Food: How To Open An Oyster? The World Is Your Oyster!

My hand, my glove and an opened Fine de Claire
Image from Locky's English Playground

We know oysters taste spectacular, we know we can have them freshly from the shell or cooked, with lemon juice or with cocktail sauce, but lucky for most people who can spend on such delicacy, we need not worry about cracking the shell. I used to think cracking the shell as an exhausting procedure, but now that I have learnt the techniques and discovered the hidden tricks, it's like shooting fish in a barrel!

I have made a video of my own for this, do check it out!

Here's a summary of my tips and tricks:

1. A strong oyster knife will save you much energy
2. An oyster holder also multiplies your strength
3. If an oyster on the oyster holder isn't giving you a good angle, then just put the oyster on flat surface
4. It's twisting and rotating your knife before leveraging, not the other way round.
5. Cut the scallop and your oyster will release the shell.

And here's the oyster anatomy for your reference:

Oyster Anatomy
Image from pearlmagpie.co.uk

If you still think my video isn't good enough, well then, learn from my oyster shucker teacher, Suki, from Taylor Shellfish Farm in this episode of Dirty Jobs by Mike Rowe. Trust me, it is great fun to watch!

So, once you have learnt the skills and tricks, the world is your oyster!!!

Unwanted oyster shells are actually good for the environment?
Image from Ari Brown

Do you know that unwanted oyster shell can actually clean the sea? No? Check out my article back in May 2009.

Not enough info? I will write more about oysters next time if chances arrive.


Vocabulary:
shooting fish in a barrel -- (idiom) see TV & Vocabulary: Mythbusters & English Idioms
shuck -- (vb)[T] to remove the shell or natural covering from something that is eaten:
the world is your oyster -- (idiom) if the world is your oyster, you have the ability and the freedom to do anything or go anywhere


Resources:
How To Open An Oyster @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/z5pdpd0XmbQ

Dirty Jobs - Clam Shucker @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iwrFHgiwJFg

Taylor Shellfish Farm
http://www.taylorshellfishfarms.com/

Dirty Jobs by Mike Rowe
http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/dirty-jobs

Science & Environment: How Sea Shells Clean Water @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2009/05/science-environment-how-sea-shells.html

TV & Vocabulary: Mythbusters & English Idioms @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/11/tv-vocabulary-mythbusters-english-idioms.html

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/shuck?q=shuck
http://idioms.thefreedictionary.com/The+world+is+oyster

Food: The Search For Great Curry -- Part 6 @ Old Town

Newspaper-like Menu
Image from Locky's English Playground

Just a quick review of the food I have tried in this restaurant. Located on 11/F, The Loop, 33 Wellington Street, Old Town serves quick Singaporean and Malaysian food in Central, which is rare.

One of the first eye-catcher is the newspaper-like menu, clean and colour-printed. It's a pity that it has only 4 pages and the waitresses collect them back instantaneously upon the completion of your ordering. Thus, there is really little time to appreciate the design.

Passionfruit tea and barley water
Image from Locky's English Playground

I cannot remember the exact cost of the set I ordered, but it was somewhere near $100. Consider this as reasonable for a lunch in district like Central. It comes with a drink of your choice, a rice or a bowl of noodles.

Singaporean Seafood laksa
Image from Locky's English Playground

The Singaporean Seafood Laksa tasted great, better than the one at Hainan Shaoye, mainly due to the presence of blood clams. Blood clams are very fishy shellfish, while some might not like it, they add extra seawater flavour into the soup and that makes a world of difference!

Scores:

Look:            ★★★★☆ 4/5

Taste:            ★★★★☆ 4/5

Smell:            ★★★★☆ 4/5

Textures:       ★★★★☆ 4/5

Temperature: ★★★★☆ 4/5

Overall:         ★★★★☆ 20/25

Curry Beef Rice
Image from Locky's English Playground

As for the curry beef rice, hm... it's curry, it has beef, it has vegetables and beans. It has a bowl of soup that goes with it. It's tasty, but other than that, I cannot think of anything special about this.

