Sport & People: Tribute to Javier Zanetti -- Il Capitano Sempre!!!

Javier Zanetti, the heart of Inter Milan
Image from EFE/EPA/MATTEO BAZZI

"Il Capitano" -- The Captain in Italian, a term given to nobody else but him, Javier Zanetti, the legendary captain of Inter Milan.

19 photos, 19 years
Image from FC Internazionale Milano's Facebook Page

He played 857 games in the Inter shirt for 19 years between 1995 and 2014, with 1 haircut and the same face for 38 years, let alone the miles "El Tractor" has run throughout his career. Talk about passion and loyalty?

He has only earned 1 red card in his entire career and it was not even a dangerous tackle! I say that because the opponent got up immediately. Talk about sportsmanship?

Here's what the ESPN Soccernet presenters say about him,

Here's what I say about him, he is the perfect role model of football, of a sportsman, of an athlete, of a man.

Paula Zanetti and Javier Zanetti, with eldest daughter Sol, elder son Ignacio and little Tomas
Image from Getty

A great man who live a simple life, who met his wife at 19 when she was 14, owns a restaurant called "El Gaucho" in Milan in the Navigli district and has 3 kids (1 girl and 2 boys).

Javier Zanetti and Cristiano Ronaldo during a friendly match on 9 February 2011
Image and caption from Wikipedia

A philanthropist, who founded charity Fundación PUPI with his wife for the social integration of poor children in Argentina, and co-founded Leoni di Potrero with teammate Esteban Cambiasso to help coach young children with social isolation problems and motor coordination difficulties.

A highly disciplined individual, trained his physical every day, including holidays and even on his wedding day.

Farewell to the Captain
Photo by Claudio Villa/Getty Images

I remembered the first day I watched Inter Milan played, I was instantly captured by Zanetti's charisma. No matter how many times he was pushed, fouled, tackled, he never waited for the referee's whistle to help; he stumbled, yet he had the ball, he fell then he bounced right up and he still had the ball; he ran and ran and ran, dribbling past 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 players and the ball was still glued to his legs.

He is not a striker, so he did not dribble with fancy footwork; he was fast, but not the fastest, yet the opponent simply could not tackle away the ball from him. They saw that ball which was not moving too quickly, but they simply could not touch it, because he protected the ball so well with his great physique, he just seemed to know where the opponents are coming from.

Zanetti VS Giggs
Image from Google

He is the most versatile footballer of the history of Inter Milan if not of football, he could play as left and right fullback, wingback and winger, as defensive midfield and box-to-box midfielder, and even as central defender when duty called. In other words, he owned 2/3 of the positions on the field.

Former president Massimo Moratti described then the 40-year-old captain as such,

Zanetti the Superman
Image from Google

"I discovered that he comes from the planet Krypton and 

that he will still play for another four or five years!

He is a real-life Superman!! (And you don't call yourself a Superman until you still can outrun the youngsters in a top-flight football league at the age of 40)

Inter Milan Squad photo 98/99
Image from pro-paul.net

There were in fact many international team captains in Inter Milan, such as Ronaldo of Brazil, Baggio of Italy, Ivan Zamorano of Chile, Youri Djorkaeff of France, Alvaro Recoba of Uruguay and Nwankwo Kanu of Nigeria, even the current Atlético Madrid coach Diego Simeone was Zanetti's teammate, but only Javier Zanetti gained the longest captaincy of Inter Milan.

He is truly amazing and unique!

Like all devoted footballers who fight for glory of the club till the end, he dislikes being substituted. Roy Hodgson, the current England manager, was imbecilic enough to do such most disrespectful to the untouchable Il Capitano in UEFA Cup Final 1997, resulting in a lost in team spirit and subsequently in the penalty shootout even with 1-0 aggregate on hand. The fans were furious as they threw coins and lighters at Hodgson, whom eventually left Inter the very same year.

