Tuesday, September 27, 2005

Blog this


So, I thought I would set this thing up after talking to Tom about it on the phone the other day. I feel this is a more polite way of communicating on a large scale than mass emails. Plus, this way, only the truly interested will be informed! And hey, if that only leaves me, that's cool. I feel I will mostly post photos here, but I may also include what will certainly be random and opinionated thoughts on life, travel, culture, Taiwan, Canada, goals, dreams, ethics, morals, and love. Bring it on! Ok, maybe that's bullshit. Most of what I write here will probably concern the peculiarities of Chinese grammar. Did you ever wonder why native Mandarin speakers often say, in English, "I have ever been to Canada".... or for that matter, what that sentence even means? I did once. More to come later. OH what a cliffhanger!

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

hello to anyone who reads this:
the unitiated would love a translation of your blog name
- assuming it is
a) translateable
b) no more than moderately shocking or inappropriate
c) not already on here in some obscure page ????
jane

AF said...

Of course the expression is translatable and not vulgar.

Literally, I guess it means...

Tai (Too) Kua Zhang (exaggerated) le (past tense marker) ba (kind of like probably)

So... "probably too exaggerated"

But, really that has no meaning and misses the point.

More importantly, when do people use this expression...

When I make some (apparently)strange joke, or say something that takes my more conservative Taiwanese friends off guard... they might say...

"tai kua zhang le ba!" or "(I think) that's really too much (going too far)!"