May 2012
17 posts
2 tags
Main blog reinstates 'About me' page →
The Naked Listener’s Weblog has reinstated a static page by popular demand:—
About me: http://thenakedlistener.wordpress.com/aboutme/
The About me page was furloughed on 15 March 2012 along with the rest of the blog. It was originally the article “Blogger bio: Me!” posted on 19 Feb 2011 and again on 01 Jan 2012 with minor amendments.
A number of people actually told me in real, live,...
Not black and white (2/3) →
Grammarheads aren’t anal-retentive as more accurately they are anal-explosive.
As soon as someone stupid enough to get sucked into an argument about grammar or language usage — and even stupider to express a different point of view (not even necessarily a dissenting one) — the complainers gear up almost like a united front with these highly predictable defences:-
Full story:...
Not black and white: the realities of the English... →
The ways and byways of the English language aren’t some private mystery or protected kingdom of a select few. The evidence for how and why English operates the way it does is all around us, you blind SOB.
Before we take a reality check about English, we first have to recognise the craptastic complaints characteristically spewed out by the grammarphiles.
Full story:...
3 tags
(Victoria Park, Hong Kong, 10 May 2012)
This is exactly the kind of antics that call into question one’s reputation, capability and mental stability.
Read the original story:
Your ‘cum’ is rubbish | Learn English or Starve | 15 May 2012
(c) The Naked Listener, 2012. Image by me.
6 tags
Which country do you think has the best overall salesmanship? And the worst?
Some answers gathered:
“Best is Japan; worst is China.”
“Singapore has got to be among the worst. I’ve had cases where I come in 100% ready to buy and been thrown objections from the sales staff.”
“Depends on the industry.”
“Probably anything with Chinese salespeople,...
4 tags
Attitudinal English
This man: Take your hands off me!
That man: Take your attitude off me first!
4 tags
“These people in Hong Kong don’t know how to handle vintage or luxury cars....”
– (Overheard in shop between customer and sales assistant, Wed 09 May 2012, ca. 3pm)
Photo: A total writeoff of a US$1 million Pagani Zonda F in Hong Kong in 2009.
Only 106 Pagani Zondas were ever produced, and 25 of those where Zonda F models.
Poll: If I reoperate again →
(Click on headline to go direct to the post)
(This is a subscriber-only post and will not appear on the blog itself)
Greetings, Programs.
Some of you have been emailing me about why the furlough for The Naked Listener’s Weblog is lasting so long (two months already), which is tantamount to asking why my anger still hasn’t died down.
Explaining that is probably harder than landing a crock of...
5 tags
Have you got an odd name? →
A blast from the past: Easterners’ penchant for bizarre Western names.
2 tags
Supposedly the oldest paintings discovered so far are about 25,000 old.
The scary thing is that they’re still better than 90% of the community college ‘art’ produced today.
(Image: c4c)
(10 May 2012)
1 tag
Rising damp →
This had been a well-known phrase in the United Kingdom in the mid-1970s. It wasn’t exactly a popular phrase, but its meaning was understood well enough in those days and is certainly still understood by those who spent their formative years in the Swinging Seventies UK.
Basically, rising damp refers to a symptom or appearance of neglect, old age, decrepitude, etc. In short, the phrase...
1 tag
Which quality is more you?
Sacrifice timeliness to ensure correctness in every detail, or go with good enough details now and then refine later?
(06 May 2012)
“Learning is a lot like the difference between fiddlers and violinists. Fiddlers...”
– (07 May 2012)
1 tag
My very own pocketable Matrix →
Blast from the past (actually, just 2010) of what I carry in my pocket. Red, white and boring.
