Leaping Kangaroos

Friday, October 30, 2009 @ 7:00 PM

I've failed. *hangs head in shame*

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.
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After tuition.

"Mum, it's all your fault! You made me happy for, like, a few hours!"
"What? Why're you blaming me?"
"You told me that the idiom like a cat on hot bricks meant very agitated!!!"
"So, the answer's very nervous?"
"YEA!!!!!!!"
*silence*
"Ugh." *stomps off*

Brushing teeth.

*laughs triumphantly* "You're gonna get 40/40 for English!"
"Aiyo, whak ah you koking abouk?" ("Aiyo, what are you talking about?")
"It says here in the Oxford Dictionary : like a cat on hot bricks - very agitated or agitatedly."
"Grreally ah?!" ("Really ah?!")
"Yep." *beams*
"YESSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" *foams spluttered everywhere*
"Brush quickly and come and have a look."

Reading the dictionary.

"Oh, my gosh. They even used the exact word, man!"
"You know what you can do?"
"What?"
"Take it to school."
"The whole dictionary? For what? Very heavy leh."
"Let teacher read and see lah."
"You're right, mum! But, which teacher? Miss Lee or Miss Vasanthi?"
"Let your class teacher see first."
"Do I really need to do this?" *grimaces*
"For the sake of your grades."
*Ian Tan's face floated into view with 99% in red ink on his English paper*
"Fine. I'll do it."

In the CU room.

"Joel, which answer did you choose? Nervous or agitated?"
"Agitated lah! Hot bricks mah."
"Okay, after CU follow me to the staffroom. I wanna argue about it."
"Serious?"
"Yup. I even brought my gi-normous dictionary."
"Whoa."

In the staffroom.

"Teacher, I would like to ask you about the like a cat on hot bricks question."
*wipes hands on a tissue slowly after getting interrupted when eating*
*watches silently*
*takes out a Collins Idioms Dictionary* "Now, tell me what's the meaning of agitated."
"Umm..."
"Hmm...?" *flips through slowly*
"Something like jittery or fidgety...?"
*stops flipping and looks* "It means, like, worried or anxious..."
*looks at where her finger's pointing and cringes*
"It says here that like a cat on hot bricks means nervous or restless."
"Oh." *slience* "But my dictionary said something else. Wanna see?"
"Okay."
*drops the Oxford Dictionary on the table and flips open the already bookmarked page*
"Hmm..." *reads like a cat on hot bricks - very agitated or agitatedly*
*looks at her triumphantly*
*opens her drawer to retrieve another Collins Dictionary*
*shocked to see there're two more dictionaries in there*
*flips through* "This dictionary doesn't say anything about this idiom. I'll check with the other dictionaries and I'll get back to you."
"Thank you, teacher."

Before going to the laboratory.

*spotted me lurking about* "Ru Min, take your dictionary, I'll explain to you."
*takes dictionary and flew to the corridor*
"When they say like a cat on hot bricks, it means very nervous or restless. I've checked with the other dictionaries..." - I was wondering how many English dictionaries there were - "...and it all said it was very nervous or restless. I don't know why your edition stated agitated." *flips to the first page of my dictionary to find out when my dictionary was first published*
*remains silent and glares at the bunch of nosy-parkers from Class 2B crowding around and sucking in all what's left of oxygen in the air*
"First published in 1995."

*reputation went out with a 'pop' sound*
"Well, we also checked the internet. Nervous or restless." *looks at me pitifully*
"Oh. Can't that be a bonus question?" *begs*
"Umm, no. When it comes to objective questions, we have to choose the best answer. So the best answer's very nervous."
*nods head sadly while hearing half of the nosy-parkers whooped with joy while the other half sighed disappointedly*

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I've failed. *hangs head in shame*

Oh, well. There's always the ALL AMERICAN REJECTS (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) concert tonight that could cheer me up.

ROCK ON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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