Vickiepedia » say what? http://vickiepedia.org the personal blog of Vickie Diablos [citation needed] Mon, 08 Mar 2010 02:55:50 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.2 en hourly 1 What Aussies Love http://vickiepedia.org/2009/11/01/what-aussies-love/ http://vickiepedia.org/2009/11/01/what-aussies-love/#comments Sun, 01 Nov 2009 06:02:45 +0000 Vickie http://vickiepedia.org/?p=1429 I just realised that I’ve been in Australia for over 3 years now. Time sure flies and time for reflection. So, random things I notice #1: words and phrases Aussies (or at least Sydneysiders (or at least young Sydneysiders (or at least those around me))) particularly love to say:

  1. I reckon
  2. heaps (of?), e.g. thanks heaps, heaps cool
  3. mate
  4. hey? (used at the end of a statement)

Combining all of the above may or may not sound extremely Australian.

Also, the Middle Eastern people I meet outside Uni are very hostile.
A lot of Caucasians here are also closet and not-so-closet racists.
Australia is also not known for its flies for nothing.

I’m also sweating profusely at the moment but I still can’t help but love this place. What’s up with that?

]]> http://vickiepedia.org/2009/11/01/what-aussies-love/feed/ 13 Vickiepedia is Not Really a Yoghurt http://vickiepedia.org/2009/10/21/vickiepedia-is-not-really-a-yoghurt/ http://vickiepedia.org/2009/10/21/vickiepedia-is-not-really-a-yoghurt/#comments Wed, 21 Oct 2009 09:41:29 +0000 Vickie http://vickiepedia.org/?p=1383 So every now and then I hear this on the TV:

This [programme / break], brought to you by [company name], [tagline / awesome service / things they sell].

e.g. This programme, brought to you by Vickiepedia, delicious yoghurt you won’t forget.

(And by “every now and then” I of course mean every single advertisement break.)
(And of course this is false advertisement.)

But what I’m trying to say is… I thought the subject was “this programme”?

Shouldn’t it be either This programme, brought to you by [company name], [something awesome about [programme]]; or This programme is / was brought to you by [company name], [something awesome about [company name]]?

Someone please enlighten me? English fails me / My English fails me / They fail at English.

UPDATE: This entry has lost a lot of people so here’s a non-moronic version of it:

The (Australian) TV likes to say the following during advertisement breaks:

This programme, brought to you by Google (or whoever the sponsor is), the best search engine in the world (or whatever the company is supposed to sell).

Is that grammatically correct? Why did they say it the way they did? Shouldn’t it be one of these instead?

  1. This programme, brought to you by Google, will be back in 5 seconds.
  2. This programme was brought to you by Google, the best search engine in the world.

Do I make more sense now? Or is it still just me?

]]> http://vickiepedia.org/2009/10/21/vickiepedia-is-not-really-a-yoghurt/feed/ 10 Being Open is Usually Good http://vickiepedia.org/2009/09/28/being-open-is-usually-good/ http://vickiepedia.org/2009/09/28/being-open-is-usually-good/#comments Mon, 28 Sep 2009 04:25:37 +0000 Vickie http://vickiepedia.org/?p=1053 I’ve recently decided that one of my lifelong goals is to be near-native fluent in as many languages as possible before I finally pass on for good, which, on closer inspection, is a rather ill-defined goal. Just how many is “as many as possible”? Have I failed already because my Mum wouldn’t let me learn French when I had the chance 10 years ago? Does “Here lies Vickie Diablos / Who spoke a dozen languages / But still died anyway” really make a cooler epitaph?

Anyhow, when I learn a new language, I like to make myself think in that language before I allow myself to do anything fun. You want to eat? Say it in the new language first. You want to play? Say it in the new language first. You want to pee? … Oh screw it, just go pee.

Yes, I talk to myself a lot.

That night, I’d wanted to watch TV. Easy! They always teach you how to say “watch TV”. Should I spice it up a bit? Yes I should. Adjectives, adverbs, time clause, reason clause… And so I said the full sentences in that mysterious new language. It was grammatically correct and I sounded exactly like an awkward native speaker who had to justify watching TV. Damn am I talented.

“And with that, Vickie,” I thought to myself in English, “you may now open the TV*.”

Wait. No. No. No no no. Noooooooooo.

Perhaps I should work on my sipping seeping sleeping slipping English first…

*In Chinese, most things are opened / open (開). You don’t turn on and off the lights or other electrical appliances; you “open” and “close” them. You don’t attend or hold a meeting; you “open” a meeting. You don’t fire a gun; you “open gun”. Flowers don’t bloom; they “open”.

In case you’re wondering, no, I didn’t let myself watch TV that night.

