Idioms Gallery

飛行汽車 flying car 비행자동차 空飛ぶ車

2010-07-04T20:00:00.001-07:00

Simplified, 飞行汽车
Chinese: 飛行 (flight) 汽 (gas) 車 (car) = flying car
Japanese: 空 (sky) 飛ぶ (fly) 車 (car) = sky flying car
Korean: 비행 (flight) 자동 (auto) 차 (car) = flying car

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's a flying car. Terrafugia has been working on its Transition flying car for a few years and now it's ready for takeoff.

- Automobile Magazine

graphic Terrafugia

***
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獨立日 Independence Day 독립 기념일 独立記念日

2010-07-04T00:01:00.000-07:00

獨 (single) 立 (stand) 日 (day)
Chinese: 獨立 (independence) 日 (day)
Simplified Chinese: 独立日
Japanese: 独立 (independence) 記念 (commemoration) 日 (day)
Korean: 독립 (independence) 기념 (commemoration) 일 (day)

Happy Independence Day to the 74% of you who actually know what it is you're celebrating (and to the other 26%, too).

- The Huffington Post

photo by Sharon Hahn Darlin

小中庭 small courtyard <작은 안마당>

2010-07-01T22:03:00.000-07:00

小 (small) 中 (middle) 庭 (yard)

To make the small house feel as spacious as possible, Simone Carena created a U-shaped floor plan that allows the kitchen and living room to look out onto a courtyard.
...

The house is full of concealed storage and clever design ideas. A window cut into the courtyard floor and framed with mirrors brings light into the cellar room below and offers a “kaleidoscopic view” of the architecture, Mr. Carena said. A tiny terrace set on top of the kitchen offers the couple and their 1-year-old son, Felice, a place to enjoy the view of Mount Inwang during the summer.

- In Seoul, a Traditional House With Modern Style, by Gisela Williams, The New York Times

photo Marcel Lam for The New York Times

玩具總動員 Toy Story

2010-06-29T22:54:00.000-07:00

Simplified, 玩具总动员
玩具 (toy) 總動員 (assembly)
玩 (play) 具 (tool) 總 (total) 動 (mobilize) 員 (member)

The two earlier Toy Story films tackled the same themes of impermanence, rejection and loss of innocence but they always pulled back before things got maudlin. No character could get too far into a heartstring-tugging speech about the tragic futility of the toy’s lot before Mr Potato Head, world-weary cynic of the playroom, would silence them with some brutally crushing remark. I don’t know what’s got into him in the new film but someone has obviously put his mouth back on in the wrong place. This time, presumably because this is supposed to be the last in the series, the film’s creators have let the emotions all hang out.

- What is it about Toy Story 3 that makes grown men cry? By Tom Leonard in New York, The Daily Telegraph

另一個超級大國 the other superpower

2010-06-28T08:58:00.000-07:00

另 (another) 一 (1) 個 (unit) 超 (super) 級 (grade) 大 (big) 國 (nation)
Simplified, 另一个超级大国

China has barged back into the ranks of the great powers in science. With the brashness of a teenager, in some cases literally, China's scientists and inventors are driving a resurgence in potentially world-changing research.

A decade ago, no one considered China a scientific competitor. Its best and brightest agreed and fled China in a massive brain drain to university research labs at Harvard, Stanford and MIT.

But over the past five years, Western-educated scientists and gutsy entrepreneurs have conducted a rearguard action, battling China's hidebound bureaucracy to establish research institutes and companies. Those have lured home scores of Western-trained Chinese researchers dedicated to transforming the People's Republic of China into a scientific superpower.

"They have grown so fast and so suddenly that people are still skeptical," said Rasmus Nielsen, a geneticist at the University of California at Berkeley who collaborates with Chinese counterparts. "But we should get used to it. There is competition from China now, and it's really quite drastic how things have changed."

- THE OTHER SUPERPOWER, China pushing the envelope on science, and sometimes ethics, The Washington Post

photo, Shanghai Science and Technology Museum, by Vincent Yeh

世界盃十六強 World Cup Round of 16

2010-06-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

世界 (world) 盃 (cup) 十 (10) 六 (6) 強 (power)
Simplified, 世界杯十六强

26 June – Port Elizabeth

Uruguay

2 July – Johannesburg

Korea Republic

Uruguaypen.) (

1 (4)

26 June – Rustenburg

Ghana

1 (2)

United States

6 July – Cape Town

Ghana (a.e.t.)

Uruguay

28 June – Durban

Netherlands

2 July – Port Elizabeth

Slovakia

Netherlands

28 June – Johannesburg

Brazil

Brazil

11 July – Johannesburg

Chile

Netherlands

27 June – Johannesburg

Spain

Argentina

3 July – Cape Town

Mexico

Argentina

27 June – Bloemfontein

Germany

7 July – Durban

England

Germany

29 June – Pretoria

Spain

Third place

Paraguaypen.) (

0 (5)

3 July – Johannesburg

10 July – Port Elizabeth

Japan

0 (3)

Paraguay

Uruguay

29 June – Cape Town

Spain

Germany

Spain

Portugal

(2010 FIFA World Cup, Wikipedia)

選舉結果 election results

2010-06-09T11:42:00.000-07:00

選舉 (election) 結果 (result)
選 (pick) 舉 (raise) 結 (bear) 果 (fruit)
Simplified, 选举结果

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Carly Fiorina, fresh off her historic primary win in California Tuesday, isn't wasting any time hitting the campaign trail -- or Democrat Barbara Boxer.

Appearing this morning on KTVU Channel 2 in Oakland, the former Hewlett Packard CEO launched into Boxer, who last night accused Fiorina of creating jobs "in China, in India, in Europe,'' but not in California.

"Boxer actually thinks you create jobs by passing bills in the U.S. Senate,'' Fiorina said. "You create jobs by creating the conditions by which businesses can flourish...that's why you couldn't build Hewlett Packard in California today..innovators and entrepreneurs are leaving."

She said Boxer's support of "higher taxes, higher debt, thicker regulations...are driving businesses and jobs and families of all size out of this state."

- The Epic Battle Begins: Carly tells KTVU Boxer is "driving businesses out" of California, SFGate (San Francisco Chronicle)

基因拼接 gene splice/splicing

2010-06-04T21:58:00.000-07:00

基因 (gene) 拼接 (splice)
基 (foundation) 因 (cause) 拼 (link) 接 (connect)

A good horror flick always does metaphoric battle with our interior demons, and Splice summons them in impressive numbers. On the surface, it’s a classic Frankenstein’s monster tale, albeit ramped up to a modern lab and outfitted with the latest in biotechnology. Yet below that, in a vast sub-layer of twisted psychology, there’s a whole lot going on. Perhaps too much – this is one of those genre films that really wants to show off some smarts, to set itself above the common beast, but that cerebral badge sometimes seems a bit ponderous and, in a realm where the visceral rules, a little counterproductive. Then again, in these summer days of brain-dead blockbusters, why complain?

- Review of movie SPLICE, by Rick Groen, The Globe and Mail

催眠曲 lullaby

2010-06-04T20:34:00.000-07:00

催 (hasten) 眠 (sleep) 曲 (song), Simplified, 摇篮曲

Sleep little one go to sleep
Mother is here by thy bed
Sleep little one go to sleep
Rest on thy pillow thy head
The world is silent and still
The moon shines bright on the hill
And creeps past thy windowsill
Sleep little one go to sleep
Oh sleep, go to sleep

Sleep little one go to sleep
So peaceful the birds and the sheep
Quiet are meadow and trees
Even the buzz of the bees
The silvery moonbeams so bright
Down through the window give light
O'er you the moonbeams will creep
Sleep little one go to sleep
Good night, good night

Sleep little one go to sleep
Mother is here by thy bed
Sleep little one go to sleep
Rest on thy pillow thy head
The world is silent and still
The moon shines bright on the hill
And creeps past thy windowsill
Sleep little one go to sleep
Oh sleep, go to sleep

lullaby, by Bernhard Flies
("Mozart's lullaby")

image musicnotes.com

民營企業 private enterprise

2010-06-04T15:44:00.000-07:00

民營 (private) 企業 (enterprise)
民 (people) 營 (manage) 企 (plan) 業 (business)

A privately-owned enterprise refers to a commercial enterprise that is owned by private investors, shareholders or owners (usually collectively, but they can be owned by a single individual), and is in contrast to state institutions, such as publicly-owned enterprises and government agencies. Private enterprises comprise the private sector of an economy. An economic system that contains a large private sector where privately-run businesses are the backbone of the economy is referred to as capitalism. This contrasts with socialism, where industry is owned by the state or by all of the community in common. The act of taking assets into the private sector is referred to as privatization.

