Sunday, July 12, 2009

Tired day & Yes Log? I guess....

Has anyone ever remembered the act which says that working on weekends should be extra paid? I guess not, or there won't be so many poor undergraduate students busying working in the lab with trial and error. I am just one of the poor guys, fighting for the big dream of studying aboard and always harboring the desire of entering the gate of those world-class universities. Too few positions for too many competitors, under which condition all one can do is to try one's best to struggle for the future. That is why when most of us out for the BBQ, poor Kevin has to stay in the lab, tired of everyhing around.
After trying to find a proper theme for the "Yes Log", soon I find that the problem for me is that I even do not know the improper use of the English words, which is, of course, frustrating. Then suddenly one day Charlotte and I wander in the village and saw a cute child----I have to confess that Charlotte has special interest on children, but I don't know why. Maybe she just wishes to marry some handsome guy and has her own child...Just joking-----Then I said:"Oh, it is a small gentleman." While Charlotte answered:"No, you are definitely wrong. You should say, it is a little gentleman." Then our arguement begin. At last I give up my position....To be frank, I also think "a little gentleman" is better....

2 comments:

  1. Ooh, that's a really interesting one. (Don't feel too bad about not knowing what's good or bad English - you just have to recognize when someone corrects you :) Besides, native speakers from different dialect backgrounds would disagree on what's "right" or "wrong" too!)

    In your example, I think I agree with Charlotte... either one sounds okay to me, but Charlotte's phrasing is more common. It's interesting, in some cases "small" has a more negative connotation than "little". This could also be an influence of my mother; whenever she sees something that she thinks is cute, she calls it "little". As in, "Look at that little bird!" or "What a darling little elephant!" or "Isn't he a sweet little man?"

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  2. (Wait, I should clarify. My mother did not influence the entire English language; but she may have influenced my perception of it. :) )

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