| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
NathanRahl
Joined: 31 Aug 2006
Posts: 509
|
 Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 4:35 am Post subject: |
 |
|
| Hmm, I must admit I have rarely seen a more pointles thread, no offense intended. |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
|
| Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 6:09 am Post subject: |
|
|
Be'cha no offence intended in fact there ... your threads are so much more meaningful 
And, this one below,
| Quote: |
| Ask non-English Gibson. He knows from idioms. |
Since when have you quit giving those "cheap online lessons", Sir Coward 
Keep it coming you two
and
cheers and beers to all hard working FTs in China  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
sheeba
Joined: 17 Jun 2004
Posts: 1123
|
| Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 9:22 am Post subject: |
|
|
| I hardly see talking about teaching English on an English teachers forum pointless. I've seen loads more pointless than this . |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Henry_Cowell
Joined: 27 May 2005
Posts: 3352
Location: Berkeley
|
| Posted: Fri Dec 01, 2006 5:54 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| englishgibson wrote: |
| Be'cha no offence intended in fact there ... |
Please explain Be'cha. Is this what is normally written as betcha in American slang?
Or is it becak (Indonesian)?
Or is it a type of Chinese tea?
Or is it simply a Czech term? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
|
| Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 6:59 am Post subject: |
|
|
nice to see you back at what you are so good at...forums would be so pointless without your fine contribution on...anyway, sorry to have confused you....i know that reading so many posts on so many forums must be rather tiring for one....and then reading this substandard english 
keep your hard work up, since there is a piece on the end of your tunnel
and
cheers and beers to be'cha, becak, chinese tea, and simple czech terms |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
fox1
Joined: 22 Feb 2005
Posts: 268
|
| Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 10:28 am Post subject: |
|
|
| sheeba wrote: |
| Quote: |
it has sort of well-read, cultured connotations, I would argue.
|
Those office bods that asked me every Monday morning couldn't get past page 3 of the Sun newspaper normally - No not cultured or well read !! It's just quite an everyday saying in England. It's often used in an office environment(well in mine anyway)
You really have to think about the intonation when using it. It makes such a difference. You can ask it in a nosey manner, a manner that says you don't give a hoot what they did, a suggestive manner (chuckling as they say it possible), a straight forward manner, an interested manner - the list goes on . Difficult if not impossible to teach without considering intonation I'd say . The student has to think - Is he suggesting I did something funny, Is he generally interested or not, is he just being polite and so on. |
ta, but I really kinda don't agree with your point. Everything can have a million, suggestive meanings. "How are you doing" can be asked in all sorts of ways. We still teach it. I wouldn't back off from teaching "What did you get up to" JUST because of the notion that it can be suggestive of all sorts of things. Most of the time, for me anyway, it's the straightforward version anyway.
I dunno, I don't think it's a lousy expression at all!
AGAIN, I ask all of you. What would you say, or teach, instead of the typical "What did you do?". JUST in this example...
How was your weekend?
Great!
___________________?
^^It's a typical, everyday convo, I would have thought. "How was your weekend...................................." |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Henry_Cowell
Joined: 27 May 2005
Posts: 3352
Location: Berkeley
|
| Posted: Sat Dec 02, 2006 7:55 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| englishgibson wrote: |
... there is a piece on the end of your tunnel....
|
 
Another example of Czinglish? |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
|
| Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 6:40 am Post subject: |
|
|
 i knew i'd catch you on that "piece" ...i'm glad you're "keeping it up" with your on line teaching...since your poor expertise is unwelcome in real classrooms around the world
Real peace to on line experts
and
cheers and beers to all hard working FTs around the world |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Henry_Cowell
Joined: 27 May 2005
Posts: 3352
Location: Berkeley
|
| Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 8:48 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Czinglish expertise. Yes. That's it. On the grim mainland of China. Highly valued and rewarded in the world of global commerce. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Malsol
Joined: 06 Mar 2006
Posts: 1976
Location: Lanzhou
|
| Posted: Sun Dec 03, 2006 10:00 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Ladies and Gentlemen, and others like Henry, I propose a toast to "Henlish" in honor of Mr. Coward. he he |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Henry_Cowell
Joined: 27 May 2005
Posts: 3352
Location: Berkeley
|
| Posted: Mon Dec 04, 2006 3:19 am Post subject: |
|
|
| Ladies and gentlemen, I introduce my two shadow trolls -- Malsol and englishgibson. They're made for each other. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
englishgibson
Joined: 09 Mar 2005
Posts: 4345
|
| Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:32 am Post subject: |
|
|
Herny, what happened to "non-english gibson" ...anyway, would you not consider yourself for a "troll" (a friendly troll  )... would you be so kind (can you be ) to share your REAL NAME with all forum members?
Peace to trolls, forums user names as well as real names on
and
cheers and beers to our friendly forums
_____________________________________________________________
Scientific Chenglish expertise of Mr. Coward |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
jammish
Joined: 17 Nov 2005
Posts: 1704
|
| Posted: Wed Dec 06, 2006 4:56 am Post subject: |
|
|
| wailing_imam wrote: |
Yes, in GREAT BRITAIN, this is a very common expression.
Two things about the English used in North America that have always puzzled me:
Did you ever see....? Did you ever eat.....?
Use of Do as an auxiliary verb to form Present Perfect.
Lack of adverbs. i.e He dances real good (?) instead of He dances really well.
Americans really don't seem to like well at all.... |
One Americanism that puzzles me is "I could care less".
This is wrong, as, if it is possible for the speaker to care less, he must care at least some amount.
The correct version is the British version "I couldn't care less". This means that it would not be possible in any way, shape or form for him to care less than he already does. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
yamahuh
Joined: 23 Apr 2004
Posts: 1033
Location: Karaoke Hell
|
| Posted: Sat Dec 09, 2006 1:23 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| jammish wrote: |
One Americanism that puzzles me is "I could care less".
This is wrong, as, if it is possible for the speaker to care less, he must care at least some amount.
The correct version is the British version "I couldn't care less". This means that it would not be possible in any way, shape or form for him to care less than he already does. |
Agreed, I hear that one all the time as well and the logic (or lack thereof) always puzzles me.
As for the question posted by the OP I use the phrases:
"What are you up to?" - What are you doing?
"What did you get up to?" - What did you do?
Coincidentally I was even explaining them to one of the Chinese tutors the other day. Don't know if it's correct English but they're phrases that are used and understood by most of my friends in S.W Ontario. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Gregor
Joined: 06 Jan 2005
Posts: 842
Location: Jakarta, Indonesia
|
| Posted: Sun Dec 10, 2006 10:14 am Post subject: |
|
|
I could be pedantic about "I could care less" and explain that it comes from a sarcastic idea of "I could care less, if I was so inclined, but I don't care enough to bother." I'm reasonably sure that's where it came from, but I have to admit that the sarcasm falls flat and the expression comes off as rather nonsensical.
Still, many American's would say "I couldn't care less." The latter is not the American version of the former.
As for the OP's "What did you get up to," I'd say that this is so common as to warrant teaching, as the students are almost sure to encounter it eventually, dealing with Kiwis, Aussies, Brits OR Yanks. Not sure about others, but it would surprise me no end if Chinese people were able to instinctively glean the meaning, and if ANY native English speaker had even momentary difficulty with the expression, even if he had never heard it before.
I teach it when it comes up. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