- Privately held company, Wikipedia

image Xcor Lynx

旋轉的苦行僧 whirling dervish

2010-06-04T15:03:00.000-07:00

Simplified, 旋转的苦行僧
旋轉 (whirl) 的 ('s) 苦行 (ascetic) 僧 (monk)
旋 (revolve) 轉 (turn) 的 )'s) 苦 (suffer) 行 (do) 僧 (monk)

“Hitch-22” is far from downbeat, however. It is packed with people — everyone from William Styron, Jessica Mitford and Isaiah Berlin to Nora Ephron, Keith McNally and Hunter S. Thompson, all of whom arrive attached to good anecdotes. A generous friend, Mr. Hitchens gives most of his book’s good lines (and there are many, a good deal of them unprintable here) to the people he loves.

Those good lines including this one, from Clive James, who began a review of a Leonid Brezhnev memoir this way: “Here is a book so dull that a whirling dervish could read himself to sleep with it.... If it were read in the open air, birds would fall stunned from the sky.” Whatever the opposite of that book is, Mr. Hitchens has written it.

- In Memoir, Christopher Hitchens Looks Back, by Dwight Garner, The New York Times

image thecorner.files.wordpress.com

全球軍費開支 Global military expenditure

2010-06-03T13:14:00.000-07:00

Simplified, 全球军费开支
全球 (global) 全 (whole) 球 (globe)
軍 (military) 費 (cost)
開支 (spending) 開 (open) 支 (pay)

Global military expenditures soared to a record high last year, unscathed by the economic downturn, with the United States accounting for more than half of increase, a think tank said Wednesday.

The United States remains by far the top military spender, dishing out 661 billion dollars to the industry in 2009, or a whopping 43 percent of the total global military expenditure.

China is believed to be the world's second largest military spender, the institute said, adding that while it did not have access to the official figures from Beijing it estimated the country had spent around 100 billion dollars in the sector last year.

Wednesday's SIPRI report also estimated that there were around 8,100 operational nuclear warheads in the arsenals of the world's eight nuclear-armed states: the United States, Russia, China, Britain, France, India, Pakistan and Israel.

"Of these, almost 2,000 were kept on high alert and capable of being launched in minutes," the report said.

- Global military spending soars despite crisis: report, by Igor Gedilaghine, AFP

image hawaiibusiness.com

無條件的愛 unconditional love

2010-06-03T12:36:00.000-07:00

Simplified, 无条件的爱

無 (nothing)
條件 (condition) 條 (clause) 件 (matter)
的 ('s)
愛 (love)

She argues that we all have much to learn from the way we love our pets. People often describe pets as undemanding and giving unconditional love, when the reality is that pets require a lot of time and attention, special foods and care. They throw up on rugs, pee in the house and steal food from countertops. Yet we accept their flaws because we love them so much.

...

“The old expression ‘you get what you give’ may apply here,” writes Dr. Phillips. “Maybe you give something very positive to your pet that invites the unconditional love and connection that makes you feel so good. Maybe it has potential to enhance your relationship.”

- What Pets Can Teach Us About Marriage, by Tara Parker-Pope, The New York Times

國債 national debt

2010-06-03T10:30:00.000-07:00

國 (nation) 債 (debt)
Simplified, 国债

The National Debt topped $13-trillion for the first time in U.S. history - reflecting the surge in government spending that will push the Debt to increasing highs through the rest of the decade.

Posted on the Treasury Department website this afternoon, the National Debt hit $13,050,826,460,886.97 as of June 1st.

Tallied against the nation's Gross Domestic Product, the latest Debt number amounts to nearly 89.4 percent of the total economy.

Both Mr. Obama and Congress expect the Debt to continue to soar. On February 12, Mr. Obama quietly signed legislation that raised the Debt Limit to nearly $14.3 trillion.

It's likely that figure will have to be raised in less than a year.

To put $13 trillion in perspective: It would buy 16,270,337,922 top-of-the-line iPads, 34,210,526 Rolls Royce Phantoms, or 83 Googles at its current market cap.

- National Debt Tops $13 Trillion For First Time, Mark Knoller, CBS News

graph CBS

全球霸王/ 环球霸王 C-17 Globemaster

2010-06-03T09:51:00.000-07:00

Traditional, 全球霸王/ 環球霸王, Simplified, 全球霸王/ 环球霸王
[環 (ring)] 全 (whole) 球 (globe) 霸 (master) 王 (king)

The US Congress has reportedly approved the sale of C-17 Globemaster III aircraft to India under the foreign military sales programme.

The official said that the aircraft would ably suit India's requirement of both military and humanitarian needs.

The C-17 Globemaster III is a large military transport aircraft. The C-17 was developed for the United States Air Force from the 1980s to the early 1990s.

- US Congress approves sale of C-17 Globemaster III aircraft to India, ANI (Asia News International)

image Boeing.com

高科技电影 high-tech film

2010-06-02T12:06:00.000-07:00

Traditional, 高科技電影, Simplified, 高科技电影
高科技 (high-tech) 電影 (cinema)
高 (high) 科 (science) 技 (tech) 电 (electric) 影 (film)

Hope Davis has been added to the cast of Real Steel, the DreamWorks film starring Hugh Jackman that is described by Variety as the following: “A sci-fi actioner about the new sport of robot boxing, Real Steel revolves around a former boxer who gets one last shot at a comeback when he teams with his long-lost son to train the perfect contender for the high-tech sport.” What is she playing? It doesn’t say, because really, does it matter? “Real Steel.” Hugh Jackman. Fighting Robots. That is all we can comprehend at this time.

- Hope Davis joins Hugh Jackman in robot fighting film 'Real Steel': What? And awesome, by Mandi Bierly, Entertainment Weekly

image Dreamworks

加薪 pay raise

2010-06-02T01:34:00.000-07:00

加 (add) 薪 (salary)

Stung by labor shortages and a rash of suicides this year at its massive factories in southern China, Foxconn Technology said Wednesday that it would immediately raise the salaries of many of its Chinese workers by 33 percent.

The pay increase is the latest indication that labor costs are rising in China’s coastal manufacturing centers and that workers are demanding higher pay to offset a jump in inflation and soaring food and property prices.

- Foxconn Gives Chinese Workers 33 Percent Pay Raise, by David Barboza, The New York Times

graphic preserveramapo.org

失業的 unemployed

2010-06-02T00:18:00.000-07:00

失 (lose) 業 (job) 的 ('s)
Simplified, 失业的

At first glance, all this seems a bit odd. Usually new businesses take off in good times when consumers are flush and banks are eager to lend. So why all this entrepreneurship last year?

In a word, unemployment. Booted off company payrolls, millions of Americans had no choice but to try selling themselves. Another term for “entrepreneur” is “self-employed.”

- Entrepreneur or Unemployed? by Robert B. Reich, The New York Times

image laughingninja.com

台北國際電腦展 Computex (in Taipei)

2010-06-01T22:15:00.000-07:00

Simplified, 台北国际电脑展
台北 (Taipei) 台 (Taiwan) 北 (north)
國際 (international) 國 (nation) 際 (border)
電腦 (computer) 電 (electric) 腦 (brain)
展 (exhibition)

Apple is set to face some competition as Taiwanese PC makers get their iPad challengers ready. Companies such as Asus and MSI are showing Android- and Windows-based tablets that they say will be cheaper than the iPad.

At the ongoing Computex trade show in Taipei, Taiwan, Asus announced its first tablet, called the Eee Pad.

Asus rival MSI is fieldng two tablets: One features the Windows 7 operating system and the other is powered by Google’s Android OS.

Separately, Korean company Yukyung Tech has demoed an Android tablet under the brand name Viliv. It has a 10-inch capacitive touchscreen and claims to beat the iPad at display quality.

