The significance of the V sign

[Bruce]

Becky and Lulu,
Thanks for posting the fabulous pictures! I noticed in your picture,
and some that Neal brought back, that the V or peace sign is very
popular in China. What is the significance of the Chinese usage of the
V sign? I found other references in Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V_sign

[Neal Lester]

That's funny because nearly everyone there in Chengdu, Weihai, and in
Korea held up the V sign when being photographed. It was never quite
clear to me either about the meaning. Here, the V is a symbol of "peace"
from the revolutionary 1960s.

[Becky]

It is funny because actually I don't exactly know the meaning either.
Since everybody around me uses it in everyday life as well as in TV
programs, I began to use it myself. I guess it means " I am happy" or
simply means " yeah"? Anyway I am not sure about the meaning. I hope
other friends could tell me more about it, so that I would not use it
so blindly.

[Ruby]

What a great question! I notice the same trend with many of my
students~what's funny is that the V sign is contagious in photos! Over
the weekend, I had a look at some pictures of me in Japan and there I
am flashing the V sign all over the place (...in temples, at parties,
in the middle of class!). I don't even remember doing it and more
importantly why!?

[Bruce]

Just remember not to use it in UK, Ireland, Australia and New Zealand!

[Neal Lester]

Interesting. I don't know if Americans have such a photograph sign/
symbol beyond smiling--something not unique to Americans.

-----Original Message-----
From: asu-english-sic...@googlegroups.com
[mailto:asu-english-sic...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of
Ruby
Sent: Wednesday, September 05, 2007 11:44 AM
To: ASU English - Sichuan University
Subject: {ASU English - Sichuan University} Re: The significance of the
V sign

[iris_wu]

In China , one classmates of mine told me that the V sign is the initial of "victory", so it conrains the meaning of happiness, luck and success many years ago, so I have been used to it and taken it as granted. At that time I thought this interpretation came from America and took it as standard, now I know the answer is so different.

[helen-qs]

 

Autumn Is Fall

When you first saw this sentence, what did you think of?

Regardless the grammar, most just said that the meaning was autumn was coming .Dear friends please hold on .Autumn,as we know ,is a British word while fall is an American English word which has the same meaning as autumn..Have you thought of that why we use fall to name autumn?And how do you understand this sentence ?

From the nature standpoint, fall just means going down..Since America is in the north temperate zone where there are distinct seasons there in a year.And in the autumn, leaves are falling down,which has been the character in the autumn. In this case,fall has vividly described the scenery in autumn .Winds are becoming stronger and cooler ,temperatures are falling down day by day, leaves are turning wizened and swaying in the winds then down to the ground.How dismal scene it is ?In such environment,most people will get depressed .We can also use the word fall to describe this kind of mood .People easily get sad especially in the deep autumn.We’ve got many famous poems of expressing the depressed mood in the autumn.There is an old saying of this kind as well that the more autumn rain falls,the colder the weather will be!Besids,we also use this proverb that locusts at the end of the autumn can not jump for too long time to describe the situation that someone has not been so strong as before.Leaves have turned yellow and fell down,most birds have gone ,animals have been ready to hibernate.In many people’s eyes,the world seems to be dying little by little.In such a season, we inevitably get depressed and sentimental .However,on the other hand,we also have beautiful and positive scene.As we all know ,autumn is generally a harvest season when many fruits and crops are getting ripe.Also, according to the law of gravity,heavy fruit are all turning their faces down to the ground waiting for the harvest.How happy the farmers will be! For the farmer,autumn may be a golden season containing expectation and gratification.

From the standpoint of life, we can also divide the whole life into four seasons. Men of 40 may just be in the autumn of life.Have you observed this group of adults ?If you do ,you will probably find that they have a relative peaceful attitude to life comparing with the young men who are hot-blooded.From this angle ,all the emulative mood and eager to compete may fell down.

Autumn is definitely fall.But if we are willing to, we can find much philosophy in this so short sentence.

 

 

                                                Helen

---

把爱心注入牛奶，共同凝聚这份力量 快来参加蒙牛免费赠奶爱心行动