New Article: Headless conjoined twin born

The following news article is directly quoted from 14th Sep 09, Straits Times (for educational purpose).

An Afghan woman has given birth to a baby boy attached at the chest to a headless conjoined twin. --PHOTO: AFP

Headless conjoined twin born

KUNDUZ (Afghanistan) - AN AFGHAN woman has given birth to a baby boy attached at the chest to a headless conjoined twin, a doctor at a hospital in northern Afghanistan said on Monday.

The otherwise healthy infant (baby) was born on Thursday with the torso (body/trunk), legs and hands of a male twin attached, he said.

'For the first few days the attached second body was also alive and was moving, but now it is dead,' Dr Homayoun Khamoosh of Kunduz hospital told AFP. 'It is the first time we have seen a case like this in Kunduz province.'

Dr Khamoosh said an operation to separate the babies was needed to save the life of the fully formed child.

'Doctors have decided to carry out surgery to separate the two bodies before it (the headless body) decomposes (breaks down),' said Dr Khamoosh.

The 35-year-old mother, who has four other children, hid her face from cameras at the baby's bedside and would not give her name.

Afghanistan suffers from one of the world's highest rates of mother and child mortality during labour, mainly because of poor maternal healthcare in a destitute country devastated by decades of civil war. -- AFP

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

Apart from the movie "Stuck On You" by Matt Damon and Greg Kinnear, I haven't really seen any other movies which talk about conjoined twins, nor do I know of any others.

There is another term for conjoined twins, commonly used in the movie, called "Siamese Twins", originated from the most famous circus pair of Chang and Eng Bunker in Siam (now Thailand). Of Medical term, this is a form of "Omphalopagus", sharing their liver.

After watching an episode of House on TV one time "Cane and Able", I discovered that there is more to just twins connected through the body. The episode talked about a boy who kept seeing aliens and imagining he was always being captured by them. This boy is so special that he carries two types of DNA strands in his blood. Dr House later figured out that the boy was a chimera, an example of Chimerism (a form of Genetic Mosaicism), of which he actually had a twin brother growing inside his brain in the form of a tissue and was controlling the imagination of aliens. After removing this tissue (his brother), the boy was back to normal.

In an episode of South Park, the school nurse Gollum happened to be suffering from a ficitional diseases Conjoined Twins Myslexia (You can watch this episode by clicking on the link), I suppose this is a form of "Craniopagus".

Resources:

News article: http://www.straitstimes.com/Breaking%2BNews/World/Story/STIStory_429704.html

Movie: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338466/

"Stuck On You" Movie script: http://www.script-o-rama.com/movie_scripts/s/stuck-on-you-script-transcript.html

Conjoined Twins Type: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siamese_twins , http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conjoined_twins#Types_of_conjoined_twins

House Episode Guide: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cane_and_Able_(House_episode)

South Park Episode: http://www.southparkstudios.com/guide/205

Medical Terms: http://house.wikia.com/wiki/Genetic_mosaicism

Medical Terms: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chimera_(genetics)

Vocabulary: Wedding

The 9th September 2009 (999) was a special day for marriage.

Were you married on this day?

Have you ever attended a wedding? I guess the answer is yes.

Have you ever wondered what you called the people and things in a wedding? Maybe not.

Let's look into the topic together.

First of all, the names of the participants in English:

1. Bride
2. Bridegroom / Groom
3. Bridesmaids
4. Groomsmen (US) / Usher(UK)
5. Flower girls
6. Page boys and ringbearers
7. Officiant / Celebrant

Explanations as follows:

