Percentage, percentage, percentage, something that we see, we use, we ignore, we love and we hate. Whatever your feelings towards them are, you cannot escape from them, especially in report writing.
I have a few questions in my mind about describing percentage in English, and so I decided to find my answer through a corpus approach using both the British National Corpus (BNC) and the Corpus of Contemporary American English (COCA).
(Since this is not the first time I talk about BNC and COCA, I hope you still remember how to use them. If not, please refer to my earlier entries listed in the Resources section below.)
Highest / Largest / Biggest Percentage?
Do we say "the highest percentage", "the largest percentage" or "the biggest percentage"?
The simple answer is, all three of them have been used, but in terms of frequency,
Adjectives \ Corpus
COCA
BNC
highest
298
20
largest
164
6
biggest
25
3
"the highest percentage" is more common than "the largest percentage" than "the biggest percentage" both in British and American English.
"Of x percent" / "At x percent"?
Now, it really depends on your sentence structure for this question, but at least we can see from the numbers that they are both used in British and American English, with "of x percent" being more popular.
extract of "Of x percent"
Image from COCA
extract of "At x percent"
Image from COCA
What Other Prepositions Go With "Percent"?
Oh many many, but among them, 'versus' is pretty interesting.
Search Preposition within 4 words to the left of 'percent'
Image from COCA
the general structure of 'versus' with 'percent' is,
x% (of A) versus y% (of B)
Image from cornell.edu
eg. The retention rate of Cornell’s M.R.P. program was 91% of the total enrolled students in August 2006 versus 59% in August 2011.
Other than 'versus', 'compared with' and 'as opposed to' are also possible.
A hard-working student of mine named Rita nicely completed her song recommendation assignment and emailed it to me together with a couple of questions about the song. Since the song is really cool and the questions are pretty decent, I'm turning it into a blog entry to share with everyone.
I know you think you love her but dude it's such a bummer how you chase that girl around
You've been fighting all her battles if she's really worth the hassle you'd be living in the castle by now
And it makes me sick how you break these bricks for a girl that barely knows you exist
Now you're tripping on mushrooms just for fun
Dude I think you've got a problem
Mario get your ($$$$) together bro
You've got to know this princess isn't worth these extra lives
Just let her
go Mario you're a next level bro
and she's a jump too short when the clock is running low
Hey Mario
get your ($$$$) together
Hey Mario
or you'll chase this ($$$$) forever
Warp zone friend zone high score no more stalking this chick in a Koopa-Troopa town
Live life easy like Luigi ain't never let a HO get him down
Let Koopa keep her bro grab a flower and go we'll jump the flag pole and light up the night
Hit rainbow road with toad we spinning them tires and spitting hot fire
Mario get your ($$$$) together bro
You've got to know this princess isn't worth these extra lives
Just let her
go Mario you're a next level bro
But the Peach been cheating and you know I ain't talking code
You're a plumber, a doctor, a race car driver,
an athlete, a spaceman, a super smash survivor,
you've got coins like mad get a bachelor pad
Down in cocoa beach where the hunnies at
Yeah get up get up get off the floor she's not the one worth dying for
Mario get your ($$$$) together bro
You've got to know this princess isn't worth these extra lives
Just let her
go Mario you're a next level bro
and she's a jump too short when the clock is running low
Hey Mario
get your ($$$$) together bro
You've got to know this princess isn't worth these extra lives
Just let her
go Mario you're a next level bro
But the Peach been cheating and you know I ain't talking code
get your ($$$$) together
Hey Mario
or you'll chase this ($$$$) forever
What is the meaning of... you're a next level bro ?
Image from YouTube
As we all know, the Super Mario games have many different levels. If you are at a next level, you are better, more superior. In this case, the line means Mario is more superior than the Princess.
What is the meaning of... she's a jump too short when the clock is running low
Image from YouTube
When Mario jumps too short, he falls into red hot lava or down the sky and he dies.
Since the Mario game has time limit, when the clock is running low, he has little time left. When the time is up, Mario dies.
"She is a jump-too-short-when-the-clock-is-running-low" means that she is a girl who will get you kill either way, so she's not worth it, as the lyrics go "You've got to know this princess isn't worth these extra lives" and "she's not the one worth dying for".
