It would appear that there is much betrayal going on in Singaporean schools. Oh yes, and a whole lot of tearing. No, no, not like when you rip a phone book in half to impress a girl. Apparently this tearing is crying, or at least starting to cry. I've been a teacher for some years now and am curious to know whether I am being sold down the river or whether I truly am as dumb as I look. Have any of you guys heard of the verb 'tearing'? I've only ever heard it from Singaporeans which lends credence to my this-is-a-made-up-Singlish-word theory. But I'm open to being utterly wrong. So is 'tearing' actually a word? I've never heard it used in Australia but it is said/written here with such regularity and conviction that I have to wonder whether maybe I'm the one with the vocabulary problem.
Oh yes, and betrayal. It's such a great word that I almost never use - someone recently said that this was because I'm so careful that it would be very difficult for anyone to betray me. And yet, it would appear that the majority of my students have been betrayed by their 'best' friends. Whether is was their friend stealing something and then blaming it on the writer or them making a pact to cheat only to have the friend inform the examiner at the last minute, there seems to be an undercurrent of skulduggery and quite knifing going on across the island. I'm not sure whether this can be attributed to astounding naivety on the writer's part or a willingness to partake in petty criminal activities, but I've just spent the last 2 hours reading all about 'tearing' and betrayal from a bunch of Secondary 4 (equivalent to Year 10) students. My brain hurts.
I'm not yet finished Potter so I'm avoiding all of your blogs and won't read the comments on this one til I'm done. Yes, I've learnt from my students that I can't trust anyone ;)
I'm planning some commentary on the writing styles of Geoff Johns, Brian Bendis and Gail Simone soon. I know how much you all love comics so I'm sure you're drooling in anticipation.
OooooOOOoooooOOOOOoooh!!!
WHEN DID AVRIL LAVIGNE GET HEY OWN MANGA!!!??!?!?!
I noticed this in Kinokuniya the other day. She has manga... my head is still trying to grasp this concept. I understand that she's a record label creation. I get that. It's a carefully constructed image made palatable for the 11-15 year old girl crowd, while being just (corporate) "edgy" enough to avoid total deconstruction by the mainstream media. And now she has manga. Tapping the EXACT same demographic that would buy her albums, hence doubling sales. This news doesn't make me want to vomit, it makes me want to shake the hand of whichever low-ranking office clerk passed off this brilliant idea to the boss that then claimed it as his own in a high-ranking board meeting. It's genius.
Welcome to the reign of black and white. Despite being laughed out of a bbq at a friend's house at the beginning of the season, I take much pleasure in noting that Collingwood are the only team supported by anyone from the conversation that is going to be playing finals this year.
RIP Sheedy's Essendon reign.
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2 comments:
How exactly do they use the word "tearing"? I've heard the phrase "tearing up" used, but never tearing all by itself.
I am tearing up and then spewing blood after reading your blog and the betrayal by the Don's board sacking the Sheeds. Yeah and that's where 27 years of blood and sweat gets you- shown to the door.
Don't read my donut entry of 23 July and you'll be safe from being spoilt.
As for the correct use of 'tearing' in terms of droplets of salty water dripping down your face combined with mucus substance emitting from your nostrils - It can only be used as an adjective ie. as per Max's usage tearing up. It can't be used as a verb.
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