Captain Javier Zanetti’s letter to Inter and Argentina fans, sports fans
around the world, and his team-mates over the course of his long career
Caption and Image from Inter  Milan official website

English translation of the letter above
Caption and Image from Inter  Milan official website

Though Javier Zanetti bid the fans goodbye, he will continue to contribute as an Inter director, and as my Italian student Gianluca Oggionni reminded me on Facebook,

Image from Locky's English Playground

the captain still runs a restaurant and there are still chances for the fans to get to meet him.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Having taken his advice, I went to the Inter Online Store and bought myself the first Inter jersey ever with the captain's name, number and badges. What's missing are his signature and a photo/video with him. One day I will pay him a visit. Until then, I will train hard and practise my football! Thank you so much for all your teaching!

***********************************************

A final note, if you ask me, it is entirely stupid for Inter to put the retirement of the number 4 shirt in discussion, they should have announced the retirement of number 4 right on the day the captain played his last match! I mean, how often do you get someone as great as Il Capitano in the history of a football club or in the history of football? Don't be greedy with a number, Inter!

Though as an Inter Milan fan, it seems too logical for Nagatomo to be the next captain, but only Zanetti knows best, if he said Ranocchia can succeed him, then Ranocchia it is. Let's just hope that he is not leaving for arch enemy Juventus first.

Last but not least, the best article on Javier Zanetti goes to Paolo Bandini from The Guardian. It is definitely a must-read.

Vocabulary:
physique -- (n) the shape and size of a human body
imbecilic -- (adj) a person who behaves in a stupid way
charisma -- (n)[U] a special power which some people have naturally which makes them able to influence other people and attract their attention and admiration


Resources:
Sports & Opinions: Nagatomo Should Be Made Inter Milan's Captain! @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/05/sports-opinions-ranocchia-should-not-be.html

Not a hair out of place as Internazionale's Javier Zanetti hangs up his boots | Paolo Bandini | Football @ theguardian.com
http://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/may/07/javier-zanetti-internazionale-argentina-retires

The very best pictures and Inter's farewell video from Javier Zanetti's final match at the San Siro @ Yahoo! Sports
http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/soccer-dirty-tackle/the-very-best-pictures-and-inter-s-farewell-video-from-javier-zanetti-s-final-match-at-the-san-siro-010239431.html

ESPN FC: Javier Zanetti to retire @ ESPN FC
http://www.espnfc.com/video/espnfc/video/_/id/1802599?cc=4716

THANK YOU FOR YOUR LOVE! @ F.C. Internazionale Milano - Official Website
http://www.inter.it/en/news/45707

ZANETTI: "A NIGHT I'LL CARRY INSIDE FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE" @ F.C. Internazionale Milano - Official Website
http://www.inter.it/en/news/45639

ZANETTI: "I WANT TO USE MY EXPERIENCE WHILE GROWING WITH INTER" @ F.C. Internazionale Milano - Official Website
http://www.inter.it/en/news/45740

Javier Zanetti @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Javier_Zanetti

Andrea Ranocchia should be new Inter captain, says Javier Zanetti @ Goal.com
http://www.goal.com/en-sg/news/3881/italy/2014/05/29/4848044/ranocchia-should-be-new-inter-captain-zanetti

PRESIDENT MORATTI JOINS ZANETTI FOR "GIOCARE DA UOMO" PRESENTATION @ F.C. Internazionale Milano - Official Website
http://www.inter.it/en/news/44045

Does Roy Hodgson Have The Credentials? @ The Tomkins Times | News, Opinion, Statistics and Discussion about Liverpool FC Football Club
http://tomkinstimes.com/2010/06/does-roy-hodgson-have-the-credentials/

Inter Online Store

http://store.inter.it/en/

RESPECT!! Goodbye Javier Zanetti - Final Moments For Inter Milan [10/05/2014] @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1r8mExvXr_E