What is the meaning of... the Peach been cheating and you know I ain't talking code?
Image from YouTube
Here actually, "Peach" is actually not "Peach", actually the singer makes a malapropism --a word play trick of the word "Bitch", meaning, the bitch has been cheating on Mario, having relationships with other men, and my guess is, King Koopa. How can I be so sure that "Peach" isn't referring to Princess Peach? Well, we don't normally add "the" in front of people's names, do we?
King Koopa
Image media.screened.com
"I ain't talking code" directly means "I'm not talking about computer programming code", since Super Mario games are programmed using computer languages, which most likely means "I'm not joking or talking rubbish".
Then again, since the songs has many BEEP sounds to cover the actual foul language, so I won't be surprised if the word "code" actually refers to "code brown", meaning poop, droppings, faeces or shit in hospital English.
Good job Rita! Keep up with the good work!
Vocabulary: bummer -- (n)[S] offensive something that is very annoying or not convenient: hassle -- (n) [C or U] informal (a situation causing) difficulty or trouble: HO -- (n)[C] another spelling for whore -- (n)[C] offensive woman whose behaviour in her sexual relationships is considered immoral; old-fashioned a female prostitute malapropism -- (n)[U] the use of an incorrect word in place of a word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, often humorous utterance. code brown -- (n)[S] Patient has defecated in the bed. Used as a "tongue-in-cheek" among hospital staff.
Audi A3 Sportback
Winner of the WhatCar? Car of the Year 2013 Award
Image from Telegraph
I'm curious. Since I have been practising driving recently, I started to be curious about topics related to cars and driving, especially the mechanics of a car. What is Rallying?
Some many years ago when Jeremy Clarkson was still young...
Did the British really invent rallying? I have no idea, but I'm sure that other countries will disagree with Jeremy.
What is rallying? That' a long story that goes back to the first Monte Carlo Rally in January 1911, I can't help but going into Wikipedia to get my answer. We all should in fact, but here's a summary:
Asphalt / Tarmac
Image from Wikipedia
Gravel
Image from Wikipedia
Rallying is a car race going round specific courses or on all sorts of surfaces and terrains such as asphalt / tarmac, gravel, dessert, snow or ice with much emphasis on timekeeping.
What is Drag Racing?
Quite simply, a race between 2 cars in a straight lines at a fixed distance, using whatever cars you've got, original or modified.
How Does Steering Work?
Centre of turning circle Image from HowStuffWork?
Rack-and-Pinion Steering Wheel turns at different angle Image from HowStuffWork?
This is hugely complicated and I am tempted to simplify things here, but I can't. HowStuffWorks? has an excellent detailed diagrammed explanation, so you are advised to read that.
Recirculating-ball Steering Image from HowStuffWork?
Ball bearings fill the thread Image from HowStuffWork?
Unless you want something very visual and simple, and you can watch the following video till the 2:00min mark.
How Formula 1 Steering Wheels Work?
Let's welcome world-class F1 driver Lewis Hamilton for the explanation.
Coming up in the next blog entry, we'll talk about electric vehicles.
Vocabulary: terrain -- (n)[U] an area of land, when considering its natural features: asphalt / tarmac --(n)(also tarmacadam) trademark (an area of) black material used for building roads, etc., that consists of tar mixed with small stones gravel -- (n)[U] small rounded stones, often mixed with sand:
StopStream on Samsung Smart TV
Image from Locky's English Playground
We all love to watch TV and men love to watch sports on TV. However, not all of us are willing to pay extra for just a sport channel and watch matches twice a week. A better option is to watch the game on your PC monitor, but too small a screen often causes dissatisfaction. Well, today is your lucky day! I'm gonna share with you the method to watch football matches for FREE!!!
StopStream on computer
Image from Stopstream.tv
Actually, this is not limited to just football matches, you can watch all hockey, tennis, basketball, golf, cycling, motorsports and others, but I only use it to watch football, and learn some Spanish and Italian while watching football.
