So You Want to Improve Your English?

Use of Brackets

2011-11-17T05:21:00.001-08:00

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, Nov. 15, 2011
Brackets are used for a number of purposes:

Use #1: Sometimes, you may wish to clarify or add to an original quote. Put words that are being added to an original quote within brackets. Example:

Original: She said, "I found their services invaluable."

Amended: She said, "I found their [IT] services invaluable."

Always put the changes in brackets, not parentheses. This tells your readers exactly how you have altered the original.

Use #2: Use brackets as parentheses within parentheses. You will see this with bibliographic references.

Example: (For more on the topic, see The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation [2008].)

Use #3: Use brackets to show the pronunciation of a word.

Example: He mispronounced mischievous [mis-chuh-vuhs].

Use #4: Use brackets surrounding sic and italicize it.

Example: She wrote, "They made there [sic] beds." The Latin term sic is used to indicate that something written is intentionally left in the original form, which may be incorrect.

biographical sketches

2011-02-08T00:28:00.000-08:00

Following are some definitions for biographical sketches that highlight how they can be useful:

A biographical sketch, sometimes referred to as a professional profile, is a brief narrative that presents you in the best possible light to prospective employers, clients and the general public. It is a useful tool whether you are reentering the job market or addressing audiences as an expert in your field. The biographical sketch summarizes who you are, what matters most to you, and how you add value to the people and organizations with which you interact.

A biographical sketch is a short biographical piece detailing the most important aspects or accomplishments of a person’s life. A biographical sketch can be used to accompany business portfolios, books, websites, or user-submitted biographical databases. When writing a biographical sketch, it’s important to sift through all the information available on a person and pick out the key elements which bring the most strength to the sketch, while discarding unimportant, irrelevant, or trivial information.

There are a number of websites that contain current information on preparing a professional profile, and of course, you’ll also want to check your local library or web resources to ensure that your format takes into account any expectations specific to your country. Creating a professional profile for yourself is not only useful, but it can also help you to develop professional ways for presenting yourself, your work experience, your abilities, and what you have to offer.
Following are some websites containing information and sample templates for creating a biographical sketch that can be helpful to get you started.

A Phrase A Week - Have no truck with

2010-12-16T21:05:00.001-08:00

Last week's mail fell of the back of a truck. We keep on trucking this week with:

Have no truck with

Meaning

To reject or to have nothing to do with.

Origin

We are all familiar with trucks as carts and road vehicles, but that's not what's being referred to in 'have no truck with'. This 'truck' is the early French word 'troque', which meant 'an exchange; a barter' and came into Middle English as 'truke'. The first known record of truke is the Vintner's Company Charter in the Anglo-Norman text of the Patent Roll of Edward III, 1364. This relates to a transaction for some wine which was to be done 'by truke, or by exchange'.

So, to 'have truck with' was to barter or do business' with. In the 17th century and onward, the meaning of 'truck' was extended to include 'association'/'communication' and 'to have truck with' then came to mean 'commune with'.

'Truck' is now usually only heard in the negative and this usage began in the 19th century. To 'have no truck with' came to be a general term for 'have nothing to do with'. An example of that is cited in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, 1834:

Theoretically an officer should have no truck with thieves.

'Trucking' was also country slang for 'courting'/'dallying with' (and no, in case you are wondering, it has nothing to do with any similar word beginning with 'f'). To 'have no more truck' meant that a courtship had ceased. An example of that usage in print is found in Notes and Queries, 1866:

[In Suffolk] A man who has left off courting a girl, says that he has 'no more truck along o'har'.

'No truck with' may seem rather antiquated language now, although it is still used. Even older is a version that hasn't often been heard since Grandma's day - 'brook no truck with'. 'Brook' in this context means 'make use of/enjoy' and adds emphasis to the standard 'have no truck'. The image I have of someone who would 'brook no truck' is Queen Victoria, in her later and more 'unamused' years. A truculent woman at that stage by many accounts, although 'truculent' and 'truck' aren't related.

