ELISA ENGLISH's Blog 英語園地

To expand your imagination and creativity, I thought that it would be fun to post some of the slogans I came up with while answering a Yahoo Knowledge question.

Sometimes, literal translation or word for word translation is not always the best.  It depends on the purpose and where it will be used.  In this case, the asker was creating a Father’s Day brochure for a client and needed to come up with a slogan.  The client asked to use the phrase “上陣不離父子兵”.  The asker wanted to know what the translation of that phrase is to be included in the brochure.  In the brochure, there is also a picture of a father and a son walking together, both wearing jeans and with whips on their hands.

Since the purpose of the slogan is to be used in a Father’s Day brochure, I did not translate the phrase literally or word for word.  This is all about marketing.  To come up with better slogans, you need to know the product.  Since the asker did not describe what the product is, this is the best I can come up with.  It is fun to answer this type of question as it reminded me of the days I attended the Marketing classes (product pricing, branding, consumer behavior, etc).  

Is it summer yet?

It is probably hard to imagine that we still have to turn on the heater in June.  30 degrees Farenheit.  I don’t think that it is so bad.  I do wonder if this is going to extend the season of the swine flu.

歪理, 牽強之詞, 牽強附會, 強詞奪理, 詭辯

Sophism (n.)
Quibble (n. v.)

I am currently reading Kafka’s novels “The Trial” and “The Metamorphosis”.  As you all know that I do not have much spare time, so it is good for me that I still steal some time to read.  I have finally finished reading "The Metamorphosis".  It is a short novel.  I would like to share with you my review of the book.  As I stated earlier, I should, however, choose some light reading materials, which will not hurt my brain too much.  I felt suffocated by the deep thinking and emotional fluctuation.  This novel, though not as heavy as the others I read before, still portrays a depressing scene.   

If you have read Kafka’s novels, you will find loneliness, haunting loneliness, and extreme frustration throughout the whole pages.  The stories are mostly surreal, combining reality with fantasy and with a touch of ironic humor.     

Is it “a 2-hour break”, “2 hours break”, “2 hours’ break” or “a break of 2 hours”?

Let’s look at the following examples:

Past Simple vs. Past Perfect (過去式 vs. 過去完成式)

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Finally, the dog has stopped barking, or has it?  Or do we have to wait until the fat lady sings.  So what has it to do with this article?  It just reflects my current mindset.  Alright, I don’t stay mad all the time.  Like I said earlier, blogging is a way to relieve my tension and frustration.

Anyway,  after a good night’s sleep, what awaits me is a pleasant morning.  As I woke up this morning and looked out to our deck, I scared the pheasant which lives on our deck.  He flew away and landed on our backyard.  A coyote jumped from behind and tried to catch him.  I am glad she missed him.  Wow!  A coyote at our backyard.  That is something.  I know there are plenty of animals living in our backyard, but this is the first time I saw a coyote.  Too bad, I did not have a camera in hand to capture the scene in time.  I hope that the pheasant will still stay in light of the danger.  In addition to the coyote, there are other predators living in our backyard, a red fox and some raccoons.  I don’t know if raccoons will attack pheasants or not. 

My blog

What this blog is and is not.

Usage of Comma (3 of 3)

I.  Use a comma after a participial phrase or an absolute phrase at the beginning of a sentence.

Vulgar-chic style
a style that mixes vulgar with chic