From another angle
Image from Locky's English Playground

I think the most attractive thing about the curry is the set of containers. Every bowl and plate comes with the traditional rooster logo. They look so beautiful that I almost actually cared less about the quality of the food.

Rooster in Spoon, rice with curry sauce
Image from Locky's English Playground

The rice though, does look beautiful under the sunlight!


Scores:

Look:            ★★★★★ 5/5

Taste:            ★★★☆☆ 3/5

Smell:            ★★★☆☆ 3/5

Textures:       ★★★☆☆ 3/5

Temperature: ★★★★★ 5/5

Overall:         ★★★★☆ 19/25

Thus, laksa would be my recommendation.


Resources:

Food: The Search For Great Curry -- Part 5 @ Wine and Deli by m.a.x. concepts @ Locky's English Playground
http://www.maxconcepts.com.hk/tc/deli_n_wine.asp

Food: The Search For Great Curry -- Part 4 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2013/07/food-search-for-great-curry-part-4.html

Food: The Search For Great Curry -- Part 3 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/04/food-search-for-great-curry-part-3.html

Food: The Search For Great Curry -- Part 2 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/04/food-search-for-great-curry-part-2.html

Food: The Search For Great Curry -- Part 1 @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/03/food-search-for-great-curry-part-1.html

Food & Restaurant: Singaporean-Malaysia cuisine -- Hainan Shaoye
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/09/food-restaurant-singaporean-malaysia.html

Old Town Restaurant @ Openrice
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=133150&region=0&s=3

Photography, Dining, Travelling & Living: aqua & aqua luna

Brochure of aqua luna
with Canon EOS 7D, f/2.8, 1/30 sec, ISO-500, 16mm
Image from Locky's English Playground

In a few more days, 2013 will end so I thought I should clear up some older drafts.

Victoria Harbour from Tsim Sha Tsui
with Galaxy Note 2
Image from Locky's English Playground

A couple of months ago, I received a Red Packet voucher from my father-in-law and my wife and I redeemed a dinner plus junk trip at aqua. Since aqua is famous not only for its food but also for its amazing view of the Victoria Harbour, I just had to bring my Canon 7D with the Canon F 24-105mm f/4 L IS USM and the Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X 116 Pro DX.

Panorama of aqua bar
with Galaxy Note 2
Image from Locky's English Playground

Before I got to use the DSLR, I could not help but made use of my the panoramic mode on my then-Galaxy Note 2. The outcome really isn't bad, as you can see from the photos above and below.

Panoramic view of Victoria Harbour
with Galaxy Note 2
Image from Locky's English Playground

The harbour looks amazing! Could have been even better if the restaurant windows were actually clean and not covered with rainwater stains and dust.

Canon EOS 7D + Tokina 11-16mm f/2.8 AT-X 116 Pro DX
with Galaxy Note 2
Image from Locky's English Playground

The Galaxy Note 2 camera in itself is a pretty decent phone camera. In this case, it performs well in capturing the red on the camera strap and the seams on the remote pocket.

with Galaxy Note 2
Image from Locky's English Playground

What the Note 2 camera did great was the capturing of dim light from the sky, creating a lovely contrast between the lightbulb of the lamp, the sky and the darker metals.

with Galaxy Note 2
Image from Locky's English Playground

In the above photo though, Note 2 camera gave pretty noisy dark regions in order to settle for a more saturated colours. 

with Galaxy Note 2
Image from Locky's English Playground

However, if the subject is adequately lit, Note 2's HDR mode does provide pretty sharp images with distinctive colours.

Sunset in the restaurant
with Canon EOS 7D, f/8, 1/40 sec, ISO-200, 14mm
Image from Locky's English Playground

Let's take a look at some of the photos from my Canon EOS 7D.

This camera does not come with an HDR mode, only bracketing plus post-editing can create an image with HDR effect, much less convenient than the Note 2 when taking photos in low light. What is promising is the low level of noise seen in the above image.

