21 Jun

twist arm

Who taught: Carol and Jake

Harley Davidson

One of the things I find really annoying in America is the sound of Harley-Davidson motorcycles. It really bothers me when anyone passes my house riding it at night when I try to focus on writing a new post. One just passed by my house. Please, somebody stop it!

This morning, I met Carol and Jake on my way to the office. Oh, did I tell you that? I walk to the office since it is really close to my house. It is like 10 minutes walking. It is so convenient! Anyway, during our Monday morning conversation, they told me one expression they thought during the weekend to tell me today. “Twist your arm?” Well, when I first heard it, I thought it would be like someone trying to hurt another person. You know like TAE KWON DO. Carol told me, “Close but you can use this expression more sarcastically. For example, if Jake asked me to go to ice cream store, then I could say like, ‘if you twist my arm!””

So, the definition of the expression I found is

to persuade someone to do something that they do not want to do

I personally have a good example. As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I went mountain biking last Saturday. Pat was supposed to join but he told me he could not in Saturday Moring. Then, I sent text messages a few times, trying to make him change his mind to join. So, basically what happened was I tried to twist his arm to go to mountain biking with me but he eventually did not. Pat, it was the best mountain biking ever. You should have come. The more I think about the expression, I feel like the person whose arm get twisted is still a little bit interested in the thing he/she is supposed to do or he/she has no specific preference for something. Thus, if someone really asks him/her to do something, he/she would do it because by twisting his/her arm, he/she actually does something eventually. Am I right?

I am sure you would have similar experiences in you life. So, try to use this next time if you are in this kind of situation.

Arggggggg!! Another Harley-Davidson just passed by again! Dang! I hate that sound. It is so loud!

16 Jun

camping story 2

who taught: Andrew, Jake, Jean and Carol

Public Bathhouse (목욕탕)

One time, I was in Paris, the capital of fashion. (Some may argue that New York City is the capital of fashion.) As I walking around the city, I found very familiar language written on a bag that a woman was carrying. It was Korean. (She was not a Korean or Asian at all.) It says, “서울 목욕탕.” If I would translate it into English, it would be like, “Seoul Public Bathhouse.” Here, most of American friends would be curious about public bathhouse. It is a place where all of the people pay and go in to take baths together. I mean people share spa and sauna, etc. And, of course, they are all naked. People go there with their coworkers or friends to have some time together, relaxing and, at the same time, taking baths. I bet it sounds weird to you, my American friends, right? But, there are so many other countries having this kind of place in the world. So, who want to go to the place with me? Andrew? Oh, maybe you, Pat! Well, going back to the story, to Korean people, it is weird to carry any bags with “Public Bathhouse” on them. But, I am pretty sure it would look cool for foreigners to have those bags with foreign language written on. In fact, you would be surprised, if you were in Korea, that how many people wear clothings with English on them. I am pretty sure that some of the expressions or words are not really correct and some may even worse than incorrect.

Men's restroom sign in China

Speaking of wrong expressions in non-English speaking countries, I ran into this interesting article today about wrong translation. One of the examples is a restroom sign. As you can see in the picture here, there is “Male Man” on the door of men’s restroom. I wonder whether there is “Female Man” or “Female Woman” on the door of ladies’ restroom. This would happen because of the thinking process of a person who is in charge of the signs to translate to English based on the meaning of his/her own native language. Now, if you were in front of the door, looking at the sign, what would be your reaction? I know! You would be like, “Wow, what is going on here? Male Man?” Andrew! What would be your correction here?

Have you gone camping? I mean the real “camping” camping. You know… bring your own tent and sleeping bag. When you get to the camping site, what is the first thing you would do? Let me guess! Build a tent, right? Well, do you also know that you can say “pitch a tent.” A few weeks ago, Andrew asked me a question to me, “Hey, Terry! Do you know what ‘pitch a tent’ means?” Well, I actually thought ‘build a tent’ but I knew that it should have another meaning. “Think about the shape of the tent if you already built it,” Andrew said to help me out.

So, what do you think it is? Here is the definition I found from the Urban Dictionary.