Going back to the original 'barter' meaning of truck, this also became extended to include the sundry items that were bartered and also small odd jobs or errands. The stores that were set up to service the needs of itinerant navvies while they were building the UK's canals and railways were known as 'truck stores' or 'tommy shops'. The great rural campaigner William Cobbett referred to these in his classic, Rural Rides, 1825:

In the iron country [the Black Country]... the truck or tommy system generally prevails.

The navvies' sites were often far from towns and were the only places that the workmen could shop. The shops were generally ruinously expensive and provided poor quality goods. The workers were often paid in vouchers that could only be 'trucked' at the workplace shop. In the USA such shops were known as company stores and are the subject of the well-known American song Sixteen Tons:

You load sixteen tons, what do you get?
Another day older and deeper in debt.
Saint Peter, don't you call me, 'cause I can't go;
I owe my soul to the company store.

Note: 'Truck shops' and 'truck stops' are only distantly related. The American term 'truck stop' arose independently as the name of the places that truck drivers and their trucks get refreshment.

The alternative name of 'tommy shop' derives from the widely used term 'tommy' which appears in several terms that were coined around the late 19th century:

Tommy Atkins - the generic name of a British soldier of the line.
Tommy rot - referring to the basic rations available in tommy/truck shops.
Brown tommy - rough brown bread available in tommy/truck shops.
Tommy bar - a small spade.

I can find no definition of 'tommy' from the time that these terms were coined, but the meaning of any of them wouldn't be altered much by exchanging it for 'humble'/'unexceptional'.

Truck shops may be a thing of the past in the developed world but, with the advent of e-commerce, trucks now bring the shopping to us.

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Actually, we’re guilty too!

2010-11-24T02:14:00.001-08:00

Grammarphobia, Nov. 21, 2010
Q: From listening to radio interviews, TV shows, and everyday conversations, it's apparent that "actually" has left "absolutely" in the proverbial dust as the most overused—and unnecessarily used—word!

A: Yes, we've noticed too. And actually (oops!), we're guilty of this ourselves.

It's become something of a verbal tic for us, one we hope to get rid of. Perhaps a look into the word's history will make us more aware of it in our speech.

"Actually" (along with "absolutely," which we've written about before on the blog) is, as you point out, an extremely overused adverb.

As used today, "actually" often has no particular meaning. But this wasn't always the case.

The word came into English in the 15th century as an adverb based on the adjective "actual," which had entered the language in the previous century.

In those days, "actual" had a literal meaning: pertaining to acts or deeds.

It was adopted from the French actuel, which in turn came from the late Latin actualis ("of or pertaining to action"), according to the Oxford English Dictionary.

At first, "actually" also had a literal meaning, one having to do with acts and action.

In its first recorded use, in Sir Thomas Malory's translation of Le Morte d'Arthur (1470-85), it meant "actively" or "energetically."

Here's the quotation: "Then on foot they drew their swords, and did full actually."

In the 1500s, according to the OED, the word was used to mean "with deeds" or "in a way that is characterized by doing."

Thomas Hobbes used the word in this sense in his Leviathan (1651): "Christ shall come … to judge the world, and actually to governe his owne people."

Those literal meanings of "actual" and "actually" were eventually eclipsed and are now obsolete.

In the mid-16th century, people began using "actual" to mean "existing in act or fact," or "real" (as opposed to "potential" or "ideal," for example).

And in the 17th and 18th centuries, they began using "actually" in a similar way, to mean "as a present fact," and consequently "in fact" or "in truth."

Finally, in the 18th and 19th centuries, "actually" was first used in another sense: "added to vouch for statements which seem surprising, incredible, or exaggerated."

For instance, Fanny Kemble writes in her Journal of a Residence on a Georgian Plantation (1863): "This woman actually imagines that there will be no slaves in heaven."

Meanwhile, "actual" came to be used as an intensifier in the 19th century. It was, and still is, "placed before a noun to emphasize its exact or particular identity," often in a weakened sense to mean something like "precise" or "exact."

Mark Twain first used "actual" this way in The Innocents Abroad (1869): "I touch, with reverent finger, the actual spot where the infant Jesus lay, but I think—nothing."

So "actual" and "actually" have come a long way from the Latin actualis and "action."

