Existentially Challenged

This brings to mind a point that was brought up in class, which is that of how expressions are constantly changing, and the trend of using "something-challenged" to describe a certain characteristic. For instance, we can have "vertically challenged" to describe someone who is rather short, "mentally challenged" for someone who does not seem to be very bright.

And now we have "existentially challenged"! To describe someone who's dead. Or having difficulty being or remaining in existence. (http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Existentially_challenged)

And "gangster" is referred to as a member of the non-legal community. But why can't we just say "gangster", for simplicity's sake?

Putting Zing into Teaching

So, what does "zing" mean? Once again, I haven't come across this word before. Perhaps it says a lot about my lexical priming. Haha. Anyway, according to the article, it means "injecting new zest into the education sector".

How does Dictionary.com define "zing"? It says:

zing:
–noun
1. vitality, animation, or zest.
2. a quality or characteristic that excites the interest, enthusiasm, etc.: a tourist town with lots of zing.
3. a sharp singing or whining noise, as of a bullet passing through the air.

I was curious about the origin of the word, and so here it is, also from Dictionary.com:

Word Origin & History
zing
1911, "high pitched sound," 1918, of echoic origin. Slang meaning "energy, zest" is attested from 1918. Zinger "cruel quip" first attested 1970.

What does Merriam-Webster Online say about "zing"?

zing:
1. a shrill humming noise
2. a : an enjoyably exciting or stimulating quality : zest b : a sharply piquant flavor

I had thought "zing" to be something from the Chinese culture. Sounds like something related to Traditional Chinese Medicine. HAHA.

Manthropology: The Study of Ants??

If anthropology is the study of man, then is the study of ants called manthropology? Something interesting. I haven't thought of it before! HAHA.

Couldn't find any results for "manthropology" in Dictionary.com, Longman Web Dictionary, or Merriam-Webster Online. =(

I searched for "manthropology" in Google, and here are the results, among many others:

1. 14 Oct 2009 ... In his book Manthropology: The Science of the Inadequate Modern Male, anthropologist Peter McAllister writes, "As a class we are in fact the ...

2. Booktopia has Manthropology: The Secret Science of Modern Male Inadequacy by Peter McAllister. The ISBN of this book, CD, DVD or cassette is 0733623913 and ...

3. 22 Oct 2009 ... Twitter Trackbacks for Manthropology isn't exactly science « Gender Across Borders [genderacrossborders.com] on Topsy.com ...

4. Manthropology is a book that claims that ancient man was better, faster, stronger and smarter than any man today.

Wow. The word "manthropology" actually does exist! Haha. =)

Would you like a humturduckenan for dinner?

I was really amused by the word "humturduckenan"! Apparently it's a duck stuffed into a chicken, stuffed into a turkey, inhaled by a human.

Do you think there'll be dictionary results for "humturduckenan"?

There are no results in Dictionary.com. Neither are there any in Longman Web Dictionary. None in Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary too. Is it just a word that's been randomly made up?

But I did get some results in Google!

1. 17 Dec 2008 ... Lightning Round. More on Meat Eaters Live a Lie · Vegan.com: Humturduckenan; Brain Worms · Team Vegan Philly Runs Marathon ...

2. 29 May 2009 ... Humturduckenan. A Humturducken is... A Duck stuffed into a Chicken; Stuffed into a Turkey; Inhaled by a Human. You can only get them around ...

3. Sounds yummy...not! Humturduckenan HeeHee A dish best served cold. Karl_db Moderator Username: Karl_db Post Number: 7913 ...

Sounds like a weird dish. Yuck. Haha.

Bloopers

The little boy had heard his grandma wrongly, and combined "blue purse" into "bloopers". This explains why he's looking high and low, when his grandma's blue purse is just on the sofa!

I was thinking, is there such a word as "bloopers"? I haven't come across the word before.

This is from Dictionary.com:

blooper:
1. Informal. an embarrassing mistake, as one spoken over the radio or TV.
2. Radio. a receiving set that generates from its antenna radio-frequency signals that interfere with other nearby receivers.
3. Also, bloop. Baseball.
a. Also called looper. a fly ball that carries just beyond the infield.
b. a pitched ball with backspin, describing a high arc in flight.