Bread as starters
with Canon EOS 7D, f/2.8, 1/40 sec, ISO-200, 16mm
Image from Locky's English Playground

Comparing the 7D images with those from the Note 2, though unfair, Note 2 obviously does not have the buttery smooth depth of view that 7D can offer,

Signature cocktail
with Canon EOS 7D, f/2.8, 1/50 sec, ISO-200, 16mm
Image from Locky's English Playground

the colour balance on the 7D is also much more gradual, let alone the superior bokeh from the flare of the setting sun from the above image.

Special table for special guest, with the view of both Hong Kong and Kowloon
with Canon EOS 7D, f/8, 1/30 sec, ISO-200, 11mm
Image from Locky's English Playground

Both the above and below images of a dining room are photos I like a lot. In the one above, I purposely include the sunset, the harbour, Hong Kong and Kowloon in it, while keeping in mind the geometry that is created by the building structure as well as the gaps between the glass walls. If the reflection of the glass can be removed and the chairs can be lighten up, then this would be a perfect photo to be on a magazine. However, none of these pictures have been photo-retouched in order to show the originality of the photos.

with Canon EOS 7D, f/8, 1/25 sec, ISO-200, 16mm
Image from Locky's English Playground

In the photo above, the chairs were better lit as a result of a slight tilt of angle. Again, would have been perfect if the reflection doesn't show in the middle of the glass.


Let's talk about the food.

(Veal) Ravioli in tomato sauce with truffles
with Canon EOS 7D, f/4, 1/50 sec, ISO-6400, 58mm
Image from Locky's English Playground

I must admit that all the dishes tasted amazing! Absolutely top-notch stuff! I like the sweet yet sour tomato sauce that goes with the ravioli, very appetising!

Roast Italian Seabass with carrot foam
with Canon EOS 7D, f/8, 1/8 sec, ISO-3200, 55mm
Image from Locky's English Playground

The roast Italian seabass with carrot foam and spinach melts in your mouth instantaneously, and I do not just mean the fish, I mean everything! Biting that crispy skin was my favourite moment having this dish.

Fish again!

with Galaxy Note 2

Image from Locky's English Playground

This fish is not bad, but after having the previous seabass, another fish dish really was too much for the taste buds. I would prefer a non-seafood dish. Oh well, the asparagus was the best.

Tiramisu
with Canon EOS 7D, f/8, 1/4 sec, ISO-3200, 45mm
Image from Locky's English Playground

The wine in the tiramisu was slightly too strong for me, but it was 'moussely' delightful. Not the best I have tried, but it is something high above the standard.

with Galaxy Note 2
Image from Locky's English Playground

After dinner, it was time to say goodbye to aqua and walk to the pier for the junk trip. But just before we left, a final panorama of the night harbour view -- Spectacular!

with Galaxy Note 2
Image from Locky's English Playground

The aqua luna looks fabulous as a whole, but my lenses was not wide enough to capture the entire length of the junk together with the harbour, and Note 2 did an excellent job in this case!

with Canon EOS 7D, f/4, 1/4 sec, ISO-3200, 24mm
Image from Locky's English Playground

Back on my Canon this time with the L lens. Noise became much more obvious with ISO 3200, which is the maximum ISO I set. Noise Reduction was set to Standard mode, which apparently was not good enough.

Passengers on aqua luna
with Canon EOS 7D, f/4, 1/4 sec, ISO-3200, 24mm
Image from Locky's English Playground

I would have loved to set the ISO below 1600, nonetheless, I would not have enough stability on the photos had I done that. The sailing junk would not have allowed me the additional exposure time needed to capture enough light. The above photo is one of the best capture of the passengers -- some dynamic, some static.

Sailing on!
with Canon EOS 7D, f/2.8, 1 sec, ISO-500, 11mm
Image from Locky's English Playground

I love this one taken above. Taken with 1 second of exposure time, it shows the head of the junk very sharp, while the horizon is tilted showing the movement of the boat. All the skyscrapers are on the horizon with the lights from the buildings being dots in the centre of the image, stretched upwards on the right and stretched downwards on the left. The seawater waves are smoothed due to the 1 second exposure time. In my opinions, this image comprises both stillness on the junk, the speed of the junk and the divergence of the surrounding from the midpoint.

