User Comments - Tal

Posted on: Handling Rambunctious Children

Many thanks for the warm welcome old sport. In fact I have discovered that life without Chinese Pod is simply not worth living, (lol), and I am returning to our online classroom to learn and enjoy. Hehe, the price of a subscription is really terribly good value when you think about it.

As for the avatar... well, you know I like to monkey around with it - lol. It may be symbolic... but of what I couldn't tell you.

My greetings and best wishes fly out to all. I missed you.

Posted on: Handling Rambunctious Children

I guess 'rambunctious' is one of those words with an uncertain etymology, for the most time I was actually uncertain whether it could even be considered a real word, rather than an invented one, but then hey what's the difference.

It seems likely to be an alteration of "rumbustious" or even "robustious", neither of which (for me anyway) quite have the onomatopoeic charm of 'rambunctious'.

Posted on: 为 and 为了

I can't find a version of this song by Teresa Carpio. I thought the classic was 王菲.

http://video.baidu.com/p?word=%CE%D2%D4%B8%D2%E2&pos=1&s=3

Posted on: 为 and 为了

Hey fellas. I'm a little uncertain which A word is being referred to here. The Kindle is not made by the annoying company which prefixes every word/product name with a lower case 'i' is it?

Being a gadget-lover manqué (you may remember me as the manqué king - har har) I got myself a Kindle DX from a Chinese company flogging them on Taobao, must have been like a few weeks after it was released. I was pretty chuffed, I felt both iconoclastic delight in the chance to enjoy literature in a non-traditional format and in the idea of being able to collect lots of great books without filling up shelves and shelves with objects I would have to either give away or leave behind the next time I move house.

I was charmed to receive a personal message from the CEO via the built in wireless satellite internet thingy congratulating me on my purpose and telling me all about the great offers and great value being prepared for Kindle users.

So I go to the Kindle store to get some reading material, but... oh dear, all products in the Kindle store are not available if you are in China. Oh well I thought, I can enjoy reading wonderful articles online with the built in internet function. But oh dear, the built in internet function is not available if you are in China! I decide to pen a few choice words of complaint to this particular A-word company, only to be curtly informed: "The Kindle is not intended for China. You may receive a full refund of your purchase price if you return it within the stated period". So now I ask is this particular A-word company not the crummiest bunch of soulless button-pushers ever to garce the planet? Or is it perhaps that China is the crummiest place to live anywhere on earth? Har har har, just kidding.

And I'm now hugely disgruntled to find the screen display on the latest Kindle DX has increased contrast and resolution to the one I bought. Story of my life. Toodle oo!

Posted on: Love Tangle 1: A Suspicious Text Message

I guess I do have my moments! Thanks and welcome.

Posted on: Eating Idioms, Part 1

呵呵, no problem. Thanks for the... er, heads-up.

Posted on: Eating Idioms, Part 1

Oh boy, I'm confused now. Clarification from our native Chinese teachers on this point is unlikely, so that leaves us with real life Chinese friends. For the first time ever I just flat-out asked a Chinese guy the other day, and he gave me an answer which agreed with the lesson content here. (And yet typically the combination of ticklish amusement and squeamishness in his manner made me wonder if he was being completely honest, or if indeed it is simply another example of the apparently unbridgeable gap between western and eastern attitudes in these areas.)

Posted on: Eating Idioms, Part 1

Almost 7 years in China and I only just found out that 'eating doufu' is not a euphemism for cunnilingus. Speaks volumes doesn't it? Thanks for finally setting me right team.

Posted on: Of Soldiers and Military People

Here's a sentence from the tale of 花木兰 I read today which includes another expression for soldier or warrior.

木兰说服了父母，穿上了男人的服装，在国王命令的那一天到了首都，成了一个战士。

Mùlán shuōfúle fùmǔ, chuānshangle nánrén de fúzhuāng, zài guówáng mìnglìng de nà yī tiān dàole shǒudū, chéngle yíge zhànshì.

Posted on: The Various Guises of "Until"

Well as far as I'm concerned Liliana and Jen do a fine job. I can't understand why some people have to whinge about a little light-heartedness and laughter. Surely QW has always been partly about that anyway? And I don't see any need to be gratuitously hurtful, under any circumstances.

Please carry on just as you are Jen and Liliana, don't ever change. And I like the way QW gives us a chance to both consider the "shades of grey" and spend time with the hosts in a funny way. God, there's little enough to laugh about in this world isn't there?