This is from Longman Web Dictionary:

blooper:
1. an embarrassing mistake that you make in front of other people [= bloomer British English]
2. a ball in baseball that is high and slow and easy to catch or hit

This is from Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary:

blooper:
/blup(r)/ noun (NAmE) an embarrassing mistake that you make in public

So I guess you can't send someone to look for your bloopers and bring them back for you! =P

Soft Opening

Universal Studios! =D

Saw this advertisement while browsing through the newspapers. I was wondering, what does "soft opening" mean? If there's "soft opening", is there "hard opening" too? Haha.

Dictionary.com didn't have any results when I typed in "soft opening". Neither did Longman Web Dictionary. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary only gave me the entries for "soft".

And so I did a Google search for "soft opening".

I found this! A "Travel Industry Dictionary"! (http://www.travel-industry-dictionary.com/soft-opening.html)

It says that "soft opening" is:

"A period of time when a new hotel, which may not be fully complete, is open for business but has not formally announced its opening. Also used of rides and attractions at theme parks."

Ahh I see.. And so it's used here for the opening of Universal Studios.

I found this on Wikipedia too:

"It is often suggested that an organization not have a Grand Opening the very first day it opens its doors unless that organization is a well established already. Often an organization will have a "soft opening" first. In a "soft opening," the establishment begins to operate without a lot of attention. This allows the organization to become more organized the first few weeks or months before the more publicized Grand Opening, and gives the management and staff a chance to become familiar with the daily operations of their inventory, accounting, and customer service requirements. Once the institution is organized and ready to receive more clients, it will then sponsor a Grand Opening event." (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grand_opening)

This contrasts "Soft Opening" with "Grand Opening", where "Soft Opening" precedes "Grand Opening".

So much for my "hard opening". There probably isn't a term called "hard opening". Haha. =P

Referee vs Umpire

Zoe (the little girl in the comic) probably understands the characteristics of "knowing all the rules" and "making sure that everybody plays fair" as those belonging to a teacher, since she's still attending school at her young age, and the person whom she comes in contact with frequently and who has these characteristics is her teacher.

After reading this comic strip, I realise that perhaps I'm not very sure of the difference between a referee and an umpire too! Haha. And so I go to the dictionary! =P

This is what Dictionary.com says:

referee:
1. one to whom something is referred, esp. for decision or settlement; arbitrator.
2. (in certain games and sports) a judge having functions fixed by the rules of the game or sport; umpire.
3. an authority who evaluates scientific, technical, or scholarly papers, grant proposals, or the like for the publication or funding institution to which they have been submitted.
4. Law. a person selected by a court to take testimony in a case and return it to the court with recommendations as to the decision.

Ehh? So "referee" can mean "umpire" too? (according to Meaning 2 above) But if this is so, why did the dad shout "The umpire!" when the mum said "The referee"?

Let us look at what "umpire" means then, again from Dictionary.com:

umpire:
1. Sports A person appointed to rule on plays, especially in baseball.
2. A person appointed to settle a dispute that mediators have been unable to resolve; an arbitrator. See Synonyms at judge.

Hmm.. This time, "umpire" doesn't have "referee" as one of its meanings. Perhaps "umpire" is used specifically in baseball (according to Meaning 1 above).

Let me check another source! Longman Web Dictionary:

referee:
1. someone who makes sure that the rules of a sport such as football, basketball, or boxing, are followed [↪ umpire]
2. British EnglishBE someone who provides information about you when you are trying to get a job
3. someone who is asked to settle a disagreement
4. someone who judges an article or research idea before it is published or money is provided for it

umpire:
the person who makes sure that the players obey the rules in sports such as tennis, baseball, and cricket [↪ referee]

Oh! I think I see the difference now! "Referee" is used in sports such as football, basketball, and boxing, while "umpire" is used in sports such as tennis, baseball, and cricket! So "umpire" should be used in this particular comic strip.

Hmm.. Every sport/activity has its own set of lexical items. And probably "umpire" is more lexically primed for the dad than for the mum. =)

Your Gateway to Professional Success!