Central, here I come!
with Canon EOS 7D, f/2.8, 1/3 sec, ISO-3200, 11mm
Image from Locky's English Playground

A photo shoot of the Victoria Harbour will not be successful without at least one good photo of Central. Though pretty noisy in this one, I have the Bank of China on the left and IFC 2 on the right while the junk headed straight through the middle. This photo is similar to the one before except that this time, a man walking down the stairs is the centre of attention. While everyone sat still, he walked 'ghostly' down the steps. With a little Photoshop work, tuning the contrast and lowering the noise level, this image will surely look gorgeous! Then again, there is its beauty in non-retouched photos and I hope I have managed to demonstrate this point.

Christmas holidays may have ended, New Year is just a few days away. Try to take some photos too and share with me!


Vocabulary:
bokeh -- (n)[U] Japanese: [boke]) is the blur, or the aesthetic quality of the blur, in out-of-focus areas of an image.
flare / lens flare -- (n)[C] the light scattered in lens systems through generally unwanted image formation mechanisms, such as internal reflection and scattering from material inhomogeneities in the lens.
'moussely' -- (adv) like mousse


Resources:
aqua @ Openrice
http://www.openrice.com/english/restaurant/sr2.htm?shopid=10757&region=0&s=3

Red Packet
http://www.redpacket.hk/buy-a-gift/red-packet-gourmet-dining

Bokeh @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh

Lens Flare @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lens_flare

Auto: Tesla Model S on National Geographic

Sunroof anyone?
Image from Tesla

Feeling bored and in need of something to watch? Wanna have some green knowledge for the Christmas? I happened to feel this way in this Christmas morning, and so I went to find something to watch on YouTube.

Almost buttonless interactive touchscreen which controls all of the car!!!
Image from Tesla

Fully Robotic Model S Production
Image from National Geographic

As I have always been a late stock investor, knowing more about a company which I am highly interested is extremely important. I can say I already know a lot about Tesla Motor, but I still wanna learn more about the visionary company, their state-of-the-art electric vehicles, the robotic manufacturing process and their hi-tech factories.

Image from National Geographic

I have watched a lot of videos about the Tesla Model S, but it is only today that I found this documentary by National Geographic. Not too many people can enter the factory to see the entire production with their own eyes, so being able to see it on video is monumental to my decision to buy the US stock. This 47-minute documentary definitely is a great watch for the holidays!

Now I just need to analyse all those financial data in order to justify the moment and price of purchase.

Image from Yahoo! Finance

A Model S as present will be awesome!


Resources:
Megafactories - Tesla Model S | Zinatnieks Science TV @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/ESAAmlmKMn8

Technology: Fun Facts About Tesla Model S We All Should Know @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/11/technology-fun-facts-about-tesla-model.html

Auto & Science: How To Cut Fuel Consumption When Driving? @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/11/auto-science-how-to-cut-fuel.html

Science & Technology: Fun Facts About Electric Cars We All Should Know @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/10/science-technology-fun-facts-about.html

Science & TV: Fun Facts About Christmas We All Should Know -- Virgin Birth!

Is this true? Let's see!
Image from buzzdixon

Hello! Everyone! It's Christmas again! Remember that in 2009, I wrote Vocabulary: Christmas Stuff and in 2011, I wrote Vocabulary: Christmas Words To Learn and  taught you guys some words related to Christmas? If you don't, do feel free to check out the post. It has some excellent Mr. Bean videos there!

Today, I want to share some fun facts about Christmas!

First, let's check out this video.

What about it? In the movie, the female dinosaurs were able to breed without a male dinosaur. So what's special about turkey? Well, female turkeys can give birth to babies without the fertilisation of a male counterpart! It's called parthenogenesis or commonly known as "virgin birth".

Although the chances is not very high, 19% according to the video and few will actually hatch, it is one miracle of nature!!

"Life Finds A Way" -- Dr. Malcolm @ Jurassic Park

In fact, virgin birth does not only happen in turkey, it occurs in honeybees, flatworms, snails, sharks and gecko.

What about humans? Can humans reproduce through parthenogenesis? Wanna ask Dr. House about it? He did talk about it in this Season 5 Episode 11.

