What does EXACTLY the prefix “para” mean? I have difficulty translating “para-theatre”.
8 comments • Posted in Expression
This question is about the correctness of “me, too” as it relates to formal speech or its likelihood of being torn apart by a grammar fanatic.
Examples:
a: “I want to go to the store.” b: “Me too.”
a: “I have ten fingers.” b: “Me too.”
Is “me, too” gramatiically correct, or should it be something like, “I, too,” “I, also,” or “I do as well?”
3 comments • Posted in Expression
You guys have seen Oliver Stone’s JFK? What do “ta-ta” and “ho-ho” mean in this phrase? “You got the right ta-ta, but the wrong ho-ho”. It’s from the court sequence. I do understand what it means it the sense it is used in the film, just wonder what these two words are coming from.
12 comments • Posted in Expression
Do you pronounce “oral” and “aural” differently? How then?
10 comments • Posted in Expression
Can one say “Bemartyred”? I am translating the name of an ancient Mesopotamian myth who is sacrificed for growth and rebirth of nature and in there was ceremny in which he was annually killed or “martyred”. I have once seen the word, “Beknighted” and though it could be made so for martyr as well if it doesn’t already exist.
9 comments • Posted in Expression
What does the G stand for in “G-string”? (besides covering part of the ass:)
2 comments • Posted in Expression
I have once violated the English language. I made this tittle for one of my photos. Just wonder if it is not totally wrong. The tittle was “Irreddenable blue” and I meant a blue colour that cannot be redden. I had thought to myself that I must use “ir” to twist a word which begins with an R. Could that be OK? Would you forgive me for that?
5 comments • Posted in Expression
Is it correct to say “odditiness”? I mean like odd, oddity and then “odditiness”.
5 comments • Posted in Expression
If your boyfriend leaves a testimonial on the web that says “Oh so beautiful!! If only she were mine :-) ”
Is that mean... I am not his, or wish that I will be his forever. Very confused! Bascially, I am his girlfriend now.
4 comments • Posted in Expression
I had a talk to Speedwell on finding a good English school in NYC. Then I thought we could discuss this issue broadly, meaning sharing our knowledge on the schools and more importantly on the different method each of us might know. For instance, I’m learning Danish now and I go to a school whose method was taken and adapted from an American method used in Korea to teach the Korean soldiers English. It’s a totally brain-wash method based on military attitude, but it works. It really does. It’s thus, don’t worry what it means, just keep repeating with correct accent and you’ll get it; and you’ll understand what it means later. It must first sound correct! And you should tune-in to be able to hear and understand the very native speakers. Unfortunately Americans don’t teach English in Korea anymore, otherwise I know which school to go to!
7 comments • Posted in Expression
After the last post, I was thinking where is “Jack ass” coming from. Who’s the “Jack” in this case?
4 comments • Posted in Expression
I’ve read it here: “and the president (Bush, of course) kind of, as he’s inclined to do, says ‘Nice try, but that isn’t gonna sell Joe Public. That isn’t gonna convince Joe Public,’ says Woodward.” Is “Joe Public” just an indirect reference to the public or this Joe has some more to do with some specific “Joeish” thing?
2 comments • Posted in Expression
I just wonder how does one say this phrase: “Let me know the 411″. Do we say “Let me know the four-one-one” or “Let me know the four-hundred-eleven” or what? Note: I know that 411 is information number, just don’t know how one says it.
9 comments • Posted in Expression
Which one is correct: “I sent a SMS” or “I sent an SMS”? Do we pronounce the letter S, “ess” or what? I also wonder if it is correct to say “I took an Xray photo” or “... a Xray photo”.
13 comments • Posted in Expression
I was under the impression that this is wrong, that you do not say, “no such a thing”, that the proper way is “no such thing as.” But, I recently came across a few instances of this used by professional writers with the article ‘a’. Does this mean you could technically have the article?
6 comments • Posted in Expression
I’ve read this “old gag” in an Interview with Hitchcock and did not have a damn clue what it could be. Can anybody help? Hitch says: “A for ism, B for brooks, C for Ilander, D for dumb, F for vessence, H for pension, I for Novello, J for orange, K f’rancis, L for leather, M fa size, I’ve forgotten what N’s for. O for the wings of dove. P for relief. Q for food. R fuh mo! S for you. T for two. U fa films. V va la France. W. I can’t remember W. X for breakfast. Y for God’s sake. And Z f’r winds.” I actually get the M, P, T and Y. But what are the rest referring to?
14 comments • Posted in Expression
What’s the difference between “irrepresentablity” and “unrepresentablity”? I saw these two in a translation of Jacques Derrida’s and he has a very careful language. So he must meant two different things.
2 comments • Posted in Expression
