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First Impressions (Part 1)

Every culture has rules for when you first meet someone.  American culture is no different.  Americans make a judgment about the person they meet based not only on his/her language and behavior but also on such details as facial expressions and perceived warmth.  To ensure a first meeting with an American businessperson goes well, here are some basics to keep in mind.

1. Eye contact: Look the other person in the eye.  This shows confidence and is taken as a sign of sincerity.  Avoiding eye contact makes a person appear weak or hiding something, maybe not trustworthy.  After a few seconds, you can take a break and look away, then look back for several more seconds.  (Looking away occasionally is important because eye contact for 100% of the time might be seen as too aggressive or having sexual interest.)

2. Facial expression: Smile.*  Americans see this as a sign of warmth and friendliness.  It indicates openness and a willingness to work together.  You will notice that Americans usually smile in all their photographs.  This certainly includes Facebook pictures, but it will usually include photos taken for work badges or their company website.  This is often not the case in other countries.

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*NOTE: While we cannot control the teeth we are born with, American dental practice has raised expectations of good dental health for anyone in the public eye.  Teeth that are missing, crooked, or stained can harm a person's professional appearance.  For this reason, many American adults are getting braces to align crooked teeth.  Dental implants are now commonly sought to replace lost teeth.  Treatments are also available to whiten teeth that are stained due to aging, cigarette smoking, or coffee and tea drinking.

Duck, Duck, Goose

The world of children’s games turned upside down this week in the U.S. when it was discovered that the national game of duck-duck-goose is not played the same across the entire country.  According to an article in BuzzFeed.com, one location, the north-central state of Minnesota, has been saying “Duck, duck...gray duck!” with their children.

For those viewers who are not familiar, duck-duck-goose is a long-standing school game where all participants sit on the ground facing into a circle, and a lone person—designated as “it”—stands outside of the circle.  This person walks counter-clockwise around the circle tapping each sitting person on the head or back.  As the “tapper” touches each person, he or she says “duck.”  One or two children may be tapped with “duck,” or perhaps many in a row.  At one point, the tapper taps one person and says “goose!”  The tapped person who is the goose must jump up and chase the tapper around the circle and try to catch him/her before he/she reaches the empty spot just vacated.

For American children, the game is great exercise and filled with suspense about who will get chosen for the chase.

So now, back to the story.  One Minnesotan named Christopher Pollard heard that the rest of the country was saying his state wasn’t playing this game “right,” so he posted to his blog a defense of Minnesota’s playgrounds. Christopher is trying to show the rest of the country how their version of the game is actually better.  Instead of saying just duck-duck-duck, etc., Minnesota kids have to name different colors, for example, “red duck, brown duck, yellow duck, green duck” etc. before shouting “gray duck” and starting the wild chase around the circle.

So, now, if you’re trying to teach your kids a classic American game, you might want to introduce this new twist to their playtime.  While they’re running around, they’ll also be practicing their colors!  And that’s what’s up this week!

Children in Minnesota playing Duck-Duck-Gray Duck (photo source: Minneapolis Star-Tribune)

WHA Refugee Simulation

Today’s news comes from across the pond in Geneva, Switzerland, where students at Webster University’s Geneva campus are getting a hands-on feel for the lives of international refugees.  The student-run Webster Humanitarian Association offers an intensive three-day simulation that participants will not soon forget.

Simulation participants begin their first day as refugees with a 5-km hike to the  Webster campus.  They are divided into “families,” given stories of fleeing from persecution, and even given sacks of flour to represent their babies they must care for.  They are treated gruffly by actors playing officials and guards.  They are separated, questioned, and searched. The lengthy interrogations often take place in a language they don’t understand. “Refugees” experience threats and a lack of food and water.  Participants are told that during this process, the women are often repeatedly raped.   

The second day of one particular simulation, the participants were awakened in the middle of the night, when the tents were entered, supposedly by the raiders who had chased them from their homes at the beginning of their flight.  They were dragged out into the cold night air and blindfolded, while other raiders re-entered the tents and killed their babies.

Although the refugee simulation was humbling and traumatizing, blogger Roberta Medrano Callejas said she would repeat the experience without hesitation because it had been so thought-provoking.

Webster Humanitarian Association at Webster University’s Geneva, Switzerland, campus promotes learning, human rights, and equality, marking special U.N. days such as the World Aids Day and World Refugee Day.  With its home campus based in St. Louis, MO, Webster’s Geneva campus boasts students from 90 different countries.

Today’s high-five, fist-bump, and tip of the hat go to Webster University for making us a little more aware of real issues going on in our world. 

For more information, check out Webster's site here.

Portmanteau Words

You probably also know that a motel (an inexpensive place to sleep) is a blend of the words motor + hotel .  Likewise, smog (the dirty air in a large city) comes from smoke + fog.

motel in Norway (source: Wikipedia)

These are called portmanteau words, a combination of two words to create a new meaning. Another common word is brunch (the meal eaten at 10 or 11 AM). It comes from breakfast + lunch.

Technology has added many portmanteau words to English. Perhaps the most famous of these are e-mail (electronic + mail) and blog (a periodically published online column) from web + log.

The word portmanteau comes from British author Louis Carroll, who invented many words in his own writing.  The word portmanteau itself is a combination of two French words: porter (to carry) + manteau (a coat or cloak).

