Linguistically Speaking III

Is the glass half full or half empty?

Perhaps it is more of a linguistical question than a psychological question...
I mean, one would usually say: "It's half filled with water." You might say it's half empty if it had once been full.

On top of that, this question may only be valid for certain languages... I can't imagine how to phrase it in chinese!
杯子半满还是半空?
半空的!
You are more likely to say: 半杯水 [half a cup of water] "half a cup of air" would be totally weird.

[note: i'm using chinese because that's about the only valid language i can compare english with. my japanese's not worth mentioning. correct me if i'm wrong ^^]

Is the glass half full or half empty?
How about "it's 125ml water and 150cm3 air..."

Piglet and Sow

"What is the meaning of life?" asked the piglet.
The sow thought for a while. "To eat and sleep, my child. To be."

"What is the purpose of life?" asked the piglet.
"To be life for humans," replied the sow. "Food."

"What happens after we become food?" asked the piglet.
"We'll be washed down the sewers," answered the sow simply. "Take comfort, child. At least we know where we're headed. Humans don't."

Hypocrite

O Thou of the treacherous heart,
Wherefore sustain thy acts?
Meaningless & empty,
Thy hands link not to thy heart.

Thou meanst not what thou say,
Thy lips betray thy soul.
Leave! O nocuous weed!
Let those who remain flourish.

Chess

He took a draught from his goblet. "Your turn."

The person sitting at the other end of the table raised his eyebrows. He raised his finger, a slight breeze tugging at the long sleeve of his white toga-like gown, and motioned at one of the pawns on the large globe-like "chess board". The pawn shifted slightly. His gaze returned to his chessmate, draped in black and lying lazily on his cloud chair, looking as if he had not a care in the world. "HERE," he said.

HIs opponent made a swift gesture at one of the pawns. "Hmm. Decision made to make that novel a movie. He smiled. "What are your followers going to do?" He let out a laugh.

"DON'T GET TOO COCKY YET, LUCIFER." he said. "WHAT MY PEOPLE WILL DO, THEY WILL DO IN DUE TIME."

"Whatever you say." Said the devil with a smile. "It's your turn."

Equations

+ - x /

if an apple a day keeps the doctor away,
half an apple a day would...

+ - x /

Linguistically Speaking II

All my life i thought 铁 (tie3) was translated as "metal" in English.

But after watching Chinese shows on TV, i saw that names such as 铁蛋 (tie3 dan4) was translated as "iron egg" (instead of "metal egg"); and 铁沙掌 was translated as "iron sand palm" (instead of "metal sand palm"). I then came to the conclusion that:

铁(tie3)= iron

as for the generic term:

金属(jin1 shu3)= metal

钢(gang1)= steel


If you're born and bred in China, or simply are more versed than me in Chinese, you may not find this an eye-opener at all. In that case, pardon me and read some other post or blog.

Linguistically Speaking I

In Chinese, there is no such word as "yes" or "no".

If someone asks: Have you eaten? [你吃了嗎?]
You will either answer: I have eaten. [我吃了。] or I have not eaten. [我還沒吃。]

If someone asks: Do you have it? [你有沒有﹖]
You will either answer: Have. [有。] or Don't have. [沒有。]

If someone asks: Are you Singaporean? [你是新加玻人嗎﹖]
You will go: (I) am. [(我) 是。] or (I) am not. [(我)不是。]


It seems all the romance languages (languages with latin roots?) have "yes" and "no".

Italian>>
yes: si
no: no

French>>
yes: oui
no: no

(must emphasize on the "seems", my linguistic expertise not quite there yet ><)


Yet, in Japanese:
yes: hai
no: iie


It's all in the roots, i think. Even though Japanese and Chinese both have Chinese characters (kanji) in their script, Japanese, essentially, is of a different linguistic lineage from Chinese.


[correct me if i'm wrong? =)]

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you'll regret not watching it.

Bibliotucker

"READ ME! READ ME!!!" the books on my shelves (and under the bed and inside the cupboard) scream evertime i step into the room.

"Grrrrrrr," i growl. "Take a number and wait patiently, i'll attend to you one by one."

1 = The Resilience Factor: 7 Keys to Finding Your Inner Strength and Overcoming Life's Hurdles (152.32REI)
2 = Shaman King 2
3 = Shaman King 3
4 = Shaman King 4
5 = Shaman King 5
6 = Shaman King 6
7 = Shaman King 7
8 = What Color Is Your Parachute Workbook (Richard Nelson Bolles) (331.7BOL)
9 = The Handmade Book (Angela James) (q686.3JAM)
10= Your Intelligence Makeover: an easy way to learn all you need to know (Edward F. Droge, Jr.) (152.822DRO)
11= How to Draw Manga: Macromedia Flash Techniques, illustrating bishoujo characters (741.5HOW)
12= Your Magickal Name: using astrology, numerology, myth, and meaning to choose the perfect one (813.13VEG)
13= [PENDRAGON] [5] Black Water (D.J. MacHale)
14= [PENDRAGON] [6] The Rivers of Zadaa (D.J. MacHale)
15= Patently Ridiculous: Scuba-diving Dogs, Beerbrellas, Musical Toothpaste, and Other Patented Strokes (608.1ROS)
16= The Tipping Point: how little things can make a big difference (Malcolm Gladwell) (301.151GLA c.2)
17= The Bible (???.??GOD)
18= Saving Fish From Drowning (Amy Tan)
19= Hajime No Ippo: first steps in Japanese (819.956HAJ c.2)
.
.
.

Perhaps i should add a "Speed Reading For Denetics" to the top of the list.

O Namae wa...?

artist + linguist + minstrel = arinstrel
think it pretty sums up everything.
and there's no trace of it on the net, at least, none that yahoo could locate.