Monday 30 April 2012

Stereotypes

I've been laughing my head off at these stereotyped maps of the world: http://alphadesigner.com/mapping-stereotypes/

WARNING: some people may find it offensive.

Here's an example of one map. There are a lot more.


Wednesday 25 April 2012

Common mistakes

Don't feel bad if you make mistakes in English: us native speakers make some really bad ones:


The pain in Spain

A foreign (US) look on the current economic situation in Spain: The pain in Spain could hit worldwide economy

PS. The title "The Pain in Spain" comes from the My Fair Lady song "The Rain in Spain", where Eliza makes an   effort to replace her Cockney diphthongs and dropped H's with the standard pronunciation.



(The subtitles are slightly more legible in full screen mode)

In this video she finally manages it and everybody is exceedingly happy:

Wednesday 11 April 2012

Just what we needed

World’s first hotel for sheep opens in Japan

Yep, you read that right: first hotel for sheep.

You'd better check it out before you rush to book:




The thing is, although it sounds a bit eccentric, I've always thought it would be nice to have a sheep as a pet. They're so cute and fluffy and dumb. :)

(In case you're wondering: no, I don't eat lamb.)

Remember: in English we usually use 2 different words for the animal and the meat:
pig/pork; cow/beef; sheep/lamb (or mutton); but not for poultry: chicken/chicken; turkey/turkey, duck/duck...

Time for lunch I think!

Wednesday 4 April 2012

More myths about colds: the magic orange and vitamin C


It's probably no secret to you that I don't like fruit. So imagine how pleased and guilt-free I was to discover this:

The myth of Vitamin C and the common cold

If you can''t be bothered to click on the link, the bottom line is (quote):

In controlled trials about the effects of vitamin C, for example, “doses have been up to 6 grams per day, and as far as I know, that would correspond to some 18 kilograms of oranges per day and quite a similar dose of orange juice.”




So, time to start fruit-shopping at MercaBarna instead of Mercadona!

PS. Surely putting slices of orange on top of your eyes is not a good idea?