Random Quote
Don't knock the weather. If it didn't change once in a while, nine out of ten people couldn't start a conversation.
---- Kin Hubbard
To have another language is to possess a second soul.
---- Charlemagne
It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.
---- Franklin D. Roosevelt
We don't know a millionth of one percent about anything.
---- Thomas A. Edison
Study without desire spoils the memory, and it retains nothing that it takes in.
---- Leonardo DaVinci (1452-1519)
The least of learning is done in the classrooms
---- Thomas Merton
The great enemy of clear language is insincerity. When there is a gap between one's real and one's declared aims, one turns as it were instinctively to long words and exhausted idioms, like a cuttlefish spurting out ink.
---- George Orwell
Books to the ceiling,
Books to the sky,
My pile of books is a mile high.
How I love them! How I need them!
I'll have a long beard by the time I read them.
---- Arnold Lobel
It is a paradoxical but profoundly true and important principle of life that the most likely way to reach a goal is to be aiming not at that goal itself but at some more ambitious goal beyond it.
---- Arnold Toynbee
I'll be more enthusiastic about encouraging thinking outside the box when there's evidence of any thinking going on inside it.
---- Terry Pratchett
As an adolescent I aspired to lasting fame, I craved factual certainty, and I thirsted for a meaningful vision of human life - so I became a scientist. This is like becoming an archbishop so you can meet girls.
---- M. Cartmill
Always be wary of any helpful item that weighs less than its operating manual.
---- Terry Pratchett
The voodoo priest and all his powders were as nothing compared to espresso, cappuccino, and mocha, which are stronger than all the religions of the world combined, and perhaps stronger than the human soul itself.
---- Mark Helprin, Memoir from Antproof Case, 1995
Learning is not attained by chance, it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.
---- Abigail Adams (1744 - 1818)
America believes in education: the average professor earns more money in a year than a professional athlete earns in a whole week.
---- Evan Esar
One man alone can be pretty dumb sometimes, but for real bona fide stupidity, there ain't nothin' can beat teamwork.
---- Edward Abbey
I never teach my pupils; I only attempt to provide the conditions in which they can learn.
---- Albert Einstein
Human history becomes more and more a race between education and catastrophe.
---- H. G. Wells
Just because your voice reaches halfway around the world doesn't mean you are wiser than when it reached only to the end of the bar.
---- Edward R. Murrow
Sleep is a symptom of caffeine deprivation.
---- Author Unknown
Man invented language to satisfy his deep need to complain.
---- Lily Tomlin
Good teaching is one-fourth preparation and three-fourths theater.
---- Gail Godwin
Drink coffee! Do stupid things faster!
---- unknown
A university is what a college becomes when the faculty loses interest in students.
---- John Ciardi
Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or your self-confidence.
---- Robert Frost
Capitalization & Pronunciation
What word changes both meaning and pronunciation when capitalized?
The answer is in the extended text. I learned this via twitter, but had to search online to confirm as there was no link provided. After googling the only result I could find is from Yahoo Answers - not the most authorative, but it is the same as the answer provided on twitter. If you have another answer please share.
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What is “MT”?
In class today one of my students asked me what MT is in English? I honestly don’t know the answer to this. I know what MT is, but cannot figure out if there is an equivalent English expression. I ended up telling this student that it is Korean culture and that there is no English equivalent so they are free to use MT in class.
For the unintiated MT is short for Membership Training. MT is done at the university level as well as within companies and usually involves groups of people going out for food and alcohol. The primary purpose is not training of any kind but rather to build up camaraderie and bonding within the group.
Is there an English word for this? if so what is it?
Sean. inscribed these words of wisdom on Thursday Mar 20, 2008 at 01:49 PM
Teaching | Vocabulary |
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Wronglish
Today I was having coffee with a friend and we started talking about Konglish, Japlish, Singlish and got onto how there should be one term to express this for all languages. We ended up with wronglish. Of course to refer to a specific variety of English you could refer to your local variation whatever that may be. I like wronglish better than Engrish which brings up visions of Japanese speakers mangling English. At least with Wronglish it covers everyone from Russians to Germans to Koreans to Japanese.
I did a ghit search and came up with only 903 results so this word is not exactly in common use yet. The number one search result was the Urban Dictionary and the definition is similar but not the same and dates back to 2003:
the language spoken by immigrants who have not bothered to learn the correct english language
everyone who shops at best buy speaks wronglish and i cant understand them
So what exactly is your favorite wronglish word or expression?
Women’s Dictionary
One of my students blogged this video on her blog and I thought I’d share with you. It’s amusing.
