Random Little Things
1. I got around to watching Persepolis a few Sundays ago thanks to the magic of tudou.com. Of course it only hit me as the video was buffering that the film's in French with Chinese subititles. I tried puzzling it out for a few seconds for kicks, but I could only understand it for so long. The video was of some use in the end, however, since the file I downloaded was frustratingly out of sync. The film wasn't quite what I expected; it dished out the story in a slightly more serious tone. The Iranian Revolution is not a topic you necessarily joke about but the graphic novel was sliced with humour, and the tricky trailer preserved that aspect as a selling point. The plot's not an instruction manual on how to create your own islamic republic, after all. It's more of a mashup between the coming-of-age tale and social commentary. The movie was great, all in all. At first I thought the film was rushing her childhood and adolescent scenes but it turns out I've only read 2 of the 4 volumes. Luckily, I have a copy from when Evan, Ivy, Corrina, Charlotte, and I celebrated the latter half's triple birthday bash at Barnes & Noble. I had to own Persepolis after having read it in Doshisha's Communication Center.
2. Nodame Cantabile is my current j-drama. I came across it on a random channel that broadcasts Asian tv programmes back when it was actually airing. I only caught a few episodes since I was home for thanksgiving break junior year. I fell in love with the show right away despite my rudimentary grasp of Japanese at that point, and I was devastated that I would never watch it again; I figured it would be an obscure drama in the j-drama fandom and the internets. Go figure that I rediscovered it this month since it's a drama everybody raves about. How can you not? I would watch it for all the gorgeous classical music alone. Chiaki-sempai is my type of haughty snarkiness while Nodame is so cute and hilarious. And it takes place in university, always a bonus. Plus there's so many overseas references.
3. My mum and I were joking one evening when we were walking Rusty over how there would be no Argentine boys in UChi's incoming class. Lo and behold, Facebook had to prove me wrong. I was honestly surprised; Argentineans spend half their time complaining about how they're on a money shortage and UChi financial aid isn't exactly too friendly with international students (In fact, I considered changing my status to international, but Mr. Quinn strongly advised against it). Anyway, I was checking a slang word when I was posting on the guy's wall, and I found this little gem:
http://www.ohbuenosaires.com/english/argentineslang.htm
It's the most comprehensive Argentine slang dictionary I've found. Some Chileans chimed in with their share of overlapping terms on the lj language comms:
che is like their 'po'.
arriba
baboso
cábala
capo
chanta
gil
pendejo
atorrante, sometimes also said torrante in Chile(by people from the south)
bacán
cacho (something that's a waste of time or maybe is boring but we have to do it anyway)
cagar
chau
chupamedias
combustible
culo (but it's not bottom, it's vulgar slang for ass(hole))
hacer dedo
engrupir (especially for hitting on someone)
facha
barbaridad
despelote
engrupir
gallego
gozar
luca
micro
milico
patota
pifiar
sobrarse
vaquita (hacer una vaca)
yapa
pirulo means "penis" in Chilean-Spanish or fashionable/elegant according to another Chilean
In PR
-cuero: someone of bad rep (a woman usually)
-changa: either an insect or someone who is behaving like a spoiled little brat. Interestingly, a chango is a bird, and in Tex-Mex is a monkey
-brutal has the same meaning
-chanchuyo has the same meaning
-chavón: alguien que jode, que molesta but used as an euphemism
-cana: a woman who is very blond (bleach blond applies here). Used a lot for albinos.
More great sites pointing out the good, bad, and weird differences in cross-continental Spanish:
http://www.elcastellano.org/miyara/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/mercuriusyelrincon/diccionario_del_chabon.htm
http://www.jergasdehablahispana.org
4. Gacked from linguaphiles:
Can you name the Most Spoken Languages Worldwide?
I scored 15, yay. I guessed Bengali and Vietnamese totally off the top of my head, but I shamefully forgot about Punjabi despite having watched a handful of Bollywood films. As for Javanese, there's no way I would've wagered on it. Cantonese, Tagalog, Filipino, Thai, and Malay seemed like more logical guesses to me. This is the first time I've heard of Marathi, Wu, and Telugu, though.
5. On another language-related note: As promised to lady_feruncles, here's the link to the Bible translated to lolcat.
Unbelievable, I know.
Clearly, I have nothing better to do. Is it college yet?
2. Nodame Cantabile is my current j-drama. I came across it on a random channel that broadcasts Asian tv programmes back when it was actually airing. I only caught a few episodes since I was home for thanksgiving break junior year. I fell in love with the show right away despite my rudimentary grasp of Japanese at that point, and I was devastated that I would never watch it again; I figured it would be an obscure drama in the j-drama fandom and the internets. Go figure that I rediscovered it this month since it's a drama everybody raves about. How can you not? I would watch it for all the gorgeous classical music alone. Chiaki-sempai is my type of haughty snarkiness while Nodame is so cute and hilarious. And it takes place in university, always a bonus. Plus there's so many overseas references.
3. My mum and I were joking one evening when we were walking Rusty over how there would be no Argentine boys in UChi's incoming class. Lo and behold, Facebook had to prove me wrong. I was honestly surprised; Argentineans spend half their time complaining about how they're on a money shortage and UChi financial aid isn't exactly too friendly with international students (In fact, I considered changing my status to international, but Mr. Quinn strongly advised against it). Anyway, I was checking a slang word when I was posting on the guy's wall, and I found this little gem:
http://www.ohbuenosaires.com/english/argentineslang.htm
It's the most comprehensive Argentine slang dictionary I've found. Some Chileans chimed in with their share of overlapping terms on the lj language comms:
che is like their 'po'.
arriba
baboso
cábala
capo
chanta
gil
pendejo
atorrante, sometimes also said torrante in Chile(by people from the south)
bacán
cacho (something that's a waste of time or maybe is boring but we have to do it anyway)
cagar
chau
chupamedias
combustible
culo (but it's not bottom, it's vulgar slang for ass(hole))
hacer dedo
engrupir (especially for hitting on someone)
facha
barbaridad
despelote
engrupir
gallego
gozar
luca
micro
milico
patota
pifiar
sobrarse
vaquita (hacer una vaca)
yapa
pirulo means "penis" in Chilean-Spanish or fashionable/elegant according to another Chilean
In PR
-cuero: someone of bad rep (a woman usually)
-changa: either an insect or someone who is behaving like a spoiled little brat. Interestingly, a chango is a bird, and in Tex-Mex is a monkey
-brutal has the same meaning
-chanchuyo has the same meaning
-chavón: alguien que jode, que molesta but used as an euphemism
-cana: a woman who is very blond (bleach blond applies here). Used a lot for albinos.
More great sites pointing out the good, bad, and weird differences in cross-continental Spanish:
http://www.elcastellano.org/miyara/index.html
http://www.geocities.com/mercuriusyelrincon/diccionario_del_chabon.htm
http://www.jergasdehablahispana.org
4. Gacked from linguaphiles:
Can you name the Most Spoken Languages Worldwide?
I scored 15, yay. I guessed Bengali and Vietnamese totally off the top of my head, but I shamefully forgot about Punjabi despite having watched a handful of Bollywood films. As for Javanese, there's no way I would've wagered on it. Cantonese, Tagalog, Filipino, Thai, and Malay seemed like more logical guesses to me. This is the first time I've heard of Marathi, Wu, and Telugu, though.
5. On another language-related note: As promised to lady_feruncles, here's the link to the Bible translated to lolcat.
Unbelievable, I know.
Clearly, I have nothing better to do. Is it college yet?