- Asus, MSI Tablets Lead the Charge Against the iPad, Wired

photo Masaru Kamikawa/Flickr

美国前副总统戈尔与妻子宣布分居 Former U.S. Vice President Gore and Wife Announce Separation

2010-06-01T21:39:00.000-07:00

Traditional, 美國前副總統戈爾與妻子宣布分居
美国 (U.S.) 美 (beautiful) 国 (nation)
前副总统 (former Vice-President) 前 (former) 副 (vice-) 总 (chief) 统 (command)
戈尔 (Gore) 戈 ("ge") 尔 ("er")
与 (and)
妻子 (wife) 妻 (wife) 子 (child)
宣布 (announce) 宣 (declare) 布 (announce)
分居 (separation) 分 (split) 居 (reside)

For a couple in politics, they were unusually affectionate, and comfortable showing it -- yes, that ferocious embrace and open-mouthed kiss before the cameras at the 2000 Democratic convention, but also in little moments of tenderness witnessed by reporters or aides who walked unexpectedly into rooms. They were unusually open about their marital struggles -- her battles with depression and frustrations with the life of a Senate spouse, the therapy they sought after their young son's near-death -- in a way that seemed bracing, yet healthy. She made an otherwise stiff candidate seem fun. And the rumors that fly around so many other political couples never hovered near them.

Which is why so many people -- strangers and friends -- were stunned by the news that just days after their 40th wedding anniversary, the Gores are separating. The former vice president, 62, and his wife, 61 -- who in recent years had been occupied with his globe-trotting environmental activism, recognized with both a Nobel Prize and an Academy Award, and her photography work closer to home -- announced the news Tuesday in an e-mail to friends that quickly made its way to reporters.

- 40 more years? Not for Al and Tipper Gore, who've announced their separation, The Washington Post

俄羅斯國際航空公司 Aeroflot <Аэрофлот>

2010-06-01T13:52:00.000-07:00

俄羅斯 (Russia) 國際 (international) 航空 (aviation) 公司 (company)
俄 ("e") 羅 ("luo") 斯 ("s") 國 (nation) 際 (border) 航 (sail) 空 (sky) 公 (public) 司 (company)
Simplified, 俄罗斯国际航空公司

Boeing won a tender to supply Aeroflot with up to 65 midrange jets, the U.S. jet maker announced late Monday, beating out stalwart Airbus and the domestic United Aircraft Corporation.

State-owned industry holding Russian Technologies, which conducted the tender on behalf of Aeroflot, said in a statement Monday that Boeing submitted the best offer technically, operationally and financially.

- Boeing Wins Coveted Aeroflot Tender, by Alex Anishyuk, The Moscow Times

However, Aeroflot said it would continue buying from Airbus. It has chosen Airbus planes over Boeing in recent years, and analysts have said the carrier would have to make significant investment to accommodate new Boeing aircraft.

A spokesman for Aeroflot said it was looking at leasing another 15 Airbus A320s in addition to the three due for delivery this year and 13 between 2011 and 2013.

By the end of the year Aeroflot expects to operate 67 Airbus airliners.

Aeroflot said it could, however, consider the commercial merits of a Boeing deal.

- Moscow firm chooses Boeing but Aeroflot sticks with Airbus, gulfnews.com via Reuters

image shop.buysse-online.be

加沙地帶 Gaza Strip

2010-06-01T12:38:00.000-07:00

Simplified, 加沙地带
加沙 (Gaza) 地帶 (zone)
加 ("ga"*, add) 沙 ("sa"*, sand) 地 (land) 帶 (belt)
*non-Mandarin

The White House says it supports a U.N. Security Council resolution calling for an investigation into Israel's deadly raid on ships taking humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip.

White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, however, wouldn't say whether President Barack Obama condemns the actions of the Israeli forces.

Gibbs stood by the president's earlier statement expressing "deep regret" for the loss of at least nine lives in the attack. Palestinians, Arabs and Turkey have called for a stronger condemnation.

The raid is likely to increase pressure on Israel to end its blockade of the Gaza Strip. Gibbs says the blockade is meant to keep weapons, not aid, out of area. He says the incident highlights the need for a comprehensive peace plan.

- White House backs investigation into Israeli raid, AP

map newsimg.bbc.co.uk

紐約客 vs. 名利場 The New Yorker vs. Vanity Fair

2010-05-31T20:22:00.000-07:00

Simplified, 纽约客, 紐約 (New York) 客 (guest)
紐 ("niu") 約 ("yue") 客 ("ke")

名利 (fame) 場 (scene)
名 (name) 利 (advantage) 場 (field)
Simplified, 名利场

Rome versus Cathage, Saint Patrick versus snakes, BP versus aquatic life in the Gulf of Mexico—the annals of history are replete with examples of stunning annihilations, and the defeat of The New Yorker by Vanity Fair in softball has to rank right up there. The final tally: 18-2.

- Vanity Fair Beats The New Yorker in a Laugher, Vanity Fair

票房 box office

2010-05-31T18:08:00.000-07:00

票 (ticket) 房 (house)

Blame the playoffs, blame the economy or just blame the movies, but this was a Memorial Day weekend that Hollywood would like to forget.

With new releases "Prince of Persia" and "Sex and the City 2" failing to generate big box office, total movie ticket sales for the four-day holiday weekend were an estimated $186 million, the lowest total since 2001.

- Summer box office sees its worst Memorial Day weekend in 17 years, Los Angeles Times

image: Puss in Boots, Shrek Forever After

木薯 cassava

2010-05-31T17:49:00.000-07:00

木 (wood) 薯 (yam)

But this was not mosaic disease, which only stunts the plants. Her field had been attacked by a new and more damaging virus named brown streak, for the marks it leaves on stems.

That newcomer, brown streak, is now ravaging cassava crops in a great swath around Lake Victoria, threatening millions of East Africans who grow the tuber as their staple food.

- Virus Ravages Cassava Plants in Africa, by Donald G. McNeil Jr., The New York Times

image Alibaba.com

天然氣 natural gas

2010-05-31T17:15:00.000-07:00

天然 (natural) 氣 (gas)
天 (heaven) 然 (thus) 氣 (gas)
Simplified, 天然气

Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Friday it has agreed to buy East Resources Inc., a closely held U.S. natural-gas explorer, for $4.7 billion, in a transaction that underscores the frenzied global interest in North American shale-gas production.

Warrendale, Pa.-based East Resources is one of the biggest players in a natural-gas exploration area known as the Marcellus Shale, with control of 1.25 million acres across a territory that stretches from West Virginia to New York.

- Shell Agrees to Buy Natural-Gas Exploration Company, by Peter Lattman and Guy Chazan, The Wall Street Journal

image DOE: Energy Information Administration (EIA)

土庫曼斯坦 Turkmenistan

2010-05-31T16:47:00.000-07:00

土 ("tu") 庫 ("ku") 曼 ("man") 斯 ("s") 坦 ("tan")
Simplified, 土库曼斯坦

Turkmenistan on Monday started work on a $2 billion gas pipeline that aims to boost its export capacity and increase the reclusive nation's economic and political clout in the global gas market.
...

Turkmenistan's gas wealth has long been the focus of intense rivalry between Russia, China and the West. Russia had a lock on most of the country's gas exports until last December, when a major China-bound pipeline went into operation.

By building the new pipeline on its own, Turkmenistan will essentially get the final say about the ultimate destination of the natural gas: Russia, or the West.

- Turkmenistan starts new $2 billion gas pipeline, by Alexander Vershinin, AP

image Intute

超級計算機 supercomputer

2010-05-31T12:48:00.000-07:00

Simplified, 超级计算机
超 (super) 級 (grade) 計 (compute) 算 (count) 機 (machine)

The Dawning Nebulae, based at the National Supercomputing Center in Shenzhen, China, has achieved a sustained computing speed of 1.27 petaflops — the equivalent of one thousand trillion mathematical operations per second — in the twice annual ranking of the world’s fastest 500 hundred computers.

The newest Top 500 ranking was made public on Monday at the International Supercomputer Conference in Hamburg, Germany.

The Chinese machine is actually now ranked as the world’s fastest in terms of theoretical peak performance, but that is considered a less significant measure than the actual computing speed achieved on a standardized computing test.

The world’s fastest computer remains the Cray Jaguar supercomputer, based at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory in Tennessee. Last November it was measured at 1.75 petaflops.

- Chinese Edge Toward Supercomputing Record, by John Markoff, The New York Times

image Wired

墨西哥灣 Gulf of Mexico

2010-05-29T21:45:00.000-07:00

Simplified, 墨西哥湾
墨 ("mo") 西 ("xi") 哥 ("ge") 灣 (gulf)

It is the well that will not die.

