dennislv

@dennislv (134)

Shanghai, China

Joined myLot 12 years ago

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Likes (83)

dennislv's Likes

dennislv liked this • 17 Oct 13

"This fine-looking, commanding man had become a shadow of his former self.", I don't know how to underatand this sentence. Help me please...

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 16 Oct 13

"a shadow of his former self" means he was not like what he had been,right? Then, I am wondering if "this fine-looking, commanding man" was fine-looking and commanding and his former self had been much worse before, or he had been...

1 response

Shasta To become a shadow of his former self means that due to some circumstances he had become a weaker version of what he used to be.

17 Oct 13

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2 people

dennislv liked this • 17 Oct 13

"This fine-looking, commanding man had become a shadow of his former self.", I don't know how to underatand this sentence. Help me please...

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 16 Oct 13

1 response

Uncle Jay, Finding More Value in Your Machine Yep, that's the explanation the Free Dictionary gives. So you can paraphrase it to say "The man--though fine-looking & commanding still--was reduced to a mere boot-camp recruit in the eyes of those who knew him."

17 Oct 13

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1 person

dennislv liked this • 16 Oct 13

What's the meaning of "Badabing"?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 16 Oct 13

it's an exclamation but I don't know how to describe its meaning.

2 responses

Uncle Jay, Finding More Value in Your Machine Makes me think of pinball---you use the flipper to knock the ball into the bumpers, badabing, score big! `Eyy

16 Oct 13

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1 person

dennislv liked this • 16 Oct 13

What's the meaning of "Badabing"?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 16 Oct 13

it's an exclamation but I don't know how to describe its meaning.

2 responses

TheRealDawn Sometimes it's used kind of like a "gotcha".

16 Oct 13

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1 person

dennislv liked this • 16 Oct 13

What's the meaning of "Badabing"?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 16 Oct 13

it's an exclamation but I don't know how to describe its meaning.

2 responses

Just an Ordinary Owl? It seems to be most often found as "Badabing badoom" (as used in the cartoon serial, "The Simpsons"). It is an onomatopoeic exclamation which describes the sounds made by, for example, entering something into a machine and receiving results. There is no real...

16 Oct 13

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1 person

dennislv liked this • 15 Oct 13

Anybody knows something about astrology? Why "the Jupiter–Saturn cycle is now in sextile to its most difficult period"?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 14 Oct 13

Why is being in sextile the cycle's most difficult period?

astrology

sextile

period

2 responses

Just an Ordinary Owl? Sextile indicates that the bodies are separated by about 60 degrees. Conjunction, trine (120 degree separation) and sextile are usually considered broadly unifying or harmony-creating aspects whereas opposition and square (90 degrees separation) are taken to...

15 Oct 13

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1 person

dennislv liked this • 15 Oct 13

"she could sew the veil on properly in the morning", according to this sentence,"in the morning" doesn't mean "this morning", then, when was she expected to finish her sewing?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 11 Oct 13

I know "in the morning" is not the same as "this morning". "She could" here suggests an uncertain tense. However, I prefer it a subjunctive use. If so,then "in the morning" can be "tomorrow morning"? What is it talking about?

mean

sentence

morning

2 responses

Just an Ordinary Owl? @dennislv Actually, now I think about it, I was wrong: it's not really a 'syntactical unit that cannot be broken', even though the English mind tends to think of 'could sew on' as a verb unit. "She could easily sew the veil on properly in the morning." would...

15 Oct 13

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1 person

dennislv liked this • 14 Oct 13

Anybody knows something about astrology? Why "the Jupiter–Saturn cycle is now in sextile to its most difficult period"?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 14 Oct 13

Why is being in sextile the cycle's most difficult period?

2 responses

Uncle Jay, Finding More Value in Your Machine As far as I can tell, Horoscopes are just stories writers make-up about what the constellations look like they're doing in the sky. "Sextile" means '60 degrees away,' I think. (Wikipedia http://adf.ly/XYslw (after the ad) explains it better.) The one...

14 Oct 13

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1 person

dennislv liked this • 14 Oct 13

"I have no patience with pious, sexless females.", what does "pious" here most probably mean?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 14 Oct 13

the speaker hates very religious woman? Or, he hates hypocritical,holy-virgin ilke girls? (Am I right by using "holy-virgin like" here?) Which of the above is the better understanding?

1 response

Just an Ordinary Owl? I think that your second meaning is probably the more accurate one. "Pious" means: - having or showing a dutiful spirit of reverence for God or an earnest wish to fulfill religious obligations. OR [i]- characterized by a hypocritical concern with...

14 Oct 13

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1 person

dennislv liked this • 14 Oct 13

"she could sew the veil on properly in the morning", according to this sentence,"in the morning" doesn't mean "this morning", then, when was she expected to finish her sewing?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 11 Oct 13

2 responses

Just an Ordinary Owl? @dennislv It modifies the action of 'sewing on the veil', not the 'being able to ... '. As you see, there are a number of correct positions an adverb can have. In the original sentence, it is placed after the complex verb structure (the object of the verb 'the...