The OED has no entries yet for the often meaningless "actually" that has become so ubiquitous (as in "Actually, I think I'll have another cookie"). But stay tuned.

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2010-11-17T02:25:00.001-08:00

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What King James wrought

2010-11-09T23:42:00.001-08:00

By Jan Freeman, Boston Globe, November 7, 2010
In the past week or so, anyone following the news might have read that Jon Stewart is “a thorn in the side of politicians”; that Senator Harry Reid of Nevada won reelection “by the skin of his teeth”; and that people in the newspaper industry “see the writing on the wall.”

That well-informed reader wouldn’t have been especially surprised to hear that these phrases all come from the same source, the Bible. It has long been an article of faith among speakers of English that biblical language—especially that of the Authorized, or King James, version, published in 1611—has been immensely influential. The KJV, wrote linguist David Crystal in 2004, “has contributed far more to English in the way of idiomatic or quasi-proverbial expressions than any other literary source.”

But just how much was that “far more”? Not even Crystal knew, and with the KJV about to celebrate its 400th year, he set out to explore and tabulate its contributions to everyday language. Now, in “Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language,” he has some answers. The short one is “257”—that’s the number of familiar idioms, from “be fruitful and multiply” (Genesis) to the whore of Babylon (Revelation), that he credits to the stature and popularity of the King James Bible.

This doesn’t sound like a lot, given some past claims that thousands of phrases are Bible-derived. But Crystal is counting only idioms—the expressions we use and modify freely with no reference to their origins. He excludes what he labels “quotations,” like “the meek shall inherit the earth”—Bible words that are rarely borrowed for reuse in nonreligious contexts. And even that 257 beats Shakespeare, who has fewer than 100 original phrases to his credit.

But Shakespeare was an innovator, notes Crystal, and a prolific coiner of words, if not of phrases. The translators who produced the KJV were conservative, dedicated to continuing a language tradition. Their mandate was to improve on the earlier English Bibles—“to make…out of many good ones, one principall good one.” And in fact, only a handful of our 257 familiar idioms—“how the mighty are fallen,” “to every thing there is a season”—appear only in the KJV.

Crystal displays these variants clearly in a tabular appendix, showing which idioms were preserved from earlier Bibles and which were rewritten. Only the KJV, for instance, has “a thorn in the flesh”; earlier versions had “a prick” or “a sting” or “unquietness,” none as sharp as that thorn. The KJV asks if a leopard can “change its spots,” but the committee might have gone with “a pard may change his diversities,” from the Wycliffe Bible. “Cast thy bread upon the waters” is mysterious, but we manage to use it anyway; “lay thy bread upon wet faces” would not have been so versatile.

Other Bible-based idioms have evolved with use so they no longer reflect any one text. “From the cradle to the grave” was once “womb to the grave”; “pride goes before a fall” condenses four much wordier alternatives; our shorthand “fly in the ointment” no longer spells out the stink of the fly-fouled ointment.

But if you think this is dull, sober scholarship, think again. In Crystal’s definition, an idiom is an adaptable expression, and his 257 phrases have been adapted, twisted, and punned on to a fare-thee-well. “Signs of the times” begets “whine of the times” (on an advice column) and “shine of the times” (for a hair product). “Love of money is the root of all evil” becomes “Money is the root of all baseball” (and so on) and even “Monet is the root of all evil.”

Headline punsters, read this book with caution: When you see what your tribe hath wrought, you may have to conclude that when it comes to biblical wordplay, there’s nothing new under the sun.

'Haitch' or 'aitch'? How do you pronounce 'H'?

2010-10-28T22:07:00.000-07:00

By David Sillito BBC arts correspondent

Click to play

David Sillito tests the changing sound of English pronunciation

The pronunciation of common words has changed drastically over time. So, as the British Library begins a quest to record people's articulations, what do the differences in how we pronounce words say about us?

In today's Magazine

Pedants, beware. The sound of says, ate, mischievous, harass, garage, schedule and aitch is shifting.

