The other day at reading the March issue of Reader's Digest, I learned a new vocabulary word: selfie. RD defines it as
"A picture of oneself, generally taken using a smartphone held a arm's length or facing into a mirror. This kind of self-portraint has been around ever sicne cameras became one-button devices, but thanks to people's desire to post their every outfit/hairdo/emotion on shocial media such as Facebook, it's become so pervasive it needs its own names." (RD, March 2013, pl 37)
The following is a definition offered by URban dictionary online: http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=selfie
"Selfie: A picture taken of yourself that is planned to be uploaded to Facebook, Myspace or any other sort of social networking website. You can usually see the person's arm holding out the camera in which case you can clearly tell that this person does not have any friends to take pictures of them so they resort to Myspace to find internet friends and post pictures of themselves, taken by themselves. A selfie is usually accompanied by a kissy face or the individual looking in a direction that is not towards the camera."
Want to know what a kissy face is? Again here is a definition from URban dictionary online.
"A face girls make when their picture is taken. Involves pursing the lips and sometimes tilting the head up. They think it makes them look sexy."
You may like to make a kissy face after reading the definition. :-D
***************
This is how using an English-English dictionary helps learners expand their vocabulary. Whenver learners come across a new word in the definition or an example sentence, they go on looking it up in the dictionary. A former student of mine carried an English-English dictionary back and forth between school and home in her freshman year and used it. She found it really helpful in enhancing her English.
沒有留言:
張貼留言