The Real Deal
May 18th, 2006怀着忐忑不安的心情告诉大家：我出书了。书名叫《时尚英语 美国流行文化A to Z》，由外语教学与研究出版社出版，ISBN 7-5600-5421-8，定价13.90元。
当地新华书店、外文书店买不到的朋友可以网购：
更新：
美国的朋友可以通过Actrace网购（定价8.40美元）
Bonus video: Craig David - Unbelievable
Wear the pants
April 1st, 2008Give someone a run for their money
March 21st, 2008今天短短几个小时之内居然连续五次听到或看到give someone a run for their money，邪了！
该短语的定义见此，我觉得比较贴切的中文翻译是“有得一拼”。例句：I think only Liverpool will be able to give Manchester United a run for their money next season.
我觉得翻成“势均力敌”也马马虎虎，不过还是“有得一拼”更贴切。因为give someone a run for their money有“水平很接近，不会让对方轻松获胜，但最终还是以微弱劣势败下阵来”的意味。“势均力敌”则是完全五五开，谁都可能赢。
这个短语的来源我始终没搞清楚。有说跟跑步有关的，也有说跟赛马有关的，似乎没有官方定论。我觉得相对比较靠谱的是这个说法：
When a horse lost a close race, the consolation statement was that at least the loser gave the winner a run for his money, i.e. the prize money for winning the race.
有谁知道正确答案的，请分享。多谢！
P.S. 该短语也可作give someone a run for the money或give someone a run for his/her money，没有区别。
Bonus video: Jordin Sparks with Chris Brown - No Air (Talk about giving each other a run for their money!)
Kung Pao Chicken
March 18th, 2008推荐一篇文章：宫保鸡丁—— 美剧，中餐，英语
本人一向不爱说教，今天就破个例吧：请大家向文章作者学习！这种注意积累的方法的确对学英语非常有帮助。要是你也这么留心自己看过的东西，你的英语会在不经意中得到很大提升！
另外，这篇文章的标题写的是“宫保鸡丁”，让我想起了以前经常纠结的一个问题：到底是“宫保”还是“宫爆”？当时还不是google和baidu的年代，没有上网查过。现在时代不同了，很快找到定论：宫爆鸡丁和宫保鸡丁
（See? 就是要从这些小地方多加积累，语言水平才会提高。*说教完毕，逃走。*）
Bonus video: Leona Lewis - Better In Time
Rimshot
March 14th, 2008在看EW的American Idol recap时，注意到这么一句话：
I mean, Simon even did an air rimshot after one of Carrey’s on-air jokes, a move I thought was limited to American parents out to embarrass their kids.
我的第一反应：Simon did a what?
赶紧查字典，居然没有rimshot这个词。接着google，找到了一篇让我大笑的文章，因为作者和我对rimshot的“误解”完全一样。推荐大家阅读全文： WTF
My initial reaction was a mix of shock and intrigue…WTF?! Cue the rim shot? We hadn’t even kissed yet. He didn’t lose any points for this trust me…I was just a bit surprised.
Then I sat back and thought about it and decided that my idea of rim shot and his idea of rim shot HAD to be different. So I asked this chick that I work with and her first reaction was it was the drum noise that comes after a punchline…huh? Well a quick trip to google found that she was sort of right. Wikipedia said this…The term is erroneously used to refer to the sting played by the drummer in cabaret shows to accentuate the punchline of a joke. As a result, a particularly obvious laugh line is sometimes called a rimshot.
这一段笑死我了：
Today some dude at work used the ‘cue the rim shot’ line again and once again my slightly twisted brain jumped right to the porn definition of the term instead of the punchline.
顺带推荐文章里提到的一个榜单：Top 97 Words That Sound Dirty, But Aren’t
Bonus video: Paula Abdul - Dance Like There’s No Tomorrow
“A historic” or “an historic”
March 4th, 2008前两天又遇到这个问题：该用“a historic (moment, event etc)”还是“an historic”？
我从来都只用a historic，而且一直想不通这有什么可争论的。h在这里根本不是元音，干吗要用an啊？在我看来，h只有在单独作为字母使用的时候，前面才会加an（因为字母h的确是元音打头）。比如：I can’t spell the word, but it definitely has an “h” in it somewhere.
但这回又遇到这个问题的时候，两个人异口同声地跟我说“是an historic，不用an根本读不顺畅。”其中一个还说语法书里明确提到过这一点，他肯定学过。这下不由我不动摇了。
找了一下，竟然发现这么个结论：Both usages are sufficiently common to be considered correct in modern English. 晕。
You probably know the grammar rule that says you use an before vowel sounds (e.g. an accident, an item, an hour) and a otherwise; e.g. a book, a report, a hotel.
Following this rule, we would say “a historic”, not “an historic”.
Words of three or more syllables that start with h are treated differently by some speakers, though. For example, which of these pairs of sentences sounds correct to you?
* It is a historic occasion.
* It is an historic occasion.* We can’t agree on a hypothesis.
* We can’t agree on an hypothesis.A quick bit of Googling reveals that — as of August 2007 — the phrase “a historic” is used on 2.47 million pages (51%), and “an historic” on 2.39 million pages (49%).
This is a very even split and supports the view that which form you use is little more than a personal preference. Both usages are thus sufficiently common to be considered correct in modern English.
P.S. For the record, I still prefer “a historic”. It doesn’t sound awkward or weird to me at all. Can’t say that about “an historic”.
更新：http://www.theslot.com/a-an.html（感谢aliensooner提供）
# The Chicago Manual of Style gives the straight vowel-sound-vs.-consonant-sound explanation.
# The Associated Press Stylebook gives the straight vowel-sound-vs.-consonant-sound explanation.
# The United Press International stylebook gives the straight vowel-sound-vs.-consonant-sound explanation.
# The Washington Post stylebook gives the straight vowel-sound-vs.-consonant-sound explanation.
# The New York Times stylebook gives the straight vowel-sound-vs.-consonant-sound explanation.
# The USA Today stylebook gives the straight vowel-sound-vs.-consonant-sound explanation.
# The U.S. News & World Report stylebook gives the straight vowel-sound-vs.-consonant-sound explanation.
哇，有这么强大的后盾，我要百分百坚定地“a historic”下去！
Bonus video: Janet Jackson - Feedback