お勧めだ 黄色な雪を 食べないで
Category: Uncategorized
There goes Godzilla…
In one of my Japanese classes I was studying transitivity pairs of verbs: in each pair both verbs have the same basic meaning, but one is transitive and the other is intransitive. (A transitive verb requires an object; an intransitive verb does not.) For example, one of the pairs was 「出す／出る」, which means “take out / go out”: 「ごみを出す」 means “take out the trash”; 「出る」 means “I’m leaving”.
The textbook then described how the meanings would change in the present imperfect tense (the book didn’t call it that; it just called it the 「＋ている」 form). Transitive verbs describe an action, so the present imperfect tense of a transitive verb describes an action in progress; this is a normal use in English. But intransitive verbs describe a change, so the present imperfect tense of a intransitive verb describes a state that is the result of the change. That made sense, and I hope it still does.
But then came the example sentences. They are usually good examples that can be used in normal conversations, so I wasn’t surprised by the intransitive imperfect for “break”: 「このコンピューターは壊れています。」, meaning “this computer is broken”, is a useful phrase. But the corresponding transitive example was 「ゴジラが町を壊しています。」 translated as “There goes Godzilla, destroying the city.”
No-brainer
I’ve just been surprised and amused by an animated picture designed to identify the dominant side of your brain. (I’m not going to post the image here as I cannot find any copyright details for it. You can find it on many websites, including Gizmo Watch and Facebook.) The picture shows a silhouetted dancer spinning, but the direction of spin, clockwise or anticlockwise, depends on your brain.
When I first saw the picture she was spinning clockwise, but when I started to read the text she immediately started spinning anticlockwise! That makes perfect sense now, but it surprised me when it first happened; and it still amuses me every time I repeat it.
The explanation for the change in spin is quite simple: when I first look at the picture the right side of my brain tells me that she is spinning clockwise; but the left side of my brain (and your brain too) is responsible for reading, so when I start reading the left side kicks in and tells me that she is spinning anticlockwise; when I stop reading, she starts spinning clockwise again.
道が長くて、駱駝が遅い
Karen was reading Perl Buzz and noticed that Perl6 on Parrot will be called “Rakudo”, which is a shortened form of “rakudadou” or 駱駝道, the “way of the camel”. But I think that “rokudo”, a shortened form of 六道輪廻, would be a better name; it even has the number 6 (六) at the start.
It’s cold outside
Karen said, “It may actually be colder in the bathroom than it is outside”. Well, it was actually the same temperature in the bathroom as it was outside, and I have just explained to Karen that doors and windows only provide some insulation when they are closed.
My alien ant farm
Karen has discovered the army of ants rampaging through our apartment. I, for one, welcome our new insect overlords.
Death of the Dragon
My pet bearded dragon died this morning. :(
I called him Chow Yun Fat-Boy; Karen called him Spike.
Yesterday he was looking happy and peaceful, sitting on top of a log. He would changed colour depending on his mood, and yesterday evening he was more yellow than usual. I thought that was a good sign.
This morning I noticed that his beard and tail tip were black but his middle was yellow, and that was a combination I had never seen before. His mouth was open, and when I looked more closely I could see that he wasn’t breathing.
I think I’ll go and shed some tears now.