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This question from Jerry in Beijing:
"I enjoy
your column, especially the examples. I get a thorough understanding of
some words from the examples you give. I wonder where you get them from.
My question is in regard to the word 'tip'. When one pays for the taxi,
they say "keep the change". That is a tip. That much I understand. 'Tip'
can also mean 'advice', right? Please give me an example on that."
My answer:
I enjoy your question - by way of saying thank you for
your comment. Compliments, when returned promptly and in kind, may keep
coming. Let this be the first tip (piece of advice) I give you today.
I get my own tips (examples) from daily reading, often reading the
news. It's down to curiosity. When I spot something well written, I take
note. Anything fun and well-said, I "copy and paste" without scruple -
likewise, anything well-said here in this column, feel free to copy
without shame. This may just as well be another tip I give out today
(lol).
Yes, a tip is a small but often helpful piece of advice. And today
being Women's Day, I want to pick an example about a woman.
Victoria Adams Beckham, or Posh Spice, a member of the Spice Girls
singing group, is perhaps better known today as wife to footballer David
Beckham. In an article titled "Victoria Beckham's Top 10 Style Tips"
(Daily Mirror, March 6, 2006), Posh gives 10 pieces of advice to women on
how to dress up and look sharp.
She says: "Good underwear is obviously a real wardrobe staple but I
think you're either a girl who always wears matching bra and knickers or
you're not. I fall into the latter category."
And when it comes to revealing bits of your body, she says: "Don't let
it all hang out. It's much sexier to leave a little to the imagination."
"I also wear … T-shirts inside out with a pair of my jeans and a
fabulous pair of sunglasses," she adds. "That's a look that just can't go
wrong."
For her tips in full, read Glamour Magazine due out Thursday, March
9th, advises the Mirror.
There goes Posh.
As tips go, they may be helpful, or they may not. It is up to the
receiver to make constructive use of them.
Any advice is based upon the experience of the advisor. Their
experience is necessarily different than the experience of yours. If you
practice following another (wo)man's advice to a T, you may end up feeling
sorry for doing so.
As Oscar Wilde famously put it, "All advice is bad advice. Good advice
is absolutely fatal."
You can always blame the advisor for it, of course. But it will be too
late. So please use discretion and take all advice with a pinch of salt.
Everybody is not a Spice Girl. And not every Spice Girl marries a
celebrity footballer for husband. So don't feel bad if you can't wear
anything Posh advises you to wear.
My advice is, whatever you do, dress warm - it's early spring. Beijing
is still prone to gusts from the north.
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