Vocabulary & TV: Do You Wordplay? -- Portmanteau (Advanced)

Rowan Atkinson as Edmund Blackadder
Image from BBC

How many of you have read my post Vocabulary: Do You Wordplay? -- Portmanteau? If you have, you should be familiar with the meaning of portmanteau.

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, peptic pertaining 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 humorous to 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.


Resources:
Vocabulary: Do You Wordplay? -- Portmanteau @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/12/vocabulary-do-you-wordplay-portmanteau.html

TV Drama: The Black Adder (for English lovers) @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2009/12/tv-drama-black-adder-for-english-lovers.html

C is for contrafibularity - Blackadder - BBC @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOSYiT2iG08&feature=player_embedded

Blackadder II @ IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088484/?ref_=sr_1

Reviewers Choice Reviews The Forever Year
http://www.reviewers-choice.com/blackadder_the_third.htm

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/contra?q=contra
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/fibula?q=fibula+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/pull-sb-s-leg?q=pull+sb%27s+leg
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ana-
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peptic
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/pertain-to-sth?q=pertain+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/frazzled_1?q=frazzled+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/spasmodic?q=spasmodic+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/spasm?q=spasm
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=upchuck
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/compunctious+?s=ts
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/contemptuous?q=contemptuous+
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/peri?s=t
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/discombobulate?q=discombobulation
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/inter-
http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/inter-
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/frantic_2
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/drastic?q=drastic
http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=interfrastically

Cooking: Home-made Pork Neck Char Siu

Want a slice?
Image from Locky's English Playground

It's Cooking Friday!!!! How about a piece of scrumptious home-made pork neck Char Siu for the weekend? I know a lot of my readers are from the US, UK, Vietnam, Canada and Germany, maybe you would like to drive down to the nearby China Town to get a little ingredients this week.

They cannot be another simpler recipe. First, you'll need:

1. pork neck / any pork that is tender enough
2. a fork / a meat tenderiser
3. Char Siu sauce and (or) Chu Hou paste 
4. Dark Sauce Sauce
5. Honey
6. an oven

Tenderising pork neck
Image from Locky's English Playground

Step 1: Tenderise the pork as much as you like using forks or a meat tenderiser.

Self-explanatory
Image from Locky's English Playground

Self-explanatory X 2
Image from Locky's English Playground

Step 2: Get the sauces ready.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Step 3: Pour a generous amount of Char Siu sauce and Chu Hou paste together with a little bit of Dark Soy sauce for the colour. Mix well.

See you in a few hours' time.
Image from Locky's English Playground

Step 4: Chill the meat in the fridge and let it marinate for a few hours (I think minimum 3 hours, but you can try 2 if you want).

In you go!
Image from Locky's English Playground

Step 5: Place the meat on a stainless steel plate and cook it in an oven at 250°C for 10 minutes on each side.

Slightly burned on the corners
Image from Locky's English Playground

Step 6: When the meat is slightly burned on the corners, add honey to both sides, and we are almost there.

Remove the burned corners
Image from Locky's English Playground

Step 7: Remove the burned corners and then cut them into slices.

Image from Locky's English Playground

Step 8: Time to try out your very first home-made pork neck Char siu!


Have a Charsiu-licious weekend!!


Vocabulary:
self-explanatory -- (adj) easily understood from the information already given and not needing further explanation:
Charsiu-licious -- (adj) a portmanteau of Char Siu and delicious


Resources:
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/self-explanatory?q=self-explanatory

Art & Design: The Amazing Burning Man

Serpent Mother by Flaming Lotus Girls, 2006
Image by Mills42

It's not the Amazing Spiderman, Superman or Ironman, it's Burning Man.

View Larger Map

Yes, you saw a snake above but Burning Man is not actually a man, it is an annual event in which artists and interested parties travelled to Black Rock Desert and stay there for a week in order to experience "life" in an experimental community. Every participant is free to contribute in any way to the community, and art is one of the main attractions.

Bliss Dance by Marco Cochrane, 2010
Image by John Curley

Matador Network has an article titled 50 of the coolest Burning Man art installations ever [pics], each art piece is uniquely brilliant! Here in this post I decided to choose my favourite ones. See whether you like them too?