Here are a few portmanteau words that most English speakers would know:

• netiquette (Internet + etiquette) = rules of behavior for the World Wide Web

• infomercial (information + commercial) = a long, story-like video on tv that advertises a product or service

• humongous (huge + enormous) = very large [emphatic expression]

• spork (spoon + fork) = a utensil that can either scoop or stab your food

Below are additional portmanteau words to help you be more fluent in English:

• podcast (iPod + broadcast) = programming that can be downloading to an MP3 player
• webinar (web + seminar) = taking a class on your computer
  
• breathalyzer (breath + analyzer) = breath test to see if you are too drunk to drive
• e-zine (electronic + magazine) = a magazine that arrives via email
• wi-fi (wireless + fidelity) = system allowing internet browsing without cables
• carjack = (car + hijack) = taking someone’s car away from them (under threat)
• Ebonics (ebony + phonics) = the spoken dialect of black U.S. Americans
• gaydar (gay + radar) = the social sensitivity to guess if someone is gay
• dumbfound (dumb + confounded) = to be so surprised as to be speechless
• guesstimate (guess + estimate) = an approximation, an imprecise estimate
• emoticon (emotion + icon) = keyboard symbols showing how a writer feels

emoticon for regret (source: Fotolia.com)

• glitzy (glitter + ritzy) = fancy, showy, flashy
  
• flounder (founder + blunder) = to be clumsy and confused
• glitzy (glitter + ritzy) = fancy, showy, flashy
• hassle (harass + tussle) = to bother, struggle with, or cause someone trouble
• snarky (snide + remark) = making critical or arrogant comments
• murse (man + purse) = a leather bag carried by a man
• murse (male + nurse) = a man in a nursing position
• sexting (sex + texting) = sending sexual messages or images via text messages
• televangelist (television + evangelist) = religious person who recruits you on TV
• gerrymander (Gerry + salamander) = revising boundaries of voting districts for the advantage of one political party
• sitcom (situation + comedy) = a humorous serial TV show based on everyday life

televangelist Joel Osteen (source: Wikipedia)

If you like playing with portmanteau words, here are many more for you to enjoy.

Short and Sweet: How We Make Things Quicker to Say

If you’ve lived or worked around Americans, you know their English is full of shortened ways to say things. You might believe this is because Americans are consumed with saving time.  But in fact, all languages have shorter, more efficient ways of saying things when they want to. Because human minds work more quickly than their tongues, speakers are always looking for ways to get out more information with fewer syllables.

Three ways of doing this in English are abbreviations, initialisms, and acronyms. Because these three types are often confused, let’s do a quick review.

Abbreviations are a shortened form of the entire expression.

•       TV – television

•       op-ed – opinion-editorial

•       Cal Tech – California Technological University

Initialisms are pronounced one letter at a time. Note that the names of the letters tend to link together as they’re pronounced, with stress falling on the last letter.

•       USA – United States of America

•       TGIF – Thank God It’s Friday

•       m.p.h. – miles per hour

Acronyms are said as one word.

•       NATO  – North Atlantic Treaty Organization

•       scuba  – self-contained underwater breathing apparatus

•       NASA  – National Space & Aeronautics Administration

For my international friends, you should know that many Americans don’t recognize the distinction.  They often call all three “abbreviations” when the expressions may be acronyms or initialisms.  If that happens, don’t worry; just consider yourself smarter now than most of your American friends and co-workers. 

Oomph: Making extra effort in the U.S.

Every language has a word for hard work.  In English, we sometimes call it “energy” or “effort.”  We have another expression representing hard work, but it isn’t a real word.  The expression is “oomph.”  “Oomph” is what we say when we’re lifting a heavy sofa, for example.  Or maybe trying to loosen a stubborn lug-nut when changing a flat tire.

You might hear someone say, “You need to put a little ‘oomph’ into it.”  That means you need to try harder.  Exert yourself.

I was reminded of this expression when someone sent me this graphic the other day.

Now, Americans often say that just “trying” alone isn’t usually enough for success.  You have to work hard to succeed.  And that’s the meaning behind this message.

I like it when expressions sound like what they mean.  Remember that the next time you’re working hard but not quite succeeding.  Maybe you just need to put a little more oomph into it!

Hallowe’en Traditions

The American holiday of Hallowe’en comes on the last day of October.  It is one of those holidays where schools and businesses are not closed, and not everyone celebrates.  However, if you want to join in the fun, I really encourage you.

If you’ve seen Hallowe’en, you think it’s all about costumes and parties.  But where did it come from?

Originally, the holiday is a recognition of November 1 in the Christian church as All Saints Day.  One of the meanings of “saint” is a friend or relative who has died before you.  Hallowe’en comes on the evening before All Saints Day and is spelled with an apostrophe between the two E’s.  “Hallowe’en” is an abbreviation of All Hallows Eve(ning).

In the United States, whether people do or don’t celebrate All Saints Day in church, they don’t usually think of Hallowe’en as a religious holiday.  It is just a day for dressing up in costumes.  Because the theme of the day was inspired by dead people, you will see lots of costumes related to death, for example, ghosts or skeletons.  At school parties and later in the evening, children can be seen dressing up like their favorite superhero.  

Flo (from Progressive Insurance Co.)

Adults often have competitions at parties to see who can dress up most creatively.  Last year, my nephew and niece went to a costume party dressed up as the spokespeople for two national insurance companies, Flo and Mr. Mayhem. (NOTE: Flo is short for Florence. Mayhem means chaos, confusion, complete disorder.)

If you are someone who likes parties or likes to dress up, ask your American friends about what they do to celebrate Hallowe’en.  Maybe they’ll invite you to a party!  

Mayhem (from Allstate Insurance Co.)

For more about Hallowe’en customs, click here.

Here is some advice on how NOT to dress for Hallowe’en.

Finally, here is somewhere to go if you are shopping for costume ideas.