Came across this advertisement while I was browsing through the newspapers. The word "gateway" caught my eye. How would you usually use "gateway"? To me, "gateway" brings to mind an error message that I sometimes see when I try to access a webpage, something like "Bad Gateway". "Gateway" also means a passage, or a path, which gives you access to some other place.

According to Dictionary.com, "gateway" means:

1. An opening or a structure framing an opening, such as an arch, that may be closed by a gate.

2. Something that serves as an entrance or a means of access: a gateway to success; the gateway to the West.

3. Software or hardware that enables communication between computer networks that use different communications protocols. Also called router.


Does "gateway" collocate with "professional success"? Meaning 2 above seems to suggest this collocation.

I looked up "gateway" in Longman Web Dictionary too, and here are the results:

1. [countable] the opening in a fence, wall etc that can be closed by a gate

2. gateway to something
a) a place, especially a city, that you can go through in order to reach another much bigger place:
St. Louis is the gateway to the West.
b) a way of achieving something:
To me a home in the country is a gateway to happiness.

3. [countable] a way of connecting two computer networks

So if you want to use "gateway" as the second meaning above, it can either be in the literal or metaphorical sense. It can refer to either a "gateway" to a specific place, or you can say "gateway to success", "gateway to happiness", and many more. =)

What's a Manicorn?

After reading the comic, I was wondering, what on earth is "manicorn"? I was thinking it might have something to do with "unicorn". "Manicorn" is obviously lexically primed for the two sisters, but not their mother, since their mother appeared puzzled at the word "manicorn". The sisters understand "manicorn" as the elusive, perfect male, and they live near rainbows. Haha.

There were no results for "manicorn" in Dictionary.com. But there are results for "manicorn" in Urban Dictionary! Here are some meanings given:

1. a mythical male creature who is successful (read: pursuing his passion and can pay his electric bills/rent), funny, chivalrous, masculine (read: not chauvinistic), adventurous, artistic (read: not suicidal).

2. The elusive perfect male. He can be found at bars, but not singing karaoke drunk while making out with your best friend. He is sensitive to your needs and is a caring man who will put your needs first. He will talk about feelings with you and will never cheat on you ever.

3. A half-man, half-beast creature, with an unholy horn on his head.

Sounds like the elusive, perfect male? Not really, I guess. Haha. =P

I'm Tired...

What do the words "I'm tired" mean to you?

This brings to mind the Cobweb Theory that we have learnt in class, where words in the mind are linked together in a gigantic multi-dimensional cobweb, in which every item is attached to scores of others, according to Aitchison. This illustrates one of the various theories surrounding the mental lexicon.

For the mum, the words "I'm tired" are associated with the events that have occurred in the day, and the household chores that she has done. However, for the dad, when he says "I'm tired", it just means that he wants to sleep, and he goes to sleep right away. This may be because of the different gender roles played by the mum and the dad. Being a mother, she's worried about her children, and her mind revolves around her household chores and all things related to her children. On the other hand, the dad may have just returned home from a long day's work, he's tired, and he just goes to sleep.

Perhaps this shows that the mental lexicon operates differently for males and females. Haha.

No Touting!

I snapped this picture in a food centre. I was thinking, why aren't we allowed to "tout" in a food centre? Perhaps the word "tout" isn't really lexically primed for me. Haha. And so, I decided to look the word up.

According to Dictionary.com, "touting" means to "solicit business, employment, votes, or the like, importunately". It can also be used in horse racing, "to act as a tout". I guess "tout" refers to the first meaning, in this sense. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary also gave me something similar, "to try to persuade people to buy your goods or services, especially by going to them and asking them directly". Perhaps a food centre is meant for the customers to have their meals in peace, and so others are not allowed to solicit business in a food centre.

Guess what? I found another "No Touting" sign in a food centre too, using Google Images! But I have no idea where this is found. Haha. =)

Running Out The Hose

No, I don't think there's anything seriously wrong with this sign.

But I was just thinking, why is it "running out the hose"? I guess perhaps it refers to the act of rolling out the hose, since the hose must be pretty long. But why "run out", and not "roll out", or something else?

