> 每次想起这件事情的时候，总觉得很好笑
> It makes me smile every time it comes into my mind.
"Smile" should be changed to "laugh". These two words have different meanings; not just one means a little facial expression and the other means loud laugh with mouth wide open. You can say
"Every time I think of this, I want to laugh."
or
"Evert time I look back, it makes me laugh."
Wednesday, July 9, 2008
Friday, July 4, 2008
"agree more", but no "believe more"
> These scientists could not believe the two Curies more.
It's easy to cause confusion. In English, we often say "I can't agree more", meaning "I wholeheartedly agree with you". But "I can't believe them more"? Mmmh, I think this author intends to say "absolutely believe them". But in real life, who would say that weird sentence? If you read it too fast, you would even think it was "... any more", which is the opposite.
It appears that, not all verbs can be used in the structure "somebody can't [verb] more..." to mean "[s]he very much [verb]'s...".
It's easy to cause confusion. In English, we often say "I can't agree more", meaning "I wholeheartedly agree with you". But "I can't believe them more"? Mmmh, I think this author intends to say "absolutely believe them". But in real life, who would say that weird sentence? If you read it too fast, you would even think it was "... any more", which is the opposite.
It appears that, not all verbs can be used in the structure "somebody can't [verb] more..." to mean "[s]he very much [verb]'s...".
"scheduled for", not "scheduled at"
Many Chinese say "The meeting is scheduled at 8am July 8.", probably because that's a direct translation from Chinese. But "at" is incorrect unless the schedule was made at 8 o'clock; it should be "for" instead. If you do need an explanation, it's because "at" refers to the time this scheduling action is done, not the time the event being scheduled will happen. So it's reasonable to make this sentence: "After long discussion, at 11pm Sunday night, they scheduled the meeting for 9am Monday." But it may cause some confusion or at least a few seconds' pause if it reads like "After long discussion, they scheduled the meeting at 11pm Sunday night for 9am Monday", although I think it's understandable.
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Pronunciation: 学习英音还是美音好？
> 现在美音很流行，我学美音很吃力，听也听不清楚，英音感觉和上海话
> 像多了，也清楚，可是现在都是学美音的，就怕学了英音还受美音影响，
> 成了mixture。
If you expect to talk to Americans more, practice American pronunciation. If you talk to the British people, practice British. If you don't know, then it doesn't matter. A mixture of pronunciation is perfectly acceptable, as long as you pronounce words clearly. People living in the New England area of the US have a mixed pronunciation. Nobody laughs at them.
> 像多了，也清楚，可是现在都是学美音的，就怕学了英音还受美音影响，
> 成了mixture。
If you expect to talk to Americans more, practice American pronunciation. If you talk to the British people, practice British. If you don't know, then it doesn't matter. A mixture of pronunciation is perfectly acceptable, as long as you pronounce words clearly. People living in the New England area of the US have a mixed pronunciation. Nobody laughs at them.
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Chinglish: "遇到问题" and "meet a problem"
Some Chinese students translate "遇到问题" to "meet a problem". This is not correct. The correct way to say it is "I have a problem", "I had a problem", "this problem happened to me before". Say whatever but avoid "meet", because that's a word for people, as in "I met him on the street". If you have to have an exact match for "遇到", say "encounter", as in "the operations team encountered a serious problem at the time the system went live". But it's too formal for normal use.
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
"in [with] regard to" ,"regarding","concerning", "about"
> Can i use them as a sentences like the followings?
> 1) I have set bunch of ideas as regard the problem.
> 2) With regard to the problem,i have set bunch of ideas.
> 3) I have set bunch of ideas with regard to the problem .
> 4) In respect to the problem, i have set bunch of ideas.
> Are those sentences correct?
There's no difference between these words or phrase ("in regard to" ,"regarding","concerning", "about", and "with regard to"). But it sounds weird when you mix formal words ("with [or in] regard to") with informal words such as "bunch of". And obviously whoever uses formal words should never write "i" when he means "I". Many Chinese and Indians have this horrible yet easily correctable mistake in not using capital letters when they should.
I don't think you can say "bunch of" not following "a"; "a bunch of" is correct but "bunch of" is probably not. "As regards" is heard. I'm not sure if anybody says "as regard".
> 1) I have set bunch of ideas as regard the problem.
> 2) With regard to the problem,i have set bunch of ideas.
> 3) I have set bunch of ideas with regard to the problem .
> 4) In respect to the problem, i have set bunch of ideas.
> Are those sentences correct?
There's no difference between these words or phrase ("in regard to" ,"regarding","concerning", "about", and "with regard to"). But it sounds weird when you mix formal words ("with [or in] regard to") with informal words such as "bunch of". And obviously whoever uses formal words should never write "i" when he means "I". Many Chinese and Indians have this horrible yet easily correctable mistake in not using capital letters when they should.
I don't think you can say "bunch of" not following "a"; "a bunch of" is correct but "bunch of" is probably not. "As regards" is heard. I'm not sure if anybody says "as regard".