Dr. House said "no", but what does science say?

Well, there you have it! Virgin birth has never been proven to occur in humans but it is scientifically plausible though extremely rare.

So, don't even think about faking anyone this Christmas with "virgin birth"!

Have a happy Christmas Eve and Merry Christmas!


Vocabulary:
virgin birth -- (n) see parthenogenesis
parthenogenesis -- (n) [U] a form of asexual reproduction in which growth and development of embryos occur without fertilization.




Resources:

Jurassic Park @ IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107290/

Top 5 Favorite Turkey Facts @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCPQ208K9Gw

Life finds a Way - Jeff Goldblum - Jurassic Park (1993) movie scene @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkWeMvrNiOM

Does Virgin Birth Exist? @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/ql2HPVSAiog

Pathenogenisis @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathenogenisis

House MD Season 5 Episode 11 Joy To The World.avi @ NowVideo
http://www.nowvideo.sx/video/bqucnxbrhj0wi

Vocabulary: Christmas Stuff @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2009/12/vocabulary-christmas-stuff.html

Vocabulary: Christmas Words To Learn @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2011/12/vocabulary-christmas-words-to-learn.html

Food & Animal: Hasma & Common House Gecko @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/04/food-animal-hasma-common-house-gecko.html

Message: Why Still No Post This Week?

Do you hunchback?
Image from gawkerassets

Hi everyone, sorry for not writing anything till now. Several things happened this week. First thing, I was having too much fun acting as a human swing for my baby girl and/or maybe I was too exhausted being woken up 3 times in the middle of the night, my bottom of my neck "cracked" loudly last Wednesday when I sneezed and then from my neck down to the left hand fingers, there was only severe pain. I had to call the chiropractor whom I have recommended on this blog before. Checking the past records of my neck injuries, it appeared that I basically visited him every year. However, the chiropractor's business has improved so much that he said he wouldn't have a single slot for me until 2015! Thus, I had no choice but to visit another Chinese physician and lucky that now I have my left arm and neck working fine again.

The morale of this story, when you sneeze, be careful!

Image from chartclinic.co.uk

Nah! The real morale of the story is we should all pay more attention to our sitting as well as our 'smartphoning' posture.

Image from phdcomics

Second thing, after months of waiting, I finally received an interview invitation for the PhD program I have applied. It was Monday and the interview was on Thursday, so I devoted all possible time for revision and preparation. I was lucky enough to have done well, but before the result comes back, I try not to get ahead of myself.

Hotel buffet
Image from Openrice

Third thing, my baby girl was officially a month old on the 18th, and so we are planning for some sort of celebration. Checking the price of hotel buffets, it appears that it is more expensive to book the entire venue than booking all seats individually. Doesn't quite make sense to me. Since the food and drinks are the same and there isn't anything added to the services. I don't really need the stage for any special show, I don't even need the microphone, so I don't know what the hotels base on to charge me more. Maybe this is an unspoken rule in the industry?


Vocabulary:
'smartphoning' -- (n)[U] The action of using smartphones
posture -- (n)[C or U] the way in which someone usually holds their shoulders, neck, and back, or a particular position in which someone stands, sits, etc.:
get ahead of myself -- (idiom) To focus excessively on one's plans or on prospective future events without paying adequate attention to the present.
unspoken rule -- (n)[C] unspoken rules are behavioral constraints imposed in organizations or societies that are not voiced or written down. They usually exist in unspoken and unwritten format because they form a part of the logical argument or course of action implied by tacit assumptions.


Resources:

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/get_ahead_of_oneself
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/posture_1?q=postures
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unspoken_rule

Culture & Usage: "Lufsig", False Friends & Bad Words

Lufsig -- a must-buy in Hong Kong
Image from IKEA

"What should we do this Christmas?" 
"Let's throw something!"
"Throw a party?"
"No, throw Lufsig!"

If you are not aware of the recent news from Hong Kong, or you are not into Hong Kong cultures, you probably won't get the above conversation, but in fact, it is packed with dark humour and politics.