14 Oct 13

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1 person

dennislv liked this • 13 Oct 13

"I don't even teach very well.", what does "even" mean here?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 11 Oct 13

If "even" was taken away from this sentence, would it make any difference?

3 responses

Just an Ordinary Owl? As @mythociate says, it is a comparative adverb. Its original sense must have been to indicate that something is 'equal to', 'the same as' or 'like' something else (as opposed to being 'more than' or 'less than' something). It is now used rather in the sense...

13 Oct 13

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2 people

dennislv liked this • 13 Oct 13

What is a "courier market",a post service, a tourism market, or a delivery market?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 11 Oct 13

"the U.S. courier market", I am confused by the word "courier".

courier

market

1 response

Just an Ordinary Owl? A courier is a person (or a business) which contracts to carry goods from one place to another for people. In a sense, the postal service is a courier service, though the word usually applies to services which are different from the normal mail - they are...

13 Oct 13

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1 person

dennislv liked this • 13 Oct 13

"she could sew the veil on properly in the morning", according to this sentence,"in the morning" doesn't mean "this morning", then, when was she expected to finish her sewing?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 11 Oct 13

2 responses

Uncle Jay, Finding More Value in Your Machine It depends on the context (the reason why the New Living Testament Bible is written phrase-by-phrase for the most part: because much of the meaning is held in the context). It sounds like 'she decided not to finish the veil now, because "she could finish it...

13 Oct 13

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1 person

dennislv liked this • 13 Oct 13

"she could sew the veil on properly in the morning", according to this sentence,"in the morning" doesn't mean "this morning", then, when was she expected to finish her sewing?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 11 Oct 13

2 responses

13 Oct 13

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1 person

dennislv liked this • 12 Oct 13

"she could sew the veil on properly in the morning", according to this sentence,"in the morning" doesn't mean "this morning", then, when was she expected to finish her sewing?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 11 Oct 13

2 responses

Just an Ordinary Owl? When the 'focus' or particular point of time referred to in the statement is any time of day after waking (even when it is 'now' still morning), "in the morning" usually indicates the morning immediately following the next sleep period. 'Could' here...

12 Oct 13

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3 people

dennislv liked this • 12 Oct 13

"I don't even teach very well.", what does "even" mean here?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 11 Oct 13

If "even" was taken away from this sentence, would it make any difference?

3 responses

Uncle Jay, Finding More Value in Your Machine The speaker is comparing 'how well he teaches' to 'how well he does something else,' it sounds like. Like maybe someone asked him if he can speak to a classroom full of students, and he said 'Speak to students? "I can't even teach very well."' "Even" in that...

12 Oct 13

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2 people

dennislv liked this • 11 Oct 13

"she works on the feeling of being deprived of her mother", What is she exactly doing?How shall I understand "work on" here?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 11 Oct 13

Which understanding is correct: 1. She does her work with a feeling of being orphaned or isolated. 2. She trys to deal with her lonely feeling.

feeling

work

1 response

Uncle Jay, Finding More Value in Your Machine @dennislv No, more like 'she is learning to add the feeling of bereavement into her regular life' or 'she's trying to get used to the way life is without her mother (who--I presume--was an integral part of her life up to now)'

11 Oct 13

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1 person

dennislv liked this • 11 Oct 13

"she works on the feeling of being deprived of her mother", What is she exactly doing?How shall I understand "work on" here?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 11 Oct 13

Which understanding is correct: 1. She does her work with a feeling of being orphaned or isolated. 2. She trys to deal with her lonely feeling.

1 response

Just an Ordinary Owl? The second one is the more correct interpretation. "To work on" something means to do something to further or improve or perfect it with the end in view. Here, it may mean that the person in question is 'working on' the feelings in order to gain other...

11 Oct 13

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3 people

dennislv liked this • 11 Oct 13

Is a “charge card” exactly the same thing as a "credit card"?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 9 Oct 13

“the bill was paid by charge card", Is the "charge card" a "credit card" like a Master Card or a Visa Card? Is there any difference between them?

card

charge card

credit card

1 response

Uncle Jay, Finding More Value in Your Machine @dennislv yeah, if that is to say 'a credit card is always a charge card, but a charge card isn't always a credit card' (like 'a Roman Catholic church is always Christian, but a Christian church isn't always Roman Catholic' )

11 Oct 13

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1 person

dennislv liked this • 11 Oct 13

Is a “charge card” exactly the same thing as a "credit card"?

dennislv @dennislv (134) • Shanghai, China 9 Oct 13

“the bill was paid by charge card", Is the "charge card" a "credit card" like a Master Card or a Visa Card? Is there any difference between them?

1 response

Uncle Jay, Finding More Value in Your Machine Kind of like 'fruits' & 'vegetables.' A "vegetable" is any edible part of a plant, while a fruit is 'the seed-bearing part' (I think ... I'll look it up - http://adf.ly/PnUuv - or "the ovary of a plant," yeah). (So a tomato is BOTH a fruit & a vegetable.)

11 Oct 13

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1 person