Sean. inscribed these words of wisdom on Saturday Sep 15, 2007 at 10:39 AM
About_Language | Vocabulary | Video |
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dictionary reliance
Last Friday night the teachers went out for dinner to start off the new semester. Over the course of dinner teachers of course share stories aboutthier classes and students.There was one particular story that I enjoyed and illustrated that some students rely a little too much on their electronic dictionaries.
Apparently this student was translating the Korean word for blue or auquamarine and using it in the sentence ”I like aquamarine.” However she didn’t use the correct word from the dictionary. instead she chose the definition with a decidedly different meaning. When the teacher checked the dictionary and suggested that the correct translation would be blue or aquamarine the student, an attractive female freshmen, insisted on saying ”I like sodomy”
The moral of the story is that you should not over rely on dictionaries and probably cross reference unfamiliar words. For the record the Korean word is 남색 though it doesn’t list aquamarine as a translation putting in aquamarine returns 남색.
Elmo - Boy or Girl
I’m visiting family in friends in Canada right now. One of our family friends was over and noticed the Tickle Me Elmo doll that my son was playing with. He started to tell me about how the factory that makes them determines if Elmo is a boy or a girl. During the quality control phase the factory gives Elmo two test tickles.
Korean Vocabulary
Readers learning Korean may be interested in 6000 Korean Essential Vocabulary with MP3s.
Sean. inscribed these words of wisdom on Saturday Feb 17, 2007 at 04:32 PM
Public_Service_Announcement | Random_Ramblings | Vocabulary |
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EFNAR
I mentioned in the previous entry that I had a breakfast meeting. In that meeting Jeff, the man I was talking with, mentioned an acronym that he came up with for teaching English. EFNAR - English For No Apparent Reason. Sounds like a lot of different teaching programs I know.
I googled EFNAR and found that no one else has used it in quite this way, though the urban dictionary has an amusing meaning that I was unaware of.
Added a poll, vote and tell us if you are teaching EFNAR.
Sean. inscribed these words of wisdom on Tuesday Nov 14, 2006 at 10:01 AM
Polling_Station | Vocabulary |
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Vocabulary Learning Through Roleplay
Recently I’ve been reading Learning Vocabulary in Another Language by I.S.P. Nation (cambridge australia link) again - was reading this ages ago and didn’t finish. A few days ago there was some material in this book that I wanted to blog, but I didn’t make note of it and cannot find it now.
However today I found an interesting teaching activity that I think would go over very well in class. I’m going to copy directly from the bottom of page 136 to the top of 138.
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Sean. inscribed these words of wisdom on Monday Jun 12, 2006 at 08:23 PM
Teaching | Lesson_Plans | teaching_application | Vocabulary |
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Snarge
The word for today is Snarge which I discovered in this article about planes and birds. Snarge is the remains of a bird after a collision with an airplane.
scientists have dubbed this bloody goo “snarge,” and it is usually all that is left when bird meets plane. Scientists are analyzing snarge DNA to track airplane bird strikes, with the hope of decreasing hazardous collisions.
A quick search of google only brought up 3,660 results (soon to be 3661). Most of the results appear to be for sites talking about this phenomenon, but a number of them are forums with users identity being snarge.
Interestingly enough a couple of results provided alternative definitions and a quick check of Merriam Webster brought up no results. From Word Central
Answers.com defines snarge as a person nobody likes; a total jerkDefinition: to mess things up; to create difficulty
Word History: Invented, 2003.
Sample sentence: The dust storm snarged the windshield of the car.
Vocabulary Acquisition
Recently I’ve been reading Learning Vocabulary in Another Language by I.S.P. Nation (cambridge australia link). I’m currently reading chapter 3 Teaching and Explaining Vocabulary which has a number of very interesting points to make about vocabulary acquisition and classroom applications. The book itself is a little dry, which is why it’s taking me so long to read, but it is very informative.
three processes of acquisition
Nation states that there are three process involved in successful acquisition of vocabulary. These are noticing, retrieval, and creative (generative) use. I will discuss each of these in turn and add my opinions and personal experience where relevant.
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New Words
Oxford Dictionary has added some new words. I’ve quoted some of the words that I like as additions below. It’s interesting to see a couple of words that were added to the dictionary relatively quickly like podcast and wiki. I’d never heard of a podcast before January of this year and wikis to me are only about 3 maybe 4 years old.
On the other end of things I’m surprised that it took so long for fanboy to make to the dictionary - I’ve been using this word at least since the late 80’s. Enjoy the list and a hat tip to Dan Mitchell.