Lufsig on its way to attack CY Leung
Image from Mingpao

Lufsig, an IKEA plush toy from the tale of Little Red Riding Hood, has become a recent phenomenon in Hong Kong. Ever since the unknown toy was thrown at the much criticised 'Wolfman' Chief Executive of Hong Kong CY Leung, the toy sparked an immediate craze in the city. Overnight, 'Lufsig has been sold out at all Ikea stores.' Netizens who wish to purchase the popular toy have to place bid on Yahoo! Auction at almost quadruple of the original HK$58.

Image from Yahoo! Auction

There are several reasons to this,

1. Chief Executive CY Leung, commonly known as 'Wolfman' for his cunningness and absence of integrity, fits perfectly with Lufsig's character -- "fond of play and mischief".
2. Lufsig's China website translate the name into Cantonese "Lo Mo Sai", which resembles the profanity "mother's cxxt".
3. Adding to the profanity, "Throwing" or "Hanging" "Lo Mo Sai" resembles "fxxk mother's cxxt".
4. The plush toy comes with an old granny toy which can be "eaten" by Lufsig and "rescued" from its tummy. Either way, she's someone's mother.
5. There are just too much unhappiness and pressure among the Hong Kongers towards the government, especially without the right to choose their leader and continual suppression in freedom of speech. Lufsig offers a marvelous mean for stress relief and voice out.

"Lo Mo Sai" -- Lufsig on IKEA China on 11th Dec 2013
Image from IKEA China

The Lufsig phenomenon has led to an explosion of creativity. Not only does Lufsig have a Facebook account, there are also Lufsig throwing competition, Lufsig monster cards, Lufsig posters, selfies with Lufsig, and many more in progress. As BBC reports, "Ikea toy wolf becomes Hong Kong protest symbol".

"Lo Fuk Sai" -- Lufsig on IKEA China on 12th Dec 2013
Image from IKEA China

A spokesman from the IKEA headquarters in Sweden later said, "Our intention is that product names should not reflect politics or religion" and so they have given a new Chinese name to Lufsig -- "Lo Fuk Sai", which worsen to "Aggressively Fxxk (Someone's) Cxxt".

Nice job IKEA!!!

False friends in a Dutch advertisement actually meaning "Mama, that one, that one, that one ..." "Please.", In English this could easily sound as though the child is telling her mother to die, although the word is not pronounced the same way in the two languages.
Caption from Wikipedia, image from thingamababy

False friends as funny as Lo Mo Sai isn't solely a Cantonese thing. In the above Dutch advertisement, "Mama, die, die, die...""Alsjeblieft", actually means "Mama, that one, that one, that one...""Please" in English, but which English speaker will realise the Dutch meaning when the kid in the ad looks like she wanted to kill someone?

Asking around the Hong-Kongers and you'll find out that one of the most classic false friend examples happens in Thai-Cantonese homonyms. A video on the internet shows martial art master Tony Jaa teaching Thai to two Hong Kong artists, pronouncing

• Colour (English) = See (Thai) = Shit (Cantonese)
• White (English) = See-Kou (Thai) = Lion's Ball (Cantonese)
• Pinkish Blue (English) = See-Fa (Thai) = Ass (Cantonese) / 
• Green (English) = See-Keau (Thai) = Shitty Idea (Cantonese) 
• Brown (English) = See-Nam-Dang (Thai) = Whatso-fxxking-ever (Cantonese)
• Black (English) = See-Dom (Thai) = ????
• Rainbow Colours (English) = Lei-Lai-See (Thai) = You shit (your pants) involuntarily / You have fecal incontinence!!

False friends exists in all languages, wanna learn some false friends in German? Try BBC German!

You might have realised that the more foul false friends are, the more intriguing it gets. That's because humans naturally need foul language. Michael of Vsauce has a rather detailed video about bad words.

So bad words / foul languages are not as simply as they seem.

Their history and evolution has much to do with the class differences. The higher class used elegant words, the lower class used less classy words which some eventually turned into bad words we use today.

And why do we like bad words? Because we can use them as a mean of lalochezia. Lufsg as anti-government symbol? Now you know why.

