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Word Detective"

The obscene battle-cry of a Ming Dynasty war hero

The obscene battle-cry of a Ming Dynasty war hero: "
Here's a close-up of an image that's been making the rounds of forums and microblogs over the past few months:

Yuan Chonghuan's famous slogan

Yuan Chonghuan (袁崇焕) was a Ming Dynasty general famous for defeating Nurhaci at the Battle of Ningyuan, which put a temporary halt to the Manchu invasion.


Yuan's ancestral home in Dongguan, Guanggdong, has been turned into a memorial park. Inscribed on the base of a stone statue of Yuan is his battle-cry, shown in the above photo. The text:

掉哪媽！頂硬上！

FUCK HIS MOM! HIT THE HARD!


“頂硬上”成了輕騎護京的主旋律，“掉哪媽”成了眾人罵昏君的助語詞。

'Hit the hard' as the main melody of Yuan's army when they hurried to the capital to rescue the country, And 'fuck his mom' became the starting word for cursing fatuous emperors.

The translation isn't perfect, but unlike many previous examples, the profanity is entirely appropriate.


'掉哪妈' (diu na ma) is a widely used colloquial Cantonese expression that has a variety of written forms. The character 掉 is used in place of 屌 (diu2, 'penis' as a noun, and 'fuck' as a verb), but is now a far less common substitute than 丢 or 刁. (In Hong Kong, the recent construction [門+小] is often used.)


Here's how the Cantonese Profanity Research Web explains the phrase:

As written, it literally means 'fuck your mother' (那 na is a fusion of 你阿 nei a: 你阿媽 nei ama, 'your mother'), but it is not ordinarily meant as an insult, but is mainly used instead to express anger, displeasure, astonishment, disappointment, and so forth...the tone is similar to the Mandarin 他妈的 (tamade, 'His mother's...') or 他奶奶的 (tanainaide, 'His granny's...').

Yuan Chonghuan's statue at his ancestral home

'Hit the Hard,' on the other hand, is a simply a mechanical mistranslation of an exhortation to forge stubbornly onward. The phrase has been called an encapsulation of the 'Cantonese Spirit,' and it appears in a coolie chant cited in various places online:

嗨呀嗨哟，顶硬上啰，鬼叫你穷啊

Hi-yo, hi-yo. Go all out! No one told you to be poor!

So Yuan Chonghuan's battle-cry, supposedly uttered when his superiors ordered a general retreat to Shanhaiguan as the Manchu armies were closing in on Ningyuan, could conceivably be translated as 'Fuck that! We'll give it all we've got!'

Links and Sources

• Noman's Sina Microblog: Statue of Yuan Chonghuan in Dongguan, original image
• Cantonese Profanity Research Web (Chinese): diu na ma explanation
• Guangzhou Daily (Chinese): 'Go all out' as the 'Cantonese Spirit' (2003)
• Wikipedia: Diu (Cantonese), Yuan Chonghuan
• Baidu Baike (Chinese): 顶硬上

Tags: Dongguan, profanity, translation, Yuan Chonghuan

This article is from Danwei.org.

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PRODUCT GLUT IN VANCOUVER CONDO MARKETS

WHERE IT ENDS NOBODY KNOWS - looking for a correction!

- your best guide is the golden rule of properties,
LOCATION - LOCATION - LOCATION

AVRO ARROW = RADARSAT 2 + DEXTRE ???

Sale of Canada's premier space/robotics company brings back memories of the scrapping of the Avro Arrow .
... once again when Canadian aerospace engineering and design rise above the mediocre,
Uncle Sam steps in with a helping hand.

the selection of goodies includes not only Radarsat2 but the know how that brought about the CanadaArm and DEXTRE remote manipulators ... effectively destroying any future space industry.

globeandmail.com: Layton looks to courts to block satellite firm's sale:
"MDA, of Richmond, B.C., wants to sell its space business to weapons and aerospace giant Alliant Techsystems Inc. for $1.3-billion. That includes Radarsat-2, a remote-sensing satellite that can see through clouds and nighttime cover."

TED | Talks | List

TED | Talks | List


some of the best talks / seminars you'll ever see or hear

VISTA CRASHER EXPOSED

NVIDIA drivers responsible for nearly 30% of Vista crashes in 2007

from Engadget by Nilay Patel

History Podcast on ZENcast.com

History Podcast on ZENcast.com

History Podcast

HistoryPodcast is a show simply devoted to history. Anything and everything related to history will be covered. If you have a passion for history this is the podcast for you.