Javier Zanetti gets only red card ever @ YouTube

http://youtu.be/R2ebGLTuVi4

UN CAPITANO C'E' SOLO UN CAPITANO! @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/FMBMVMHiRyM

Zanetti s'infuria contro Hodgson @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d9h_WaAYcmc

Javier Zanetti || "ElCapitano" || Skills @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KNQKa-b7n3s

Javier Zanetti || The Legend @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LDA8oNQ3oOQ

Inter Song-Pazza Inter Amala @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dV9saAXvlXs

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/physique?q=physique
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/imbecile?q=imbecilic
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/charisma?q=charisma

Culture & Food: What Foreigners Think About Foreign Food?

What is this?
Image from BuzzFeed

Last time round we looked at what Americans think about Japanese snacks, this time round, we have American, British and Australian goodies!

How do you think they would react?

bland -- (adj)  usually disapproving not having a strong taste or character or not showing any interest or energy
pop the cherry -- to lose one's virginity, used as a metaphor in the above video to mean, "trying certain food for the first time".
fuss -- (n) [S or U] a show of anger, worry, lack of satisfaction or excitement, usually one which is greater than the situation deserves

rancid -- (adj) (of butter, oil, etc.) tasting or smelling unpleasant because not fresh

cinnamony -- (adj) taste like cinnamon

ranch -- (n)[U] refers to ranch dressing -- A condiment made of buttermilk or sour cream, mayonnaise, minced green onion, garlic powder, and other seasonings mixed into a sauce.

Never thought their preferences can be so different right? Wanna have some of those now?


Resources:

Culture: What Do You Know About Japanese Culture? @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/05/culture-what-do-you-know-about-japanese.html

Americans Try McDonald's For The First Time @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/kbjxBNx1_Hg

Americans Try Coke For The First Time @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/Mfav2BCYwHs

British People Taste Test American Snacks @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/s4UEifGF8DU

Americans Taste Test Australian Food @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/ru6wri23Ljk

Vintage Foods You Won't Believe Actually Exist - Taste Test @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/p8hnLuiOi_Y

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/bland?q=bland
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=popping%20the%20cherry
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/rancid?q=rancid
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/fuss_1?q=fuss
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/cinnamony
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ranch_dressing

Auto: Tesla Model S Hong Kong Version Demo Car Test Drive @ Crown Cellar

Tesla Model S P85+
Image from Locky's English Playground

This is the first time Tesla Motors Hong Kong has organised test drive for the newly arrived right-hand drive (RHD) Model S. There were two periods offered with two test tracks, the earlier one was between 17th and 18th May at Disneyland Hotel, the latter was between 24th and 25th May at Crown Wine Cellar.

There was online reservation available but due to technical issues of the website, I had to email a staff to get the test drive arranged together with my sister and her boyfriend.

My sister drove me, my wife and baby Muse to 18 Deep Water Bay Drive and arrived before the appointment time at 5pm. After a quick fill of an online form, Trista the staff immediately gave us a tour of the car.

Image from Locky's English Playground

To be honest, her introduction of the car was really unnecessary for enthusiasts like us, but just to be polite we listened to her ultra-quick tour anyway. It was ultra-quick as the mosquitoes were embracing us, literally.

Image from Locky's English Playground

The first round I chose to be the passenger with my sister's boyfriend as my sister took us for the ride. Half way downhill,  Trista told her to switch driver and her boyfriend took over, and the real ride begins!

He stomped all the way down on the accelerator and that was the first time I have ever experienced the immense torque of the Model S! At the back seat, I could feel my whole body thrust backwards, the air pressing hard onto my face and the instant ear pressure pushing in against my eardrums! The car speeded uphill like it was on skis!!! Everything outside the windows disappeared so quickly that the car 50 metres ahead was right at the tip of the Model S in 1 second! This car is a rocket on wheels!!! Except that this is a silent rocket, and all I could hear was the "wheeeeee" sound during the acceleration.

An unbelievable experience I will never forget!!!

