User Comments - guolan

Posted on: 美国校园枪击案

Thanks, Grambers, for your suggestion on "Absolute power corrupts absolutely". I'd never heard that chengyu, and it's always fun to hear how someone else would express a concept! :)

Yeah, you and I differ on the subject of gun control, and, I suspect, several other subjects as well! That's what makes it fun to leave comments on controversial subjects. :) (Besides, hearing the opinions of someone who completely disagrees with you is often enlightening and informative in and of itself, and helps one better understand one's own underlying assumptions, aside from the fact that it's just fun to debate!)

I agree that I wish there were no guns in the entire world, but since new technology always brings new weapons, and since there are no angels on earth to whom we can entrust policing the common people, that means that a fallible group of people who are quite susceptible to corruption must always be granted the power the police us. And, even if they are good people, the next group or people who take power may not be.

I'm just saying, one group of people cannot be entrusted to be able to hold all the weapons and to remain forever pure and good-intentioned.

The mere fact that the common man has access to weapons keeps the people in power in check; the people in power aren't going to try to seize more power than is reasonable, because they know they can't get away with it. We limit their power, and thus limit how much wrong they can potentially do.

You say, "I'd rather they are held by people who are forced to operate within institutional frameworks, and who are bound and conditioned by those systems to use them in certain, limited ways. "

You use the word "forced", but who here is doing the forcing? We can't always trust the dictates of one's conscience. (You wouldn't want Hitler to be setting the "institutional frameworks" you mention.)

People in power, given the opportunity, easily go astray. So I'd rather them not have control of all the weapons.

Posted on: 美国校园枪击案

The last sentence in the second article discussed reads: “在周五的惨案发生后，奥巴马主要谈到的是悲痛和采取行动的需要，而不都是持有枪支的权利。”

I can't figure out the meaning of the last phrase in this sentence. Does it mean, "and not everything with this issue has to do with the right to have guns"? Or, maybe, "and not everybody has the right to carry guns"?

I guess my biggest problem is I can't figure out what the "都" is referring to.

Posted on: 美国校园枪击案

How can I express "absolute power corrupts absolutely" in Chinese?

我认为，如果只是政府有枪的话，那政府就是得到了绝对的权利。

Posted on: 美国校园枪击案

I can see your point. But, on the other hand, many of my Chinese friends have directly asked me about this very event (since it's been widely covered in China), so I felt this lesson to be very practical and valuable. Since my friends want to talk about this subject, I can immediately put these vocabulary words and phrases to use in real conversations, which means I'll be less likely to forget them in the long run. (On the other hand, not a single friend has brought up the stabbing, and I've only brought it up once.) Also, studying lessons like this helps me to understand how my friends are perceiving foreign events.

Posted on: Windows 8

Interesting that these are more vague in English than in Chinese; you're right. And here I was thinking verb tenses were always more vague in Chinese!

Posted on: Windows 8

Thanks, that makes sense!

Posted on: Sayings vs. Sayings

This was an awesome BST! Maybe my favorite ever.

Question: Does anyone else feel there is a significant cultural difference regarding apologizing between Chinese and Americans?  Am I right that Chinese may sometimes feel awkward and confused when receiving a sincere apology (for what seems too minor of an issue for them) from an American friend, while the American may have expected that the apology would be welcomed and would, in fact, serve to build an even closer connection with his/her Chinese friend?

Posted on: Windows 8

”用过吗？“ 是不是和 “用过了吗” 同样的意思？

Posted on: The Mysterious Metric System (Part 2)

Yeah, RJ, I'm with you on this one. On the plus side, I'm an elementary school teacher, and all curriculum materials now come with both American and metric system measurements listed for everything. It's at least progress from since I was a child.

Bit by bit, we will get there! I give it another 75 years - our children's children, maybe!

Posted on: No Tip?

Most have a extremely low basic wage, but it isn't high enough to compensate them for their work. They are expected to give good service (whether they feel like it or not) in order to earn tips, and people who receive their service are expected to tip fairly (whether they feel like it or not).

Customers know this is part of the cost of their meal out, and they pay it not because they are generous, but simply as payment for services rendered - a higher tip for exceptional service, a lower tip for poor service. They don't leave a tip because they're generous; they leave a tip just like they pay for their food at the grocery store. They are buying a service.

In general, this system works very well. Servers in America tend to be very service-oriented and they make dining a pleasant experience. Customers tend to leave appropriate tips. It's just the occasional stingy person, or people who simply don't understand how the system works, who mess up the system, causing the servers to suffer unjustly.