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azarashi sushi
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 562
Location: Shinjuku
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 Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 10:03 am Post subject: A penny saved is a penny earned |
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Just a quickie...
I know what the saying means but how would you best explain it to a class of 15 year old girls?
Thanks for any help. |
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PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
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| Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 10:35 am Post subject: Re: A penny saved is a penny earned |
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| azarashi sushi wrote: |
Just a quickie...
I know what the saying means but how would you best explain it to a class of 15 year old girls?
Thanks for any help. |
In Japanese or in English? |
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Glenski
Joined: 15 Jan 2003
Posts: 12844
Location: Hokkaido, JAPAN
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| Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 10:46 am Post subject: |
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| I would tell them that any money you can save (not spend) will make you feel happy to have it. Some people would think it is like getting a paycheck (earning it). |
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Like a Rolling Stone
Joined: 27 Mar 2006
Posts: 872
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| Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 10:52 am Post subject: |
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Wasting money is like not having it in the first place.  If you save it then it is yours.  The money you worked for  |
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Like a Rolling Stone
Joined: 27 Mar 2006
Posts: 872
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| Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 10:55 am Post subject: |
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But how do you explain: "You can have your cake and eat it"? and "No news is good news"?  |
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PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
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| Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 11:09 am Post subject: |
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| Like a Rolling Stone wrote: |
| But how do you explain: "You can have your cake and eat it"? and "No news is good news"? |
Having your cake and eating it (heating it) means to try to have things both ways.
No point worrying about something negative happening until you hear about it first hand and dont assume the worst or jump to hasty conclusions. |
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Like a Rolling Stone
Joined: 27 Mar 2006
Posts: 872
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| Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 11:48 am Post subject: |
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| PAULH wrote: |
Having your cake and eating it (heating it) means to try to have things both ways.
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But if i get a cake and eat it most people do that, no ? No news is good news might mean all news is bad, no? |
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azarashi sushi
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Posts: 562
Location: Shinjuku
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| Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 11:48 am Post subject: |
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| Thanks for the reply Glenski! That explanation sounds good! |
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PAULH
Joined: 28 Jan 2003
Posts: 4672
Location: Western Japan
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| Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 11:54 am Post subject: |
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| Like a Rolling Stone wrote: |
| No news is good news might mean all news is bad, no? |
If you are a glass half-empty, sky-is-falling, pessimistic type of person, yes it could be bad. Most people wait until they have the facts in hand before jumping to conclusions.
A person goes missing and is presumed drowned there is the possibility they may still be found alive and breathing. Wait until the facts are in. |
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Jawful
Joined: 21 May 2006
Posts: 19
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| Posted: Sun May 28, 2006 4:24 pm Post subject: |
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| Like a Rolling Stone wrote: |
| PAULH wrote: |
Having your cake and eating it (heating it) means to try to have things both ways.
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But if i get a cake and eat it most people do that, no ? |
Yes of course, but it's just a phrase to represent having it both ways. Sometimes you use the phrase in the negative "you can't have your cake and eat it too" which makes no sense literally (of course you can eat cake you have), but the point is to understand there are two parts to it and their relationship to each other.
| Quote: |
| No news is good news might mean all news is bad, no? |
Not at all. Logically, the exact opposite doesn't hold true. Knowing something about the state of "no news" gives you absolutely no basis on the state of present news, especially so when thinking about ALL news. So you're left with "all news is bad OR good" as being all you can come to.
Realistically speaking, you know whether the news is good or bad as soon as you hear it, so there's no point debating the truth of such a statement. However, as Paul said, no news being good news is simply a way to keep yourself from going crazy with thoughts of negative possibilities when you have no clue what's going on. |
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Cshannon
Joined: 10 Dec 2004
Posts: 114
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| Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 2:02 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: |
| Yes of course, but it's just a phrase to represent having it both ways. Sometimes you use the phrase in the negative "you can't have your cake and eat it too" which makes no sense literally (of course you can eat cake you have), but the point is to understand there are two parts to it and their relationship to each other |
I always understood it to mean (speaking in the negative) that you can't continue to have your "cake" (i.e. "keep" it) if you decide to eat it. Like a child might really like his fancy-looking birthday cake, but insists on immediatley eating it, but afterward complains, deciding it was better just having the cake itself in the first place. You can either keep/cherish it in itself (just for the material sake of "having it", not wanting to give it up) or you go ahead and eat it (but then it's gone forever). Like a dilemma, maybe it's worth eating, maybe not, but one has to decide one way or the other. Something like that... I think "cake" can also be a metaphor for a sort of status quo situation -- it's about deciding whether acting out an ambition is worth sacrificing/altering that current situation or not.
I think "no news is good news" can be either optimistic or pessimistic depending on the situation, but is usually optimistic because it focusses on the notion of "good news" (the lack of info as a sign that at least nothing bad has happened). Otherwise I think it'd have to just be "news is bad news" or something else that doesn't sound as nice... |
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angrysoba
Joined: 20 Jan 2006
Posts: 446
Location: Kansai, Japan
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| Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 9:04 am Post subject: |
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| Cshannon wrote: |
I always understood it to mean (speaking in the negative) that you can't continue to have your "cake" (i.e. "keep" it) if you decide to eat it. Like a child might really like his fancy-looking birthday cake, but insists on immediatley eating it, but afterward complains, deciding it was better just having the cake itself in the first place. You can either keep/cherish it in itself (just for the material sake of "having it", not wanting to give it up) or you go ahead and eat it (but then it's gone forever). Like a dilemma, maybe it's worth eating, maybe not, but one has to decide one way or the other. Something like that... I think "cake" can also be a metaphor for a sort of status quo situation -- it's about deciding whether acting out an ambition is worth sacrificing/altering that current situation or not.
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I think CShannon gives a good example of the kid's birthday cake. The phrase itself is confusing as chronologically there seems no contradiction in having your cake and eating it.
I think the phrase would be better as expressed as wanting to eat your cake and keep it. |
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Jawful
Joined: 21 May 2006
Posts: 19
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| Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 9:42 am Post subject: |
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| Cshannon wrote: |
| Quote: |
| Yes of course, but it's just a phrase to represent having it both ways. Sometimes you use the phrase in the negative "you can't have your cake and eat it too" which makes no sense literally (of course you can eat cake you have), but the point is to understand there are two parts to it and their relationship to each other |
I always understood it to mean (speaking in the negative) that you can't continue to have your "cake" (i.e. "keep" it) if you decide to eat it. Like a child might really like his fancy-looking birthday cake, but insists on immediatley eating it, but afterward complains, deciding it was better just having the cake itself in the first place. You can either keep/cherish it in itself (just for the material sake of "having it", not wanting to give it up) or you go ahead and eat it (but then it's gone forever). Like a dilemma, maybe it's worth eating, maybe not, but one has to decide one way or the other. Something like that... I think "cake" can also be a metaphor for a sort of status quo situation -- it's about deciding whether acting out an ambition is worth sacrificing/altering that current situation or not. |
I never thought of it like that. That makes sense. Thanks for posting that. |
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canuck
Joined: 11 May 2003
Posts: 1921
Location: Japan
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| Posted: Mon May 29, 2006 12:15 pm Post subject: Re: A penny saved is a penny earned |
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| azarashi sushi wrote: |
What to do with small change...
Just a quickie...
I know what the saying means but how would you best explain it to a class of 15 year old girls? |
Tell them not to worry about it, because mrjohndub has a bad habit of keeping all the 1 and 5 yens coins.
http://www.eslcafe.com/forums/job/viewtopic.php?t=39446  |
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