To watch the matches, you'll need,
Samsung Smart TV
A fast internet connection, preferrably 1Tb / 1000 Mb
A firmware update to version 1004.1 or above with Flash Player 10.1.62.1 (if you haven't done so)
A Samsung Smart TV remote control or a Samsung smartphone (Optional)
Samsung Smart Control app (Optional)
15 mins of preparation time, at least
Image from Samsung
Step 1:
If you have a Samsung Smart TV and a fast internet connection, what you need to do next is to make sure your firmware is up-to-date, often if you have bought your Smart TV a year ago or earlier, you will have to do the firmware update by yourself. Don't be scared, it is really easy to do, just follow the video below.
Step 2:
After the upgrade, start the Browser under SmartHub, type in StopStream.tv's URL as shown in the photo below,
StopStream on Samsung Smart TV controlled by Galaxy Note 2
Image from Locky's English Playground
I use my Galaxy Note 2 with the Samsung Smart Home Control app, the advantage of this app is that it allows you to use the touchscreen of your phone as a mouse to move the cursor on the SmartTV, this is more convenient than to use the remote control. Honestly speaking, I have no idea how to use the remote control to control the TV's Browser cursor.
Use the Browser's default settings, don't activate the Popup blocker and Ad-blocker because the StopStream.tv website needs to first run those ads before you can watch the matches.
Step 3:
The final thing to do is to choose your match links. Choose the links which say, "No Software Video X" where "X" is a number. Those links mean you don't need to install extra software to watch the match. Don't even bother to try others because your SmartTV will not allow you to download any software.
Image from StopStream.tv
Step 4:
Once you click on those links, you will probably see a box with ads, let them load and be patient. If they say the ads will close in 20 seconds, let them count down to zero and then move your cursor to the "x" and close the ads. If you see a colourful "Play Now" button on the screen, DON'T press that because it is an ad. If you see the video control just like the one in YouTube, you can click it and the video should start loading. You may also need to try several links before you find one that plays smoothly. Yes, it is troublesome but hey, it's free! So find your page at least 15 mins before the game starts to be safe.
StopStream on Samsung Smart TV
Image from Locky's English Playground
Have a good typhooli-match-day!!!
PS: Severe Typhoon Usagi is approaching Hong Kong fast!! It's got to be really mind-blowing night!
Image collected from internet
Put together by Locky's English Playground
I got a question from a really good friend today asking me the following,
May I ask you something ?
Recently, I heard a sentence :
“I can’t stress enough that security is of the highest importance.”
What is the difference if ignore ‘of’ in this sentence ? what is the function of ‘of’ here ?
Since my dear friend has a background of computing, I also used computing metaphors in my reply email, where Adaptor and Object are common terms in the computing field.
The function of "of" here is an "adaptor" in computer language for the "object", the noun that follows.
If you want to use noun, you have to use "of" otherwise you can only adjectives.
If "of" is ignored, then the grammar is wrong, because you need the missing <word> to complete the sentence.
Security is the highest <adjective> importance.
Security is the highest important <noun>.
For those of you who are not from a computing background, you can still think of the answer using the following analogy (analogy is not restricted to only the sentence structure to be discussed):
Panda in China
Image from the internet =P
Let say you are a foreigner visiting China. You want to take some marvellous photos of pandas so you have brought your camera with you. Since you are planning to stay for a few days, you have also brought your battery charger, as shown in the photo below,
My camera battery charger and plug
Image from Locky's English Playground
But then, by the time you have reached China, you realise that your charger's plug is of UK BS 1363 (Type G) standard whereas in China, they use China CPCS-CCC (Chinese 10 A/250 V) (Type I), as shown in the photo below,
Smiley sockets in China
Image from Wikipedia
Just as the those smiley-looking sockets are laughing at your naivety, you realise that your better half is much smarter than you and has already prepared an adaptor for you before you leave home,
UK-to-China Adaptor
Image from ebay
and so, your battery can now comfortably drink its juice!
As such,
Battery charger + UK plug + UK-to-China adaptor + China socket.
Security + is + of + the highest importance.
Pandas + are + of + the bear family
Without the adaptor, you cannot insert the plug into the socket; without the "of", you cannot plug a noun phrase to complete the sentence.
You might argue that this is not a perfect analogy, and you are right, but I do hope that the "of"-"adaptor" relation is much clearer to you now.
"What does this post have to do with me?"
Image from wallpaperdev.com
Happy adapting!