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Snogging
I’m about halfway through the latest Harry Potter book and there are several pages where Ron, Ginny, & Harry are having an argument about who should be snogging with whom and the fact that Ron hasn’t snogged anyone, but just caught his younger sister (Ginny) and a boy in the middle of it. From the context I have figured out what snogging is - clearly deep tongue infested kissing.
What I want to know is whether this is British slang or some new slang that I have never encountered before. Where does snogging come from? what ever happened to terms like, French Kissing, swapping spit, lip lock, mouth to mouth etc…
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Sean. inscribed these words of wisdom on Tuesday Jul 26, 2005 at 09:58 AM
Random_Ramblings | Vocabulary |
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no pun intended
The Big Ho has far too much time on his hands! That is damn funny - if you’re a prude don’t click the link. I was reminded of something by the Big Ho’s entry and have added a personal anecdote in the extended entry
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Sean. inscribed these words of wisdom on Monday Jun 13, 2005 at 08:14 PM
Random_Ramblings | Vocabulary |
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Top Ten Favorite Words (Not in the Dictionary)
Who says lexicographers have no fun? Obviously not the folks at Merriam Webster (this bloggers online dictionary of choice). Check out their What’s Your Favorite Word (That’s Not in the Dictionary)? I’m thinking I should submit my favorite neoligism that I coined: technotard.
- ginormous (adj): bigger than gigantic and bigger than enormous
- confuzzled (adj): confused and puzzled at the same time
- woot (interj): an exclamation of joy or excitement
- chillax (v): chill out/relax, hang out with friends
- cognitive displaysia (n): the feeling you have before you even leave the house that you are going to forget something and not remember it until you’re on the highway
- gription (n): the purchase gained by friction: “My car needs new tires because the old ones have lost their gription.”
- phonecrastinate (v): to put off answering the phone until caller ID displays the incoming name and number
- slickery (adj): having a surface that is wet and icy
- snirt (n): snow that is dirty, often seen by the side of roads and parking lots that have been plowed
- lingweenie (n): a person incapable of producing neologisms
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Sean. inscribed these words of wisdom on Monday Jun 13, 2005 at 07:42 AM
useful_web_sites | Polling_Station | Vocabulary |
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Phimosis
It’s interesting the words you come across when reading other blogs that occaisionally use non-english words. The Korean word 포경 (po kyung) in the context of The Marmots post means one of two things according to the dictionary. Once you click the lnk provided it is clear that it has something to do with whales and one of the definitions is whaling. The other definition is phimosis.
I truly hope that no one here is muzzled, but if you are please don’t share.Phimosis is a medical condition in which the foreskin of the penis of an uncircumcised male cannot be fully retracted. Phimosis is a Greek term meaning muzzled.
Odium
I recently re-instated three different word-a-day links on the sidebar and one of the words for today is interesting to me. Odium
odium \OH-dee-uhm\, noun:1. Intense hatred or dislike; loathing; abhorrence.
2. The state or fact of being intensely hated as the result of some despicable action.
3. Disgrace or discredit attaching to something hated or repugnant.
Even with the definition and the example sentences provided, I’m having trouble coming up with my own sentence. I really want to because I think that this would be a great word to use. There must be some way to use this to insult someone and they wouldn’t know you had insulted them.
Manpanion
I was just watching Jay Leno when he talked about a new term for gay lovers, manpanion. Knowing how out of touch I am with popular culture in North America, I was a little curious as to how popular a word needs to be before making it onto Leno. Only 7 ghits. Has anyone else heard this term?
Penis-Glove
update
Korea Herald articles expire quickly but this article should be avaible for some time. Asia News Analysis
Via Lost Nomad an article in the Korea Herald about condoms.
I’m not so sure that testicle coat deserves to win. Honey, when you go to the store don’t forget to pick up a pack of testicle coats, Um.. yeah.Besides launching with the television commercial and other ads, the organization, together with the health authorities, is planning to replace the English term ‘condom,’ which many Koreans are reluctant to use, with a Korean word having a more positive connotation.
It invited the public to submit ideas and received more than 18,000 submissions, such as “gochu-jang-gab,” (penis-glove), “ttol-ee-ot” (testicle coat), and “jikim-ee” (safeguard).
Well it’s not every day that a country has a contest to choose a replacement word for one borrowed from another language and even less so a word of such conversational import. Suggestions anyone?
Sean. inscribed these words of wisdom on Tuesday Nov 2, 2004 at 12:11 PM
About_Language | Vocabulary |
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