]]> http://vickiepedia.org/2009/09/28/being-open-is-usually-good/feed/ 10 Syllable for a Syllable http://vickiepedia.org/2009/09/15/syllable-for-a-syllable/ http://vickiepedia.org/2009/09/15/syllable-for-a-syllable/#comments Tue, 15 Sep 2009 08:28:07 +0000 Vickie http://vickiepedia.org/?p=1072 Why hello there you
Did you know that haiku
Three syll’bles, not two?

]]> http://vickiepedia.org/2009/09/15/syllable-for-a-syllable/feed/ 3 Personal Indeed http://vickiepedia.org/2009/06/13/personal-indeed/ http://vickiepedia.org/2009/06/13/personal-indeed/#comments Sat, 13 Jun 2009 03:50:51 +0000 Vickie http://vickiepedia.org/?p=909 Pardon the graininess, but…

oh look, a 'personal' letter from the government

Hi Vickie Diablos, your tax file number will stay the same regardless of your changing circumstances and the misuse of TFNs can result in penalties; but not to worry, this letter is only “personal”.

]]> http://vickiepedia.org/2009/06/13/personal-indeed/feed/ 2 Hello, Dr Freud http://vickiepedia.org/2008/08/17/hello-dr-freud/ http://vickiepedia.org/2008/08/17/hello-dr-freud/#comments Sat, 16 Aug 2008 14:33:17 +0000 Vickie http://vickiepedia.org/?p=295 This would have been the porn entry I mentioned 3 entries, 22 days ago, except lately, something has been troubling me.

Friend #1 sends pictures of Muscovy Ducks to Vickie.

Vickie: How do you tell the ducks apart?
Friend #1: Male ducks have a redder face.
Vickie: Female ducks are cuter than the male dicks.
Vickie: DUCKS

Friend #2 goes online.

Vickie: I’m bored.
Friend #2: Oh.
Vickie: I’m going to sperm your Facebook profile.
Vickie: SPAM

Man, what’s going on with my brain? Erm… Boy, what’s wrong with me? Dude!

ENGLISH, WHY MUST YOU WORK AGAINST ME?!

]]> http://vickiepedia.org/2008/08/17/hello-dr-freud/feed/ 17 English, Me Do Not Like http://vickiepedia.org/2008/06/02/english-me-do-not-like/ http://vickiepedia.org/2008/06/02/english-me-do-not-like/#comments Mon, 02 Jun 2008 03:49:04 +0000 Vickie http://vickiepedia.org/?p=216 Dear Americans!

American English:
“Carefree” means “free from care or anxiety.”
The full stop / period does not belong to the phrase. ILLOGICAL!

British English:
“Carefree” means “free from care or anxiety”.
The full stop / period belongs to the sentence. LOGICAL!

Case in point! … Point… in case?

English makes no sense.

]]> http://vickiepedia.org/2008/06/02/english-me-do-not-like/feed/ 41 Random Thought of the Moment http://vickiepedia.org/2008/03/13/random-thought-of-the-moment/ http://vickiepedia.org/2008/03/13/random-thought-of-the-moment/#comments Thu, 13 Mar 2008 05:39:37 +0000 Vickie http://vickiepedia.org/2008/03/13/random-thought-of-the-moment/ Aussies pronounce the alphabet H as “heych” instead of “eych”. So does it mean that they’d say “an A”, “a B”, “a C”… “a H” ?

]]> http://vickiepedia.org/2008/03/13/random-thought-of-the-moment/feed/ 27 My Utter Close-Mindedness http://vickiepedia.org/2006/11/05/my-utter-close-mindedness/ http://vickiepedia.org/2006/11/05/my-utter-close-mindedness/#comments Sun, 05 Nov 2006 01:38:28 +0000 Vickie http://vickiepedia.org/2006/11/05/my-utter-close-mindedness/ People! Please listen to me! “Definately” is definitely not the proper spelling of definitely; “mispelling” is a misspelling; “alot” is the mistake a lot of people make; you never do something “for awhile” for a while; “could of”, “would of” and “should of” should have been could have, would have and should have; “alright” is not all right; “anyways” should not be used in any way, anyway! Ugh! Separate; grammar; embarrass. Their, thief; believe, receive; quite, quiet… Informality is awesome; but no!

Eh, but who am I, really? *activates self-defence mechanism*

]]> http://vickiepedia.org/2006/11/05/my-utter-close-mindedness/feed/ 52 During BIOS1162 http://vickiepedia.org/2006/07/29/during-bios1162/ http://vickiepedia.org/2006/07/29/during-bios1162/#comments Sat, 29 Jul 2006 02:32:08 +0000 Vickie http://vickiepedia.org/2006/07/29/during-bios1162/

Lecturer: Remember, no sandals or thongs in practical classes. Everything must be covered up.
Vickie (only half paying attention, suddenly alert): But… how do you even know if somebody is wearing a thong?!
Girl next to Vickie: Erm, thong shoes, maybe?

Oh. Ohhhh!

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