I right?

By the way, Jessy and I are not shacking up. We have been legally married for more than 10 years.