The Man, 2009
Photo by: Michael Holden

The Temple of Transition by Chris Hankins, Diarmaid Horkan, and the International Art Megacrew, Reno, NV, Dublin, Ireland, and Aukland, NZ, 2011
Photo by: Michael Holden

Duel Nature by Kate Raudenbush, 2006
Photo by:John Curley

Celtic Forest by Laura Kimpton, Bob Hofmann, and Jeff Schomberg, 2007
Photo by: Toby Keller

At this point, I quote the quote from Anthony Bourdain,

"You're cheapening the thing by talking about it"

So, just enjoy!

Uchronian by Jan Kriekels, Arne Quinze, Maurice Engelen, and Uchronia Crew, 2006
Photo by: Splatworld

Fire of Fires Temple by David Umlas, Marrilee Ratcliffe, Community Art Makers, 2009
Photo by: Lorenzo Tlacaelel

The Ichthyosaur Puppet Project or Dr. Camp's Holy Bones by Jerry Snyder 2013
Photo by: Bexx Brown-Spinelli

For the official Burning Man page and those 50 photos, visit the links in the Resources section.

 I am so into art these few days!


Vocabulary:
cheapen -- (vb)[T] to reduce the price:


Resources:
Burning Man Official Page
http://www.burningman.com/

50 of the coolest Burning Man art installations ever [pics] @ Matador Network
http://matadornetwork.com/nights/12-coolest-art-installations-in-the-history-of-burning-man/#rxJHG030B4kyD3J2.99

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/cheapen_1?q=cheapen

Art: Aging Girl -- Time Compression

Image from Danielle

What is art? Must it be colourful? Must it be paintings and sculptures? Or can it be as simple as this...

Is there anything to learn in this post? Not in terms of English, but in terms of treasuring your time and your love ones.

What were you thinking when you were watching this video? Leave a comment below and tell me about it.

Resources:

This girl ages into an old woman before your eyes without you noticing @io9.com

http://io9.com/this-girl-ages-into-an-old-woman-before-your-eyes-witho-1283215638

Science & Animals: Fun Facts We All Should Know -- Part 3

Guess the name of Android 4.4, no prize if you are correct
Image from geeky-gadgets.com

Android 4.4 Is KitKat Everyone! 

What a great name! Just imagine the revenue that this joint promotion will bring! Even my wife and I bought my first pack of KitKat in years last night! Really missed that taste.

There's more fun then just naming an Android version as KitKat, for example, mocking Apple, again.

Whales Get Sunburned Too!

Like we already know, whales and dolphins are very much like humans, but you might not know that they are as similar to us as the bikini girls at the beaches! They both like sunshine and suntanning!

Animals Can Regrow Body Parts, but We Can't Even Regrow Teeth

The famous Piccolo arm regeneration in Dragonball Z
Image from Dragonball Wikia

Actually we can too, if we got a cut on the skin, it will heal, you may be able to regrow a finger when you are a fetus during your mummy's first 16-20 weeks of pregnancy, and to regrow a fingertip when you were 2-year-old. But if one is older than 5 years old and the limbs are gone, one cannot regrow them back.

National Geographic has an article listing out 5 animals which can regrow body parts, among them, I think the axolotl is the coolest.

The Mexican axolotl. Photograph by Stephen Dalton, NHPA/Photoshot
Image from National Geographic Stock

Why?

First, its name is /ˈæksəlɒtəl/, "ek-sa-lo-tle", how cool is that?

Image from aquaamazon.ru

Second, this Critically Endangered amphibian does very much look like a dragon, doesn't it?

How To Train Your Dragon (2010)
Image from ttgtmedia

Third, they appear in many different colours: white black and blue, although I think the semi-transparent white looks the cutest.

Image from caudata.org

Oh, by the way, those horns-looking things around its head are not horns, they are gills, just like those of a fish. Interesting?

Here are some facts about the Axolotl from Wikipedia,

Axolotl -- also known as a Mexican salamander (Ambystoma mexicanum) or a Mexican walking fish, is a neotenic salamander, closely related to the tiger salamander. Although the axolotl is colloquially known as a "walking fish", it is not a fish, but an amphibian. The species originates from numerous lakes, such as Lake Xochimilco underlying Mexico City. Larvae of this species fail to undergo metamorphosis, so the adults remain aquatic and gilled. 
As of 2010, wild axolotls are near extinction due to urbanization in Mexico City and polluted waters. They are currently listed by CITES as an endangered species and by IUCN as critically endangered in the wild, with a decreasing population. Axolotls are used extensively in scientific research due to their ability to regenerate limbs. Axolotls are also sold as food in Mexican markets and were a staple in the Aztec diet.


