4
   

Please edit My Story in New York, a short passage a time

 
 
JTT
 
  0  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 12:53 pm
@oristarA,
(4) No new clothes for me to change into today, I picked out [a] bell-bottoms with a strong Chinese style. One side of the trousers was embroidered with a golden-threaded phoenix. I wore a black short coat over [outside] a chiffon short sleeved shirt frilled with lotus.

Unexpectedly, the outfit proved worse than that of the previous day. More people stared at me. Every foreigner who passed by me looked at me with strange light. A Chinese man stared at me all the way. I almost [went] broke[n] down.


Am I so peculiar compared to the surrounding American people who wore the same sporting clothes: jeans and jackets? I have been a hick in China for three decades, how can I become a peculiarly fashionable spokeswoman of this international metropolis? Isn't there fashion weeks in New York? Isn't America tolerable? Why has it become so special for me?
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 01:12 pm
@JTT,
oh dear

jtt, best stick to grammar advice and avoid clothing details
JTT
 
  0  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 01:57 pm
@ehBeth,
I trust that you will explain yourself like you always do instead of fleeing, Beth.
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 02:00 pm
@JTT,
easy enough - you're doing oristarA no favours by letting him/her think that his/her translations of the descriptions of women's clothing are acceptable

now, back to the real world

JTT
 
  0  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 02:02 pm
@ehBeth,
I leave that oh so important stuff up to you, Beth. Carry on, Dear.
0 Replies
 
JTT
 
  0  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 02:55 pm
@ehBeth,
One more small query, Beth, tho' I fear that it will induce you to flee.

Why do you get so excited over such an insignificant thing but you stay silent when Setanta spreads his lies far and wide on the pages of A2K?

It seems ... what's that word I'm searching for, oh yes, 'hypocritical'.
0 Replies
 
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 04:07 pm
@oristarA,
oristarA wrote:
She's dressed in a trench coat (as you've pointed out according to the picture). The coat has a choker (a high tight collar).


a trench coat cannot have a high tight collar

again, a choker is a type of necklace
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 04:10 pm
@oristarA,
oristarA wrote:

No new clothes for me to change today, I picked out a bell-bottoms with strong Chinese style. One side of the trousers was embroidered with a golden-threaded phoenix. I wore a black short coat outside a chiffon short sleeved shirt frilled with lotus.


Today I wore a short black coat over bell-bottoms with a golden phoenix embroidered on one side and a short-sleeved chiffon blouse with a lotus pattern.

0 Replies
 
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 04:12 pm
@oristarA,
oristarA wrote:
Unexpectedly, the outfit proved worse than that of the previous day. More poeple stared at me. Every foreigner who passed by me looked at me with strange light. A Chinese man stared at me all the way.


This outfit was worse than yesterday's. Even more people stared at me.

Every (foreigner - do you mean New Yorkers or tourists?) who passed me looked at me with an odd expression.

A (how does she know he is Chinese versus Chinese-American?) man stared at me for the whole trip.
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 04:14 pm
@oristarA,
oristarA wrote:
I almost went broken down. Am I so peculiar compared to the surrounding American people who wore the same sporting clothes: jeans and jackets?


I almost broke down.

Am I so oddly dressed compared to the people around me wearing jeans and ( jackets seems odd in this context - what are you trying to describe?)
0 Replies
 
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 04:15 pm
@oristarA,
oristarA wrote:
I have been a hick in China for three decades, how can I become a peculiarly fashionable spokeswoman of this international metropolis?


what?

does she mean she's lived in the countryside for the past three decades in China?
0 Replies
 
JTT
 
  1  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 04:18 pm
@ehBeth,
My guess is that you're probably contemplating your response, Beth.
0 Replies
 
JTT
 
  1  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 04:28 pm
@JTT,
In my previous post I stopped short of editing the following portion in any way. I should have made note of that in the post that this is a reply to.

