ELISA ENGLISH's Blog 英語園地

What is the difference between "is beginning" and "has begun"? 

is beginning => (in present progressive tense: action still in progress, at this very moment) means we are still at the very early stage of an action.  We are starting an action but haven't completely comprehended what this means. 

has begun => (in present perfect tense: actions began in the past, time unspecified, and completed in the recent past or have an effect in the present.) means we are over the very early stage of an action and have started an action.  The action has an impact in the present and we have somewhat comprehended what this means.    

Elisa講解: 用詞差異分析

While the words “jealousy” and “envy” seem to be used interchangeably, there is a difference between "envy" and "jealousy".  Jealousy involves negative emotion (嫉妒), while envy may mean positive (羨慕).

For example:

問題:  King George was considered a mad king.

上面這句話的意思我翻為 「King George被視為暴君或昏君！」

一、這句話是什麼意思？

統計研究方法:  Cross-sectional study (橫斷性研究) vs. longitudinal study (縱貫性研究)

What is a Longitudinal Study vs. a Cross-sectional Study?

Don’t know any better

This phrase means “someone does something bad or stupid because they have not been told or taught that it is wrong”

Today, I would like to talk about the proverb, "Out of sight, out of mind".  There seems to be confusions to some about its definition and usage.  I hope that you will get a better understanding of the proverb after reading this article.   I have also provided several references throughout my article to help you understand the usage of it.     

Out of sight, out of mind

What is a scavenger hunt?  I never realized that you might not know its meaning when I wrote the article: A Bone Scavenger Hunt, until recently when I found out that someone was directed to my article when searching for its meaning.

A scavenger hunt 尋寶遊戲 is a game where teams of players are provided with a list with specific items to be collected and tasks to be completed.  These items are hidden in various areas of a specific location.  Hints are provided to help players locate the items, so it is not like finding a needle in a hay stack.  Whichever team completes gathering the items and performing the tasks from the list first wins the game.  

It is a popular team building activity in the US.  The one I attended last was at Mall of America several years ago.  It is a huge mall if you have visited the place, so it was quite interesting trying to figure out which item was hidden in which store and then to pinpoint out where in the store that item could be located.  One of the tasks I remembered was to mimic the mannequins, which was rather embarrassing. 

Elisa 講解: 詞句解析及翻譯  

Here, rotten little puke is used to describe the sister, indicating that the sister 

is rotten and is like a puke. 

Slam my finger in the door => meaning: When I violently shut the door, I get 

my finger pinched in the door

Elisa’s Translation:

(1) Whatever our differences, we are fellow Americans. And please believe me when I say no association has ever meant more to me than that.

(2) McCain also seemed to go out of his way to step back from one of his and Palin's most pernicious attacks on the young Democrat — the suggestion that he had associated with "terrorists" such as former radical leader William Ayers.

Suicidal patients as experienced by psychiatric nurses in inpatient care.

這篇研究目的是探討精神科護士對於住院治療自殺病人的體驗

The aim of this study was to investigate how psychiatric nurses experience patients with suicidal behavior within an inpatient psychiatric context.

Unfortunately, the way the system works now, only the multi-kabillionaires with strong backing can even get on the ticket, much less win.

不幸的是，在現在(選舉)制度的運作，只有有堅強(財力)後盾的大富豪，才可能進入候選人名單，更不用說想要獲勝。

Someone asked me if you can translate 對號快車 as Limited Express.  This is my comment.

Just by judging from the words, you would think that 對號特快是乘客對號入座, 僅停靠主要車站的列車, and 對號 means 對號入座.  I would say a more accurate usage would be “Limited Express with reserve seating.  It makes more sense to me. 

Cloud computing model - 雲端計算模式

remotely access computers - 進入(存取)遠端的電腦

over the internet= via the internet (透過, 經由互聯網)

A man can do as he wills, but not will as he wills

= A man can do as he wills, but cannot will as he wills.

=> will is used as a verb here.

This is a question I came across at Yahoo Knowledge.  There seems to be some confusion around this and some incorrect concepts being spread.    

Question:

Recently, someone asked what does “heckuva job” mean?

This is the original text.

文法分析 (1) - 現在分詞 - 分詞構句

"It is one of the great, patriotic symbols of our country," Presidential Inaugural Committee spokeswoman Linda Douglass said Friday. "It's a symbol of the American spirit; it's a symbol of unity; it's a symbol of our values. So for all those reasons it's an appropriate place to celebrate an inauguration that is really built around celebrating our common values as a people."

So what does “celebrating our common values as a people” mean by Linda Douglass, US presidential inaugural committee spokeswoman?  What are our common values as a people?