Enjoy researching!



Vocabulary:
dark humour -- (n)[U] Humor that is viewed as dark, morbid, cruel, offensive to some, and or graphic in nature and is yet, still found funny.
fecal incontinence -- (n)[U] Fecal incontinence (FI), also called faecal incontinence, bowel incontinence or anal incontinence, is a lack of control over defecation, leading to involuntary loss of bowel contents—including flatus, liquid stool elements and mucus, or solid feces.
lalochezia -- (n) [U] (rare) The use of vulgar or foul language to relieve stress or pain.


Resources:

Lufsig @ Facebook
https://www.facebook.com/Lufsig?ref=nf

Lufsig @ IKEA China
http://www.ikea.com/cn/zh/catalog/categories/departments/childrens_ikea/children/

Ikeagosedjur i Hongkong-protester @ GP
http://www.gp.se/ekonomi/1.2205428-ikeagosedjur-i-hongkong-protester

IKEA Toy Wolf Becomes Unlikely Anti-Government Symbol In Hong Kong | Yuen Chan @ Huffington Post
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/yuen-chan/lufsig-hong-kong_b_4414080.html

Toy wolf with a rude name becomes a must-have for Hong Kong protesters @ South China Morning Post
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1377007/toy-wolf-rude-name-becomes-must-have-hong-kong-protesters

Cuddly wolf sinks teeth into Leung @ The Standard
http://thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=11&art_id=140470&sid=41100584&con_type=1

Vocabulary: Jargons With A Hong Kong Flavour @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/07/vocabulary-jargons-with-hong-kong.html

Ikea toy wolf becomes Hong Kong protest symbol @ BBC News
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-china-25314580

Ikea toy wolf Lufsig gets new name after its claim to fame @ SCMP
http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1378290/ikea-toy-wolf-lufsig-gets-new-name-after-its-claim-fame

False Friends @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/False_friends

What's so funny about German? -- False Friends @ BBC
http://www.bbc.co.uk/languages/german/comedy/false_friends.shtml

Tony Jaa 教泰文(森美、吳君如主持)，笑到你lai屎。 @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/3RQ07P4qbGA

Kari Byron No Pain No Gain H O T @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/etl3frIvLEY

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=dark%20humor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fecal_incontinence
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/lalochezia

Slang: 'Selfie' or 'Unselfie'? 'Fularious', 'Interesting' or 'Meh'?

It's true! That's Pope Francis' selfie.
Image from Telegraph

I have always said, we don't need Oxford or Cambridge when it comes to slang. However, they always get to the news when they do add an internet word into their dictionary, even if it is just the online version they are adding... like the netizens don't already know them.

Last month, Oxford Dictionary made "selfie" the word of the year, beating 'twerk' and other increasing popular words such as 'showrooming', 'binge watch', 'bitcoin' and 'schmeat'.

For those of you who are still unfamiliar with the above words,

selfie -- (n)[C] once known as a self-portrait taken with a smartphone
twerk -- (vb)[I or T] once known as to perform a butt dance or booty dance, a word supposedly first seen in 1889 and peaked in 1975.

showrooming -- (n)[U] The act of going to retail stores like Best Buy and Walmart to check out certain products and then once satisfied with the look and feel, purchasing the item online on Amazon or other retailers.
binge watch -- (vb)[T] once known as TV series watching marathon, modified from binge eat.
bitcoin -- (n)[C or U] an open source peer-to-peer payment network and digital currency introduced in 2009 by pseudonymous developer "Satoshi Nakamoto".
schmeat -- (n)[U] the synthetic meat grown from a soup of antibiotics and foetal bovine serum.

A slab of schmeat
Image from The Guardian

For those of you who have already heard of these terms, how about learning some I have come across when reading online articles?

Image from mashable

You know I like Tesla Model S very much, and as I was reading an excellent article about the company, I found a cute little one,

"Tesla isn't just a car, or even a brand in the sense that nearly every other for-profit company is a brand ... It's actually the ultimate mission -- the mother of all missions -- and that is, to wean our planet off its addiction to fossil fuels, helping to create a long-term sustainable society; one that our grandchildren can enjoy and be proud of.