Am I so peculiar compared to the [surrounding] American people surrounding me (1) who [wore] wear the same [sporting??] clothes: jeans and jackets?

I have been a hick in China for three decades, how can I become a peculiarly fashionable spokeswoman [of] for this international metropolis? Isn't there fashion weeks in New York? Isn't America tolerable?

Why has it become so special for me?
Why have I become so special?

(1) We don't used present participles attributively/frontal unless we mean them in an habitual sense, Ori. The woman running vs The running woman

For many sentences, I'm not really sure that I understand exactly what it is that you are trying to say. We may well be on different wavelengths as to the intended meaning.
0 Replies
 
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 05:03 pm
@oristarA,
oristarA wrote:
Isn't there fashion weeks in New York? Isn't America tolerable? Why has it become so special for me?


Doesn't New York have a Fashion Week? Isn't America tolerant? What is so special about me?
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 05:05 pm
@oristarA,
oristarA wrote:
Bent over, I hurried back to my residence. Oh, have pity on my neck and back! Since I arrived at America, they have never straightened up.


Looking down, I rushed home.

Pity my neck and back. Since I arrived here, I have never stood straight up.
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 05:07 pm
@oristarA,
oristarA wrote:
If you inquired me why I could not have thrown my head high and strode in streets, I'd tell you that many of my Chinese fellows warned me not to make myself a spotlight but pay more attention to my safety;


If you ask me why I couldn't hold my head high and walk proudly in the street. I would tell you that many of my Chinese friends warned me to pay attention to my safety and not make a target of myself.
ehBeth
 
  1  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 05:11 pm
@oristarA,
oristarA wrote:
they also warned me to avoid meeting other people's eyes or talking to them casually; I should stand with my back to walls in subway to prevent being pushed into rails; not to grab seats onboard to avoid quarrels; not onboard a subway box with less people (the more people the safer); waiting for subway or taxi in crowded places; not to kill time outside but better go home before darkness fall; and if too late at night, take a taxi but not subway...


My Chinese friends also warned me to avoid looking other people in the eye and to avoid making conversation with strangers. I was told that I should stand with my back to the wall while waiting for the subway on the platform so that I wouldn't be pushed onto the tracks/rails. I was told not to grab seats on the subway, not to get on empty subway cars, to wait for taxis in subways only where there were other people. I was also told to go home before it got dark out, and to take a taxi rather than the subway if it was late at night.




(her friends sure are a nervous bunch)
JTT
 
  0  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 05:16 pm
@ehBeth,
I must now conclude that you have, following your usual pattern, fled, Beth.
0 Replies
 
oristarA
 
  1  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 09:49 pm
@Ceili,
Ceili wrote:

The hem of the pants or blouse.


That is exactly the word I sought and failed to find. Thank you Ceili.
0 Replies
 
JTT
 
  1  
Reply Sun 21 Apr, 2013 09:57 pm
@JTT,
Quote:
I wore a black short coat


Quote:
Adjective order

In many languages, attributive adjectives usually occur in a specific order. In general, the adjective order in English is:[3][4]
Determiners — articles, adverbs, and other limiters.
Observation — postdeterminers and limiter adjectives (e.g., a real hero, a perfect idiot) and adjectives subject to subjective measure (e.g., beautiful, interesting), or objects with a value (e.g., best, cheapest, costly)
Size and Shape — adjectives subject to objective measure (e.g., wealthy, large, round), and physical properties such as speed.
Age — adjectives denoting age (e.g., young, old, new, ancient, six-year-old).
Color — adjectives denoting color (e.g., red, black, pale).
Origin — denominal adjectives denoting source of noun (e.g., French, American, Canadian).
Material — denominal adjectives denoting what something is made of (e.g., woolen, metallic, wooden).
Qualifier — final limiter, often regarded as part of the noun (e.g., rocking chair, hunting cabin, passenger car, book cover).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjective#Adjective_order
0 Replies
 
 

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