BP's three-day effort to throttle the leaking gulf oil well with multiple blasts of heavy mud has failed. The attempted "top kill" of the well was abandoned late Saturday afternoon, leaving the huge Macondo field deep beneath the sea floor once again free to pump at least half a million gallons of crude a day into the gulf.

"I can say we tried. But what I can also say is this scares everybody, the fact that we can't make this well stop flowing, or haven't succeeded in that so far," Doug Suttles, BP's chief operating officer, said in a late-day news conference.

"There's no silver bullet to stop this leak," Coast Guard Rear Adm. Mary Landry said.

- As 'top kill' effort fails, BP must fall back on oil spill containment strategy, by Joel Achenbach and Alec MacGillis, The Washington Post

image Impact Lab

亞特蘭蒂斯號航天飛機 Space Shuttle Atlantis

2010-05-27T20:52:00.000-07:00

Simplified, 亚特兰蒂斯号航天飞机
亞特蘭蒂斯 (Atlantis) 號 (#) 航天(space flight) 飛機 (aircraft)
亞 ("a") 特 ("te") 蘭 ("lan") 蒂 ("di") 斯 ("s") 號 (#) 航 (sail) 天 (sky) 飛 (fly) 機 (machine)

After back-to-back successful shuttle missions, NASA is entering a flightless summer, during which plans to end the program will be finalized.

"We need to really get some plans in place so people can make some real decisions with what they've got to go do with careers and other things," said Bill Gerstenmaier, associate administrator for space operations. "We can't stay in limbo forever."

- NASA: Shuttle Atlantis may have some fire in her yet, by James Dean, Florida Today, USA Today

國際水域 international waters

2010-05-27T16:05:00.000-07:00

Simplified, 国际水域
國際 (international) 水域 (waters)
國 (nation) 際 (boundary) 水 (water) 域 (domain)

“There has been an assertiveness that has been growing over time, particularly in the South China Sea and in the East China Sea.”
...

The admiral’s remarks follow complaints by Japan in recent weeks about aggressive behaviour from a Chinese coastguard vessel in contested waters and a Chinese military helicopter in international waters.

- US warns over Beijing’s ‘assertiveness’, by Kathrin Hille in Beijing, Financial Times

image China Digital Times

小型潛艇 minisubmarine

2010-05-27T13:37:00.000-07:00

小 (small) 型 (model) 潛 (submerge) 艇 (boat)

Two things heighten the risk of a similar ambush by midget submarines against U.S. ships: the complex sonar picture of shallow water where these small subs can operate, and a post–Cold War decrease in anti-submarine training. "Instead of a large number of Soviet nuclear-powered submarines on the open ocean, advanced conventional submarines operating in the littorals have emerged as the most serious threat to U.S. forwardly deployed forces, military sealift and merchant shipping," Milan Vego, professor of operations at the Joint Military Operations Department at the Naval War College, wrote in a recent piece for Armed Forces Journal. "The emerging threats ... are minisubmarines, swimmer-delivery vehicles, remotely operated vehicles and autonomous underwater vehicles."

- Is the U.S. Prepared to Face Midget Subs?, Popular Mechanics

image, Ghadir midget submarine andocu.tistory.com

商業噴氣客機 commercial jet

2010-05-26T16:16:00.000-07:00

Simplified, 商业喷气客机
商業 (commerce) 噴氣 (jet) 客機 (airliner)
商 (commerce) 業 (business) 噴 (spurt) 氣 (gas) 客 (guest) 機 (machine)

China's burgeoning aerospace industry could become the dominant supplier of commercial jets for Chinese airlines in the future, Boeing Chairman and Chief Executive James McNerney said Wednesday.

McNerney expects the size of China's commercial-jet fleet to triple over the next 20 years to more than 4,600 airplanes, creating a $400 billion market opportunity. That's roughly 20 times the current value of Boeing's airplanes now in service in China.

Given the proportions of the growth, China's development of a regional passenger jet and a competing aircraft to Boeing's 737 will likely attract plenty of orders, he said.

"The Chinese aerospace industry--which today is a customer and supplier to both Boeing and Airbus--will also become a strong competitor of both of us," McNerney said.

- Boeing CEO Sees Plenty Of Orders For Company In China, The Wall Street Journal

graphic Boeing 737-300 flightglobal.com

巴西 Brazil

2010-05-26T15:10:00.000-07:00

巴 ("ba") 西 ("xi")

Brazil will head to the World Cup as the No. 1 team, according to the latest FIFA rankings. The five-time world champion retained top spot ahead of European champion Spain in Wednesday's release of the final monthly rankings before the June 11 World Cup kickoff.

- Brazil heads to soccer's World Cup as top-ranked team, Spain second, by The Associated Press (CP)

image dvhh.org

中國房地產 Chinese Real Estate

2010-05-26T13:12:00.000-07:00

Simplified, 中国房地产
中國 (China) 房地產 (real estate)
中 (central) 國 (nation) 房 (house) 地 (land) 產 (estate)

Chinese shares posted their biggest single-day rise in more than seven months Monday on hopes Beijing will implement milder tightening measures than had been expected in the near term because of concerns that Europe's debt problems will hurt Chinese exports.

"The authorities could be taking a breather on tightening and perhaps delay the implementation of a real-estate tax as people need time to process the slew of tightening measures announced recently," said Simon Wang, an analyst from Guoyuan Securities.

China Vanke, the nation's largest property developer by market share, rose 4.2% in Shenzhen, and Poly Real Estate Group rose 8.9% in Shanghai.

- China Shares Rise 3.5%, by Myra P. Saefong in Tokyo and Colin Ng and Wei-Zhe Tan in Singapore, The Wall Street Journal

image theepochtimes.com

空軍 Air Force

2010-05-26T12:39:00.000-07:00

空 (air) 軍 (military)

With contractor-to-civilian conversions, new organizations standing up and overall increases in civilian positions, the Air Force civil service continues to grow as officials look to employ thousands of U.S. citizens.

Air Force Personnel Center officials have filled more than 3,000 new positions since the surge began earlier this year and is expected to advertise more than 17,000 additional new positions by the end of 2011 on USAJOBS.

USAJOBS is an online repository used by multiple federal agencies to announce job vacancies around the world.

- Hiring surge to employ thousands, by April Rowden, U.S. Air Force

富士康 Foxconn

2010-05-26T11:58:00.000-07:00

富 ("fu") 士 ("shi") 康 ("kang")

Apple manufacturer Foxconn Wednesday urged workers to sign contracts promising not to kill themselves to stem a spate of suicides -- hours before the 11th worker this year fell to his death.

- Apple maker Foxconn steps up anti-suicide drive, AFP

Foxconn video, Financial Times

聯合攻擊戰鬥機 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)

2010-05-26T11:07:00.000-07:00

聯合 (joint) 攻擊 (strike) 戰鬥機 (fighter)
Simplified, 联合攻击战斗机
聯 (unite) 合 (join) 攻 (attack) 擊 (hit) 戰 (battle) 鬥 (fight) 機 (machine)

Contracting for the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter, touted as the future backbone of U.S. air superiority, must be brought in line with budget realities to make the aircraft affordable again, a defense official said.

Key manufacturing and testing milestones are expected for the fighter between now and 2011, Ashton B. Carter, undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, told the Senate Armed Services Committee.

“The next two years will be critical ones for the joint strike fighter,” Carter said, “with the delivery of test aircraft, … completion and analysis of hundreds of test flights, and commencement of flight training.”

- Joint Fighter Faces Critical Period, by John J. Kruzel, American Forces Press Service, Department of Defense

image globalsecurity.org

航母 aircraft carrier

2010-05-26T09:50:00.000-07:00

航 (ship) 母 (mother)

The Navy needs the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter’s fifth-generation capabilities, the service’s acting director of air warfare said yesterday.

Navy Rear Adm. Michael C. Manazir spoke to reporters because he wanted to “completely dispel the rumor that the Navy is soft on F-35C.”

The F-35C is the aircraft-carrier version of the joint strike fighter. The F-35A model is for the Air Force, and the F-35B will be a vertical take-off and landing model for the Marines.

The FA-18E and FA-18F Super Hornets are great airplanes, Manazir said, but they do not have the capabilities that the F-35C’s will bring to the Navy. Delays in the joint strike fighter program and the cost increases associated with them caused some supposition that the Navy would turn to the FA-18s, he added.