Image from Locky's English Playground

When it was my turn back at the wine cellar, I did it safe and slow because my wife was the passenger (and that is my character), testing the regenerative braking, rear camera, parking sensors, multiwindow reverse parking display and suspension.

21" Wheel
Image from Locky's English Playground

Overall, I am satisfied as I managed to test everything that I intended to except putting the pram into the boot to see how much space is left.

That being said,  I was / We were a little disappointed as all 3 of us registered for the test drive but were only allowed 2 rounds of test drive. Felt a bit cheated. But I guess the route was not really ideal for showing off all aspects of the Model S anyway. Supposed the Disneyland route is a much more flatter one, the Wine Cellar route is all uphill, downhill and corners. Not sure about the Festival Walk one. Maybe one needs to try out all 3 routes in order to experience all.

Don't think I will go to the Festival Walk test drive because I don't think I can get any new information from the staff. The only useful piece is that being the 378th order means I will be getting my car in September.

I do have one complaint about the test drive though, and that is the mosquitoes issue. Leave the wine cellar for 5 seconds and you will be surrounded by mosquitoes. It was almost impossible to take a good look at the car and take some decent videos. My plan to make a nice detail  test-drive video for my blog was ruined, only managed with the above.

Thus, I can only borrow another enthusiast DITB's test drive video taken at Disneyland:

For those of you who wants to go and take a look at the car or even try it out, here's the information:

Image from Tesla

Here are some photos at Festival Walk,

Photo by DITB

Photo by DITB

Photo by markwj

And here's someone test driving at Festival Walk:

Vocabulary:
enthusiast -- (n)[C] a person who is very interested in and involved with a particular subject or activity
stomp on sb /sth -- mainly US — phrasal verb to step down hard on someone or something
torque -- (n)[U] a force which causes something to rotate (= turn in a circle)
pram -- (n)[C] a vehicle for moving a baby around which consists of a small bed supported by a frame on four wheels


Resources:

Auto: Tesla Adds Titanium Underbody Shield and Aluminum Deflector Plates to Model S @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/04/auto-tesla-adds-titanium-underbody.html

Auto & Opinions: Concerns Of A Prospective Tesla Model S Owner @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/02/auto-opinions-concerns-of-prospective.html

Auto: Interviewed by The New York Times @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/02/auto-interviewed-by-new-york-times.html

Auto: BMW 520iA Review feat. Tesla Model S @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/01/auto-bmw-520ia-review.html

Listening & Video: LegCo's YouTube Page  @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2014/03/listening-video-legcos-youtube-page.html

Tesla Takes Taxi @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Jd_NVGCGHM

Tesla Pop Up at Festival Walk! | Events @ Tesla Motors
http://www.teslamotors.com/en_EU/event/tesla-pop-festival-walk

Festival Walk - What's Hot - Tesla Model S Pop-Up
http://www.festivalwalk.com.hk/en/whats-hot/event.php?id=322

Tesla Hong Kong RHD @ Crown Wine Cellar @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/ixS6QFvVvos

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/enthusiast?q=enthusiast+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/stomp-on-sb-sth
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english-chinese-traditional/torque?q=torque+

Vocabulary: Words Worth Noticing

Backpfeifengesicht????
Image from zcache

A busy week for me is a lazy week for me on the blog, meaning I won't be writing too much. That being said, there are still tonnes of goodness to learn here.

"Park the bus"
Image from Locky's English Playground & ESPN

Those of you who follow me on Facebook and Google+ should realise that I am increasingly interested in soccer these days. Who wouldn't anyway? That's exactly how I came across a forgotten term, "park the bus", which sort of originated from one of the best football manager in the world, Jose Mourinho. More on soccer terms when the World Cup draws even closer.

Now, 22 words you won't believe are brand names:

To be honest, I only know that Xerox, Jacuzzi, Laundromat, Post-Its and Zip Code are brand names, in addition to Scotch tape, Tipp-Ex, Band-Aid, Panadol, Viagra, ... but hey, if I start going into medicine names then everyone is a brand name.

