Hey, Hey, Where Are You From?
Today I went swimming after office hour and I stopped by the Circle K, one of that kind of 24/7 convenient store. I bought a shampoo and a bread for breakfast.
I noticed that there was a queue at the cashier but it didn’t bother me because you know, nobody would ever buy monthly groceries in a convenient store. There would be no waiting so long in the queue. Or so I thought.
A second glance told me that the queue in front of me were of Asian tourists. I counted and there would be two transactions before I got the chance to pay but then their friend just cut the line so there were three.
An Australian then came into the store, picked what he needed and waited for his turn. A couple of seconds later, as the Asian girls in front of the cashier boy kept messing with their stuffs (they just couldn’t decide what to buy and what not to buy! Oh boy!), the Australian started shouting:
Hey, hey, where are you from?
I stood still. I knew he intended the question to the Asian group. I was afraid he was going to confront them so I stood still. The group looked at each other until one of them answered with “China”.
What? Canada?
China.
Oh, China. I’m from Australia, Adelaide. I have never got a chance to go to China. There are so many people there.
At this point, I already faced him and smiled because, you know, his last two sentences were quite funny. And that’s when the Australian asked me:
Where are you from?
I live in here. (I live in a convenient store???)
In a village?
Oh, no, nearby.
Bali is a beautiful place.
followed by my “yes” and my awkward smile. Minutes later, the girls still couldn’t decide. There were still 3 transactions-to-be before me (oh, how the cashier boy was so patient!).
They are taking so long, huh?
Yeah.
Then I decided to go to another store BUT NOT before I left a proper something to say. So, I said:
I’m done with this!!
The walkout.
–
Dear Australian guy,
Thank you for showing me things to do to people who sucks at queueing. Instead of cursing them, you have taught me how to start a small talk even with a cliche question. It was scary at first. you have to admit it, with your voice and all. And thank you for your understanding in my grammatically incorrect answer. I promise I’ll practice and practice.
the girl in front of you in the queue,
Catch A Lot Of Fishes, Eh?
Few months ago, I’ve been assigned to an English class at my office, the interactive communication class. It’s fun, no homework, it’s fun. Well, except for the final test. Small talk! Blah! I mean it’s not working for me in my native language, let alone the second language!
Anyway, last weekend I went swimming. After my routine I just played around and at certain point I had this idea to practice diving. When I came up into the surface, I heard:
You catch a lot of fishes there?
followed by my “pardon me?”
You catch a lot of fishes there?
followed by my “I’m sorry?”
You catch a lot of fishes there?
followed by my “Oh!” and my awkward laugh.
The catch-a-lot-of-fish-guy then dived in the pool. His friend, eager to show my poor listening and communication skill, then said to me:
Look! A Whale!
followed by my “eh?”
A whale!
(pointing at his friend)
followed by my “Oh!” and my awkward laugh.
followed by a silent moment.
followed by my attempt to break the ice (because I guess, it’s my turn)
Are you on holiday?
Cliche. Gee..
–
Dear two strangers,
Thank you for the fish and whale lines. I promise I will try to use it to some other strangers.
I should’ve responded you with something like “yeah, enough fish for my dinner” or “what a huge whale there!” or anything else and thank you for bearing the talk with me.
the stranger at the pool,
Basically
The trouble with this word is that in most contexts it is basically unnecessary, as here.
[Bill Bryson]
That was in one of Bill Bryson’s book, Troublesome Words. This book is a kind of dictionary of common mistakes. I thought this could be a dictionary that I could read from back to back, very enjoyable!
–
Be That As It May!
Be that as it may! Rosemary is my idol.
[30 Rock Season 2 Episode 4]
said Liz Lemon to Jack Donaghy, her boss, when Jack pointed out the differences between her and Rosemary will do her no good in her efforts imitating the senior writer that Liz had admired for years because the senior writer was apparently a freak.
Be that as it may, one thing comforts me; I see that one often meets with those whom one never expected to see again;
[Candide, chapter 24]
said Candide to Martin after Martin won the wager to prove whether a couple they saw are truly happy or not. Martin, as pessimist as ever about happiness in this world, challenged the wager to Candide when Candide tried to persuade him that at least the random couple they saw on the street was given a happiness. They then invited the couple to dinner when the couple both told their own story of unfortunate events.
Be that as it may!
Elfira, when her ears listened to what other said but it’s only her ears because her mind was already set and ready to go.
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The Exceptions
This is my third post in Anything About English.
My first post was pointing out one of the exceptions in English language.
The second post. Well..
Few minutes after publishing the second post, I was listening to one of the Grammar Girl’s podcast, episode 204, Is “Got” proper English?
I said:
When it comes to the length of word, the British is the winner.
Mignon Fogarty, in her podcast, said:
If you speak American English, you will use “gotten” …. Users of British English, on the other hand, will say “got”
Hm..
With language, you’ll never know.
:D
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Gray Is A Color
a color or a colour?
favorite or favourite?
honored or honoured?
traveled or travelled?
airplane or aeroplane?
and many more!
It’s the classic UK vs US English spelling.
I used to use whatever come to my head first. It didn’t matter to me as long as it was a real word.
That was before I found something.
When it comes to the length of word, the British is the winner.
Every first word of my example above is the shorter one of two. They all are US spelling style.
I know I cannot depend on this rule alone to detect which word is in which spelling style.
Gray, for example. It’s gray vs grey. Both have 4 letters.
Hm.
From this blog post, I found something that could help me remember:
Gray is a color.
Grey is a *colour*.
Or
grAy is how it’s spelled in America
grEy is how it’s spelled in England
The second one is from grey or gray site.
Besides the explanation, the site also provides 100 most commonly misspelled words.
Now, now..
How can I remember center vs centre?
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The Missing S
The 27 year old man owns a gorgeous four wheel drive.
Owns.
There’s an s already!
Yeah, but..
27 year old man? A gorgeous four wheel drive?
Aren’t they supposed to be 27 years old man and a gorgeous four wheels drive?
Well, no.
Noun phrase that acts as an adjective will lose its plural form.
Not all plural get their s.
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