Tag Archives: julie

08 Nov

brat

Who taught: Julie and Ari

brat

brat

I forgot when exactly Julie, Ari and I talked about this expression, brat, but I do remember that it was related with children.

Do you have children? Well I do not. If you do, then I really hope this expression has nothing to do with you.

Sometimes, some children do something we really do not like such as crying and yelling to get what they want. Even worse, they would never stop till they get what they want. I know….That is really annoying, right? Arghhh…

I have seen those kids in shopping malls or grocery stores, etc. So hard to control. What a troublesome! Don’t get me wrong. I know I am in no position to talk about kids but it is not pleasant for me to see those kids, to be honest.

So, what is one word to describe them? It is “brat.” Some people say, “army brat,” because some kids whose parents are in the Army may develop that kind of obnoxious behaviors. That would be just a prejudice but I want to tell you that it is what people think and say.

Another interesting thing is that brat also means “apron.” What is the connection between apron and a bad child? I have no idea. Do you?

Also, there is an article about how to find out whether your child is a brat or not. Check this out! Hope yours is not.

In Korea, there is an expression, “날라리(Nal-La-Ri).” This means those kids who do not study really hard and do those things people ask not to do. I wonder whether “brat” is the word that I can use to describe those kids, Nal-La-Ri. It does not feel like it.

Can you help me, my American friends, to find the proper word for it? I am curious.

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! 🙂