Locky's English Playground: Slang

Showing posts with label Slang. Show all posts

Tuesday, 9 September 2014

Culture: What Do You Know About Celebrities?

Kate Upton, self-posted to Instagram
Image from wwtdd

This iCloud leak of celebrities nude photos has been quite a stir, it kind of makes me rethink about what I know about them from their characters in their movies and roles in their industry.

My conclusion is, I don't know anything about them because I was never interested in their personal life. But there is one very fitted Chinese saying, "Do it not if you not want it be known", and in English, "What is done by night appears by day".

If you do want to know some fun facts about the celebrities other than their leaked photos, here're some interesting ones!

After watching the last one, I finally got myself to search for the meaning of "BFF".

Vocabulary:
bff/BFF -- (acronym) best friends forever

Resources:

Camera Phone Hacking, I’ve Seen Them All Naked @ wwtdd
http://www.wwtdd.com/2014/09/camera-phone-hacking-ive-seen-them-all-naked/

14 Celebrities Who Transformed Their Faces With One Change @YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VDx23NqnpAU

12 Mind-Blowing Celebrity Facts @YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-eQiWILsVlA

14 Celebrities You Never Knew Were The Same Age @YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X50U9mw-0LY

9 Celebrity Facts That'll Make You Question Everything @YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9QMV_2Y-w18

What Does Google Think Of Celebrities? @YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q_dTxZe_uGY

Celebs You Didn't Know Were Australian @YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_UBnKCTSFYE

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

Saturday, 23 August 2014

Slang: Teenage Slang Explained By Clueless Adults

Image from BuzzFeed

Something to learn for the weekend!

Again, doesn't mean you are a native English speaker that you certainly know these words!

Have fun!

Resources:
Teenage Slang Explained By Clueless Adults @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ozL3wg_54ws

Teenage Slang Explained Again By Clueless Adults @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9rlTEZaU6U

Friday, 23 May 2014

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

Thursday, 24 April 2014

Vocabulary & Slang: Confusing Words in English feat. -Graphs, -Phones and -Nyms

Image from BuzzFeed

Another simple day for me. Just watch and learn.

By the way, examples in the last video, Words You're Probably Mixing Up -- Similar-sounding words you're probably using wrong, such as

aural - oral
discreet - discrete

have same pronunciation but different meanings, therefore, they are homophones, whereas, the following are minimal pairs because they are different in one phoneme,

ascend - assent
prescribe - proscribe

Venn diagram showing the relationships between homographs (green) and related linguistic concepts
Image from Wikipedia

As for "restful - restive", they are sort of antonyms, meaning they are words of opposite meanings, whereas "flammable - inflammable" are synonyms, meaning they are words of similar meanings.

Lastly, "ingenuous - ingenious", they are different in spellings, different in pronunciation, different in meanings, outside of the minimal pairs region, so, they are just confusing words.

Just in case you wanna meet some faux amis, do check out Culture & Usage: "Lufsig", False Friends & Bad Words.

Vocabulary:
peen
tittle
nurdle
dongle
angina
diphthong
annals
pusillanimous
futtock
coccyx
mastication
kumquat
sexton
dictionaries
brucschetta
charcuterie
gnocchi
quinoa
beignet
endive
anise
gyro
cognac
espresso
prosciutto
pho
paella
bon appetit
aural
oral
ascend
assent
prescribe
proscribe
restful
restive
ingenuous
ingenious
discreet
discrete
flammable
inflammable
homophones
minimal pairs
antonyms
synonyms
faux amis

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

13 Words That Sound Sexy But Actually Aren't @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/iTSXGanCd7c

Words You're Probably Mixing Up @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/KC5DSkrhYFM

13 Foods You're Pronouncing Wrong @ YouTube
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hu9AEX0LHXQ

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

Minimal pairs @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minimal_pair

Tuesday, 18 March 2014

Slang: 3 X 9 Urban Dictionary Definitions (Rated R)

Image from BuzzFeed

Busy and lazy, but doesn't mean I stop learning. Many new urban words /slang words are basically word play based on portmanteau. For more detailed description of portmanteau, do read Vocabulary: Do You Wordplay? -- Portmanteau and Vocabulary & TV: Do You Wordplay? -- Portmanteau (Advanced).

Now, let's watch and learn!

Subnote:

Moobs is a portmanteau of "man boobs".
Cock block is someone who prevents another from scoring sexually.

Subnote:
disasterbate -- (vb) see Vocabulary

Subnote:
spork -- (n) = spoon + fork
spooning -- (n) A form of affection between a couple. Where the man lays front to back with the girl. They fit together like spoons.
shexting -- (n) = see Vocabulary

So, do you like it? Told you English is a playground! It's much more fun to learn than Oxford's update.