Vocabulary:
naivety -- (n) [U] trust based on not having much experience:
better half -- (n)[C usually singular] (plural better halves) humorous A person's better half is their husband, wife, or usual sexual partner.
Today I would like to take some examples from a classic BBC sitcom, my Number 1 favourite on my favourite TV show list -- The Blackadder series.
First, let's take a look at the best of the best scene in Blackadder II -- Ink and Incapability.
Dr. Samuel Johnson: [places two manuscripts on the table, but picks up the top one] Here it is, sir. The very cornerstone of English scholarship. This book, sir, contains every word in our beloved language. Blackadder: Every single one, sir? Dr. Samuel Johnson: Every single word, sir! Blackadder: Oh, well, in that case, sir, I hope you will not object if I also offer the Doctor my most enthusiastic contrafribularities. Dr. Samuel Johnson: What? Blackadder: "Contrafribularites", sir? It is a common word down our way. Dr. Samuel Johnson: Damn! [writes in the book] Blackadder: Oh, I'm sorry, sir. I'm anispeptic, frasmotic, even compunctuous to have caused you such pericombobulation.
Image from fjcdn.com
Wasn't it excellent acting by Rowan Atkinson and Hugh Laurie?
Okay, so what was Blackadder really talking about? Well, he's using really advanced wordplay no other than portmanteau.
Reviewers' Choice has a really clear explanation of Blackadder's creativity, well, I have made some amendments for easier understanding.
Image from everythingexpress
Contrafibularities: Contra- meaning against, fibula is the smaller of the two bones in the lower leg, thus 'pulling one's leg', which means to try to persuade someone to believe something that is not true as a joke.
Anaspeptic: Ana- meaning up / again / back, pepticpertaining to the stomach, thus vomit or upchuck.
Frasmotic: Possibly a portmanteau, frazzled + spasmodic. Meaning so tired and nervous that one goes into a spasm.
Compunctuous: A variation of compunctious, slightly influenced by contemptuous. Meaning having a bad conscience because one has harmed somebody one really despises.
Pericombobulation: peri-means around + discombobulation. Meaning disturbance and confusion because someone has been running circles around one.
Image from tumblr.com
We can easily guess that "interfrastically" mean quickly, but could it be a portmanteau of inter- + frantic + drastic?
Have a Happy Portmanteau Monday!
Vocabulary: contra -- (prefix) against or opposite fibula -- (n)[C] specialized the outer of the two bones in the lower part of the human leg pull sb's leg -- informal to try to persuade someone to believe something that is not true as a joke: contrafribularity -- (n)pulling your leg -- informal to try to persuade someone to believe something that is not true as a joke: ana -- (prefix) 1. up; upwards: anadromous; 2. again: anagram; 3. back; backwards: anatropous peptic -- (adj) The peptic areas of the human body under normal circumstances are the stomach and duodenum. pertain to sth -- (phrasal verb) to be connected with a particular subject upchuck -- (vb) [T or I] to throw up anispeptic -- (adj) wanting to vomit frazzled -- (adj) informal extremely tired in a nervous or slightly worried way after a lot of mental or physical effort: spasmodic -- (adj) happening suddenly for short periods of time and not in a regular way: spasm -- (n) [C or U] an occasion when a muscle suddenly becomes tighter in a way that cannot be controlled: frasmotic -- (adj) so tired or nervous causing spasm compunctious -- (adj) causing or feeling compunction; regretful. contemptuous -- (adj) expressing contempt: compunctuous -- (adj) Having a bad conscience because one has harmed somebody whom he really despises. peri -- (prefix) a prefix meaning “about” or “around” ( perimeter, periscope ), “enclosing” or “surrounding” ( pericardium ), and “near” ( perigee, perihelion ), appearing in loanwords from Greek ( peripeteia ); on this model, used in the formation of compound words ( perimorph ). discombobulation -- (n)[U] informal mainly humorousto confuse someone or make someone feel uncomfortable pericombobulation -- (n)[U] disturbance and confusion because someone has been running circles around one. inter -- (prefix) among, between, amid, during, within, mutual, reciprocal frantic -- (adj) done or arranged in a hurry and a state of excitement or confusion: drastically --(adv) ( especially of actions) severe and sudden or having very noticeable effects: interfrastically -- (adv) quickly, with haste.