I checked "run out" in Dictionary.com, and the results are below:

run out:

1. to terminate; expire

2. to become used up

3. to drive out; expel

I guess none of the above meanings of "run out" apply in this case. I checked Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary too, and the results are somewhat similar.

Then I typed "running out the hose" in Google, and it gave me these, among many others:

1. running out a length of hose...

2. running out dutch rolled hose...

3. running out the main hose line...

4. open valve before running out hose...

Hmm.. I guess "run out" does collocate with "hose" then. =)

Free Seating

I was wondering, what's a "Free Seating" sign doing here in a food centre? Isn't it universally understood that we can sit at any table that we want at a food centre, without having to be assigned to a table? And so I snapped a picture of it. Haha.

I looked up "free" as an adjective in the Longman Web Dictionary. And wow, there are 19 definitions for "free"! Haha.

free
1. something that is free does not cost you any money
2. not held, tied up, or kept somewhere as a prisoner
3. allowed to do or say whatever you want, or allowed to happen, without being controlled or restricted by anyone or anything
4. if you are free, or have some free time, you have no work, and nothing else that you must do
5. something that is free is available to use because it is not already being used
6. not suffering from something
7. not containing something
8. if something is free of tax, you do not have to pay tax on it
9. used to tell someone that they can do something (feel free)
10. relaxed, friendly, and without many rules (free and easy)
11. someone who lives as they want to rather than in the way that society considers normal (free spirit)
12. to let someone do whatever they want or need to do in a particular situation (give somebody a free hand/rein)
13. used to say that you should not expect to get something good without having to pay for it or make any effort (there's no free lunch)
14. used, usually humorously, to say that you are or should be allowed to do something, after someone has said that you should not do it (it's a free country, British English)
15. to get something without paying for it or working for it, because other people are paying or working for it (get/take a free ride, informal)
16. to be very generous with something (be free with something)
17. to use something that belongs to someone else when you should not (make free with something)
18. something that is free is not held, blocked, or restricted
19. a free chemical substance is not combined with any other substance (technical)

Out of all the 19 definitions, I guess only meanings No. 1 and No. 3 are relevant in this context. Yes, we can also take the sign to mean that we do not have to pay to sit at a table at the food centre. But isn't this "universal knowledge" too? Haha. And yes, the sign can also mean that we have the choice to sit at any table that we want at the food centre. =)

You've Got Mail!

Oops! The comic doesn't seem to be very clear again. Haha. But just click on it for a clearer picture! =)

When the computer told Jason's dad that he'd "got mail", he thought that he had received letters in his mailbox, and so he went out of the house to open his mailbox, but did not find any letters. And so he came back, thinking that the computer had lied to him about receiving new mail, when there weren't any.

The word "mail" is lexically primed for Jason's dad only as letters in the mailbox, and not as email in his inbox. But "mail" is primed for Jason as email, since he was attempting to explain the situation to his dad in the last panel.

I looked "mail" up in Dictionary.com, and found that "email" is listed as one of the meanings too! (Meaning No. 5)

1. letters, packages, etc., that are sent or delivered by means of the postal system: Storms delayed delivery of the mail.
2. a single collection of such letters, packages, etc., as sent or delivered: to open one's mail; to find a bill in the mail; The mail for England was put on the noon plane.
3. Also, mails. the system, usually operated or supervised by the national government, for sending or delivering letters, packages, etc.; postal system: to buy clothes by mail.
4. a train, boat, etc., as a carrier of postal matter.
5. electronic mail; e-mail.

I checked Longman Web Dictionary, and "messages that are sent and received on a computer" is listed as one of the meanings too.

Luckily "mail" is lexically primed for me as email too. Haha. =P

N.E.mation!

Saw this doorknob hanger when I was on the bus on my way to school. The word "N.E.mation" caught my eye, and so I reached up and plucked the doorknob hanger from the bus railing above.

It says "N.E.mation! 4", and "Why I Care about Singapore" below, and so if you look at it, you'll know that it's something to do with National Education, and that "N.E." stands for National Education. If you flip behind, it says that "N.E.mation! 4 is an animation competition for students".