- Navy Needs F-35’s Capabilities, Admiral Says, by Jim Garamone, American Forces Press Service, Department of Defense

image visual.merriam-webster.com

晚安 good night

2010-05-25T22:16:00.000-07:00

晚 (night) 安 (peace)

image My Neighbor Totoro (となりのトトロ)

象棋冠軍 chess champion

2010-05-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

象棋 (chess) 冠軍 (champion)
象 (elephant) 棋 (chess) 冠 (crown) 軍 (troops)

It took almost 20 years, but Gata Kamsky is once again the United States Champion.

Kamsky won the title on Tuesday by drawing a one-game playoff against Yuri Shulman. Kamsky, who had Black, had draw odds, meaning that he only had to draw the game to be declared winner on tie-break.

Though Kamsky has been one of the top players in the world since the early 1990’s, he had only won the U.S. Championship once before — in 1991, when he was 17. Part of the reason for the long hiatus was that he almost completely quit playing chess between 1996 and 2004, a period in which he went to school and got a law degree.

- Kamsky Wins United States Chess Champion, by Dylan Loeb McClain, Gambit, The New York Times chess blog

image math.uci.edu

白宮 The White House

2010-05-25T15:07:00.000-07:00

白 (white) 宮 (palace)

The Obama administration is facing a rising tide of anger against its handling of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and acknowledged on Sunday that it did not have the technical capabilities to step in and fix the gusher on its own.
...
The White House is set to release its findings by the end of this week following an initial 30-day probe into the Deepwater accident, which killed 11 men. The report is expected to include recommendations on how the administration should handle deepwater and other offshore drilling applications.

- Anger at White House over oil spill role, by Stephanie Kirchgaessner and Anna Fifield in Washington and agencies, Financial Times

魚雷 torpedo

2010-05-25T13:08:00.000-07:00

魚 (fish) 雷 (thunder)
Simplified, 鱼雷

An international panel says a torpedo fired from a North Korean submarine sent the ship down - but Pyongyang denies this. South Korea has suspended trade ties with the North.

Readers in South Korea discuss the seriousness of the incident and the best way to tackle North Korea.

- S Koreans divided over response to North, BBC News

image lohmueller.business.t-online.de

衛星發射器 satellite transmitter

2010-05-25T12:37:00.000-07:00

Simplified, 卫星发射器
衛星 (satellite) 發射 (transmit) 器 (apparatus)
衛 (guard) 星 (star) 發 (dispatch) 射 (shoot) 器 (apparatus)

“I wondered, why is that bird putting on that much fat?” he said.

Mr. Gill wondered if the bar-tailed godwit actually stayed in the air for a much longer time than scientists believed. It was a difficult idea to test, because he could not actually follow the birds in flight. For 30 years he managed as best he could, building a network of bird-watchers who looked for migrating godwits over the Pacific Ocean. Finally, in 2006, technology caught up with Mr. Gill’s ideas. He and his colleagues were able to implant satellite transmitters in bar-tailed godwits and track their flight.

- Migrating Thousands of Miles With Nary a Stop, by Carl Zimmer, The New York Times

photo The Seattle Times

小行星 asteroid

2010-05-24T12:33:00.000-07:00

小 (small) 行星 (planet)
小 (small) 行 (travel) 星 (star)

"We'll start by sending astronauts to an asteroid for the first time in history," President Obama said in an April speech at NASA's Kennedy Space Center. By 2025, his administration proposes that we ship people to a nearby space rock as a stepping-stone to future Mars missions.

This is pretty ambitious, as a typical trip to a "near-Earth object" is a 5-million-mile voyage, as opposed to the 240,000-mile moon mission, according to NASA deputy director Lori Garver. That's a lot of astronaut ice cream to pack, and time to spend floating in a can, but expeditions aboard the International Space Station typically last six months.

Near-Earth objects (NEOs) are asteroids or comets whose orbits cross or approach the Earth's. They range in size from a few yards across to the 21-mile-wide 433 Eros, the landing site of NASA's NEAR-Shoemaker spacecraft in 2001.

- Asteroids emerge as next frontier of space exploration, by Dan Vergano, USA TODAY

graphic, Near Earth Asteroids, astronomy.swin.edu.au

軌道測試飛行器 orbital test vehicle

2010-05-24T00:28:00.000-07:00

Simplified, 轨道测试飞行器
軌道 (orbit) 測試 (test) 飛行器 (aircraft)
軌 (track) 道 (path) 測 (survey) 試 (try) 飛 (fly) 行 (travel) 器 (apparatus)

The unpiloted X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle 1 was lofted on April 22 atop an Atlas launcher. It is being flown under the auspices of the U.S. Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office. In U.S. military tracking parlance, when the space plane reached orbit it became identified as Catalog Number 36514, 2010-015A, OTV-1 (USA 212). From there it entered a cone of silence regarding any on-orbit duties.

- Amateur skywatchers spot secret space plane
Air Force’s X-37B spaceship doesn’t escape attention of satellite fans, MSNBC

image boncherry.com

尤達 Yoda

2010-05-20T23:10:00.000-07:00

尤 ("yo", especially) 達 ("da", attain)
Simplified, 尤达

Ready are you? What know you of ready? For eight hundred years have I trained Jedi. My own counsel will I keep on who is to be trained. A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind. This one a long time have I watched. All his life has he looked away...

- Yoda, Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980)

***
(May 21st: "Talk like Yoda Day" it is.)

Have what she is having, will I. Herh herh herh.

The Yoda-speak generator
iGoogle Convert English to Yoda-Speak

image letuwang.com

太陽帆動力飛船 solar sail spacecraft

2010-05-18T20:11:00.000-07:00

Traditional, 太陽帆動力飛船
Simplified, 太阳帆动力飞船
太陽 (sun) 帆 (sail) 動力 (propulsion) 飛船 (spaceship)
太 (too) 陽 (positive) 帆 (sail) 動 (move) 力 (power) 飛 (fly) 船 (vessel)

The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) is set to launch the first spacecraft that will speed across the solar system using a hybrid solar sail—one propelled partly by solar pressure, partly by traditional solar power. Dubbed Ikaros—for Interplanetary Kite-Craft Accelerated by Radiation of the Sun—the experimental craft will launch from the Tanegashima Space Center [NOTE: The May 18 launch of JAXA's Akatsuki Venus Climate Orbiter—and therefore the Ikaros mission—was scrubbed today due to weather concerns. The next launch attempt will be on May 21 at 6:58 a.m., local time.]

- Solar Sail Hybrid Launches Today From Japan, "Space yacht" Ikaros headed for Venus and beyond, by Julian Ryall in Tokyo, National Geographic

image courtesy JAXA

三星 Samsung <삼성 in Korean>

2010-05-18T18:24:00.000-07:00

三 (tri-) 星 (star)

Heating up the competition in the major handset markets world over, Samsung has recently launched its Samsung Galaxy S smartphone featuring 4-inch AMOLED screen, and encased 1 GHz mobile processor which runs on latest Android OS. The handset is set to offer unmatched features including awesome HD video handling, enhanced reality content with the support of Layer Reality Browser, and cutting edge location based services.
...
The most promising feature of the device is the “Smart Life” feature. A unique feature of its kind, it collects information online using user’s personal preferences, and thus makes sure that the user gets the information, he likes, anytime and anywhere.

- Galaxy S- A Sizzling Smartphone with 4-inch AMOLED from Samsung, by Kusum Pugalia, Gadget Reviews

骨牌 domino

2010-05-17T20:35:00.000-07:00

骨 (bone) 牌 (tablet)

A domino debt crisis in Europe would inflict massive losses on the banking system and hedge funds as well as institutional investors. Even if the system survived, the pressure for re-regulation of the markets would become irresistible.

So as the European government debt market staggers, banks and investors had better hope the rescue package announced at the weekend works, because there is no Plan B.