Let's go to the next one, 16 Words We Don't Have In English,

I must say I really really like "gigil" from Tagalog (because the girls need it), "shitta" from Farsi (because it sounds like "shitter" meaning "more than disgusting" and it kind of fit), "bakku-shan" from Japanese (because there is a very similar term in Hong Kong) and "Backpfeifengesicht" from German (because they are everywhere), but the problem is, I probably won't remember how to pronounce the last one, which pronounces like /ˌbæbˈfaɪə.fʌŋ.ɡə.sɪhst/ (or "bacb-FIRE-fungus-seaHisst"). Last but not least, megagaltastic!

Let's practise!

Vocabulary:
park the bus -- expression used when all the players on a team play defensively, usually when the team is winning by a narrow margin.
gigil -- (Tagalog) when something is so cute you have to pinch it
shitta -- (Farsi) leftover dinner eaten for breakfast
bakku-shan (バックシャン ) -- (Japanese) seeing a woman who appears pretty from behind but not from the front
backpfeifengesicht -- (German) a face badly in need of a fist
megagaltastic -- (adj) characterized by an extensive vocabulary

Resources:
bakku-shan @ Wiktionary
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/バックシャン

16 Words We Don't Have In English @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/gykOF7lWpyM

22 Words You Won't Believe Are Brand Names @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qi1Ilv_x7kM

Bakku shan - Japan Season - BBC Four @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/JyQmVB-vVeI

Glossary of association football terms @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glossary_of_association_football_terms#P

Scotch Tape @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scotch_Tape

Tipp-Ex @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tipp-Ex

Band-Aid @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Band-Aid

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

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

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

Sports & Opinions: Nagatomo Should Be Made Inter Milan's Captain!

Nagatomo should be the next Inter Milan captain
Image from ballball.com

Have been pretty busy these days and I wanted to spend a good deal of time writing an decent article to pay my tribute to the Inter Milan captain Javier Zanetti, so for now, I just want to write a quick one to spread a message in response to an article I have read from tribalfootball.com, titled Ranocchia considered for Inter Milan captaincy.

The bow to Javier Zanetti after every Nagatomo's goal
Image form tumblr

Here's what I wrote on the ESPN Inter Milan blog,

I think this match's result can be forgiven, since the scores doesn't matter to the overall ranking anyway. It is good to give the backup a chance. Mazzarri should have even gone further to test the youngsters, oh well. Wait till the pre-season friendlies maybe.

Other than who to sign/stay/sell, the next interesting question is who will be the next captain. I read an article from tribalfootball.com and heard that Ranocchia is a "strong candidate". I totally disagree, simply because he lacks the mentality and he gives up too easily. If you want a captain like Zanetti or Cambiasso, you need someone who doesn't get tired, doesn't give up his runs, doesn't lose his cool, have great respects on the rest of the team, has to be a true professional with sportsmanship... so there is only one choice in Inter, Nagatomo!!!

Yuto-kun ga Iku
Image from sport.virgilio.it

Those of you who knows the Japanese know what I am talking about. It's not because he has an animated film based on him, called Yuto-kun ga Iku at the Japanese Film Festival in Milan,

it's not because he is short yet can run tirelessly to cross, to assist and to score goals, not because he has played 105 matches for Inter and scored 9 goals, more than Ranocchia has played and scored during the same period,

A bow to his 先輩(sempai)
Image from English House

it's not because he is Asian, because Inter Milan already means, "brothers of the world",

"This wonderful night will give us the colours for our crest: black and blue against a backdrop of gold stars. It will be called Internazionale [International], because we are brothers of the world."