To have an erection while lying down so that the sheets covering you pop up like a tent with a pole in the middle.

That is right! That is what it means. But, I doubt you would use this expression for this meaning at all. I mean how many times you would see this situation and, even if you see it, would you dare to say it? But, again, it is always good to know just in case 🙂

Actually, you know what? You could find some guys in Korean public bathhouse, pitching a tent because some guys really fall into sleep in the place and you know…. that could happen. So, that would be the time you can really use the expression.

15 Jun

PUN series 1

Who taught : Andrew, Jake, Stan, Carol and Pat

First of all, you should read today’s post really carefully because it is hard for non-native English speakers to understand.

One day, Andrew wanted to ask a question to Jean. He said, “Jean, can I interrupt you for a sec?” As soon as she heard the question, Jean said, “Oh, I have not started my flow yet.” Following Jean’s answer, there was a pause for a few seconds because they all did not know what to say. Do you know why? Well, when Jean said it, she meant her work flow. She was saying that she did not really get into a specific work now so that Andrew can ask the question to her. But, the sentence Jean used has a different meaning for women.

It could mean that a woman is not having her period yet even though it is about the time that she is supposed to have menstruation. Similar expression is “shark week.” So, if any woman says that “it is my shark week,” then you should be careful. Although I doubt any woman would say that to you if you are a guy unless you are her husband or something. So, basically this kind of expression is called “PUN.”

The official definition of PUN is :

a clever and amusing use of a word or phrase with two meanings, or of words with the same sound but different meanings.

pun cartoon

There is a story Andrew told me today which is another perfect example of PUN.

When he was young, his father was coaching basketball in a school. Whenever there is a practice, they were using balls owned by Andrew’s father. The practice was done in a court where all of the other students were also using. One day, the practice was done and his father was talking to the students. But then, his mother realized that there were some missing balls. She looked around to find them but was not able to find them. So, she thought that maybe the other students were using a few of her missing balls. To make sure, she approached the male students who were practicing in the court and asked, “Hey boys! Have you seen balls with Cox on them?” Do you get it? Well, if you are native English speakers, I am sure you get it. But I am also almost 100% sure you would not get it if you are non-native English speakers. So, Andrew’s last name is Cox and of course his father wrote down his last name on the balls. “Cox” on the balls! Now, pronounce “Cox”! Can you feel it? What? you can’t… OK, here is the thing! There is a word which has very similar pronunciation but different meaning. It is “Cock.” Well, the word usually means rooster. But for some reason, it also means penis. Again, I became so curious why people decided to use the word, cock, to mean penis. Here is what I found from the WikiAnswer.

A penis is called a cock because it is said to resemble a bird, and because the rooster is a symbol of masculinity in some cultures. Similarly, in Spanish a penis is commonly called a pajaro (bird), a pavo (turkey), or a polla (chicken). Perhaps the most bird-like penises are those that tend to tilt or curve slightly southward when erect (similar to the natural curvature of a rooster neck and head), the pubic hair at the base of the penis could also be said to resemble the ring or collar of feathers displayed by some roosters. The large wattles (i.e. the fleshy sack) that form on both turkeys and some roosters can also be said to resemble a man’s scrotum.

Isn’t it very interesting to know the origin?

Can you now understand why the sentence that Andrew’s mother used to the boys would be so funny? Yeah, that is right. They would be thinking like, “Well…. I think I have seen them but should I show them to you right now?”, in their minds. (You know, they are all boys and it is not a surprise that they have balls and Cocks.)

What a funny thing to learn, PUN! Well, there is another story related with PUN. I will amuse you with that later. 🙂

03 Jun

spill the beans

Who taught : Jean and Pete

Today was Jake’s question day. He asked a few interesting questions to people and I was one of them. One question I found it useful was, “If you are in a room where air conditioner is on and you think it is too cold, would you ask Jessica to turn it down or turn it up?” I said, “Turn it down!” “But then, does it mean you want to set the target temperature down which makes the room even colder?” “No, it means just make it not too strong in terms of fan speed or something.” He asked the same question to other friends, American friends. They all said, “turn it down.” Well, what would you say?

