Tag Archives: Jessy

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. 🙂

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 격려하다(GyukRyeoHaDa) whereas “cheer on” means 응원하다(EungWonHaDa).

12 Sep

doghouse

Who taught: Tami, Brad, Jonathan and Jessy

Doghouse (source: http://www.thecoolist.com/)

Today, it is pretty chilly here in Pittsburgh. Feels like winter is coming. Hope we get to enjoy fall a little longer before we see the first snow.

Last week, there was a welcome dinner for my students organized by the Program. Jessy and I sat around a table with Brad and his wife, Tami and Jonathan. Jonathan is a student from Taiwan. We talked about how hard to go abroad to study, especially due to language barrier and culture.

Interestingly but not surprisingly, we get to learn a few new English expressions.

At some point, Jessy gave me a sour look because of what I said and Brad caught it. In that context, Tami asked us, “Do you know what does ‘I am in the doghouse’ mean?”

Other than the basic question, ‘Why in the world is a person in the place where a dog lives?’, in my mind, I had no clue about its meaning.

Can you guess what it is? I mean…It just sounds awful. You know what is sadder? This expression is mostly used by husbands whenever they have a trouble with their wives. When your wife gets angry and you have to be careful and feel uncomfortable in the house, then you go to where? That’s right.  The doghouse.

For example, you just fought with your wife and I called you, then you can say to me, “Dude! I am in the doghouse now. Can you save me?” Isn’t it sad?

Tami told me that there were small shelters for dogs in most homes in the past and, when there was a trouble between husband and wife, the husband usually took a refuge to the doghouse.

I am glad that I do not have a dog and thus there is no doghouse. Now, my question is where can I go? Also, where the dog goes if I take his house over?

26 Aug

coaster

Who taught: Pat and Jessy

Coaster (source: http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/)

When Jessy and I first arrived to the U.S., Jessy was not even able to order food because her English was not that good.

Now, after more than 5 years, she is a lot better. Sometimes, I am amazed by her English. Many people think if someone lives in the U.S., he or she should be able to speak English really good. This is not necessarily true.

Jessy did work hard. She has watched a few TV shows over and over, trying to memorize all of the possible mostly-used sentences. (I mean it was really over and over and over.) Also, whenever she has a free time, she tries to read books that are written in English. Finally, she really tris to spend a lot of time with American friends so that she speaks English as much as she can. All of these are not easy to do and need a strong commitment.

Jessy! I am proud of you!

As a result, these days, she even knows words or expressions that I have no idea about.

For example, she knows English words that are mainly used in kitchen. One example is coaster. Do you know what it is? Usually, “coast” means the part of the land near the sea or the edge of the land, right? In this context, coaster should mean what? It means a ship used to carry cargo along the coast. What does then coaster mean in house? There is no coast in house. Why people use this word to mean something in a house?

Whenever you have guests in your place, you are supposed to give them food and drink.

For drinks, especially cold drinks that are in cups or glasses, you are not placing them on table without a coaster. Actually, that is one thing I have noticed here in the U.S. It looks like it is a kind of manner to use a coster when you put cold drinks on a table.

By now, you should know what coaster is, right? To be clear, here is the definition in this context.

a protective disc or mat for glasses or bottles.

In fact, you will hear this word mostly in this context. Almost all of the restaurants in the U.S. use coasters every time they serve drinks. Also, your guests might ask a coster to use for their drinks. So, buy those for your house.

Do you know why people use coaster to mean this mat or disc? It is because you, as a host, turn around the egde (coast) of the table to put these on the table. Interesting, isn’t it?

Anyway, I am not sure you need to ask where a coaster is before you put your glass on a table when you visit your friends’ house? Is it one of the manners to have in the U.S.? That is what I felt.

18 Aug

will-call

WILL-CALL (source: http://fieldnotesbrand.com/)

Oh boy! It is official! Pirates lose every time I go to the ballpark to watch a game. Yesterday, I went to the PNC Park with my friends and Jessy. They won two previous games but they lost yesterday when Jessy and I were there. But, I will support the Pirates no matter what because I am not a fair weather fan.

Knowing that my friends are visiting and they want to see a MLB game, I bought tickets online. As I was filling the required information out, I noticed that  there was only one option for the delivery type and it was “WILL-CALL.”  (I believe there should be a lot more options but all the other options were not available because I only had two more days to the game.)

When I first saw this “WILL-CALL,” I thought they WILL CALL me to discuss how they are going to deliver the tickets. Thus, I decided to wait for one day. Nothing happened. Well, I gotta do something to make sure that I get the tickets before the game. So, I called the Pirates’ customer service, asking this simple question, “What does this WILL-CALL  mean as the delivery type?”

My initial guess was totally off. However, it is not too far off according to its origin or history. Here is the history of the expression I got from Wikipedia.

In the days before the telephone, the phrase “I will call on you” was commonly used to mean that someone will visit you, or speak to you. The phrase has since largely fallen into disuse, with the word “call” being much more commonly associated with the telephone than speaking to someone in person. The term “will call”, however, has stuck, and means that the customer “will call on” the company to pick up the tickets or merchandise, as opposed to having the items delivered to them.

Even with this origin, the real meaning as of now is the box office that customers pick up their pre-purchased tickets. It does not even mean that the customer WILL CALL the box office. Instead, it means the physical box office. Oh, well, I actually did call.

So, one advice, if you hear or see “WILL-CALL” in the context of purchasing tickets, that does not mean you call someone or they will call you. It just means the box office or you need to pick up your tickets from the box-office.

Good luck with your shopping!

15 Jul

booboo vs bubu

Who taught: Jessy

Bubu bear (source: http://www.dinodirect.com/)

Do you remember when you were young? What? You think you are still young? haha… I know. I feel the same.

OK. So, let me ask differently. Do you remember when you were a elementary school student? Didn’t you use many expressions with your friends that your parents have no idea? I think I did. Funny thing is I cannot remember a single out of those now. So sad!

A few days ago, Jessy and I had a small talk about an expression that she heard.

Jessy : “Terry, I heard something from my friend. Do you want to know?”

Me : “Sure.. what is it?”

Jessy : “I heard my friend saying a word, booboo or bubu, but I still cannot figure out what they are exactly?”

Trust me! This happens a lot even after 5 years of living in the United States. Who says learning language is easy? Well, anyway, I started a little research about these expressions. And…. I found something very interesting.

Basically, those two expressions are the same in terms of pronunciation but they mean two very different things.

Booboo is used mainly among children or between parents and their children. It means a minor injury. Bubu, on the other hand, means two things. It means a cute and adorable bear. But in northeast of the U.S., it also means hot women.

You gotta keep this in mind. How many times do you think you will write these words? I guess probably zero. But, you can obviously speak these and, at that point, spelling does not matter and it is all context. These days, maybe little elementary school kids use this word to mean hot girls instead of minor injuries. It’s a whole different world out there compared to the world when I was a kid. Don’t you agree?

Here is a little suggestion for you. If your wife or girlfriend got a minor injury on her knee or something, you should say, “Oh, my bubu! You got a little booboo on your knee. Let me take care of it.”