If you say "N.E.mation" fast, linking the "N" and "E" together, and not pronouncing "N" and "E" separately, "N.E.mation" will become "animation"! I find this tagline rather cute and creative. Haha. =)

I did a Google search for "N.E.mation", and all that was churned out was information regarding this particular animation competition. So I guess the word "N.E.mation" is only used exclusively in this case.

Rather creative, ehh? =)

Cooked Food Centre

I saw this sign post at the food centre near my house, and snapped a picture of it! The words "Cooked Food Centre" caught my eye. Of course of course, there's nothing seriously wrong with it. However, on second glance, it occurred to me that "Cooked Food Centre" can have two meanings! The first meaning is that this is a food centre where cooked food is sold. This is when the adjective "cooked" modifies the noun "food", to give "cooked food", and "centre" is added at the back of "cooked food", to mean a food centre where cooked food is sold. It was mentioned in class that "shopping centre" is a quasi-phraseme. So I guess "cooked food centre" is a quasi-phraseme too.

"Cooked Food Centre" can have another meaning too! It can mean a food centre that is cooked. HAHA. But of course, this is not the intended meaning of "Cooked Food Centre". In this case, "food" and "centre" form a compound first, and then the adjective "cooked" modifies the compound "food centre". This would give the meaning of a food centre that is cooked.

If a person is not lexically primed to recognise the words "cooked food" (perhaps the person only eats food that is raw), he/she will not have any idea what "Cooked Food Centre" means.

The phrase "Lock Up Stalls" caught my eye too! I was thinking, what could "Lock Up Stalls" possibly mean? Stalls that are locked up? Then wouldn't it be "Locked-up Stalls" instead? But I seriously have no idea. Haha. =)

Please do not alight when door closing light is on.

Hello everyone! A very Happy New Year to all of you! Hope all of you have had a great New Year! Haha. =)

Oh gosh, I realised that having to create this lexical journal for class has caused me to be constantly looking around, keeping my eyes peeled for potential "targets" to include in my blog! HAHA.

This time, I was on the bus on my way to school, looking around at the various signs inside the bus, in the hope of finding something to include in my blog, and aha! I found something when I was about to alight from the bus!

This sign was pasted on one of the doors at the exit:

"Please do not alight when door closing light is on."

Most of us would have no problems understanding what this sign is trying to convey, from the situation of being about to alight from the bus, and also when we spot the box with the words "DOOR CLOSING" written on it, located just above the doors. But for someone who is not lexically primed, the sign might cause some confusion at first glance. What does "door closing light" mean? The door closing the light? Of course, this sounds hilarious. One way to get rid of the confusion would be to construct the sign as this:

"Please do not alight when 'door closing' light is on." Sounds better?

Another thing that we can point out is the word "on". But this doesn't really pose much of a confusion, since "on" is being used as an adverb over here, meaning "switched on", and not the transitive verb introduced in TCEED2. We can also reword this sign as:

"Please do not alight when 'door closing' light is switched on." Perhaps it sounds cumbersome?

Or how about:

"Please do not alight when 'door closing' light is flashing." Sounds better?

On the whole, this highlights the importance of lexical priming, which we tend to take for granted in our daily lives. We are able to understand the sign, precisely because it is lexically primed for us.

Comfortable and Clean Journeys. Let's Clean Up, Just Bin It.

Caught another interesting thing on the bus!

"Comfortable and Clean Journeys. Let's Clean Up, Just Bin It."

Looks familiar? Saw these words on some sort of a poster on the bus. It's actually part of the "Litter-Free Bus Services" programme by the National Environment Agency (NEA). You can read more about it over here: http://app2.nea.gov.sg/hit_the_road.aspx

Nope, there's nothing terribly strange about these words. But I was just thinking about the word "it" used here. Just bin it. What does "it" refer to? I would suppose "it" here refers to litter. We can also do some inference from the surrounding words. If we want to have comfortable and clean journeys, we have to clean up and bin, what? "Litter", then, would come to mind. This illustrates an instance of collective lexical priming, or the notion of "frames". Here, readers who share similar cultural experiences would, upon seeing these words on a poster on the bus, invoke a clean-and-green context, and understand the poster to be part of a campaign by the NEA to promote a clean environment on the bus, by urging commuters to throw their litter into the dustbin instead of on the bus. And thus, readers would know that "it" here has to refer to litter.