No "to" between two verbs
> "Let’s help push the cart across the bridge"
> 能解释下 "Help" and "push" 为什么能并列吗？
Most verbs need "to" to be inserted in front of the verb following it, e.g., "He told me to do it". There're a couple of verbs that don't need the "to", e.g., "He let me do it". And there's one verb that can, but doesn't have to, be followed by "to", and that verb is "help", e.g., "We can help you to finish the job", "We can help you finish the job". In fact, Americans often omit the "to" and I think more and more British do that too now.
In very informal English, people omit "to" after "go", e.g., "Let's go eat", or omit "and", e.g., "Go ahead do it".
> 能解释下 "Help" and "push" 为什么能并列吗？
Most verbs need "to" to be inserted in front of the verb following it, e.g., "He told me to do it". There're a couple of verbs that don't need the "to", e.g., "He let me do it". And there's one verb that can, but doesn't have to, be followed by "to", and that verb is "help", e.g., "We can help you to finish the job", "We can help you finish the job". In fact, Americans often omit the "to" and I think more and more British do that too now.
In very informal English, people omit "to" after "go", e.g., "Let's go eat", or omit "and", e.g., "Go ahead do it".
Don't omit that "that"
> He tried to isolate the germ he thought was causing the disease.
> 我认为 i thought 是插入语，插入语在句中不做任何成分，所以这句话在
> was前是不是缺了一个that 呢？
I agree. The word "that" should not be omitted.
Also see this:
"There're too many people make such mistakes."
Indeed many Chinese say that because it's a direct translation from Chinese. The word "that" (or "who") after "people" should not be omitted. Or just say "Too many people make such mistakes."
> 我认为 i thought 是插入语，插入语在句中不做任何成分，所以这句话在
> was前是不是缺了一个that 呢？
I agree. The word "that" should not be omitted.
Also see this:
"There're too many people make such mistakes."
Indeed many Chinese say that because it's a direct translation from Chinese. The word "that" (or "who") after "people" should not be omitted. Or just say "Too many people make such mistakes."
You deserve it!
> 日常的会话中也常常用到一句“You deserve it!”，这句话是说这是“你应得的”，就是“活该、
> 自作自受”的意思。比如有人老爱脚踏两条船，结果到头来同时被两个女人给甩了，这种人
> 你就可以对他说 You deserve it.
Most of the time I hear people say "You deserve it!" in a positive way, although the negative usage is also heard:
"You're all hardworking people. At the time our company is coming to the end of an unprecedented profitable year, you all will receive an unprecedented bonus, because you all deserve it!"
> 自作自受”的意思。比如有人老爱脚踏两条船，结果到头来同时被两个女人给甩了，这种人
> 你就可以对他说 You deserve it.
Most of the time I hear people say "You deserve it!" in a positive way, although the negative usage is also heard:
"You're all hardworking people. At the time our company is coming to the end of an unprecedented profitable year, you all will receive an unprecedented bonus, because you all deserve it!"
Monday, December 31, 2007
Silly or idiot?
A friend's little girl played with my daughter. Both are about 11 years old. One called the other an idiot and caused some unpleasant reaction. I always thought "silly" would be a word used in joking and "idiot" is clearly used in an offensive context, like "You silly boy!", "That's a f!@#$ idiot!"
I did some research. I agree with the last message in this thread:
groups.google.com/group/alt.english.usage/browse_frm/thread/f404499647463ff8
or directly at
groups.google.com/group/alt.english.usage/msg/9b57d36e96deaba8
I've been reading newsgroups for 10 years. My impression is that "idiot" is often used in flames (argument beyond technical content), but "silly" is not, at least in newsgroups. I remember watching a Japanese movie on the airplane. The teenage girl chased her singer model all the way from Tokyo to New York and back to Tokyo. She finally got his affectionate attention, when she grew up, mentally. In the last scene, the guy ran to the airport seeing her off, from outside the security check-in, calling her. She smiled and said (sounds like) ba-da. The English caption is "You idiot!" The context is clearly not about her resentment against the guy. It's quite the opposite actually. So I think the word "idiot" is very wrong here. I don't know Japanese. But I guess the translation should be something like "You silly boy!"
I did some research. I agree with the last message in this thread:
groups.google.com/group/alt.english.usage/browse_frm/thread/f404499647463ff8
or directly at
groups.google.com/group/alt.english.usage/msg/9b57d36e96deaba8
I've been reading newsgroups for 10 years. My impression is that "idiot" is often used in flames (argument beyond technical content), but "silly" is not, at least in newsgroups. I remember watching a Japanese movie on the airplane. The teenage girl chased her singer model all the way from Tokyo to New York and back to Tokyo. She finally got his affectionate attention, when she grew up, mentally. In the last scene, the guy ran to the airport seeing her off, from outside the security check-in, calling her. She smiled and said (sounds like) ba-da. The English caption is "You idiot!" The context is clearly not about her resentment against the guy. It's quite the opposite actually. So I think the word "idiot" is very wrong here. I don't know Japanese. But I guess the translation should be something like "You silly boy!"
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