—9 March 1908, Milan

Javier Zanetti's endorsement of Nagatomo as the new captain
Image from KC wave @ YouTube

and not because he has already captained once in February 2014 and was endorsed by Javier Zanetti himself,

Nagatomo should be the next Inter Milan captain
Image from AFP

it's just because he has the Internazionale spirit -- Forza Inter! Never say die!


Resources:
Inter end season with whimper by David Wilson @ ESPN FC
http://www.espnfc.com/blog/_/name/intermilan/id/2031?cc=4716

Ranocchia considered for Inter Milan captaincy | Serie A News @ Tribal Football
http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/ranocchia-considered-inter-milan-captaincy-4022277?utm_source=main_feed#.U3xTOtIW17o

Inter Milan fullback Yuto Nagatomo thrilled to be movie star | Serie A News @ Tribal Football
http://www.tribalfootball.com/articles/inter-milan-fullback-yuto-nagatomo-thrilled-be-movie-star-4021792#.U3xY09IW17o

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

Yuto Nagatomo @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yuto_Nagatomo

Inter Milan @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inter_Milan

Video: Yuto Nagatomo Honoured To Have Worn Inter Milan Armband @ BallBall

http://www.ballball.com/en-gb/article/19673-video-yuto-nagatomo-honoured-worn-inter-milan-armband/

長友佑都プレー集 2013-2014 Yuto Nagatomo Goals & Skills First half @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ohb43Rm0qds

長友佑都キャプテン、サネッティとお辞儀＆インタビューで突っ込まれる(笑) / ミラノダービー Captain Yuto Nagatomo  @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/krmRakaRu_A

Video: Yuto Nagatomo, Andrea Ranocchia, Or Samir Handanovic? Who Will Become Inter Milan Captain? @ BallBall
http://www.ballball.com/en-gb/article/29194-video-inter-milan-new-captain/

NAGATOMO: "HONOURED TO HAVE WORN THE CAPTAIN'S ARMBAND"@  F.C. Internazionale Milano Official Website
http://www.inter.it/en/news/44914

Culture: What Do You Know About Japanese Culture?

Son Goku from Dragonball Z looking like his son Gohan after the fries are placed in the holder
Image from Facebook

Few days ago, I saw an image above on Facebook,

LINE Rangers' Gacha machine

then because I play LINE Rangers, I learn the word "Gacha machine", also "Gashapon"  or "Gachapon" the capsule machine. According to Wikipedia, the name 

gashapon and gachapon are Japanese onomatopoeia, made up of two sounds: "gasha" or "gacha" for the turning of a crank on a toy vending machine, and "pon" for the sound of the toy capsule dropping into the receptacle.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Then one day, my wife drew my attention to a number of them which sell ass-some phone chains and underwear for iPhone.

Sexy iPhone
Image from Locky's English Playground

Why would anyone want one of that? I have no idea, but there are more than just Gacha that we the foreigners have no idea of.

How do foreigners, say Americans, think about Japanese snacks?

I happened to have bought this green tea KitKat the other day from 759 Store.

Attractive Green package
Image from Locky's English Playground

 The package is really attractive, it's grand, it's almost royal.

Green KitKat
Image from Locky's English Playground

 The look is just alright, reminds me of the Hulk, from Marvel, not the footballer.

A bite taken
Image from Locky's English Playground

Just like all Japanese snacks, it's a little too sweet for me, but just one packet is fine. You need to really chew to get the taste of the green tea, otherwise, it just tastes like artificial milk.

Do you feel like having some now?


Resources:
Gashapon
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gashapon

Hulk @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hulk_(footballer)

Americans Taste Test Japanese Snacks @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/vW7PKjH5LR8

Living & Vocabulary: Interesting IKEA & False Friends

My baby girl says, "Hej!"
Image from Locky's English Playground

A really quick article about my little "excursion" to IKEA in Causeway Bay (I called it an "excursion" because I don't even leave my desk these days).

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

I have always knew that there are lots of interesting stuff in IKEA, but do you know there are also many interesting words? Remember Lufsig?

