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Pubs & taxis
3:45 PM
Pubs & taxis

Did you know that what we call "pubs" are actually "public houses" and "taxis/cabs" are actually "taxi-metered cabriolets" ?

I bet you didn't. =p

Neither did I. Till recently, I read a law book and there was a judge who was so particular about the language, that he insisted all lawyers who appeared before him in court used the word "taxi-metered cabriolet" instead of "taxi/cabs".

What a mouthful!

Can you imagine people's reactions if you go around saying, "I'm going to so-and-so by taxi-metered cabriolet." ?

Some might go, "What? Taxi izzit? Aiya, taxi say taxi la. Why say until so 'sai lei' wan? " Those a lil slower on the uptake might go, "Huh? What's that? A new car model izzit?"

Heck, if you say the words fast enough and roll your 'r' and slurr your 't', they might actually believe that you're speaking French or some foreign language. And so as not to feel like an ignoramus, they'll probably nod wisely and mutter something that can be passed off as sign of assent and understanding.

Someone asked me why didn't I take up journalism and maybe venture into the field of book-writing.

I said, "Because, a J.K Rowlings-like phenomenon probably appears only once-a-century."
And she's already appeared this century. Haha.

Plus, while I still enjoy J.K. Rowling's 'Harry Potter', I personally feel that she has lost a part of her magical touch with the quill. Maybe she should go to 'Ollivander's' to get herself a new wand to wave over her brain and regain the lost-magic of her earlier books.

I believe that too much of a good thing can be deadly as the sensational success of her earlier books which made 'Harry Potter' a tremendous cash-making cow might have caused a change in her writing style, which was previously much beloved by her early fans.

However, this is just my personal opinion. So if you really loved her later books, feel free to disregard my previous paragraph. Don't start a war with me over them and put me on a stand, because as I said, this is just my opinion.
Not to mention you'd probably come off worse in that fight.
My scathing remarks will be all over you and you will resemble a person who got caught in a fierce thunderstorm; shell-shocked, drenched, miserable, upset and a whole lot more worse-off than when you first started. And you will regret not carrying an umbrellla, or in this case, regret provoking me when I have given you a nice opportunity to disregard my opinion and criticise me privately with the computer screen as your audience.

Besides, if I could chose which literary personage I'd like to emulate, I would consider Jane Austen or Emily Dickinson because of their amazing, profound, timeless works which are renowned worldwide.

The drawback is, they kinda relied on their life experience to write, and their life stories aren't your typical happy Disney story type. In fact, some were quite tragic. In fact, I supppose for them to have written what they wrote, they had to spend quite a bit of their time in solitude dredging up the feelings, ideas and thoughts that they put on paper.

Call me boring and cheesy or hopelessly romantic and dreamy or illogical, but I'd like to have a Disney happily-ever-after type of fairytale life.
So, I guess being a Jane Austen type of authoress is no-no for me. =(

Anyway, many famous authors become famous only after they die.
I'd prefer to become famous while I'm alive, thank you very much.

And lets not forget the part about getting rich too.
After all, fame and fortune supposedly come hand-in-hand.

Because no matter how much we try to deny it, the truth is,
'Aurum est Potestas.'
If you don't know what it means, go read 'Artemis Fowl' by Eoin Colfer.

Try guessing what this Latin saying means, ' Nomina stultorum scribuntur ubique locorum'.

Lets see what you geniuses can make out of it.

Hint: Kinz, that saying was indirectly meant for you as what you like doing is considered a crime, albeit a minor one.





Written on Wednesday, November 08, 2006; 3:45 PM


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