March 11, 2018

A few word-play jokes

First, a translation of a poem (ci-poem to be exact) by Ms. Li Qingzhao (李清照, 1084 – ca 1155/1156), a poet at the turn of the Northern-to-Southern Song dynasty.

李清照《永遇乐·落日熔金》
落日熔金，Sunset of molten gold
暮云合壁，Evening clouds of enclosing jade
人在何处。 Where am I standing?
染柳烟浓， Mist coloring the willows thickens
吹梅笛怨， Flute plays “The plum of melancholy”
春意知几许。 How's the springtime coming?
元宵佳节， The joyous Festival of Lantern
融和天气， in this clement weather
次第岂无风雨。 “Will it not be windy and rainy soon?”
来相召、香车宝马，谢他酒朋诗侣。 “Sorry”, said I to my wine-and-poetry friends, who came to invite me for an outing, in their fragrant BMW

Second, a list of words offered to "improve" English vocabulary, with a caution to the readers when I posted it to Weibo. And the "facts" stated therein are not to be trusted.

English vocabulary (non-)study
英语词汇的（非）学习
Learners of limited vocabulary should wear gas masks to avoid poisoning.
词汇有限的学习者须戴防毒面具

* infantry:
In the mid-20th century, the first public child care facility in the US was established in the suburb of Chicago, Jenkins Infantry, named after the owner Mary Jenkins.

* indefatigable
At the end of the 3-month clinical trial, 35% of the volunteers presented no change in either the body-mass index or the normalized adipose quantity. These indefatigable participants were advised to join a more aggressive weight watch program.

* bruxiathesaurus
A group of international paleontologists recently discovered never-seen-before dinosaur fossils, tentatively named bruxiathesaurus, on the evidence that these creatures apparently would grind their teeth while sleeping. Bruxia or bruxism, grinding or clenching teeth at night, is common among homo sapiens. This is the first time dinosaurs are found to have this behavior.

* infarction
Some patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) try to “hold in” flatulence. There is no controlled study on either any benefit or harm done by this practice of infarction.