Poor Charlie Brown. Nothing ever goes right for him.
Monthly Archives: March 2010
Dick Dastardly ★★
Dick Dastardly is a popular cartoon character who appeared in various animated series by Hanna-Barbera Productions. Dastardly’s most famous appearances are main character in the series Wacky Races and its spin-off Dastardly and Muttley in Their Flying Machines. He is a caricature of the English actor Terry-Thomas. The character was voiced originally by Paul Winchell, and currently by Jim Cummings.
spin-off:
1〘商業〙スピンオフ：会社の一部門を分離独立させること
2（またspínòff）波及したもの；（予期せぬ）副産物, 派生企画, テレビ映画などの派生商品.
caricature:
1 カリカチュア, 風刺漫画, 戯画, 風刺文；Ｕ戯画化［法］
a bold ［a harsh］ caricature｜大胆な［手きびしい］戯画
make a caricature of a politician｜ある政治家を戯画化する
Vocab Building – Big ★
Japan’s Self-Defense Forces are now providing post-earthquake humanitarian and reconstruction aid in Haiti. The relief supplies and equipment for the operation were transported from Narita to Santo Domingo aboard the world’s largest freighter aircraft, the one and only Antonov An-225. Here are the photos of the aircraft. It is amazing something this huge can stay in the air. The Wright brothers would never have dreamed it could happen. (Many thanks to Kumiko S. for sharing this with me.)
There are many words in English which mean big and here are some of them:
sizable, substantial, great, huge, immense, enormous, extensive, colossal, massive, mammoth, vast, tremendous, gigantic, giant, monumental, mighty, gargantuan, elephantine, titanic, mountainous; towering, tall, high, lofty; outsize, oversized; goodly; capacious, voluminous, spacious; king-sized, man-size, family-sized, economy-sized; jumbo, whopping, mega, humongous, monster, astronomical, ginormous; commodious.
大きい・大きな
1 〔物のかさがある〕big, large; 〔背が高い〕tall; 〔かさの大きい〕bulky
大きい人［町］｜a big person [town]
大きい建物｜a large building
大きいサイズの婦人服｜a large-size
[｟米国用法｠queen-sized] dress (▼｟米国用法｠男物は king-sized)
息子は父親よりも大きい｜The son is taller [bigger] than his father.
大きい包み｜a bulky package
とてつもなく大きい部屋｜[a huge / an enormous] room
でっかい
huge, gigantic
でっかいステーキを食べた｜I ate a gigantic steak.
ばかでっかい象｜a whopping great elephant / a monster of an elephant
でっかい男｜a giant of a man
でっかい家｜a huge house
ばかでかい【馬鹿でかい】
ばかでかい足｜unusually big feet
ばかでかい建物｜a [tremendously big / ｟米俗｠humongous] building
巨大な
huge; enormous; gigantic
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Speak! English Salon/スピーク英会話サロン
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福岡市中央区大名１－１２－３６
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The Oatmeal – Semicolon ★★
Japan Times – Phrase 77 ★★
Japan Times の『これで英語が通じた！思ったことがズバリ言えるフレーズ」からふだん、会話でよく使う短い言葉。いざ英語で言うとなると…
■今週のフレーズ – 77
I guessed wrong.
ヤマが外れた
A: I guessed wrong. Egawa is starting.
B: The manager’s been using Egawa on three days’ rest.
A: ヤマが外れた。先発投手は江川だ。
B: 監督は中３日で江川を使ってきたね。
I was wrong. も同じ意味。反対は I was right./I guessed right. である。
相手に予測してほしいときは、Take a guess./Guess. と言う。これらは、
自分が答えがわかっている場合に使う。答えを知らない場合は、
What’s your guess?（君はどう思う？）となる。
_______________________________________
Speak! English Salon/スピーク英会話サロン
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福岡市中央区大名１－１２－３６
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Hawaiian English
Recently I’ve been listening a lot to KINE 105 FM, a radio station from Honolulu, Hawaii. It offers a selection of both old and new Hawaiian songs, as well as information about what’s going on. When you listen to it, you can almost imagine that you are actually in Hawaii. (Sadly, I’m not.)
Anyways, the more I listen to KINE, the more I pick up Hawaiian words which I understand from the context. This reinforces why it’s so important for language learners to expose themselves to the language they are learning. If you study English, then try to listen to English as often as possible. With the Internet, there are no longer any excuses!
Some of the Hawaiian words and phrases I’ve picked up:
Aloha Kakahiaka – Good Morning
Aloha Auina La – Good Afternoon
Aloha Ahiahi – Good Evening
Aloha au ia ‘oe – I love you
Kala mai ia’u – Excuse me
Mahalo – Thank you
‘A’ole pilikia – You’re welcome / No problem
A hui hou – Till we meet again
Pehea ‘oe? – How are you?
Maika’i no au – I am fine
‘O ia mau no – Same as usual
‘A’ole – No
‘Ae – Yes
Pupule – Crazy
Hau’oli La Hanau – Happy Birthday
Hau’oli Makahiki Hou – Happy New Year
Mele Kalikimaka – Merry Christmas
Keiki – Child
Pili loco – Local places
Ohana – Family, relatives
Aloha – Love, compassion, affection, etc.
And here’s a good resource for Hawaiian-English dictionaries.
Caide Sin Do’n Te Sin
More sights and sounds from the Emerald Isle. I hope you enjoy it.
Note:
Emerald Isle: エメラルド島：アイルランド(Ireland)の異名
Irish Trad – Dervish
The folk music of Ireland (also known as Irish Trad) is the generic term for music that has been created in various genres on the entire island of Ireland, North and South of the Border. Dervish is a traditional Irish music group from County Sligo, Ireland, formed in 1989 by Liam Kelly, Shane Mitchell, Martin McGinley, Brian McDonagh and Michael Holmes. The band was originally formed to record an album of local music which was later released as “The Boys of Sligo”. They later formed Dervish.
An Irish Toast ★★
May you always have
Walls for the winds,
A roof for the rain,
Tea beside the fire,
Laughter to cheer you,
Those you love near you,
And all your heart might desire!
And may you be in
Heaven a half hour before the
Devil knows you’re dead!
Note:
toast:
1 祝杯, 乾杯；乾杯の辞［あいさつ］; 乾杯の呼びかけ［音頭］
propose a toast｜乾杯を呼びかける
have ［raise］ a champagne toast｜シャンペンで祝杯をする［あげる］
drink ［make］ a toast to a person｜人のために乾杯する［乾杯の音頭をとる］
2 祝杯［乾杯］の対象となる人［物, 行事］；絶賛［もてはや］される人物, 人気者, 花形；評判の美人.
Japan Times – Phrase 76 ★★
Japan Times の『これで英語が通じた！思ったことがズバリ言えるフレーズ」からふだん、会話でよく使う短い言葉。いざ英語で言うとなると…
■今週のフレーズ – 76
I must be losing my mind
気が変になってきた
A: I must be losing my mind: I just put salt in my coffee.
B: Relax. It’ll be summer vacation soon.
A: 気が変になってきた。コーヒーに塩を入れちゃった。
B: 落ち着けよ。もうすぐ夏休みじゃないか。
精神状態が不安定で不可解なことをしてしまったとき、その言いわけとして
使われる言葉。I think I’m losing my mind. や I think I’m going crazy.
は、不安定な精神状態を表す言葉。
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★ためにならない日本語ブログ↓↓↓
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