This article has many words linked to the Bing online English dictionary, to help students of English as a Second Language (ESL). I just got hit by the MoneyPak computer virus. I was browsing the web when suddenly the screen went black. Then the desktop background image appeared (no icons or task bar). Then in the centre, a large message. Before I had time to start reading the message, a voice began speaking, saying that my computer had been blocked for illegal activities, and that I had to pay a fine of MXN$2,000 (~USD$160, ~CNY元1,000) to the police!!! I noticed that a small window in the message also showed the icon for my webcam software. READ THE REST BELOW.
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Question: My Hiknow students Athena & Sophia both ask about related phrases used in our class "Negotiations II". Hi Joe,
Answer: Unfortunately, the word "bank" can have so many meanings in English. Here are two pages with many meanings: Baidu, Word Reference. Here it is being used as a verb, with a special rare meaning. In fact it is rare enough (compared to the many other meanings) that I can't find it in any (free) online dictionary, and my attempts to find a webpage explaining it are spoiled by all the other meanings of "bank". So I will post my own explanation here. This meaning comes from: "bank" (transitive verb) - to deposit (something like money or a cheque) in a bank (which is more secure than just carrying cash around, which might get stolen). The sense of "make something secure" comes from how the verb "bank" is often used in gambling. I found an example of this use in an explanation of how to play Pai Gow poker (based on the Chinese game 牌九) on About .com. Banking During a game, a player can win money. But in some games that money is still at risk (the player might lose it)... until they bank it. When the player banks their winnings, the money is secure and cannot be lost. So in the class on negotiations, "bank provisional agreements" = "make provisional agreements secure". Negotiations can be very long conversations, involving many issues (e.g. price, delivery time, guarantees etc). On some issues, both sides can agree during the conversation. The advice is to make those spoken agreements on agreed issues secure. If you do not make them secure, then later in the conversation, people might begin to disagree even on those issues. So, how can we make provisional agreements secure? Write them down. When something is agreed in writing, it is hard to change your mind, get confused about it or disagree about it later.. So "bank" does not actually mean "write down", but writing them down is probably the best way to make provisional agreements secure. In "banked agreement", "banked" is the past participle of the verb, being used as an adjective to describe the noun "agreement". A "banked agreement" is an agreement that has been made secure. It could be on a piece of paper, with the agreed issues written down on it. * Even in gambling, the word "bank" can have many meanings. The last use of "bank" in that quote is a noun, meaning one player in the game who has a special role regarding the bets/money.
I haven't been updating this blog much, I tend to just do quick posts on my Tencent Weibo, but I will do more here in future, I promise. If I fail to do so, then complain to me :) By the way, an easy way to know if there's been an update on this blog is to use the RSS feed (the little orange button on the right-hand side of the page, or in the address bar of your browser). That way, you will be automatically notified when there's a new post; you don't have to visit the page just to check if there's been a new post or not. Here's a simple video explanation of using RSS feeds (NOT Youtube, so hopefully viewable in China).
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G.A.L.E.S.L. / joe3
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