இ 天下第一 No.1

Human(e) Race.. [A few years ago at the Seattle Special Olympics, nice contestants all physically or mentally disabled, assembled at the starting line for the 100-yard dash. At the gun, they all started out, not exactly in a dash, but with relish to run the race to finish and win. All that is except one little boy who stumbled on the asphalt, tumbled over a couple of times, and began to cry. The other eight heard the boy cry. They slowed down and looked back. Then they all turned around and went back..every one of them. One girl with Down's Syndrome bent down and kissed him and said, "This will make it better." Then all nine linked arms and walked together to finish line. Everyone in the stadium stood, and the cheering went on for several minutes. People who were there are still telling the story.]

According to snopes.com this story is partly true. This incident happened in a 1976 track and field event held in Spokane, Washington where one contestant did take a tumble and one or two of the other athletes turned back to help the fallen one not everyone in the event. It would be most ideal to be overwhelmed with compassion to turn back without thinking of going for gold in favour of helping a fallen competitor.  Obviously in this real world, life is never kind and not so rosy because majority would be doing their damnedest to aim for Number One be it sports, finances, games etc.

劍~Jiàn (Sword)

Even way back in ancient China where the Swordsman would fight their very best to take on any challenges no matter what it takes, by hook or by crook to be 天下第一劍 [pinyin]:tiān xià dì yī jiàn. 'sky below number one sword' lit. *sky* represents the sky above and *below* for earth, the Chinese way of describing 'World' connecting 'sky+below'. We can only internalise and relate the sword wielding movies of the olden days with a pinch of salt on how genuine it was to go back in time with those men slinging their swords over their shoulders roaming the streets in search of fame and power. With the sophisticated computer graphics software, its unbelievable to see the sword penetrating through the body which looked so real. Unlike those black & white movies shown in the yesteryears of 60's the puzzled and confused Bananaz will often shoot difficult questions to his poor helpless mama. Eg ~ "How come the sword goes under that bad guy's arm pit who shouted loud then can die one?"& "Why after slashing the men, the sword got no blood on it one?"

 

WhyAskWhy over the years the curious Bananaz, a die-hard fan of swordsman/martial arts movies often baffles over the plot where most filmmakers have something in common. Its just a trivial observation, hopefully the nosey Bananaz is able to stay out of trouble as curiosity killed the cat.

Each time the hero swordsman goes to any restaurant or check-in to Inn how come he has all the money to pay for food, wine and lodging? The wandering swordsman travels without any wrapped around cloth baggage but gets to wear a new set of clothing.

Pants are without pockets and money is in the form of silver nuggets which are tied around the waistband. After all the triple somersaulting, crouching and flying stunts, the silver nuggets are still intact without dropping a single piece. Some movies have improvised slightly with a pouch to contain the silver nuggets secured at the waist band.

Wonder what kind of speed and accuracy for the hero to use his sword to deflect all 20-30 arrows shot at him without being hit by a single arrow? Mama used to say "son Hero must not die one".

The REVENGE factor of 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth' inspires the script writers. More than often its the fighting and killing one another to get hold of the martial arts manual to achieve invincible power or fighting over a reputable heavenly sword or dragon sabre to be crowned the indisputable 天下第一劍 [pinyin]: tiān xià dì yī jiàn 'World Number One Sword'.

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இ Get Down?

Get Down or Get Out?

In the above Humorous Speech Contest, Marianna Pascal, a renowned writer and trainer on communication skills, presented her speech with great enthusiaism and clarity regarding our local varieties of English or rather Chinglish aka Manglish. To the language experts they may have thorns pricking their ear drums when words like 'what lah you' or 'where got' wriggles through their ears. Some how for those seasoned speakers/listeners of Chinglish/Manglish it would be the least disturbing. Just to touch on one point from the video where most Chinese would agree our mom & dad said this umpteenth times since the day we were born ~ 下車 xià chē *pinyin* lit. 'down car' a direct translation for 'get out of the car'. The obvious opposite is上車 shàng chē *pinyin* lit. 'up car' but its very rare to hear 'get up the car' in Chinglish. 上 shàng *up*/下xià *down* were embedded in our thick skull and over the years saying 'get down the car' in English is second nature.

What crosses your mind when you pick up your Shanghai friend/business associate at the airport who has limited vocabulary of English gets into your car, fastened the safety belt and ready to go and then uttered 'open car' and later on the highway raises his voice with 'kill car'?

 開車 kāi chē 'open car' lit. is operate/drive/start a vehicle and not as what you imagine  spanners dismantling the car.  There is no connection to an act of murder with 殺車 sounds like 剎車 *tQ to Kian Fai Koh & SK*  shā chē *pinyin* 'kill car' but to step on the brakes during any emergency. Of course we cannot simply apply a direct translation word for word or homophones but merely used them jokingly like that also can lah.


Interestingly some Chinese words such as 'Kiasu' and 'Kowtow' are borrowed words and accepted in most English Dictionaries .

Kiasu: is a Hokkien word literally means 'fear of losing' and in pinyin 怕输 *pà shū* where 怕pà  means fear/afraid and 输shū means lose.

Definition of kiasu

noun

• a grasping, selfish attitude:I should have gone two hours earlier: the kiasu in me is growing

adjective

• (of a person) very anxious not to miss an opportunity; grasping.

Origin:

from Chinese, 'scared to lose'

source: Oxford Dictionaries


Kowtow: 叩頭 *pinyin* kòutóu where 叩kòu *knock/bow* + 頭tóu *head* which is a traditional greeting especially to a superior involving kneeling and pressing one's forehead to the ground.

Image courtesy of wikipedia

Definition of kowtow

verb

• 1act in an excessively subservient manner: she didn’t have to kowtow to a boss

• 2 historical kneel and touch the ground with the forehead in worship or submission as part of Chinese custom.

noun

historical

• an act of kowtowing as part of Chinese custom.
  
  
  source: Oxford Dictionaries
  
  
  

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இ Cobwebs

It was a great pleasure & pressure at the recent Bloggers Gathering for the very first time with Isaac, Simple Person , SK, Small Kucing, Twilight Man & Suituapui (couple of times already) as most of them were 'complaining' about seeing cobwebs in Bananaz's blog. So sorry folks Bananaz been MIA for quite some time since CNY. Bananaz's blog may be cobwebbed but definitely not abandoned. Surely and slowly will be back pretty soon to beat Twilight Man (TM) before he makes his drastic move. Here is what TM commented ~ "Oh dear, this blog has full of cobwebs in 4 corners! Spiderman wasn't here, was he??Gosh! OMG!!! What is this sticky green slime on the floor in this blog!! Oh no, it is green moss on the floor with lots of fungus and maggots. Help!!!I will be back tomorrow with some detergent and insecticide sprays too."

 BTW Bananaz googled and discovered some spinning information about spider web vz cobweb. The meanings are identical with little or no difference between them as both Spider web and Cobweb refer to the silken threads spun by a spider. The main difference is that, spiders do not live in cobwebs which are no longer in use by the spider that made it. This gives them their thick, gray appearance, dusty and unorganized strands such as those seen in haunted houses. It is believed that the word "cobweb" originates from the Middle English word "coppe" meaning spider, and over the years the word was slurred to become cobweb. In contrast, when you see beautifully designed webs in trees and gardens, this is a spider web which is still in use i.e. clean.

Cobwebbed or Spiderwebbed or Whatever webbed by hook or by crook Bananaz will be right back..;),

 

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