정모주제 12월 28일 (금) 정모토픽 입니다.

[felix(승원)]

Word Play - Grass

LINA: Are you okay? You look as green as grass!

HYUN: I don't think I can go on stage looking like this.

LINA: What's wrong with a grass skirt? It's a part of a traditional outfit!

HYUN: Why can't I just wear my own clothes???

LINA: Because that's so conventional. It'd be like watching grass grow.

HYUN: But, Sun is wearing a suit!

LINA: The grass is always greener on the other side. You'll get more applause this way. Trust me.

HYUN: My heart is racing I can barely breathe!

LINA: Don't let the grass grow under your feet. Take a deep breath and go.

HYUN: (deep breath) Okay, I'm ready.

LINA: Very good, grasshopper.

HYUN: Grasshopper? Why would be call me that?

BASIC USAGE

1) grass: 풀, 잔디 vegetation consisting of short plants with long narrow leaves

* grasshopper: 메뚜기 a plant-eating inset with long hind legs for jumping

* grass roots: 민중의, 민중으로부터 나온 ordinary people in a society or political organization

* grassland: 풀밭, 초원 large open area covered with grass

* grass court: 테니스 잔디 코트 tennis court with a surface of grass

* grass skirt: 풀잎 치마 a skirt made of long leaves fastened to a waistband

* grasscycle: 잔디를 깎은 뒤에 깎인 부분들을 그대로 둠으로써 잔디를 재활용하는 과정

leaving of chopped grass clippings on a mowed lawn as fertilizer

EXPRESSIONS

1) let grass grow under one's feet: 꾸물대다가 기회를 놓치다, 아무것도 하지 않다

to do nothing, to stay still

* not let the grass grow under one's feet: 바쁘게 움직이다

to always be on the move

ex) Hyun doesn't let the grass grow under his feet. He's always busy.

ex) Lina is too lazy. She's letting the grass grow under her feet.

2) be like watching grass grow: 아주 지루하다 it is very boring

ex) Fishing is like watching grass grow.

3) the grass is always greener (on the other side of the fence): 울타리 저 편 잔디가 더 푸르다, 남의 떡이 더 커 보이다

people think they'd be happier in a different set of circumstances

4) snake in the grass: 방심할 수 없는 사람 a sneaky, deceitful, conniving person

ex) How could I ever trust that snake in the grass?

5) green as grass:

1. 초록색인, 안색인 좋지 않은 very green

ex) His face turned as green as grass after the roller coaster ride.

2. 아직 때가 묻지 않은 또는 철부지인 inexperienced, new, fresh

ex) He was still as green as grass, untainted by worldly desires.

두번째 토픽

Carriers submit to era of free texts with hot new app

New platform suggests if you can’t beat ’em, better to joyn (outdo) ’em

Dec 27,2012

Korea’s three mobile carriers, which have been threatened by the emergence of free mobile messengers led by KakaoTalk and Line, have joined hands to launch a next-generation mobile communication platform called joyn.

The collaborative move indicates that the mobile service providers have determined to give up their earnings from text messaging services as their new rivals have been undermining the carriers’ profits by offering their texting services for free. In contrast, carriers charge 20 won ($0.02) per SMS.

Joyn offers more functions than existing mobile messengers and bills itself as a “rich communication suite” (RCS) telecommunication tool. It enables users to send and receive text-based SMS and multimedia MMS messages, transfer image and video files, and make mobile Voice over IP (mVoIP) voice calls - all free of charge.

At 100 megabytes, the new platform’s single file transfer capacity ceiling is five times bigger than KakaoTalk’s.

The app will also be available for PCs, whereas KakaoTalk, the nation’s most popular mobile messenger with 35 million domestic subscribers, only offers a mobile version.

Joyn became available on 22 Android-powered smartphone models as of 10 a.m. yesterday on Google Play and app stores run by carriers. An iOS version will debut early next year, but the exact release date has not yet been revealed.

All smartphones - except for Apple’s iPhone - and feature phones that come out next year will be embedded with the app.

“The launch of joyn basically means the era has arrived for text messaging to become entirely free of charge,” said an SK Telecom spokesman. He denied claims that the service was devised to compete with mobile messenger services.

“The timing is coincidental,” he said, adding that, “joyn naturally arose in tandem with the evolution of telecommunications services. The first-generation services enabled SMS, the second made possible longer texts [including MMS], image and video, and the third came with joyn.”

Launched by SK Telecom, KT and LG U+ domestically, joyn has been developed by 220 carriers and smartphone producers around the world since 2008.


All of them are GSMA members. Korea is the first Asian country to unveil the service and the third in the world after Germany and Spain. Many others are expected to follow suit early next year.

Smartphones users and those who subscribe to a GSMA-affiliated mobile carrier will be able to chat and exchange files over the mobile network regardless of what model phone they use from early next year.

The GSMA predicts that the number of joyn users will reach 150 million by the end of 2013 and 740 million by 2016. But given that the majority of the Korean smartphone users are already accustomed to the likes of KakaoTalk, which is almost three years old, it remains to be seen how much of an impact joyn will make.

When joyn is transformed into a paid service on May 31, carriers plan to charge 20 won per SMS and 0.6 won for every second it takes to transfer a video clip.

But SK Telecom, the top player, said it plans to allow all of its 3G and faster long-term evolution (LTE) subscribers who join the service before this deadline to use it for free indefinitely, unless they shift to another carrier. However, the plan is apparently not set in stone.

“It is liable to change,” said an SK Telecom spokesperson.

KT and LG U+ have yet to unveil their charging plans.

By Seo Ji-eun [spring@joongang.co.kr]

1. Are you using a smart phone?  What do you think is the best Application? What kind of App do you use everyday?

2 Do you use free mobile messenger services such as KakaoTalk? Those kind of free messenger services provide lots of advantage but, on the other hand, it reveals whether receivers read it or not. What do you think about this matter?

3. Recently KakaoTalk developed many contents connected to messenger service and expanded their businesses. For instance, mobile games like  Anypang and SNS like KakaoStory. Do you use those kind of services(game, SNS etc.)? If you do, what point is addictive?

4. 3 big carriers unveiled its own collaborative mobile messenger service which is called joyn, What do you think is the advantage and disadvantage compared to kakaotalk?

5. Some people believe that competitive circumstance can make price lower and quality get higher. Do you think that Joyn can make Carriers give up their profit from SMS? Do you expect cheaper mobile charge?

6. Make your own question.

[Eileen연주]

3주연속 금요일마다 눈이 펑펑 오네요...저는 송별회가 있지만 송별회도 저녁만 먹는것으로 바꼈어요...;; 다들 눈길 조심하세요!!

[철없는Cathy(경희)]

저도 회식이.....어쩌면 눈 때문에 취소될 지도 모르겠네요, I hope.

[minky(민기)]

참석할게요~이 눈을 뚫고^^

[Eileen연주]

님 좀 짱이신듯~^^b

[kuma.두홍]

님 완존 짱이삼^^ ㅎㅎ

[kuma.두홍]

^^눈 이쁘게 오네용~~~~~~ 걱정이 앞서네요 ㅠㅠ 어찌되던 참석합니다 ㅎㅎㅎ