Vocabulary:
farte blanche -- (n) The liberty to pass gas freely without fear of discovery

bropocalypse -- (n) = bro + apocalypse, A large gathering of bros on a mission to do one thing, to get bombed, tanked, or wasted usually ending in some people doing something stupid.

make it snow -- It is similar to "making it rain", except that instead of throwing dollar bills, one is so rich that they are able to throw diamonds. In effect, making it snow. Diamonds can be substituted for a large quantity of cocaine.

dankrupt -- (n) = dank + bankrupt, to be out of marijuana

dank -- (n) Also an expression requently used by stoners and hippies for something of high quality.

moob -- (n) = man + boob, this is what happens when fat gathers in a male's chest area, and gives him the appearance of having breasts.
Usually seen in overweight males, but can strangely also occur in men who are not really overweight.

clam jam -- (n) The female equivalent to the cock block.
cock block -- (n) One who prevents another from scoring sexually.

nocialize -- (vb) = no + socialise, to ignore your friends in public for your smartphone

meat sweat -- (n) To consume an obscene amount of meat resulting in perfused sweating.

screwvenir -- (n) anything that you keep (whether stolen or given to you) from someone's house after you've slept with them.

YOLO -- Abbreviation for: you only live once. The dumbass's excuse for something stupid that they did. Also one of the most annoying abbreviations ever....

rendezbooze -- (n) = rendezvous + booze, when a group of people (friends, co-workers, acquaintances) get together to drink.

struggle bus -- (n) Used to metaphorically describe a difficult situation, as in hard school work. The word struggle can also be used in conjunction with other modes of transport, describing the depth to which one is struggling (i.e. struggle scooter, struggle skateboard, struggle footwear).

sniff test -- (n) To test if an item of already worn clothing is suitable to wear out. common amongst students who cant be bothered to do their washing.

chipmunking -- (n) The act of watching numerous recorded university lectures at 2x speed in a futile attempt to cover an entire semesters material the day before the final exam.

dweet -- (n) = drunk + tweet, a Twitter tweet sent when drunk.

shamble -- (n) when an event degenerates into a random, confusing state; a complete mess.

peegret -- (n) the feeling that you made a terrible mistake by not taking a leak at the office or home or wooded lot that you just left because you are, or know you soon will be, DYING to take a piss and you don't have an acceptable place to do it.

ninja sex -- (n) having noiseless sex (no squeaking springs or vocals) while one or more people are passed out in the same room.

college morning -- (n) afternoon

disasterbate -- (v) = disaster + masterbate, the act of maserbating and someone interrupts the act, just at the point of climax but before the actual ejaculation, so you have no option but to just put your junk back in you pants and cum all over the the inside of your shorts.

sporking -- (n) = spoon + fork, the act of spooning with the addition of an erection.

spooning -- (n) A form of affection between a couple. Where the man lays front to back with the girl. They fit together like spoons.

store d'oeuvres -- (n) = store + hors d'oeuvre, snacks and food samples that a grocery store will serve at various locations in order to tempt the patrons into buying something they weren't planning on (pizza, chips and dip, sausage, etc.). Usually happens on the weekend.

hors d'oeuvre -- (n) (literally "apart from the [main] work") or the first course, are food items served before the main courses of a meal, typically smaller than main dishes, and often meant to be eaten by hand (with minimal use of silverware). The French (singular and plural) is hors d’œuvre.

clutch oven -- (n) to fart in a car full of people, crank the heat for maximum effectiveness.

man stand -- (n) The act of a man standing outside a shop while his wife/girlfriend/partner shops inside. Man Standing involves looking into space, at other women, or in the case of multi story shopping centers, leaning on the railings of an upper floor watching the people below.

nerdjack -- (vb) to dominate conversation wit talk of obscure passionIn conversation, digressing into extreme and/or unnecessary detail about one’s passion (music, coding, gaming) to an otherwise uninitiated layperson, without awareness or acknowledgement of the listener’s rapidly waning interest or lack of understanding of the subject at hand.

irish handcuffs -- (n) when a person is carrying an alcoholic beverage in both hands at the same time.

manther -- (n) = man + panther, the male version of a cougar; an older man who preys on younger women.

cougar -- (n) An older woman who frequents clubs in order to score with a much younger man. The cougar can be anyone from an overly surgically altered wind tunnel victim, to an absolute sad and bloated old horn-meister, to a real hottie or milf. Cougars are gaining in popularity -- particularly the true hotties -- as young men find not only a sexual high, but many times a chick with her shit together.

mompetition -- (n) = mon + competition, the one-up rivalry that moms play making their child seem better, smarter, and/ or more advanced than yours. May involve two or more moms and any number of children, even full-grown.

interesting -- (adj) Something which arouses no interest at all.

shexting -- (n) = shitting + texting, texting your friends, loved ones or even your annoying co-workers whilst taking a dump on the porcelain throne. Shitting plus texting equals shexting.