Back in 2005 when I was studying for my Trinity CertTESOL, I had to learn a foreign language together with all my classmates, and the instructor chose Swedish because

1. she is a Swede,
2. that is the one language that none of the students knew,
3. the instructor was the only one who can speak Swedish. (There isn't a point 3, just summarizing point 1 and 2, ha!)

And what do you know, it isn't too hard to say "Hello" in Swedish because it is just "Hej"! (See photo above.)

Image from Google Translate

Anymore? Here are the funny ones I found!

Cloth hanger is boomerang? Make sense.
Image from Locky's English Playground

Image from Google Translate

Anyone thinks that cloth hangers is bumerang (= boomerang) makes sense? I do, I bet the Australians do too!

Here's my name! Kind of...
Image from Locky's English Playground

Image from Google Translate

Didn't know "lock" means "lid", "cover" or "cap" in Swedish, definitely a false friend here! So my name in Swedish means... "Liddy"? "Covery"? "Cappy?"

Istad a plastic bag?
Image from Locky's English Playground

On the Facebook page, I previously posted this photo and captioned it "Istad a plastic bag?" because "Istad" may sound like "Is that". I tried hard on this search but couldn't find anything Swedish for the word. Instead, everything came out Norwegian. Hm... I think I better consult my instructor on this.

Maria, tack? (Maria, please?)

What is Justina?
Image from Locky's English Playground

The same goes to the two girls I met that day, Justina...

Malinda
Image from Locky's English Playground

... and Malinda. They were both very soft and cuddly. (And I can say that without making my wife angry.)

Time for my Swedish revision!!

Forgot to mention, actually, the Swedish course that I learned lasted only a few lessons.


Vocabulary:
excursion -- (n)[C] a short journey usually made for pleasure, often by a group of people:


Resources:
Culture & Usage: "Lufsig", False Friends & Bad Words @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2013/12/culture-usage-lufsig-false-friends-bad.html

Learning Swedish (Lesson 1) "Basic Phrases" @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ2xRNTeMb0

Basic Swedish phrases@ Speak Swedsih!
http://www.speakswedish.co.uk/phrases/basic_phrases

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/excursion?q=excursion

Academic Research & Usage: Firstly, Secondly, Thirdly, Even Fourthly Sounds Right, But What About Fifthly and Sixthly?

Ever wondered how we should say what's after "firstly, second, thirdly, fourthly"?
Image from ©iStockphoto.com/SparkleArt

Sorry guys, was too busy meeting the deadline for my term paper marking—yes marking. I literally vomitted gallons of blood in the process. Shocked at the level of written English level of the local Hong Kong students, which makes me understand why the universities want more students from mainland China.

In the process of marking, I came across these very common adverbs, "firstly","secondly", "thirdly", and some not so common such as "fourthly", "fifthly" and "sixthly".

Immediately, I can tell something does not sound right. I have heard of "firstly" all the way up to "fourthly", but not "fifthly" and on. It just sounds strange phonetically to me, which is why I prefer to use "first", "second", "third", "fourth", "fifth", "sixth" and so on if I expect the sequence to be longer than 4.

But the real question is, can we really use "fifthly", "sixthly" or even higher? And if we can, how popular are they as compared to the version without the suffix "-ly"?

Let's do a quick and easy search on BNC to see what the corpus say.

Data from BNC

Images from COCA and Locky's English Playground

What is intriguing is that, there are more "secondly" than "firstly". Why? The reason is pretty simple, because you can use "first" or "first of all" instead of "firstly" to start the sequence.

Data from BNC
Images from COCA and Locky's English Playground

Considering "first of all" alone without considering "first" (since "first" will also appear with "second"), adding 1377 to 1688 from "firstly", we get 3065, and it is already more than 2810 of "secondly". Makes perfect sense.

Another interesting observation is, although you will expect the counts to drop as you go down the list, the "secondly--thirdly" drop is 72.2% while the "thirdly-fourthly" drop is around the same at 73%.