I found the usage of "bin" interesting. "Bin" is used here as a verb instead of as a noun, which as we all know, refers to the dustbin in which we throw our litter. As for me, I'd usually use "bin" as a noun, to refer to the dustbin, but not so much as a verb. I looked up "bin" as a verb in Longman Web Dictionary, and this is what it says:

bin past tense and past participle binned, present participle binning [transitive]
British English informal to throw something away:
Just bin that letter.

So apparently, you can say something like:

I've binned the letter yesterday.

Or

I'm binning the letter now.

Hmmm.. Interesting discovery. =)

I did a Google search for "Just Bin It", and there was actually a photography competition for it! Check it out here: http://www.nea.gov.sg/just_bin_it/

Chelmsford Borough Council (in Britain) also has a "Just Bin It Campaign": http://www.chelmsford.gov.uk/index.cfm?articleid=11457

And East Ayrshire Council (United Kingdom) also has one too: http://www.east-ayrshire.gov.uk/comser/waste/binit.asp

Just Do It. Just Bin It. =)

Smelliotic, anyone?

Oops, I guess you can't really see the full comic strip over here. But do click on it to enlarge it! =)

This is, in my opinion, a rather senseless exchange between Bucky and his owner Rob. Haha. But anyway, I'm intrigued by the new "words" that Bucky has formed. Bucky has combined rude and luddite to form ruddite, dim and stupid into dimpid, and ugly and annoying into ugloying. According to Collins Cobuild English Dictionary (1995), "if you refer to someone as a Luddite, you are criticising them for opposing changes in industrial methods, especially the introduction of new machines and modern methods". I guess Bucky called Rob a luddite because he didn't believe that Bucky has "revolutionised household electricity".

And of course, Google did not have any results for the new "words" ruddite, dimpid and ugloying. I guess the combination is based on phonology, rather than morphology, since Bucky seemed to have combined the first syllable of the first word and the last syllable(s) of the second word to form the new word. Once again, this shows that lexical words are open to the formation of new words. However, can we take two words and simply combine them in this manner to form a new word, for convenience perhaps? Would anyone be able to understand what we are referring to?

And lastly, Rob seemed to have learnt Bucky's way of forming new words. Haha. He came up with a new word too! But there weren't any Google results for smelliotic either. A combination of smelly and idiotic, perhaps? What do you think? Haha.

Could you be suffering from email apnea?

Hello everyone! Welcome to my blog! =)

I saw this interesting phrase while I was browsing through today's The Sunday Times. I guess email apnea has been improvised from the word apnea, or sleep apnea, which is "a period of time during which breathing stops or is markedly reduced, usually during sleep". You can find the full definition here: http://www.medterms.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=2309. We can say that a new compound has been formed, by combining the words email and apnea. We know that lexical words are open-class words, and therefore they welcome the formation of new words and phrases.

This new phrase seems to have retained the meaning of the word apnea, which is that of being a "disease". Using "struck by" in the sentence gives the impression that email apnea is a disease which one can be afflicted with. Also, it appears that the sufferer of email apnea is unaware of his/her condition, as shown in part of the sentence "I didn't know I was struck by email apnea", just like how sufferers of apnea are not aware of their condition, since apnea usually occurs during sleep. I realise that although email apnea is a relatively new phrase, it has somewhat kept the meaning of the original word apnea which it has been derived from.

I did a Google search on email apnea, and found that this concept was coined by a researcher named Linda Stone, who is interested in the relationship between people and technology. You can read an article that she has written, over here: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/linda-stone/just-breathe-building-the_b_85651.html. And oh gosh, who would have thought that simply going through our email inboxes can disrupt our breathing patterns, and may even lead to asthma, depression, obesity, and a host of other stress-related conditions? This is indeed a shocking read. But come to think of it, we can bring in the importance of having knowledge of the context over here. If a person does not know anything about having to plough through endless emails in his/her inbox at work in this present age of information overload, then he/she might find it hard to fully appreciate the meaning of email apnea.

Could you be suffering from email apnea too? Remember to breathe while checking your inbox the next time! Haha.