Tag Archives: sue

19 Jul

going commando

Who taught: Brian, Sue and Drew

Going Commando (source: http://www.thesun.co.uk/)

Have you seen Commando? You know it, right? Come on, don’t say you do not know that movie! I think I was in either elementary school or in middle school when I first watched it. I liked it.

When I moved into the new house, Brian and Sue gave me a washer and a dryer. I haven’t been able to use because I could not install them by myself. So, two days ago, I asked Dave whether he can come over to see what I should do to install. (Dave is so handy around the house.) After I talked to Dave, I had a short chat with Brian and Sue and mentioned that I talked to Dave to install the washer and the dryer.

As kind of a joke (?), I said, “Finally, I can use the washer. I needed it. I need to wash my underwear. Oops! TMI!”

We all laughed and in response, Brian said something but I did not get it. So, as usual, I said, “Sorry! What did you say?”

He said, “Just going commando.”

Well, I know what commando is but going commando? What is it? From the context, I could feel that it is not like being tough as a man. I thought it would be awkward to ask what that means at that moment because there were Drew’s girlfriend, Carmen and Brian’s daughter, Rachel.

After I got back home, I could not wait to find out what that means. The first thing I did was searching it up. Wow! I was so surprised by its meaning. Can you guess what it is? It has something to do with the lack of clean underwear. If you do not have clean underwear, what is the best option you have? Well, just do not wear it. I mean you do need to wear pants though. Don’t forget that!

To sum it up, going commando means “not wearing any underpants.” Now, I would not recommend to do it, especially in summer.

Wanna know the origin? Here is the origin I found.

The earliest known use of the term in print occurred on January 22, 1985 when Jim Spencer wrote in the Chicago Tribune “Furthermore, colored briefs are ‘sleazy’ and going without underwear (“going commando”, as they say on campus) is simply gross.”

After that, this expression was used in TV shows, Seinfeld and Friends. That is where this expression got popular.

Have I gone commando? Hmm… what do you think? I will say this. Maybe, it is better than wearing dirty underpants.

P.S.: How about women? Can I say Sharon Stone went commando in Basic Instinct?

07 Feb

nerve-wracking

Who taught: Kathy

Sad! Sad! Sad! Steelers lost yesterday. If you are not a fan of American football, it would be hard for you to understand my feeling. We were so close to win the Super Bowl. Well, life goes on. Every time there is a Super Bowl game, people are so excited not only about the game but also about commercials. My favorite this year is Bridgestone’s as I added in this post. I love it. What do you think? Don’t you like it? What is your favorite?

Watching a Super Bowl game is hard in a sense that there are so many times I get to worry, assuming that Steelers are playing. If it is a game that Steelers are not in, who cares? (No offense to the people who root for other teams. I am talking about my feeling here. 🙂 ) You know what I mean? It is actually very stressful. I had that experience yesterday. As most of people were, I was in a party hosted by Sue and Brian. It was so fun to be with great friends and to watch the game together. During the game, I had to go to the kitchen to grab some food. As I went into the kitchen, Kathy was coming into too and said to me, “It is so nerve-wracking. Don’t you think?” I knew the expression but never used it yet. “Yeah! It is hard to watch,” said I. But then, I thought about the expression and I said to me, “Nerve-wracking! That is actually a very interesting expression.”

Let’s do a very short analysis here!

1. Nerve means long thin fibres that transmit messages between your brain and other parts of your body.

2. Wrack means ruin or destruct.

Combination of nerve and wrack now means “ruin or destruct your nerves,” right? This makes me feel the expression perfectly. People say nerve-wracking is similar to anxious. But, I feel like this should be different. I mean I feel very different by saying “nerve-wracking” from saying “anxious.” Nerve-wracking feels a lot stronger to me. How about you? Am I right, my American friends?

What are the things that are nerve-wracking to you? Watching a Super Bowl game (when Steelers are playing) is definitely nerve-wracking to me.