Keywords :

history, historypodcast, history, podcast

Thomash's philosophys

cut nd saved for later reading from thomas' page

http://www.geocities.com/quietthomas/


Ken Wilber particularly for 'Sex, Ecology, Spirituality'... and for 'A Brief History of Everything', for those of us who couldn't get through 'Sex, Ecology, Spirituality'. Ken Wilber is a Guru of looking at things from all sorts of levels and directions. His "All quadrants, all levels" ideology is a great help to anyone seeking objectivity. Truly a saint to those who seek discernment in relation to Truth.

Can't get much more spiritual cred. than this guy. The Dalai Lama is a grand speaker, with many worthy observations on life, and how to live it. Although I believe his messages change with his audience, at times avoiding the heavily moral teachings of Buddhism as a religious doctrine. All the same, this man has a wonderful and honorable message of peace for the world.

One of the father's of modern analytical psychology, Carl Gustav Jung. I believe him much more insightful than Freud, even tho his often medieval bent probably has more to do with his childhood than with objective meaning. But I suppose it was a vital era for the modern world. I think he's great. Particularly for 'On the Nature of Psyche' and his non-sexual take on libidinal and psychic energy.

Bruce Lee's writings first introduced me to Taoism. Specifically in his book "Tao of Jeet Kune Do". Whilst clearly somewhat open to violence, and the indulgences of celebrity, Bruce still has a lot to impart. His writings on the mindset of fighting are applicable to all types of challenges. Inside this man has a peace which served him well through life, and every fight he had.

Alan Watts is famed for bringing eastern philosophies into popularity in the 70's. An occurrence that has highly effected how much of it seeps into modern culture (and Psychology). I highly recommend searching for and downloading any of his lectures. He is an expert on describing Zen and Taoism to the westernised mind.

Timothy Leary. Okay, he did way too many drugs. But in so doing, he brought great lessons to the world. The most worthy work of his I've read is "Your Brain is God" in which he outlines what best helps to define the bounds of a self, and does so with many insights to culture, and his view of the world. Read Leary so you don't have to mess with your own brain chemistry.

TheStar.com | Ontario | $3 Casino Rama bet nets $8.9M jackpot

TheStar.com | Ontario | $3 Casino Rama bet nets $8.9M jackpot: "Mar 24, 2008 04:30 AM
John Goddard
Staff Reporter

Steady play on a slot machine for under an hour won Anna Falco a record $9 million on the weekend.

The 53-year-old woman from Woodbridge was playing the Megabucks machine at Casino Rama on Saturday. Her husband Franco arrived to share in her triumph.

The machine takes a minimum $1 bet but she was wagering $3 a spin to qualify for the jackpot, which starts at $1 million and continues to mount until there's a winner.

Falco had spent around $200 when lights flashed and bells sounded."

A GOOD SOURCE OF PROTEIN...

the planet called Earth has always been a good source of DNA ; a reliable area for organ harvests.... and of course ... abundantly supplied with those multi-purpose hominids...


however ; the scientific/nutritional value is far outweighed by the superb entertainment and scenario testing opportunities.....

...the planet must be protected from the excesses of inhabitant hominids and isolated from any transforming energies that may bring about further gains in evolution/consciousness or self awareness.

OLD POSTCARDS

some old family remnants

Strange lights spotted in Lincolnshire's skies may have been a warning of the earthquake

DID 'UFO LIGHTS' HERALD LINCOLNSHIRE EARTHQUAKE?

: "Several sightings of lights appearing in the sky were reported in the days leading up to the quake, which had its epicentre near Market Rasen when it struck early on February 27.

And some believe that these could be 'earthquake lights' - caused by changes in the electrical properties of the ground before a quake occurs.

There have been many similar reports of 'earthquake lights' throughout history.

The most well known case was in Lincoln's twin town, Tangshan, in China in 1976, before a massive quake that killed 240,000 people across the country."

Wall St soaks up China funds...

China learns hard M&A lessons | Special Coverage | Reuters:

By Michael Flaherty

HONG KONG (Reuters) - The unraveling of CITIC Securities' plan to link up with Bear Stearns (BSC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) may prove the latest example of a Chinese deal gone bad.

Sitting on a mountain of cash, China's government has sought to diversify its holdings and expand state-run companies by investing more in foreign assets.

But to date, many of the deals have turned out to be duds.

That point was highlighted over the weekend when CITIC's $1 billion venture with Bear was thrown into serious doubt.
...................

"China Investment Corp. (CIC) formed, setting aside $200 billion to invest.

The fund's entry into dealmaking brought the government face to face with some of the globe's savviest players in the mergers and acquisitions market.

And it led to investments in U.S. firms with significant exposure to what Wall Street hoped was a passing credit mess.

It's only gotten worse."

.................................

don't forget Blackstone !