1. A bride is a female who is getting married. In a white wedding, she usually wears a white wedding gown(wedding dress), a veil (a piece of see-through cloth attached to the top of the head) and carries a flower bouquet. In some weddings, an heirloom (A valued possession that has been passed down through the generations.) might be carried by the bride.
2. A bridegroom is a male who is getting married. In the US, the groom usually wears a dark-coloured suit in the day or tuxedo in the evening during the wedding ceremony. He will sign a marriage certificate or a marriage licence with the bride.
3. Bridesmaids are often the close friends or relatives of the bride. The chef bridesmaid is called the maid of honor if she is not married, or the matron of honor if she is married. Bridesmaids are typically the wedding-event planners, such as the wedding reception and the bridal shower (gift-giving party)/ bachelorette party/hen party/hen night (girls' night out).
4. Groomsmen may help in organising the wedding ceremony, but a bachelor party / Stag Night / Buck's Night is prefered, as the expense is usually paid by the groom-to-be. The chef of the groomsmen is called the Best Man.
5. A Flower girl typically walks in front of the bride during an entrance processional and she may spread flower petals on the floor before the bride or carries a bouquet.
6. A Page boy or a ringbearer is the male version of the flower girl, except that he carries a large white satin pillow with the rings lying on it.
7. An Officiant / A Celebrant is a person who officiates the ceremony.

After the wedding, a wedding breakfast in England or New Zealand for the bride and bridegroom at the wedding reception sums up the event.

According to an article on Wikipedia, the bride is not the only person to throw an object (a bouquet to the single women) but the groom also. After the bride has thrown the bouquet, the groom will remove a spare garter from the bride's right leg just above the knee while she sits in a chair (traditionally with his teeth but with his hands in modern days), and then throw it to the single male guests. Quoting from the original source, "Those that catch either item are said to be the next to marry. In some instances, it is said that they will marry each other."

Sounds a bit too juicy.

Resources:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridegroom#Bride

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Veil#Wedding_veils

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flower_bouquet

http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/heirloom

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tuxedo

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_certificate

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marriage_license

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridegroom#Bridesmaids

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maids_of_Honour

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matron_of_honor#Matron_of_Honor

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_reception

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridal_shower

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelorette_party

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bachelor_party

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridegroom#Best_man

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridegroom#Flower_girls

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridegroom#Page_boys_and_ringbearers

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bridegroom#Officiant.2FCelebrant

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wedding_breakfast

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garter_belt#Garters_in_fashion

http://www.wedalert.com/content/articles/tale_tossing_of_the_garter.asp

Websites: Useful Videos for English Learning

I came across a couple of websites, which are rather interesting (which might be useful for your English learning) and would like to share with all of you.

The first one came from a SCMP channel on Youtube. The website is given at the bottom and you can subscribe to it and get the update when there is one.



I find this interesting because you get to see two girls travelling around Hong Kong, speaking English on their way with nice accents. I think they did a good job.

Then you can also find interviews of the celebrities or the likes.



You get to hear different accents and various stories, which is definitely better than consistently listening to the same newsreporters reading the news in a professional tone.



The second one is actually where these videos orginally come from, so if the Youtube Channel doesn't update that often, then the SCMP portal is definitely the first hand source.

Enjoy your learning!

Resources:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXj-peumKSQ&feature=fvhl

http://www.scmp.com/portal/site/SCMP/menuitem.d53bd88267636ee6a3e27910cba0a0a0/?ss=Most%20Recent&s=Video

Grammar: Zero and First Conditionals (Add-ons)

Looks like I missed out the big point which Bo Bo was enquiring, so here are the add-ons.

First, let's look at Bo Bo's examples.

Let's go back to the sentense again :

1. I'm not quiet and nice, but I'll come, if Mother will let me. I'll go ask her.
2. I'll talk all day if you'll only set me going.

They might look difficult, but they are actually nothing more than the First Conditional. What is different now is that the "will" in the "condition" part shows a sense of politeness. You can even use "would" to make things more polite. (Some of you who attended my lessons understand perfectly why)

It is like:

1. Will you help me out? If you will help me out, I'll be delighted.
2. Mr Krugman is waiting in the conference room. If you would come this way...

So really, there is nothing much to worry about.

Grammar: Zero and First Conditionals

It is always good to receive some good questions to open up a new entry. This time, thanks to Bo Bo for asking me a question on the conditionals.

