English
Contents
To know another language is to have a second soul. - Charlemagne
学习另一种语言就是去拥有第二个灵魂。 - 查理曼大帝
My advice
English is used to communicate, and it's most used for everyday life. It's hard to learn English in a non-english environment. Here is some advice to overcome this.
- Turn the locale of your mobile phone and computer operating system into English.
- Don't miss every one opportunity to learn English. Read the English words in taxi tickets, receipts and instructions leaflets.
- When you run into unknown word, write it down and look it up in a dictionary.
- When you look up a unknown word in a dictionary, make sure you can speak it too, not only know the meaning.
- Buy a English grammar book and look it up when you have time. Recommend: 英语语法大全(Collins Cobuild - English Grammar).
- When you watch movies, turn off the subtitles if it's English speaking or only turn on the English subtitles otherwise.
- Speak English aloud for half a hour everyday.
If you are a programmer like me, I recommend to learn English from your work:
- Read English technical articles instead of translated ones.
- Annotate/Comment your code in English.
- Try to communicate with others in mailing list with English.
- Try to translate good articles.
Notes
- Dear, honey, darling, sugar, sweetie.
- You are my one and only.
- Wear a long face 愁眉苦脸
- You are wearing your sweater inside out.
- I'm still sleepy.
- Go wash your face.
- You better hurry.
- Comb your hair.
- Flush the toilet.
- Clap your hands.
- Bend your knees.
- Don't be so picky.
- I can eat a horse.
- You are on your way.
- It's raining cats and dogs outside. It's raining heavily.
- Don't play with fire.
- Let's make up. 我们和好吧!
- What a mess.
- I ran into her.
- All you can eat.
- You never know. 谁知道呢？
Politically correct (p.c.)
- chairperson (chairman) / spokesperson (spokesman) / businessperson / salesperson / actor (no actress) / nurse / doctor
- flight attendant (waiter/waitress) / firefighter (fireman)
- sanitation engineer (no janitor) / domestic engineer (house wife)
- involuntarily leisured (unemployed)
- African-American (no black or nigger) / Asian-American (no Chink or orientals) / Native American American-Indian (Indian) / Caucasians (no whites)
- pro-life == anit-abortion
- Ms (no Mrs or Miss)
- physically challenged / disabled people / the disabled / the handicapped / people with disabilities
- visually changed / handicapped / impaired (no blind)
- audibly challenged (no deaf)
- mentally challenged (retarded)
- vertically challenged / dwarf / midget
- obese / horizontal gifted
- elderly people / senior citizens / the elderly (no old people)
Euphemism
- lady of the evening (no prostitute or hooker)
- restroom / ladies's room / men's room (bathroom or toilet)
- f*ck == fuck / WTF == What the fuck? / SOB == sun of bitch / pass away == die
- No four-letter words are permitted in this room. (fuck/shit/cock/cunt/piss/twat/etc)
- Oh! Shoot! (shit) / Dang it! (Damn it!)
- Roman hands and Russian fingers (roaming hands and rushing fingers)
Adult
- crush on / run into / go out with / date / love at first sight / wake up to love (热恋)
- hit on / hook up / flirt / slut / one-night stand (一夜情)
- prostitute prostitution hooker (口语妓女) pimp (皮条客) sexual harassment child molestation
- sexual orientation: gay / lesbian (no dyke) / straight / metrosexual (装扮的像同性恋的男人）/ transvestite or drag queen (异装癖) / harmaphrodite (雌雄同体）
- bimbo 胸大无脑的女人 / mimbo 英俊无脑的男人
- relationships: committed / involved / faithful / loyal vs infidelity / cheating
- penis / weenies / cock / dick
- He has a nice package.
- testicles / balls / nuts / He doesn't have the balls to do that.
- vagina / pussy / Don't be a pussy
- breast / boobs / tits / rack / jugs
- public hair
- ass / butt / arse / buns / rump
- ass kicker / kiss my ass / I have to save my ass / Tits and Ass (T&A) 身材玲珑有致，引人侧目的女人 / badass 出色的 / kick-ass 了不起的 / asshole 令人讨厌的家伙 / asswipe 没出息的家伙 / bare ass == nude == naked / pain in the ass (butt) 麻烦的家伙 / dumbass == idiot
- Got your mind out of the gutter.
- ass (butt) crack / cleavage / sleezy
- make out / mess around / fool around / heavy petting
- pervert / swinger / swapping / mile high club (在起飞的飞机卫生间里进行性行为的人的俗称)
- be knocked up 怀孕 / get laid
- hot / gorgeous / knockout / brick shithouse / provocative / seductive
- 1st base: kiss or tongue kiss; 2nd base: roaming hands; 3rd base: rushing fingers; home run: sexual intercourse
Proverb
- 千万别和白痴争论，因为他会把你的智商拉到跟他一个水平，然后用丰富的经验打败你！ Do not argue with an idiot. He will drag you down to his level and beat you with experience.
- Tell me and I forget. Teach me and I remember. Involve me and I learn. -- Benjamin Franklin
- Change is the law of life. And those who look only to the past or present are certain to miss the future. - John F. Kennedy
- Practice Makes Perfect 熟能生巧
- The early bird gets the worm.
- A friend in need is a friend indeed.
- No pain, no gain.
- Better late than never.
- I think these are sour grapes.
- Every little bit helps.
- The grass is always greener on the other side.
- Every dog has his day.
- Don't judge a book by its cover.
- There’s a huge difference between knowing how to do something and actually doing it.
- The sooner, the better. ASAP.
- No news is good news.
- The best way to predict the future is to invent it.
- Rome was not built in a day 罗马不是一日建成的
- All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, All play and no work makes Jack a mere toy.
- Reading makes a full man, conference a ready man, and writing an exact man. -- Francis Bacon 读书使人深沉，谈话使人机敏，而写作使人思想精确。-- 弗朗西斯·培根
- 美德犹如名香，经燃烧或压榨而其香愈烈，盖幸运最能显露恶德而厄运最能显露美德。- 《培根论说文集》
- To be or not to be – that is the question. -- William Shakespeare (Hamlet) 生存还是毁灭？这是个问题。 -- 莎士比亚 （哈姆莱特）
- 幸福的家庭都是相似的，不幸的家庭各有各的不幸（Happy families are all alike; every unhappy family is unhappy in its own way）。 - 列夫·托尔斯泰 《安娜.卡列尼娜》