F2F Class Notes 4th May (Peter)

Vocabulary

Irrelevant – unimportant

Overwhelming – [usually used to mean ] too much to handle emotionally, used both positively and negatively. This is similar to the Chinese 太…了.

Ex. When my mother showed me that she had bought a dog, I was so overwhelmed with happiness.

Ex. All of the studying I have to do for my exams is overwhelming.

Ex. After failing the exam, I was so overwhelmed with sadness.

Underwhelming – the opposite of overwhelming, meaning “just so-so”

Ex. I was promised that it would be an amazing wedding, but I thought it was rather underwhelming.

Passive Aggressive – indirectly aggressive, mean without being straight-forward

Ex. Let’s say your mother wants to tell you that are getting fatter. As she gives you a meal and you begin to eat, she can give you his message in two different ways, either directly, or passive-aggressively:

“You’re getting fat, you shouldn’t eat this much.” This kind of direct statement may be acceptable in some Chinese households, but not in the West.

“Maybe you should save some for others.” This kind of passive-aggressive statement is common in Western society and similar in meaning to saying someone is fat because it suggests that they are eating too much. In Chinese culture, this is kind of statement isn’t so common.

Racism – the idea that one race is better or worse than another

Ex. In general, 21st-Century racism is very passive-aggressive rather than violent.

Asian – coming from or related to Asia

Ex. Many people in East Asia consider a person with European features, such as round eyes or a “tall” nose,  to be more beautiful.

Expressions

In Western culture, it is inappropriate to call someone fat or skinny directly. Instead, we have more normalized words:

Fat: big (men), big-boned (men), curvy (women)

Skinny:slender (men), thin (women)