Generally speaking, there are 5 types of conditionals, namely, Zero, First, Second, Third and Mixed Conditionals.

Conditionals sentence often comes with the word "if" because this sets the "condition".

Let's take a look at the first example.

Zero Conditional

The Truth or the Facts

[ If (present simple), (present simple) ]

Condition Result

1. If one heats ice, it melts.
2. If one doesn't eat for a day, they feel hungry.

Time Concern: Anytime

Chances for condition to have the same result: Always

Now, when you use the Zero Conditional, please follow the format above. Alternatively, one can also write

[(present simple) if (present simple)]

Result Condition

1. Ice melts if one heats it.
2. One feels hungry if they don't eat for a day.

___________________________________________________________________

First Conditional

Very High Possibility, but not perfect

[ If (present simple), (will + infinitive) ]

Condition Result

1. Last minute into the football match! If Liverpool don't score a goal, they will lose!
2. If you continue spending so much money, you will go bankrupt very soon!

Time Concern: From Now to Future

Chances for condition to happen: Very High, but not 100% (because it is not a fact)

Alternatively, you can use

[(will + infinitive) if (present simple)]

Result Condition

1. Last minute into the football match! Liverpool will lose if they don't score a goal!
2. You will go bankrupt very soon if Iyou continue spending so much money.

Whether the condition will have a very high possibility of happening or not, only the author will know, but once this conditional has been used, you understand what the author means.

Don't you?

Welcome your questions.

News & Vocab: Foul Language targeting Female

It is indeed a period of burning dry hot days!! And when some people feel hot, they might use the online forums as a mean to release their stress.

UK's Dailymail has an article, titled "Blogger who called Vogue model a 'skank' sues Google for $15million for unmasking her". You may follow the link to read up. What I find it interesting is not what this blogger did, but what she wrote. In my opinions, it is quite educational.


If you watch Hollywood movies, I am sure you have heard of all sorts of foul language, but it is not easy to find a series of them at the same time. Well, from this blogger, you can learn them in chunks. But before we look into those words, you must understand that I am not "teaching" you these words, I am just raising your awareness to various bad words so you can be more careful when hearing them.


Okay, ready? Let's begin!


First, the blogger used a word 'ho' . According to The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, a 'ho' is a slang, referring to a prostitute, alternative to 'whore'.


Second, they used a word 'skank'. From the same dictionary, it refers to "One who is disgustingly foul or filthy and often considered sexually promiscuous. Used especially of a woman or girl".


But according to the Dictionary.com Unabridged, 'skank' can also have a good meaning, which is also a slang, meaning "to dance rhythmically in a loose-limbed manner".


Lastly, they used 'old hag'. Well, actually, Dictionary.com stated that a 'hag' already has a meaning of 'aging':

1. an ugly old woman, esp. a vicious or malicious one.
2. a witch or sorceress.
3. a hagfish.

So, calling someone an 'old hag' is like 'a male man' or 'a female woman'. You know what I mean.

The word 'bitch'is no longer as bad as it used to be, as more and more men are using it to refer to their girlfriends, "Let me introduce, this is my bitch." Don't get me wrong, it is still bad, but the original meaning of "a female dog" is not as common as before.

Of the cruelest words I have heard, it has to be 'slut', which refers to a woman who has sexual relationships with a lot of men without any emotional involvement.

Obviously, all these words demoralise the female, so don't try to use them...... unless you must.

Vocabulary:
ho / whore
skank
old hag
bitch
slut


Resources:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1207669/Rosemary-Port-sues-Google-15million-Liskula-Cohen-skank-blog-unmasking.html

http://www.thestandard.com.hk/news_detail.asp?pp_cat=17&art_id=86678&sid=25017953&con_type=1&d_str=20090821&sear_year=2009

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?dict=CALD&key=74759&ph=on
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=7735&dict=CALD
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/define.asp?key=7736&dict=CALD