- Markets flirt with the Samson Option, by John Kemp, Reuters

image dailymail.co.uk

政府債務貨幣化 monetization of government debt

2010-05-17T18:23:00.000-07:00

Traditional, 政府債務貨幣化
Simplified, 政府债务货币化

政府 (government) 債務 (debt) 貨幣 (currency) 化 (-ization)

政 (politics) 府 (prefecture) 債 (debt) 務 (business) 貨 (commodity) 幣 (currency) 化 (-ize)

In a U-turn once considered inconceivable, the European Central Bank has broken a fundamental plank of its monetary policy and started buying eurozone government bonds. Only last year Jürgen Stark, an ECB executive board member, drew attention to the risks of pumping huge amounts of money into the economy when he warned that sovereign bond purchases “would amount to the monetisation of government debts – a sure road towards inflation over the medium term, with adverse effects on our independence and credibility”.

- Europe: Danger zone, by Tony Barber, Financial Times

image from harrison.asn.au

哲學家 philosopher

2010-05-17T16:33:00.000-07:00

Traditional, 哲 (sage) 學 (study) 家 (-er)
Simplified, 哲学家

Socrates tells the story of Thales, who was by some accounts the first philosopher. He was looking so intently at the stars that he fell into a well. Some witty Thracian servant girl is said to have made a joke at Thales’ expense — that in his eagerness to know what went on in the sky he was unaware of the things in front of him and at his feet. Socrates adds, in Seth Benardete’s translation, “The same jest suffices for all those who engage in philosophy.”
...
First, we should recall that Thales believed that water was the universal substance out of which all things were composed. Water was Thales’ philosophers’ stone, as it were. Therefore, by falling into a well, he inadvertently presses his basic philosophical claim.

- What Is a Philosopher?, by Simon Critchley, The New York Times

photo Sharon Hahn Darlin

重寫本 palimpsest

2010-05-16T17:18:00.000-07:00

重 (iterate) 寫 (write) 本 (volume)
Simplified, 重写本

When Chinese speakers Baidu (like Google, it too is a verb), we look for information on the Internet using a branded search engine. But when we see the characters for băi dù, we might, for one moment, engage with the poetry of our language, remember that what we are really trying to do is find what we were seeking in the receding light. Those sets of meanings, layered like a palimpsest, might appear suddenly, where we least expect them, in the address bar at the top of our browsers. And in some small way, those words, in our own languages, might help us see with clarity, and help us to make sense of the world.

- Search Engine of the Song Dynasty, by Ruiyan Xu, The New York Times

image: MS 575 Codex Armenicus Rescriptus, Palimpsest, Monastery of St. Catherine, Mt. Sinai, 6th c. and 1st half of 10th c. from The Getty

风险投资 venture capital

2010-05-16T16:18:00.000-07:00

Traditional, 風險投資
Simplified, 风险投资
风 (wind) 险 (risk) 投 (pitch) 资 (capital)

Chinese venture capitalists rarely invest in start-up companies during the early stages, tending instead to invest at a later stage with the sole purpose of making quick profits by listing the companies, Xu Lin, director general of the finance department at the National Development and Reform Commission, said at a forum in Shanghai. "The government hopes funds that call themselves VCs will pay more attention to early-phase investments," Xu said.

- China May Consider Tax Waivers For High-Risk Venture Capital Funds, by Joy C. Shaw, Dow Jones Newswires

image: SourcingThreads

附带权益 carried interest

2010-05-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

Traditional, 附帶權益
附 (attach) 带 (carry) 权 (authority) 益 (profit)

Carried interest is the profit share paid to general partners of the firms, typically 20 percent of a fund’s gains above a set amount. That share is often taxed at the 15 percent capital gains rate; lawmakers including House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Sander Levin want to more than double the rate by taxing it as ordinary income. The top ordinary income marginal tax rate currently is 35 percent and is scheduled to rise to 39.6 percent next year.

- Senators Seek Venture Capitalist Waiver From Fund Tax, by Ryan J. Donmoyer, Bloomberg

image: Hedge Fund Blogger

約旦 Jordan

2010-05-13T20:10:00.000-07:00

約 ("yue") 旦 ("dan")
Simplified, 约旦

AMMAN: The Jordan Atomic Energy Commission (JAEC) is evaluating offers from Canada, Russia and a French-Japanese consortium for the country’s first nuclear power plant, the agency said Thursday.
...

The plant, slated to be a 1000-megawatt Generation III reactor with a closed loop cooling cycle, is to be set up 25 kilometers outside the Red Sea port of Aqaba and several kilometers inland.

- Jordan appraising three offers for nuclear plant, by Abdul Jalil Mustafa, Arab News

核聚变, 核裂变 nuclear fusion, nuclear fission

2010-05-13T15:49:00.000-07:00

Traditional, 核聚變, 核裂變
Simplified, 核聚变, 核裂变
核聚变 (fusion) = 核 (nucleus) 聚 (gather) 变 (transform)
核裂变 (fission) = 核 (nucleus) 裂 (split) 变 (transform)

A senior government official flatly ruled out that North Korea could have developed nuclear fusion technology for power generation. No country in the world has built a power plant for nuclear fusion technology. South Korea, China, the European Union, Japan, Russia, and the U.S. are building the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor in France. Experts say it will take another 40 years to harness the technology for energy production. Considering North Korea's technological and economic capacity, experts say the North would never be capable of developing nuclear fusion technology for power generation.

- N.Korea's Nuclear Fusion Claims 'an Empty Boast', The Chosun Ilbo

graphic: Lancaster University, Oxford Reference

请勿乱扔杂物 no littering

2010-05-13T15:11:00.000-07:00

Traditional, 請勿亂扔雜物
Simplified, 请勿乱扔杂物

请 (please) 勿 (don't) 乱 (mess) 扔 (throw) 杂 (miscellaneous) 物 (thing)

"PLEASE DON'T THROW RUBBISH AWAY", taken by heykerry

福利國家 welfare state

2010-05-13T14:08:00.000-07:00

福利 (welfare) 國家 (nation)
福 (fortune) 利 (benefit) 國 (nation) 家 (home)
Simplified, 福利国家

The debt crisis in Greece may have been temporarily eased by the European Union’s infusion of aid, but many analysts think that Europe’s debt problems and America’s are just beginning. Several analysts have noted that the welfare states in Greece, Spain and Portugal were greatly expanded in the 1990’s, leading to an extraordinary rise in the standards of living in those countries but also unsustainable spending.

- The Twilight of the Welfare State? by the editors, The New York Times

淨值 net worth

2010-05-13T10:26:00.000-07:00

淨 (clean) 值 (value)
Simplified, 净值

Net worth is the number you get when you subtract what you owe from what you own. You start with things like cash on hand, retirement savings and home value and subtract your mortgage, as well as credit-card, student loan and other debts. Net worth paints a bigger picture than income; it rewards the saver and reveals the drain that big borrowers put on their finances. And it vividly reminds people who think only in terms of monthly payments that their debts may be with them for a good long while.

Net-Worth Obsession, The New York Times

诵经时请勿喧哗 be quiet when chanting (in progress)

2010-05-12T00:49:00.000-07:00

Traditional, 誦經時請勿喧嘩
Simplified, 诵经时请勿喧哗

诵 (chant) 经 (scripture) 时 (time) 请 (please) 勿 (don't) 喧 (noise) 哗 (clamor)

photo: "Please don't make confused noise when chanting" The New York Times

More Chinglish examples here (except for the first one)

華爾街/华尔街 Wall Street

2010-05-06T19:27:00.000-07:00

華 ("hua") 爾 ("r") 街 (street)
Simplified, 华尔街


The stock market plunged Thursday in a harrowing five-minute selloff that appeared to be triggered by a breakdown of trading systems. After dropping nearly 1,000 points, the market rebounded but still closed down 3.2%, leaving Wall Street struggling to figure out what happened.

- Market Plunge Baffles Wall Street, Trading Glitch Suspected in 'Mayhem' as Dow Falls Nearly 1,000, Then Bounces, by Tom Lauricella, The Wall Street Journal

photo: busdex.com

小心地滑 caution: slippery floor

2010-05-05T20:44:00.000-07:00

小心 (care) 地滑 (slide)
小 (small) 心 (mind) 地 (ground) 滑 (slip)

1) yay- oops 2) uh- 3) oh 4) argh 5) ay 6) still standing 7) here I go 8) yup 9) What, ME? Just posing on the floor ^^;

... and, "slip carefully." Please!

More on Chinglish

photos: nipic.com, ehsy.com, naokis.net, yowazzup.com (via engrish.com)

中式英語 Chinglish

2010-05-05T19:22:00.000-07:00

中式 (Chinese-style) 英語 (English)
中 (Chinese) 式 (style) 英 (English) 語 (language)
Simplified, 中式英语

... But while the war on mangled English may be considered a signature achievement of government officials, aficionados of what is known as Chinglish are wringing their hands in despair.

