[公告] YoYo 2008年度 服務團隊及會務規劃

Kooper
YOYO member
文章: 2725
註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

文章 Kooper »

technobabel 寫:
SherryChica 寫:
I think it is almost impossible to make a restriction on posting in Chinese, but supposedly it is a good thought.

So I would like to claim that this will be my first goal in the year of rat: I WILL ALWAYS TRY TO USE MY BASTARDIZED ENGLISH TO POST. (Maybe I will make my post scarcely comprehensible and finally be skipped......ha~)
I hate to be the party pooper on this one.
There are few ways to think about this. Since nobody come here hoping to improve their Chinese, therefore, posting in Chinese shouldn't be the primary objective. Weaning yourself from Chinese after all these years isn't easy, but not impossible. First we need to start small, and get the ball rolling. It is in Yoyo's long term interest to do so.
party pooper: someone who spoils other people's enjoyment of a particular activity by disapproving of or not taking part in it. [Cambridge]
Example: I hate to be a party pooper, but I am really tired.


to wean oneself off/from a bad habit: to make oneself gradually stop doing it. [a combined definition from Longman and Macmillan]
Example1: advice on how to wean yourself off nicotine [Longman]
Example2: We're trying to wean ourselves off watching too much television [Macmillan]


to get the ball rolling: to make sth start happening [Macmillan]
Example: He will go to the Middle East next week to get the ball rolling again on peace talks. [Collins COBUILD]


to be in somebody's (best) interests to do something: to bring an advantage or benefit to somebody [a combined definition from Macmillan and Longman]
Example1: The court decided that it was in the girl's best interests to remain with her grandparents. [Longman]
Example2: The president doesn't believe the plan is in the best interests of the company. [Macmillan]
Georgia
YOYO member
文章: 480
註冊時間: 週三 11月 07, 2007 11:49 pm

文章 Georgia »

Kooper 寫: party pooper: someone who spoils other people's enjoyment of a particular activity by disapproving of or not taking part in it. [Cambridge]
Example: I hate to be a party pooper, but I am really tired.
You're a dictionaraholic, Kooper~~haha

oh by the way, you might also want to look up the word "poop" :)
頭像
technobabel
YOYO member
文章: 1188
註冊時間: 週六 5月 14, 2005 8:42 pm
來自: Eastern Seaboard

文章 technobabel »

Not to be confused with Pu Pu Platter

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pu_pu_platter
I am not abandoning Yoyo, I am just dancing slowly away from it.
Kooper
YOYO member
文章: 2725
註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re:

文章 Kooper »

Kooper 寫:
technobabel 寫:
SherryChica 寫:
I think it is almost impossible to make a restriction on posting in Chinese, but supposedly it is a good thought.

So I would like to claim that this will be my first goal in the year of rat: I WILL ALWAYS TRY TO USE MY BASTARDIZED ENGLISH TO POST. (Maybe I will make my post scarcely comprehensible and finally be skipped......ha~)
I hate to be the party pooper on this one.
There are few ways to think about this. Since nobody come here hoping to improve their Chinese, therefore, posting in Chinese shouldn't be the primary objective. Weaning yourself from Chinese after all these years isn't easy, but not impossible. First we need to start small, and get the ball rolling. It is in Yoyo's long term interest to do so.
party pooper: someone who spoils other people's enjoyment of a particular activity by disapproving of or not taking part in it. [Cambridge]
Example: I hate to be a party pooper, but I am really tired.
to wean oneself off/from a bad habit: to make oneself gradually stop doing it. [a combined definition from Longman and Macmillan]
Example1: advice on how to wean yourself off nicotine [Longman]
Example2: We're trying to wean ourselves off watching too much television [Macmillan]
to get the ball rolling: to make sth start happening [Macmillan]
Example: He will go to the Middle East next week to get the ball rolling again on peace talks. [Collins COBUILD]
to be in somebody's (best) interests to do something: to bring an advantage or benefit to somebody [a combined definition from Macmillan and Longman]
Example1: The court decided that it was in the girl's best interests to remain with her grandparents. [Longman]
Example2: The president doesn't believe the plan is in the best interests of the company. [Macmillan]
I just realized that I didn't really get the meaning and usage of the phrase GET THE BALL ROLLING right. Here are a clearer definition and some better examples.

to get the ball rolling: to start a meeting, discussion, or event ect. by doing something in order to encourage other people to take part in it as well. It's more like 拋磚引玉 in Chinese.

examples:
1. Mark stood up and asked the first question to get the ball rolling.
2. There are several things we should discuss. Who'd like to get the ball rolling?
3. To get the ball rolling, the government was asked to contribute $50,000 to the new charity.
4. I decide to get the ball rolling and got up dance.
5. Here is an example on YOYO forum written by Wayne C.:

"The related keyword here is pet peeve.
Just to get the ball rolling, here are a few samples of common pet peeves...." http://122.116.234.216/forum/viewtopic. ... ing#p13634
Sherry Liao
YOYO member
文章: 1483
註冊時間: 週五 12月 07, 2007 12:15 pm

Re: [公告] YoYo 2008年度 服務團隊及會務規劃

文章 Sherry Liao »

A similar usage is "to get things rolling" or "to get rolling".

... actually I wonder what's the difference between "to get the ball rolling" and "to get things rolling". :?
Georgia
YOYO member
文章: 480
註冊時間: 週三 11月 07, 2007 11:49 pm

Re: Re:

文章 Georgia »

Kooper 寫: examples:
4. I decide to get the ball rolling and got up dance.
4. I decide to get the ball rolling and got up dance.

Kooper dear, may I ask of you where did you find the sentence above?
I think it has a little grammar mistake with the past tense....
and the meaning of "to get the ball rolling" here doesn't quite fit
the definition you were referring to. :wink:
Kooper
YOYO member
文章: 2725
註冊時間: 週三 4月 11, 2007 11:40 pm

Re: Re:

文章 Kooper »

Georgia 寫:
Kooper 寫: examples:
4. I decide to get the ball rolling and got up dance.
4. I decide to get the ball rolling and got up dance.

Kooper dear, may I ask of you where did you find the sentence above?
I think it has a little grammar mistake with the past tense....
and the meaning of "to get the ball rolling" here doesn't quite fit
the definition you were referring to. :wink:
My bad. It's a typo. The correct one is I decided to set the ball rolling and got up to dance. [Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary]
The example is quite ok to me. At the beginning of a dance party, there is always someone who leads and starts to dance. Do you agree?
Georgia
YOYO member
文章: 480
註冊時間: 週三 11月 07, 2007 11:49 pm

Re: Re:

文章 Georgia »

Kooper 寫: My bad. It's a typo. The correct one is I decided to set the ball rolling and got up to dance. [Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary]
The example is quite ok to me. At the beginning of a dance party, there is always someone who leads and starts to dance. Do you agree?
In a way we may still take them as the same meaning... the same usage... but I'd still say it's slightly different.
When we say get the ball rolling, we use a "ball" as a metaphor, which indicates the thing we're trying to work out.
But in the sentence given above, that "ball" literally means a ball -- a dance party; the word "roll" means to rock and dance, not like in the phrase "get the ball rolling", which is also a metaphor that goes with the "ball" because the ball rolls(滾動).
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