WallSt soaks China funds...
Snow and GW must be having a chuckle

A Wall Street Domino Theory - New York Times

News Analysis

A Wall Street Domino Theory

By JENNY ANDERSON and VIKAS BAJAJ

Published: March 15, 2008

The Federal Reserve’s unusual decision to provide emergency assistance to Bear Stearns underscores a long-building concern that one failure could spread across the financial system.

A Wall Street Domino Theory - New York Times: "“You get to where people can’t trade with each other,” said James L. Melcher, president of Balestra Capital, a hedge fund based in New York. “If the Fed hadn’t acted this morning and Bear did default on its obligations, then that could have triggered a very widespread panic and potentially a collapse of the financial system.”

Already, investors are considering whether another firm might face financial problems."

FT.com / In depth - Wall Street waits for the next domino to fall

“The most pressing question on investors’ minds: who’s next?” .......

..Wall Street waits for the next domino to fall.....

By Francesco Guerrera and Michael Mackenzie in New York

Published: March 16 2008 20:22 | Last updated: March 17 2008 02:43

FT.com / In depth - Wall Street waits for the next domino to fall:

"“The most pressing question on investors’ minds: who’s next?” said Jeffrey Rosenberg, head of credit strategy at Banc of America Securities. Analysts expect US banks to report some $50bn in additional losses in the first half of this year – in addition to the $100bn-plus in writedowns announced so far – as key markets such as leveraged loans, home equity and real estate continued to deteriorate."

China overtakes U.S. as largest Internet market

China overtakes U.S. as largest Internet market

China is now the world's largest Internet market, surpassing the United States in the number of users, research firm BDA reported.

BDA cited data from the China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC), which placed the total number of users in China at 210 million at the end of 2007; and data from Nielsen/NetRatings, which put the U.S. Internet population for the same period at 216 million.

"Based on these sources and the assumption that these markets have continued to grow in 2008 to date at the same rates that they grew in 2007, we can conclude that China has by now comfortably surpassed the United States as the world's largest Internet population," said Bin Liu, BDA's Beijing-based principal analyst for new media.

"A buoyant economy, massive investments in broadband infrastructure and strong consumer demand for applications including online games, instant messaging and online-music and online-video sharing are fuelling China's rapid Internet growth," said Duncan Clark, BDA chairman.

BDA estimates 2007 revenues from China's online games sector at $1.88 billion. This estimate exceeds the combined estimated revenues from online brand advertising ($930 million) and search ($395 million), according to BDA.

The research firm placed the number of online game players in China at 50.4 million at the end of 2007. On the other hand, the "QQ" instant messaging client from Shenzhen-based Tencent reportedly had 280 million active users by Q3 07.

The death of quality journalism - or - how to give a story Google juice

By Trevor Cook - posted Friday, 14 March 2008


The Sydney Morning Herald got the story at the start of the world's news cycle and it had a fantastic opportunity to dip into rivers of search engine gold.

As bloggers and others take up a story and start talking about it, they link to the original piece, giving it google juice and pushing it up search engine rankings.

They also share the story through social networking sites like Facebook. When it comes to attracting casual news consumers, links and sharing are the name of the game.

But it takes a few hours for the links to do their magic, so The Sydney Morning Herald marketing team swung into operation to bid at auction for the right to own key search terms for those critical few hours between news of his death and when the search robots and algorithms took over.

The Province

The Province:

Canada's 10 most dangerous cities include 5 in B.C., says Maclean's

"The study took into account six types of crimes: murder, sexual assault, aggravated assault, robbery, breaking and entering, and auto theft.

According to Maclean's, the break-and-enter rates in Chilliwack and Victoria would put them among the top 10 per cent of all American cities.

Here's the top 10:

1. Regina
2. Saskatoon
3. Winnipeg
4. Prince George
5. Edmonton
6. New Westminster
7. Chilliwack
8. Victoria
9. Vancouver
10. Halifax"

Backronym - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Backronym - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A backronym (or bacronym or also retronym) is a phrase that is constructed "after the fact" from a previously existing word or abbreviation, the abbreviation being an initialism or an acronym. The term is a false acronym, and sometimes used to refer to the initialism or acronym itself,^[1] but usually in those cases, it is a "replacement" backronym, the abbreviation already having an associated phrase. When the backronym phrase becomes more popular than the original, the word becomes an anacronym. (But other than that, backronyms and anacronyms have little to do with each other.)

The word backronym is a neologism, coined in 1983.^[2]

An example of a backronym from the word acronym is as follows.

Acronyms Condense Representations Of Neologisms You Memorize

In this example, because the word acronym itself is not an acronym, the phrase above is a pure backronym, not a replacement backronym. Since the phrase indirectly refers to the word itself, it is also apronymic. If this backronym helps you remember the word acronym or backronym, then it is also a mnemonic.