Another Contest

I

just found out that I have been nominated for another Xanga contest, Best of Xanga. What does this mean? Beats me, except that somebody must like to read my site. If you're interested in casting a vote for me, go to itsjustmargie. Since Margie deletes the comments of those who nominate/vote, I don't know who nominated me. But again, I am flattered and feel far too unworthy. Apparently, you can vote in more than one category. And the deadline is 9 pm Central time. So if you're in the mood, visit the link above and place a vote for the O-man. If not, no big deal. I just wanted to mention it since someone did nominate me, and this is the best way to express my appreciation.

I went to Eechim's and in her last entry she hd a whole bunch of German words which, of course, I don't understand. So I suggested nonchalantly that she leave a phrase for us to learn. Well, I thought that maybe I should do that too, for those of you interested in Japanese. So today's word is:

がんばって ganbatte. (gahm-baht-teh): Double consonants in Japanese romanization suggest a "stop", much like the sudden stop of breath between the "zz" when we pronounce the word "pizza". Ganbatte is often translated as "good luck", but this is sooooooooo wrong. It means to work hard, to put in all your effort. In modern American context, you would use it when someone is about to take an exam or do an interview, and you want to tell him/her "give it all you got". Ganbatte. Maybe I'll start using this on your site when I leave a comment. This is, of course, the abbreviated and so informal way of saying "please give it all you got" ganbatte-kudasai.