Once it gets to "fifthly", the count drops way below triple digits at 37 per 100 million words.

In other words, if we do a rough calculation, for every 22 writers in the UK, about 12 of them will use "firstly" while the other 10 will use "first of all" -- that is almost half-half; 21 of them will use "secondly" to talk about the next point, that's almost all of them (of course, otherwise, why would they want to say "first of all" or "firstly" if they do not have a second point); 6 of them will continue using "thirdly" whereas only 1 of them will use "fourthly".

Is "fifthly", "sixthly" and so on used in British English? Yes. Frequently? Definitely no.

Similar case is observed for American English.

Data from COCA

Images from COCA and Locky's English Playground

A huge difference between the American English and the British counterpart is that the Americans love to use "first of all" much much more than they use "firstly", exactly 34.8 times more, and they also tend not to use "fourthly" as there are only 37 instances per 450 million words, that is equivalent to 37 / 4.5 = 8 instances per 100 million words, much less than the use of the same word by the British at 137 instances per 100 million words, which implies that the British might like to count to "fourthly" much more than the Americans do.

Both the BNC and COCA shows that the native speakers do not go beyond "tenthly".

And just in case you are asking why there are 2 counts in "eighthly",

Examples of 2 counts in "eighthly"
Images from COCA and Locky's English Playground

because one of the instance is a name and not a sequence count.

Last but not least, if you are wondering which punctuation marks should I use before I write "firstly", "secondly", "thirdly", etc. Here's the tip:

Punctuation mark before "firstly"
Images from COCA and Locky's English Playground

Punctuation mark before "secondly"
Images from COCA and Locky's English Playground

Punctuation mark before "thirdly"
Images from COCA and Locky's English Playground

Punctuation mark before "lastly"
Images from COCA and Locky's English Playground

So, it is quite obvious to us that full-stop (.) is number 1, followed by comma (,) and then semi-colon (;).

Finally, I give you the counts of "lastly" and "last but not least" ("finally" is left out because it can appear in other non-sequential sentences).

"lastly" in American English
Images from COCA and Locky's English Playground

'lastly" in British English
Images from COCA and Locky's English Playground

The numbers for "lastly" in American English is bigger, but if you consider instances per 100 million words, then it only has 1175 / 4.5 = 261 instances per 100 million words, less than the 425 instances per 100 million words in British English.

'last but not least" in American English
Images from COCA and Locky's English Playground

'last but not least" in British English
Images from COCA and Locky's English Playground

Using similar calculation, 268 / 4.5 = 82 instances per 100 million words in the American English, which is more than 52 instances per 100 million words in the British English.

Looking at both the results of "lastly" and "last but not least", we can say that in American English, "last but not least" is more common whereas "lastly" is more common in British English.

Summarizing the points, we get:

American English First of all, Secondly, Thirdly, Last but not least,

British English            Firstly Secondly Thirdly, Fourthly, Lastly,

Bear in mind that nothing is absolute in this universe and the above analysis can be easily challenged in many ways, some of which are,

• "How do you know the words are not appearing when there is no sequence concerned?" Or,
• "Don't languages change with time?" Or,
• "BNC's data are from 1980s-1993, COCA's data are from 1990-2012, don't you think your comparisons are not fully accurate?"
• And many more.

But if you are asking these questions, you should first learn more about corpus and its creation. In short, the results from the analysis can be an excellent reference, and you know what "reference" means.

Resources:
thirdly, fourthly @ WordReference Forums
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=915022

sixthly @ WordReference.com Dictionary of English
http://www.wordreference.com/definition/sixthly

Firstly, Secondly/First, Second @ WordReference Forums
http://forum.wordreference.com/showthread.php?t=575644

Firstly, secondly, thirdly, etc. @ Grammarist
http://grammarist.com/usage/firstly-secondly-thirdly/

Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA)
http://corpus.byu.edu/coca/