No automaker that chooses to concurrently produce internal combustion engine vehicles, can ever be authenticated as having a 'mission' that is as purposeful and meaningful as Tesla's is. This mission -- in combination with a brilliant product -- is the reason everyone wants to own a Teslaand the reason everyone wants to work for Tesla. It is creating an unfathomably powerful brand that makes us say "meh" to BMWs, Aston Martins and even Ferraris. We subliminally ask owners of these vehicles: "what good are you doing for the world?", and then smugly laugh to ourselves, because a 10 year old company is making cleaner, more high-tech, and better performing cars than companies that have had generations to perfect their products."

So what is meh?

meh -- (exclamation) indifference; to be used when one simply does not care.

I guess I will use this really often from now on. It's short and sweet! It's 'fularious' or not?

fularious -- (adj) 

Image from Urbandictionary

Do you know what is "unselfie"?
Image from PetaPixel

Can't let selfie steal the show, right?

unselfie -- (n)[C] a self-portrait which doesn't show your entire face.

Do you think this is 'interesting'?

interesting -- (adj)

Image from Urbandictionary

Slang from Internet is and will continue to play a key role in the expansion of all languages, particularly English and Chinese, due to massive number of users globally. Keep reading and you will learn what tuhao means!

Wanna create your own slang? Yes, you can! I did! Maybe very soon you will see 'typhooliday' on Urbandictonary just like millions of others!

Want to understand how the modern English language has evolved? You are recommended to take a look at this article too! Urban Dictionary, Wordnik track evolution of language as words change, emerge @ Poynter.

Resources:
Selfie the 'Word of the Year' and on course for the Oxford English Dictionary @ Telegraph
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/10457525/Selfie-the-Word-of-the-Year-and-on-course-for-the-Oxford-English-Dictionary.html

Cameron Diaz shaking her ass booty dance @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l9UqVxZ6b0M

Instagrammers Boosting Aid for Typhoon Victims With 'Unselfies' @ PetaPixel
http://petapixel.com/2013/11/18/instagrammers-boost-aid-typhoon-victims-unselfies/

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=selfie
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=twerk
https://books.google.com/ngrams/graph?content=twerk&year_start=1800&year_end=2008&corpus=15&smoothing=3&share=&direct_url=t1%3B%2Ctwerk%3B%2Cc0
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=showrooming

Medical Vocabulary: Medical Words from House M.D.@ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2012/07/medical-vocabulary-medical-words-from.html

Bitcoin @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bitcoin

Schmeat: a tasty-sounding word, but what does it mean? | Books @ The Guardian
http://www.theguardian.com/books/shortcuts/2013/nov/19/schmeat-oxford-dictionaries-word-of-the-year-synthetic-meat-sheet

Tesla Brand Is Crown Jewel To Big Automakers @ Seeking Alpha
http://seekingalpha.com/article/1885311-tesla-brand-is-crown-jewel-to-big-automakers?source=yahoo

Meh @ Urbandictionary
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=meh

We Said "meh" @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCcZqcPOlNM

Urban Dictionary: Six Million Words You Won’t Find in Webster’s @ Information Today
http://www.infotoday.com/LinkUp/Urban-Dictionary-Six-Million-Words-You-Wont-Find-in-Websters-76779.shtml

Man Buys $103K Tesla Model S With Bitcoin @ Mashable
http://mashable.com/2013/12/09/tesla-bitcoin/

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=fularious
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=interesting

Urban Dictionary: 12 Surprisingly Useful, Unknown Words @ HEAVY
http://www.heavy.com/entertainment/2013/02/12-surprisingly-useful-unknown-words-from-urban-dictionary/

Urban Dictionary, Wordnik track evolution of language as words change, emerge @ Poynter.
http://www.poynter.org/latest-news/top-stories/158438/urban-dictionary-wordnik-redefine-meaning-of-meaning/

Culture: "Typhoo-lidays", Britons and Weather @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.com/2011/06/culture-typhoo-lidays-britons-and.html
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=typhooliday