- Shanghai Is Trying to Untangle the Mangled English of Chinglish, by Andrew Jacobs, The New York Times

More Chinglish examples here (except for the first one.)

photo, "Slip Carefully", 小心地滑, by Timmok

歐洲中央銀行 The European Central Bank (ECB)

2010-05-04T16:13:00.000-07:00

歐洲 (Europe) 中央 (central) 銀行 (bank)
歐 (Europe) 洲 (continent) 中 (middle) 央 (center) 銀 (silver) 行 (row)
Simplified, 欧洲中央银行

The lifeline the European Central Bank offered Greece on Monday is aimed at ensuring that international efforts to rescue its economy from bankruptcy are not undermined by a banking crisis or further credit-rating downgrades.

Buttressing International Monetary Fund and eurozone actions, the ECB is to suspend the minimum credit rating required for Greek government-backed assets used in its liquidity-providing operations.

The change, to remain in place “until further notice”, removes the risk of Greek government bonds being excluded if ratings agencies turn against the rescue programme.

The move amounts to an embarrassing about-turn for the ECB. Jean-Claude Trichet, its president, had said the bank would never favour one country within the 16-state eurozone. “It is very unfortunate for them,” said Erik Nielsen, European economist at Goldman Sachs. “The way they will defend it is that Greece is now de facto underwritten by other member states, so it is justified.”

- ECB extends financial lifeline to Greece, by Ralph Atkins in Athens, Financial Times

photo: Adam Brown

外星智慧 extraterrestrial intelligence

2010-05-01T11:26:00.000-07:00

外星 (alien) 智慧 (wisdom)
外 (outside) 星 (star) 智 (knowledge) 慧 (wisdom)

Is there silence because extraterrestrials simply do not exist? Are the conditions for the emergence of life so far-fetched, so ludicrously improbable that it happened only once, on one planet orbiting one star in just one galaxy during the whole 13.7-billion-year lifetime of the universe? Or is the universe humming with life, but humming so quietly that we cannot hear it? ...

Why should we think of ET as even remotely humanoid? Could some imperial galactic civilisation have already colonised the galaxy, stripped it of resources, left some mystifying structures, and moved on? Has ET been this way by proxy, using probes and detectors that we cannot recognise, because our imaginations are limited by our technology and our experience? Voyager and Pioneer probes are heading out of the solar system carrying 1970s hardware – computers with tapes, long playing records – now almost laughably out-of-date. What kind of technology would be in the hands of a civilisation with a million-year head start on ours? As Davies keeps pointing out, we do not know, and we cannot even begin to guess, the technology, the motives or the philosophy of an extraterrestrial intelligence. We have to be ready for anything, or perhaps nothing.

- The Eerie Silence: Are We Alone in the Universe? by Paul Davies, Tim Radford ponders the fruitless search for extraterrestrial intelligence, The Guardian

赫米斯 Hermes

2010-05-01T00:29:00.000-07:00

赫 ("he") 米 ("mi") 斯 ("su")

The Homeric hymn to Hermes invokes him as the one "of many shifts (polytropos), blandly cunning, a robber, a cattle driver, a bringer of dreams, a watcher by night, a thief at the gates, one who was soon to show forth wonderful deeds among the deathless gods."

According to prominent folklorist Yeleazar Meletinsky, Hermes is a deified trickster.

- Hermes, Wikipedia

The Hermes Birkin Bag recently got rid of its wait list, but according to author and Huffington Post blogger Michael Tonello who talked to SheFinds, there was never a waiting list to begin with.

A reporter from a U.K. magazine told Tonello that Hermes Australia said there never was a waiting list for the coveted purse.

- Hermes Australia Says Birkin Bag Waiting List Was A Hoax, The Huffington Post

石油 oil

2010-04-28T19:12:00.000-07:00

石 (rock) 油 (oil)

It's a hellish scene: Giant sheets of flame racing across the Gulf of Mexico as thick, black smoke billows high into the sky.

This, though, is no Hollywood action movie. It's the real-life plan to be deployed just 20 miles from the Gulf Coast in a last-ditch effort to burn up an oil spill before it could wash ashore and wreak environmental havoc.

Crews try setting fire to oil leaking in Gulf, by Cain Burdeau and Brett Martel, AP

photo AP

月刊雜誌 monthly magazine <月刊誌 in Japanese>

2010-04-28T15:38:00.000-07:00

月刊 (monthly) 雜誌 (magazine)
月 (month) 刊 (publish) 雜 (miscellaneous) 誌 (magazine)
Simplified, 月刊杂志

Popteen is one of Asia's top fashion magazines. The magazine is published in Japan and Taiwan, and has recently launched a web presence in the United States.

The magazine is famous for having a 'user-model business-model' where its readers become models in the magazine. It is notable for its coverage of Gyaru fashions. One of the most popular popteen models was Tsubasa Masuwaka who in December 2007 married Umesan Naoki, a male fashion model. She announced on her blog that she had graduated from Popteen and that the February 2008 issue would be her last.

Popteen, Wikipedia

PopSister is a new magazine from the publishers of Popteen. It hopes to capture the slightly more matured age group of Popteen.

Tsubasa Masuwaka x PopSister magazine, XO Japan

***
Sharon's notes:

'user-model business-model' = dokumo "read(er) model" = ドクモ
Gyaru fashion = ギャル系ファッション
Popteen = ポップティーン
PopSister = ポップシスター
Tsubasa Masuwaka = 益若つばさ (Masuwaka Tsubasa)

上海世博會 Shanghai World Expo

2010-04-28T12:40:00.000-07:00

上海 (Shanghai) 世 (world) 博會 (fair), Simplified, 上海世博会
上 (atop) 海 (sea) 世 (world) 博 (extensive) 會 (assemble)

Here are five facts about the Shanghai World Expo taking place between April 30 and Oct 31.

* China says it has spent $4.2 billion -- double what it spent at the Beijing Olympics -- to host the world's largest exhibition fair. It is the most expensive Expo to date and local media have reported the true cost is closer to $58 billion.

* The size of the Expo site is twice the size of Monaco and 20 times bigger than the last World Expo held in Spain's Zaragoza in 2008. The site spans 5.3 square kilometres across both sides of Shanghai's murky Huangpu River.

* Shanghai allocated $45 billion to upgrade the city's infrastructure, creating the world's longest metro system, two new airport terminals and a $700 million promenade on the historic Bund as well as new roads, parks and bridges.

* Shanghai expects 70 million visitors will attend the Expo, though just 5 percent will be foreigners. The city has dramatically increased security measures with bag checks at every subway station and bomb-recognition pamphlets distributed to offices in the Pudong financial district.

* The Shanghai Expo is promoting itself as the first green and environmentally friendly Expo, creating China's largest solar plant as part of the facilities and using zero emission vehicles for transportation. But most of the exhibition sites will be demolished when the Expo ends.

- Factbox: Five facts about the Shanghai World Expo, (Writing by Farah Master; Editing by Ben Blanchard and Sanjeev Miglani), Reuters

色彩理論 color theory

2010-04-27T18:47:00.000-07:00

色彩 (color) 理論 (theory)
色 (color) 彩 (hue) 理 (logic) 論 (theory)
Simplified, 色彩理论

Colors are probably the most obvious way that design varies across cultures (a theme that came up in our interview with Frog Design about designing for China). But the funny thing is that for most designers and companies, those color sensibilities often don't rise past "Red is lucky in China; blue is soothing in the West." That's naive, as this superb infographic by David McCandless and Always With Honor shows.

The chart encompasses 10 different cultures, and 62 emotions (!!!). The cultures are represented by concentric rings, and the emotions are represented by slices of the circle. Thus, if you want to understand about Japanese color sensibilities, you read around the graph. And if you want to learn what colors mean "danger" across cultures, you just read vertically, down section 15:

Infographic of the Day: What Colors Mean Across 10 Cultures, bY Cliff Kuang, Fast Company

地中海俱樂部 Club Med

2010-04-27T14:05:00.000-07:00

地中海 (Mediterranean) 俱樂部 (Club)
Simplified, 地中海俱乐部

地 (earth) 中 (middle) 海 (sea) 俱 (together) 樂 (cheer) 部 (division)

But the bawdiness is mostly heightened for show. Over all, the cast members of “Sunset Daze” are sensible, good-humored and at ease. And that’s the underlying, if less marketable, message of the series: with arthritis, golf carts and Pickle-ball comes a bit of wisdom and acceptance.

