Still Learning

I have lived most of my adult life in USA.  I thought I know almost every American slang and phrases.  But today I found out I still don't know many slangs and still in the learning stage.  This is what happened.

 

I had a severe lower back pain for the past one week. I thought it would go away.  But it did not.  So I made a doctor appointment and saw the doctor today.  She tested me for 15 minutes.  While testing me, she asked me several questions.   One of the question was:

 

Have you had an accident with your bladder or bowl?

 

I replied no I did not have an accident.   I did not fall down and/or hurt my bladder or bowl.

 

The doctor smiled and said:  I did not mean that.   I meant did you involuntarily pee or poop in the bed or in your pants.

 

I said no I did not.

 

Now I know what an accident with a bladder or bowl means (in USA).

Read This Somewhere

Khidhir Hamza was a nuclear scientist in Iraq. He later escaped Iraq to another western country. In his book, Saddam’s Bombmaker, he described a meeting he had with Saddam Hussain. His lab acquired a large new computer and was installed. One day, Saddam, unannounced, came to his lab.

 

 

 He was not showing interest in the new computer. He was looking at the pictures that Hamza has tacked to the wall. They were all famous scientists, from Copernicus to Einstein. Hamza tore their pictures from magazines and tape them in the wall.

 

Saddam asked “who are those?”

 

Hamza replied: “They are the greatest scientists in history”.

 

Saddam became angry. "What an insult this is! All these great men, these great scientists! You don't have enough respect for these great men to frame their pictures? You can't honor them better than this?"

 

End of Story.

 

Hamza’s explanation: Saddam had kinship he felt with the great men of history, with history itself. Lack of reverence for an image of Copernicus might suggest a lack of reverence for Saddam.

Butt-Dial

I never heard of this word until last week.

 

(Image Courtesy: Dreamstime.com)

 

Butt-Dial means accidentally dial someone’s phone number while sitting on your phone. It happens when you are sitting down while your cell phone is in your pant’s back pocket. It is also known as pocket dial. It usually dials any of the last 3 numbers you have dialed.

 

When this dialing happens, the receiver can hear all the conversations you are having with someone else in the room. If you are not talking to someone, the receiver will be wondering why you dialed him/her and did not speak.

 

Side Note: Last week, President Trump’s personal lawyer Rudy Guiliani’s cell phone butt dialed an NBC News Reporter. At that time, Mr. Guiliani was speaking to someone else, someone in the same room. This reporter heard the whole conversation and published the entire conversation. I think this is unethical.