Highlights of the Korea Bromance Tour 2013

Fri, 10 May 2013
2 min read
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Juxtaposition between a pig/cow and a stone statue.

So Prem Vadiveloo and I took a little bromantic trip around Korea together last weekend.

Well, not around Korea per se; we only managed Seoul and Gyeongju.

Anyway, these are the highlights of our tour:

  1. In Seoul: Calling hotel reception to ask for a kettle, only to be told emphatically, “Kettle is NO!”

  2. In Gyeongju: Asking where to buy shampoo, only to be directed to… a dildo shop. Did they sell shampoo? No.

  3. In Gyeongju: Walking down the road from the dildo shop, chancing upon a place that potentially offers sex services and popping our heads in to take a look, only to be immediately told, “No!” (complete with Ultraman sign).

  4. In Gyeongju: Ordering bibimbap and specifically saying “채식주의자 (chaesigjuuija; vegetarian)” and “No 고기 (gogi; meat)”, only to be given bibimbap with surprise beef – raw and grilled – hiding under the egg. Repeating “chaesigjuuija” while pointing at myself and having the server remove the raw beef and dump it in Prem’s bowl. Attempting to also transfer grilled beef to Prem’s bowl, only for server to insist that I eat the grilled beef… ergo, vegetarian is No?

To clarify, the shampoo was for Prem – not me.

But all in all, a good learning experience in terms of imbibing Korean culture, Korean history, Korean beef and Korean rejection.

Murmurs

Tue, 15 Jan 2013
2 min read
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No Pun Intended

So I was browsing through the National Heart Centre’s (NHC) website the other day to find out how to contact them, when I discovered that their newsletter is called… Murmurs!

How awesome is that?

That is, using the word “murmur” as a pun to refer to both a heart murmur (which is what the NHC specialises in diagnosing and treating), as well as to convey the connotation of communication (which is what the newsletter is intended for).

And if you know me by now, you’d know that meaningful and significant names like these pique my interest; it shows a deeper level of thought and sophistication, which I always appreciate.

(I’ve also had the doob-ious honour of naming some things myself, using the same principles of meaningfulness and significance.)

Another thing I like about the NHC is that it’s part of the SingHealth Group, which, in my humble opinion, has the most coherent corporate branding strategy I’ve come across thus far – check out the logos and the lettering of the hospitals and speciality centres in their stable of medical institutions.

BONUS:

Random but also within the sphere of nice words: did you know that a flock of starlings is called a murmuration?

Not say I want to say: “elderly”

Mon, 14 Jan 2013
3 min read
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Welcome to the third edition of “Not Say I Want To Say”!

I owe all of you a post on this since I was knocked out on Fri after the ‘twin happiness’ of enduring a somewhat painful surgery and discovering that I’d been selected for the Gangwon-Style Immersion Programme.

(BTW please humour me regarding what I “owe”; it’s a psychological thing to motivate me to post at least one article a day, so please harangue me if I don’t update this site daily!)

Today’s “Not Say I Want To Say” word is “elderly”.

Elderly women

Example from a news report:

Two China nationals from a syndicate were arrested by the police on Sunday afternoon for allegedly attempting to cheat these elderly, mostly in their 60s.

 

From “Two men arrested in fake gold ingot scam targeted at elderly”, my emphasis.

How has “elderly” been misused here?
The speaker has used the word “elderly” as though it were a noun. However, the word is only used as an adjective or as a collective noun.

In other words, “elderly” can only be used to modify another noun e.g. the elderly person (where “person” is a noun) or to refer to a group of people in society e.g. the needs of the elderly.

How do we use “elderly” correctly?
Ask yourself: am I referring to one senior citizen or a group of senior citizens?

E.g.

When you need to refer to one senior citizen, use “elderly” as an adjective – not a noun:

 
When you need to refer to a group of senior citizens:

OR

 
Efficiency of non-standard use:
Actually, quite efficient – consider how “family” is used as a noun (e.g. “his family“), a collective noun (e.g. “the role of the family in society today”) and an adjective (e.g. “the family car“).

Potential for adoption:

SOME possibility for adoption. But seriously, you’ll sound like a boor if other English speakers don’t use “elderly” in the same way.

Have a good Monday and don’t let the Monday blues get you down (save that for me and my linguistic fascism)!