As baby boomers age, that notion becomes all the more comforting. People want to see retirement homes and age-restricted communities not as warehouses for the lonely, but as a Club Med with ramps. “The Golden Girls” was a hit comedy from 1985 to 1992, and continues to have a cult rerun following. (Betty White, one of its stars, will host “Saturday Night Live” on May 8.) That show succeeded because it was very funny, and also because it made old age seem fun — close female friends in pastel tracksuits share a condo and one another’s ups and downs.

Television Review | 'Sunset Daze'
The Golden Years: Feisty, Fit and Flirty,
by Alessandra Stanley, The New York Times

photo: steamykitchen.com

赤字 deficit

2010-04-26T03:13:00.000-07:00

赤 (red) 字 (letter)

The United States cannot grow its way out of budget deficits and both revenue increases and spending cuts will be needed to stem the flow of red ink and create a brighter financial outlook, top members of a newly created budget commission said on Sunday.

"We're not going to say we're going to grow our way out of this," said former Republican Senator Alan Simpson. "Hell, we could have double (-digit) growth for 30 years and never grow our way out of this."

The deficit was $1.4 trillion in 2009, nearly 10 percent of the overall economy, and it is expected to be that much again this year. Longer term, the retiring baby boom generation will strain the Social Security retirement and Medicare health program for the elderly, putting even more pressure on government spending.

- Deficit panel chiefs say everything on table, by Donna Smith, Reuters

So tell us again why we are paying their salaries? New York’s Legislature was supposed to approve a state budget before April 1. Nearly a month later, the leaders still can’t come up with a plan to close a $9.2 billion deficit. Meanwhile, the other 210 senators and Assembly members are mostly sitting on their hands.

- What Are They Doing? Editorial, The New York Times

graphic: itodyaso.wordpress.com

北京車展 Beijing Auto Show

2010-04-26T01:51:00.000-07:00

北京 (Beijing) 車展 (auto expo) Simplified, 北京车展
北 (north) 京 (capital) 車 (car) 展 (open)

Near the entrance of the Beijing Auto Show, which opened on Friday, stands a replica of the 1958 “Red Flag” limousine, built by China’s First Auto Works because Mao Zedong insisted that China needed its own luxury brand. Now, 52 years later, the Communist leader’s dream is finally being fulfilled – in ways he could never have imagined.

Everywhere in the show, which runs through next week, is evidence of the ways in which Chinese carmakers are trying to climb the ladder of luxury up to the premium levels previously dominated by companies like Audi and Mercedes. The most striking example of this, of course, was the recent purchase of Volvo of Sweden by Geely, the private Chinese carmaker, for $1.8bn. Beijing Automotive (BAIC) also recently bought Saab technology from GM.

- China carmakers in great leap forward to luxury, by Patti Waldmeir in Beijing, Financial Times

video: China embraces car culture

同步性 synchronicity

2010-04-25T23:59:00.000-07:00

同 (same) 步 (walk) 性 (nature)

COMING in at No. 3 is MARGARET MITCHELL. Her “Gone With the Wind” captivated a huge international audience and brought her virtually unanimous literary acclaim, topped off by the Pulitzer Prize for 1937 and the ultimate accolade: a furious argument within the serious-lit hive over whether this was or wasn’t that long-awaited elixir, the Great American Novel.

Coming in at No. 2 is HARRIET BEECHER STOWE. Her “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” published in 1852, had the whole world shivering from the chilling suspense and shuddering over slavery in America. Lincoln said the Civil War would not have occurred had Mrs. Stowe not struck a match to the fuse.

Coming in at No. 1 — now, here we run into one of those beyond-baffling coincidences that take place only in a certain purple dimension Jung called “synchronicity.”

In 1871, Mrs. Stowe was living in a mansion in Hartford, when a 36-year-old writer came to town and built a bigger one barely a block away. There, practically next door, he proceeded to overtake and replace her as the most famous American writer of all time. He remains the title-holder this morning, in fact...the 100th anniversary, plus four days, of his death, April the 21st, 1910: MARK TWAIN.

Faking West, Going East, by Tom Wolfe, The New York Times Op-Ed Contributor

日珥 solar prominence

2010-04-22T00:38:00.000-07:00

日 (sun) 珥 (earring)

Fisher said that SDO could do for heliophysics what the Hubble Space Telescope has done for astrophysics in general. A suite of instruments on SDO returns 16-megapixel images of the sun on a nearly continuous basis, splits the sun's emissions into its individual wavelengths, tracks the propagation of waves across the sun's surface and maps the ever-shifting solar magnetic field. With all that information, scientists can not only observe solar flares and other activity in stunning detail (see the video below for SDO's view of a looping solar prominence; more images and videos are available from NASA's Web site) but also get a glimpse of the interior workings of the sun that give rise to such events.

Much of that data—especially the videos of solar flares and other explosive outbursts—are pretty visually arresting, a fact that appears not to be lost on SDO's operators. At the Newseum event, NASA astrophysicist Madhulika Guhathakurta said that an app was in the works to bring SDO images and movies to Apple's iPad.

NASA's Solar Dynamics Observatory producing sun science that doubles as eye candy, by John Matson, Scientific American

graphic: Catching the Light Astrophotography by Jerry Lodriguss & John Martinez
Amazing video:

Idioms Gallery

飛行汽車 flying car 비행자동차 空飛ぶ車

獨立日 Independence Day 독립 기념일 独立記念日

小中庭 small courtyard <작은 안마당>

玩具總動員 Toy Story

另一個超級大國 the other superpower

世界盃十六強 World Cup Round of 16

選舉結果 election results

基因拼接 gene splice/splicing

催眠曲 lullaby

民營企業 private enterprise

旋轉的苦行僧 whirling dervish

全球軍費開支 Global military expenditure

無條件的愛 unconditional love

國債 national debt

全球霸王/ 环球霸王 C-17 Globemaster

高科技电影 high-tech film

加薪 pay raise

失業的 unemployed

台北國際電腦展 Computex (in Taipei)

美国前副总统戈尔与妻子宣布分居 Former U.S. Vice President Gore and Wife Announce Separation

俄羅斯國際航空公司 Aeroflot <Аэрофлот>

加沙地帶 Gaza Strip

紐約客 vs. 名利場 The New Yorker vs. Vanity Fair

票房 box office

木薯 cassava

天然氣 natural gas

土庫曼斯坦 Turkmenistan

超級計算機 supercomputer

墨西哥灣 Gulf of Mexico

亞特蘭蒂斯號航天飛機 Space Shuttle Atlantis

國際水域 international waters

小型潛艇 minisubmarine

商業噴氣客機 commercial jet

巴西 Brazil

中國房地產 Chinese Real Estate

空軍 Air Force

富士康 Foxconn

聯合攻擊戰鬥機 Joint Strike Fighter (JSF)

航母 aircraft carrier

晚安 good night

熱門職位 hot jobs

象棋冠軍 chess champion

白宮 The White House

魚雷 torpedo

衛星發射器 satellite transmitter

小行星 asteroid

軌道測試飛行器 orbital test vehicle

尤達 Yoda

太陽帆動力飛船 solar sail spacecraft

三星 Samsung <삼성 in Korean>

骨牌 domino

政府債務貨幣化 monetization of government debt

哲學家 philosopher

重寫本 palimpsest

风险投资 venture capital

附带权益 carried interest

約旦 Jordan

核聚变, 核裂变 nuclear fusion, nuclear fission

请勿乱扔杂物 no littering

福利國家 welfare state

淨值 net worth

诵经时请勿喧哗 be quiet when chanting (in progress)

華爾街/华尔街 Wall Street

小心地滑 caution: slippery floor

中式英語 Chinglish

歐洲中央銀行 The European Central Bank (ECB)

外星智慧 extraterrestrial intelligence

赫米斯 Hermes

石油 oil

月刊雜誌 monthly magazine <月刊誌 in Japanese>

上海世博會 Shanghai World Expo

色彩理論 color theory

地中海俱樂部 Club Med

赤字 deficit

北京車展 Beijing Auto Show

同步性 synchronicity

日珥 solar prominence