let the cat out of the bag

They say there is no secret. Do you agree? Have you ever experienced a secret crush on someone? You know, like your school friend or teacher. I guess you have. If you have not, it is not too late. 🙂

Then, have you also told to a few of your best friends, “Hey, so… it is between you and me. You gotta promise that you are going to keep the secret……I think I love Jessica.” Well, when you said, did you really expect that your friends would keep it secret? Honestly, once you say any of your secrets to someone else, I bet you should consider that it is not a secret any more. Anyways, what if someone else found it out and ask you like, “So, Terry. Is it true that you have a crush on Jessica?” Then, at that moment, I can say, “What? how did you know that? Who spill the beans?” Or the other expression is “Who let the cat out of the bag?”

They all mean “to tell/expose secret information.” If you want to describe the situation that secret is exposed to everyone, then you can say, “Oh cr*b! Now, the cat is out of the bag! What should I do?”

While I am looking for the best etymology of “spill the beans”, I stumbled upon this interesting story.

Folk etymology holds that the phrase comes from secret societies in ancient Greece. Members would vote on applicants by placing white (for yes) or black (for no) beans into a vessel. If the vessel were to spill or get knocked over on purpose, the secret vote would be revealed. But it is not likely to be true since the saying is American and only dates back to the early twentieth century. (Source : Yahoo!)

How about “let the cat out of the bag”? Here is the best one I found.

At medieval markets, unscrupulous traders would display a pig for sale. However, the pig was always given to the customer in a bag, with strict instructions not to open the bag until they were some way away. The trader would hand the customer a bag containing something that wriggled, and it was only later that the buyer would find he’d been conned when he opened the bag to reveal that it contained a cat, not a pig. Therefore, “letting the cat out of the bag” revealed the secret of the con trick. (Source : Ag Etymology)

What do you think? It sounds very reasonable, isn’t it? Since I read this etymology, I think I would not forget the expression at all.

27 May

on your soapbox

Who taught: Jake and James

These days, James and I are working on the same project. It is really fun to work with other coworkers, sharing ideas and talking about different approaches to solve any issues. Today, there were some requests from the customer. As we work on the items, James and I were sending emails to them and ccing each other. I sent an email with the status regarding an item and, a few minutes later, he sent an email and, in his email, he started with the expression, “To add to that, …….”, referring to my status update. And, a few minutes later, as I finished one of the other items, I sent an email, starting with the expression, “Above that,….” After the email, James pinged me and taught me that he would use the other expression, “on top of that”, instead of “above that.” “To describe a situation when something is stacking up, ‘on top of that’ is correct,” he said. Well, I was kind of confused because I always thought “above that” is the same as “on top of that.” And the literal translation into Korean of the two expressions is exactly same. Well, again, this kind of subtle difference is something I have a hard time. But, it is good because I am learning from my mistakes. (As long as they are not really huge and critical ones to make. I hope I do not make those in the future.)

At around 4:30 pm today, Stan and I started to talk about a woman outside. (FYI, Stan and I are sitting right beside window so that we can see outside.) She was surrounded by some other people and it almost looked like she was trying to teach them. Suddenly, one expression that I learned from Jake the other day came to my mind, “get on your soapbox.” “Yeah, she looks like she gets on her soapbox,” I said. Stan was surprised by the expression I used. “Wow, that is really perfect one to describe her. Nice!”

The simple definition of the expression is : Someone is expressing his/her opinions openly.

soapbox

If you hear its etymology, you will have a better understanding about the expression. So, what is a soapbox? Let me guess! Do you now think about a small box which can contain soap? You know something you can find in your bathroom. Well, it is not that one. It is a wooden box where you can put bunch of soaps. Here is a picture for you! Think about a situation that someone is trying to get attention from other people to make a prompt presentation. You want to be taller than others. That’s why you are getting on a soapbox. But, remember! It does not mean that you need to literally get on a soapbox. The expression just describes someone is openly talking about something he/she strongly believes in. Now, what if someone becomes obnoxious, speaking about something stupid, what would/could you say to him/her? That is right! You can say, “Hey! Get off your soapbox!”