randyscc

Hi Everybody, 6/3/2010 1:28 PM

It’s a beautiful day and I am typing this on a bench in Hibiya Park. I hope all of you have the chance to get outside and enjoy the sunshine!

Gotta (got to) explain these two pictures. One is of some Good Luck Poop piggy banks near the Tora san statue. Poop is a child’s word for going to the toilet. If you do a Google search for Number 2 you’ll find it. Some adults use it instead of the other stronger word when they are angry. Can anyone explain to me why they have Good Luck Poop piggy banks?

The second picture is of a mistake (I think) made by this company. I am not sure what they are trying to say but, in English, they are saying Foot Pee! Pee is a kid’s word for urine or the action to urinate. I have no idea what that has to do with feet. Do you???
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Some interesting phrases I’ve heard recently are: fuel thirsty, power hungry, and starving for affection. My new car is fuel thirsty. It uses a lot of gas very quickly. He is power hungry! He wants to have more and more power over people and the country. The cat was starving for affection. The family was always outside and never wanted to play with the cat so it was lonely.
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Here are some easy to confuse words. I may have mentioned this one before. Shirt, skirt She wears a shirt with a skirt. Shirt is pronounced like shi in Itabashi. Skirt is pronounced like ski in sky. Got it?

Next one is: berry vs very. Berry is used in strawberry. Very is harder for many Japanese because of the b vs v problem. Very is used to show intensity or power. I am very hungry.

A couple of tongue twisters:
The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!
Here are a couple of good quotes. As always, anyone that can explain them to me correctly in an email will get a free lesson.
One of the greatest victories you can gain over someone is to beat
him at politeness. - Josh Billings

In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right
thing. The worst thing you can do is nothing. Theodore Roosevelt
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One of my students asked me a difficult question. He asked what were the good points and bad points about Japan vs the United States. Why is that difficult? For him, a business man, it is difficult because the foreign businesspeople he talks to may be very uncomfortable (shy, not know what to say that is polite) because they are not sure what is OK to say and what might make someone angry. For me it is a difficult question because I do not like to apple polish. I am American and, to me, America will always be the best even though she has many bad points. I like Japan but it too has bad points. It is a dangerous question for me because I can never be sure who might get angry or even misunderstand what I say.
Well, I hope you all think to take some pictures if you see any strange or interesting things around Tokyo. If you do, please send them to me.
Take care and have a great day,
Randy Miller RCC
Email: randymiller@randys-cc.com
Blog address to pass to friends: randyscc.journalspace.com
RCC class schedule address: www.randys-cc.com
Email classes available. For information contact me at: randymiller@randys-cc.com
Problems or questions about English or email? Drop me a line.

Tags: foot pee, good luck poop, strange in Tokyo

This entry was posted on Thursday, June 3rd, 2010 at 7:25 am and is filed under RCC. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.