Saturday, 21 December 2013

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

Tuesday, 10 December 2013

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

Monday, 28 October 2013

Technology & Opinions: My Tesla Model S Hands-on Review

Tesla Model S
Image from Tesla

Tesla Model S
Image from Locky's English Playground

In the last episode, Science & Technology: Fun Facts About Electric Cars We All Should Know, we have found out quite a lot about the Tesla Model S, this cannot be avoided as Tesla is the world's leading electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer and their EVs are exceptionally cool looking. Talking about it is nice, but getting your hands on it is so much better! Today I'm going to share with you my Hong Kong test drive experience and why a person like me who doesn't really like cars suddenly have a dream car!

Tesla Model S -- absolutely a beauty
Image from Locky's English Playground

Image from Car and Driver

First, there is no reason not to be mesmerised by the appearance of the Tesla, it is so smooth, so streamlined, so aerodynamically smart! There is no grill, because there is no need for engine cooling like a freaking hot petrol or diesel guzzling vehicle does, so the air simply glides above the sleek top and below the flat battery-pack bottom for an excellent stability and minimum drag caused by air-friction.

Kid in the front trunk, door handles embedded
Image from lctmag.com

Second, I knew there is no front engine like ordinary cars, but I was still amazed by the size of that front trunk, aka the portmanteau 'frunk' in Tesla's slang, it is big, big enough to sit 2 adults or 4 kids inside! It looks incredible on photos, but you'll have to see that with your own eyes to feel the emptiness of that frunk. You can put a spare wheel or all that shopping in it. The best part is, the trunk doesn't get hot because there is no engine, so you can be sure that your food doesn't get cooked or even warmed by the time you get home.

4 kids in the front trunk
Image from automotive

The boot is also as spacious as it can get, big enough to put 3 to 4 huge 40" luggage bags, or a bicycle perhaps.

Model S Car Key
Image from Engadget

Third, the car key! I like the cute Model S-looking keys, it's like, you buy the car and you buy the smaller toy car too! You open the front trunk by pressing the front trunk of the car key, you open the boot by pressing the boot of the car key! How cute! It just goes to show how careful and caring the designers at Tesla are! Every car owner is a kidult, and they definitely got this point!

Auto-handles extend upon sensing the door key's proximity sensor
Image from Engadget

Fourth, the door handles actually extend from the door upon walking near the car or a press on the car key, that's the way the Model S says "Hello and welcome" to her owner. How cool is that?

All 3 back seats!!!! I love that!
Image from blogcdn.com

Fifth, inside the car I love the absence of the irritating transmission box that practically turns the passenger in the centre back seat into a curled up fetus! Since the Model S doesn't use the same gear changing system as an ordinary car, you get all 3 back seats with 3 spacious leg rooms. Legs no longer need to be wide opened for the guy in the middle.

The Tesla Model S is a 7-seater!!!!
Image from EverydayDriver

Because this car doesn't have a gas engine, no gear box, no oil tank, no physical buttons, no exhaust pipes, what it has is a lot a lot of space, with 2-extra seats at the back, you can fit 7 people in it!!!

Web surfing, checked
Image from Locky's English Playground

Sixth, as an IT guy, the massive touchscreen is a joy to behold. Everything apart from driving itself can be controlled from this Tesla pad. From changing driving modes to checking emails online, it's is fabulous to look at and enjoyable to use.

Rear camera and web-surfing at the same time, checked
Image from Locky's English Playground

The rear view camera especially, looks really cool on the multi-app screen, sorry for my shaky hands when taking this photo above.

GPS, checked
Image from Locky's English Playground

Not cool enough, how about having GPS and web browsing at the sake time? Yeah, it's dangerous, but the person next to the driver won't feel bored for sure.

Seventh, the sun roof, you can choose with or without glass roof, but the All-glass panoramic roof is simply irresistible. If I can only upgrade one thing in this car, it'll surely be this All-glass panoramic roof.

3 types of sunroof
Image from thetruthaboutcars

Dad on the wheels, torque demonstrated uphill
Image from Locky's English Playground

Most people are afraid of the electric vehicles because of the lack of horsepower, acceleration, torque, drive range, charging stations and lengthy charging time, but I was never afraid of any of these, and I'm not. Why not? Because I actually do know how electric motor works and the advantage it has over the gas engines.

