So I learned in class today --- yes, from the students --- that no one says "chao mugger" anymore. (It's a phrase used to describe a student who studies ridiculously hard, does all the extra reading, has no life apart from school, and generally has no personality either.) They still say "mugger" (from "mug", that is, to study by rote), but they stared at me blankly when I invoked "chao mugger". Needless to say, they'd never heard of "mugger toad" either.
There's nothing like being dated by the slang you use. I'm only about twelve years older than the kids I teach, but it shows, baby, it shows.
Mac-ification update:
- Saturday morning --- iWork and iPod speakers arrived.
- Monday afternoon --- 20GB iPod arrived. I haven't opened it because I can't fill it up with music without the new iBook. My home PC is so old, its operating system can't even run iTunes.
- Today --- the long-awaited phone call! My iBook is finally in the store and I can pick it up today. Of course, this would happen on the day when I'm tied up at work till at least 6.30 pm, plus I still have to go home and get my receipt for the iBook first. But! It's! Here!
12 Comments:
i am very pleased for you!
i would love a new mac setup... maybe one of those 20" imacs. mmm... but would settle for a system upgrade to osX. sadly that would entail upgrading all my other applications, which would dig me a $10k hole that i'd never fill.
What? So saying chao mugger is passe. What's the latest then?
Wah, new iBook, iPod, speakers and software... tech fest, man! I would be up all night(s) setting things up if I get that much kit at one go.
Coolness.
Lemme know if you want advice on what apps are good to get for your iBook.
In my time we used 'chao mugger' but not 'mugger toad'. I'm dated too!
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As I type this on my lovely 15" powerbook, possibly my 10th or 11th Apple machine, I feel your new-convert joy and tell you, "Unlike many other forms of new conversion, this one lasts!" And I used 'chao mugger' too.
Tell me how iWorks works ... or doesn't. I've been thinking aboutn getting it for some time.
I am envious. Very envious. In fact, I think I might just turn green right now.
We used "mugger toad" in my time. So what slang DO they use now??
Thanks for the good wishes. I assure you all that I'm settling nicely into my new Mac environment.
As for what's replaced "chao mugger" in modern day teenagespeak, it seems that they still use "mugger" and that seems to suffice for their needs. Perhaps they're not as finely attuned to the nuances of muggerdom as we were. Now, everybody mugs; our time, still got distinctions between different degrees of muggerdom.
"mugging" means "hitting the books" only in singapore. elsewhere it means "robbing people on the streets". i stopped using the word "mug" ever since i went overseas for studies.
Oh, certainly I'm not saying that we have a responsibility to propagate the Singaporean usage of "mugger" throughout the world. I was just flummoxed to find out that I was dating myself in front of my students with what I'd previously considered as generic slang. It's just like they apparently understand "care lair fair" without any trouble, whereas I had to ask around for the meaning and even now I'm going to turn to Coxford for help:
CARE-LAIR-FAIR
Cantonese for "movie extra", it is also used to describe people as idle hangers-on or layabouts.
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