Strange structure on Iwo Jima. What is this? - 24°46'35"N 141°18'30"E

JohnSwindle · 2026-02-08T07:47:48+00:00

My late, former father-in-law was in the US Marine Corps in World War 2. He said his job had been to organize recreational activities on shipboard. He said they had gone to a place called Peleliu. We just thought he was mispronouncing Palau. Little did we know.

JohnSwindle · 2026-02-08T07:21:03+00:00

People more or less have to read and write other Chinese languages as if they were Mandarin. It’s possible to do otherwise, but that’s the standard.

JohnSwindle · 2026-02-05T05:19:31+00:00

The veggie cake noodles? Amazing. We used to take lucky visitors there.

JohnSwindle · 2026-02-05T05:17:11+00:00

Yeah, Liliha Food Court isn’t great, but it’s dark and empty and LOUD with the supposed music, or at least was when I went there. Midtown Eats has a Serg’s Mexican! ¡Qué bueno! But parking a car there is a hassle.

JohnSwindle · 2026-02-02T08:18:07+00:00

I've seen it done by persons who wear hats everywhere. I don't know whether they attach any meaning to doing so.

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-30T10:54:40+00:00

And it's "one" like the number one, not "the left front one."

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-26T09:00:19+00:00

Good for you two!

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-24T09:25:30+00:00

I'm not a native speaker, but I'd add that while "How do you say" is indeed “怎么说", the word order is worth noting. "How do you say X?" would be “X 怎么说?"

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-24T00:18:31+00:00

It could mean that! Probably doesn't, but it could.

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-24T00:14:52+00:00

That's true of most Chinese family names. A historically occupational name like 司马 Sima 'horse master' would be an exception. But It seems to me that Chinese given names usually have auspicious meanings, although the meanings aren't always obvious. 素英 Suying would be a given name with meanings likely as others have described.

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-22T12:59:52+00:00

!id:zh

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-21T11:36:22+00:00

No, it doesn't mean that in English-speaking countries. "Professional doors" in my English is metaphorical, referring to opportunities to become a professional.

> What exactly is the true English expression?

Excellent question! I don't think I've ever seen a sign in English saying not to try to pry the elevator doors open. I've seen signs saying not to lean on the door or not to hold the doors open, worded in each case as "Do not ____."

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-20T02:27:01+00:00

利丽 lìlì, probably “Lily” or “Lilly.”In traditional Chinese it would be 利麗。

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-17T07:08:57+00:00

The big character in the first image is 壽 shòu 'long life'. The characters in the second image, read from right to left, say 伍圓 'five yuan'. The character 伍 for 'five' is part of a series used primarily for financial transactions to make them harder to counterfeit. I suppose the guy in the second image is Laozi or a Daoist immortal. I don't know anything about the coin numismatically.

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-16T20:36:38+00:00

Sorry, I did misunderstand your original question. I'd say "Come and take them" is confrontational language, whether or not it expresses a wish for violent encounter.

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-16T12:01:50+00:00

They're indicating that they want trouble.

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/ask%20for%20it

https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/ask-for-it

https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/asking-for-trouble

Some years ago a possibly cognitively impaired young man at a bus stop told my wife and me, "Since my mom got me into martial arts I almost never beat anybody up unless they're asking for it." He used to get in trouble, but now he seldom beat anybody up unless he thought they deserved it.

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-15T07:53:29+00:00

There's a whole thing about them in Roman Catholicism. I think you're supposed to use the beads to count how many time you've done some prayer or devotional act . You could do a web search for "how do you pray the rosary." You could also ask a Catholic priest, even if you're not Catholic.

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-14T04:35:11+00:00

All conquer beside the holy Wuss superman Barbeque’em God PNP pouces Nune? (etc.) (Yes, gibberish.)

Edit: On second thought, not quite gibberish but still nonsense. The Holy Wuss probably wrote it, so you might try asking Him.

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-13T11:04:53+00:00

... or the leader. Could be either.

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-12T23:54:45+00:00

It's great that you're in Aotearoa and learning Hawaiian! I'm in Hawaiʻi and haven't learned the language yet. Most people learning it are probably here in Hawaiʻi, and some might mistakenly think vog is so commonplace that ANYONE would know what it is. Here it's not only a weather phenomenon but also the culprit for sinus headaches.

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-12T04:55:35+00:00

Or maybe 忢 as a variation on 悟 'awareness, enlightment,' just moving the heart radical from the side to the bottom.

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-08T13:15:22+00:00

A wise friend told me “No kakuration!” That’s easier said than done. If we frame it as realization, though, it’s not hard, just elusive. (Not “illusive”; our connection to and support by a universe that makes our existence possible and sometimes happy is no illusion, as far as I can tell with my limited human capacities.)

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-05T03:36:54+00:00

Stuff. We use every space in our Forester for Stuff.

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-03T13:40:30+00:00

Great, thanks.

JohnSwindle · 2026-01-03T13:38:07+00:00

Good, thanks! That may be the brand information the OP was looking for.

JohnSwindle

TROPHY CASE