One of the biggest advantages of the electric motor is that electricity-driven motors are spontaneous because the motor parts activates immediately as soon as electricity gets to them, whereas gas engines will need oxygen to be sucked into the combustion chamber, fuels to be ejected into it, ignited, burned to create energy and then create push to the car. The process is much much slower than the speed electricity travels, and that's why the acceleration really lags, and that's why you can't drive a gas vehicle even at slow speed at high attitude where oxygen is deprived.

Don't believe me? Here's a video from Topgear.

This Model S has a lot of torque, going uphill felt no difference from driving on flat ground, the acceleration is instant, absolutely zero lag in response. The best part? The Model S was really really really really quiet!!! I hate engine sounds, I like the sound of nature, I like songs of birds and breezes, with the Tesla's, you get all that back because this car simply doesn't burn fuels!!

As for the speed, well, neither my dad nor I could really determine during the test drive, that's because the test Model is a left-steering US import and it requires a license to drive and only on a designated route. But the video below has the answer I want.

Not enough? Here are the 3 of the very best reviews I have found,

As for charging points, here's the map for your reference, there is a need for many more, but surely you don't need to worry about running out of electricity during your drive if you have somehow charged it before driving. The great news is, the charging only needs a standard power socket.

View Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging Points in HK in a larger map

Awards and Awards
Image from Tesla

Lastly, this beauty has already swept a whole bunch of awards this year, namely,

So, experts have also recognised the excellence of this car, any more questions?

If you are an environmentalist like me and you care about the world and the animals, you will love this car! This is a subtle futuristic-looking family sedan of a sport car performance with the space of two hatchbacks, for goodness sake!!!

US$40 to US$194 in 6 months!!!
Image from Yahoo Finance

Why do I always miss out on the IPOs of the biggest and best tech stocks? I knew I was right since the Tesla Roadster, I always know! But why do I always act so slow? It was US$40 in April 2013 and US$194 in September 2013!!!! That's almost 5 folds in 6 months!!! Damn it!!!! Another one of my investment setback after missing out on Samsung!

What should I do now? Work much much harder (times a million) and earn that money for the one car I will buy!!!

Vocabulary:

mesmerise -- (vb) (UK usually mesmerise) [T often passive] to have someone's attention completely so that they cannot think of anything else:

guzzle -- (vb)[I or U] informal to eat or drink quickly, eagerly, and usually in large amounts:

sleek -- (adj) (especially of hair, clothes, or shapes) smooth, shiny, and lying close to the body, and therefore looking well cared for; not untidy and with no parts sticking out:

drag -- (n)[S or U] the force that acts against the forward movement of something that is passing through a gas or a liquid:

frunk -- (n) [C] (portmanteau) front + trunk

deprived -- (adj) not having the things that are necessary for a pleasant life, such as enough money, food, or good living conditions:

Resources:

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

Tesla Official Website
http://www.teslamotors.com/models

Tesla Model S: The 2013 Yahoo! Autos Car of the Year @ Yahoo!
http://autos.yahoo.com/blogs/motoramic/tesla-model-2013-yahoo-autos-car-165907072.html

Tesla Model S @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tesla_Model_S

Top Gear : Scaling the Guallatiri volcano - Top Gear - BBC @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/qRruKBfN70c

Tesla Model S vs BMW M5 Drag Race @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/vvHTN0Yi1t4

Car and Driver: Tested : 2013 Tesla Model S - Review - CAR and DRIVER @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kCG-WqpVnI

Tesla Model S Driving Review -- Exotic Driver @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1vwJ-12xOfU

Tesla Motors, Inc. (TSLA) @ Yahoo! Finance
http://finance.yahoo.com/echarts?s=TSLA+Interactive#symbol=tsla;range=5y;compare=;indicator=volume;charttype=area;crosshair=on;ohlcvalues=0;logscale=off;source=undefined;

2013 Tesla Model S Video Review -- LA to Vegas the hard way @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OWhAJz90tg

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/mesmerize?q=mesmerize
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/guzzle?q=guzzle
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/sleek?q=sleek
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/drag_4
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/deprive?q=deprive

Tuesday, 9 September 2014

Culture: What Do You Know About Celebrities?

Saturday, 23 August 2014

Slang: Teenage Slang Explained By Clueless Adults

Friday, 23 May 2014

Vocabulary: Words Worth Noticing

Thursday, 24 April 2014

Vocabulary & Slang: Confusing Words in English feat. -Graphs, -Phones and -Nyms

Tuesday, 18 March 2014

Slang: 3 X 9 Urban Dictionary Definitions (Rated R)

Saturday, 21 December 2013

Message: Why Still No Post This Week?

Tuesday, 10 December 2013

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

Monday, 28 October 2013

Technology & Opinions: My Tesla Model S Hands-on Review

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