Vocabulary:
lesion -- (n)[C] specialized an injury to a person's body or to an organ inside their body:
blister -- (n)[C] a painful swelling on the skin that contains liquid, caused usually by continuous rubbing, especially on your foot, or by burning:
melanin -- (n)[U] a dark brown pigment (= substance that gives colour), found in eyes, skin, hair, feathers, etc. It helps to protect the skin against harmful light from the sun.
pigmentation -- (n)[U] the natural colour of something, usually a living thing
limb -- (n)[C] an arm or leg of a person or animal, or a large branch of a tree:
fetus -- (n)[C] also foetus a young human being or animal before birth, after the organs have started to develop 
amphibian -- (n) an animal, such as a frog, that lives both on land and in water but must produce its eggs in water

Resources:
Android 4.4 KitKat Video Makes Fun Of Apple’s Jonny Ive @ Geeky Gadgets
http://www.geeky-gadgets.com/android-4-4-kitkat-video-makes-fun-of-apples-jonny-ive-04-09-2013/

Android KITKAT 4.4 -- The future of confectionery @ YouTube
http://youtu.be/OKOrkLxOBoY

Whales Get Sunburned, Too @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czC2DTvPIIM

Can you really re-grow a fingertip? – The Chart @ CNN.com Blogs
http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2010/09/10/can-you-really-re-grow-a-fingertip/

Why Can't We Regrow Teeth?  @ YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wETbxYz0DNI

Pictures: 5 Animals That Regrow Body Parts @ National Geographic
http://newswatch.nationalgeographic.com/2013/08/28/worms-that-regrow-heads-and-other-regenerators/

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

How to Train Your Dragon @ IMDb
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0892769/

http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/lesion?q=lesion
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/blister_1?q=blister+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/melanin?q=Melanin
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/pigmentation?q=pigmentation+
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/foetus
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/limb?q=limb
http://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/british/amphibian?q=amphibian+

Vocabulary & TV: What is May-December Romance / Relationship? Ask Dr. House

House explaining May-December to Cuddy
Image from FOX

In class, I mentioned the term May-December Relationship. Students were asking me why May-December? And I told them Dr. House has the answer.

From Season 3 Episode 19,

Dr. Cuddy: I don’t get the whole May-December thing. 
Dr. House: Give me a break, it’s May-October at worst. 
Dr. Cuddy: Well, why can’t it be October-October? 
Dr. House: May is when things start to get hot.

In here, House implied two things, one is that May is literally a month of Spring (meaning young) in which the weather is starting to get hot, and the other, he's using "hot" as a synonym of "sexy".

Hence, what kind of a person does December imply? Cold, dry, lack of energy, Winter -- the last of all four seasons, the old people.

Ali and House in Season 3 Episode 3-- Lines in the Sand
Image from FOX

As to why House said May-October is worse, in an earlier episode, namely episode 3 of the same season, House had (or almost had) some romance with a much younger girl, Ali, acted by then pre-Gossip Girl star Leighton Meester (see Movie & TV: Casablanca X House M.D. - Meester X Laurie for details). That actually caused quite some trouble for House. From that, I infer his words "May-October's worse" was actually talking about Ali and himself, thus October could refers to someone at his late 40s, since House is a couple of years older than Cuddy and Cuddy was at her 40s by then.


At the end of the class, one student asked me if there is a word for those who fancies elderly people, with a quick search online and the word popped out!

Gerontophile : derives from Greek: geron, meaning "old man or woman" and philie, meaning "love".

For a few words on relationship, do visit Vocabulary & Song: Relationships & The Tennessee Waltz -- Patti Page .

Have a happy weekend!


Vocabulary:
May -- Spring; young people
December -- Winter, old people
October -- Autumn / Fall, middle-aged people
Gerontophile -- (n)[C] A person who has a sexual preference for the elderly


Resources:

Vocabulary & Song: Relationships & The Tennessee Waltz -- Patti Page @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2011/06/vocabulary-relationships-part-1.html

Movie & TV: Casablanca X House M.D. - Meester X Laurie @ Locky's English Playground
http://lockyep.blogspot.hk/2012/12/movie-tv-casablanca-x-house-md-meester.html

Dr. Cuddy: I don’t get the whole May/December... @ FY! House MD
http://fuckyeahhousemd.tumblr.com/post/182976992/dr-cuddy-i-dont-get-the-whole-may-december

Gerontophile @ Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gerontophilia