Once upon a time, there were gales of laughter when Frank Spencer in Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em pronounced harass with the emphasis on the second syllable.
Now, according to the British Library, evidence suggests that for people under the age of 35, it is becoming the favoured pronunciation.
Indeed the younger you are, the more likely you are to make says rhyme with lays rather than fez, ate rhyme with late rather than bet and to add a whole new syllable to mischievous, turning it in to miss-CHEEVY-us rather than MISS-chiv-us.

Aitch vs Haitch

British English dictionaries give aytch as the standard pronunciation for the letter H. However, the pronunciation haytch is also attested as a legitimate variant. We also do not ask broadcasters who naturally say haytch to change their pronunciation but if a broadcaster contacted to ask us, we would tell them that aytch is regarded as the standard pronunciation in British English, people can feel very strongly about this and this pronunciation is less likely to attract audience complaints.
Haytch is a standard pronunciation in Irish English and is increasingly being used by native English-speaking people all across the country, irrespective of geographical provenance or social standing. Polls have shown that the uptake of haytch by younger native speakers is on the rise. Schoolchildren repeatedly being told not to drop Hs may cause them to hyper-correct and insert them where they don't exist.
Jo Kim
BBC Pronunciation Unit

The British Library now wants to get a clearer idea of how spoken English is changing by recording as many people as possible reading the opening paragraph of the Mr Men book, Mr Tickle.

The library's socio-linguist Jonnie Robinson picked the passage because it's well known, easy to read and will probably be read with as "normal a voice as possible". He does not want people to put on a "posh" speaking voice.
It's part of the library's forthcoming Evolving English exhibition and aims to show how pronunciation is not a matter of right and wrong but merely fashion.
One exhibit is the BBC's guide to pronunciation from 1928. In it, it informs announcers that pristine rhymes with wine, respite is pronounced as if there were no e, combat is cumbat, finance was finn-ance. Even then some of the suggestions were becoming archaic. Not only is housewifery no longer pronounced huzzifry, it is almost entirely obsolete as a word.
Quite why some words change is unknown. Because, while many are importations from America - schedule turning into skedule is almost certainly a consequence of American films and television - the gradual shift of garage to sound like garridge is less easy to explain.
So too is there a mystery as to why certain pronunciations cause such strong feeling. Take the eighth letter of the alphabet, pronounce it haitch and then look for the slightly agonised look in some people's eyes.
One suggestion is that it touches on a long anxiety in English over the letter aitch. In the 19th Century, it was normal to pronounce hospital, hotel and herb without the h. Nowadays "aitch anxiety" has led to all of them acquiring a new sound, a beautifully articulated aitch at the beginning. America has perhaps hung on to its aitchless herb because it has less class anxiety attached to pronunciations.

Generational divide

Language change happens through innovation - each generation talks slightly differently from the one before. So we hear a "pronunciation divide" between the young and the old with forms like aitch and haitch. Children's first exposure to English is usually through their parents, but once at school, the words and pronunciations they adopt are more influenced by other children they spend all day with. It's a human thing to adapt to the group in this way. We also gradually change borrowed words, like village and garage from French, to fit a more English pronunciation - with an -idge sound in the last syllable. Village is much further along in this ongoing process and therefore less controversial. Languages have always been alive and evolving to suit the users' communication needs, and it's not a bad thing to have change like this.
Jon Herring, British Library

However, the link between class, voice and status is not what it once was. Many of us are barely aware of how we say says or ate or what was once considered the right and proper way.

It marks a decline in class anxiety in speech; attitudes to accents and pronunciations have become much more relaxed.
However, there are some pronunciations that do inspire ridicule and prejudice. If you rhyme cloth, wrath and off with north and wharf then you are in a small and declining tribe.
The shift from the "received pronunciation" of the 1930s and 40s is well documented but one example of how far it has fallen out of favour is that in the forthcoming BBC costume drama, South Riding, the Yorkshire accents of the 1930s pass without comment but the voices that would have been classic "RP" in the book have been updated.
Audiences, it is argued, simply could not sit through a drama and care about a character if they sounded that "posh". They would be too busy laughing.

Send us your comments using the form below.

I have to say that whilst I acknowledge that language and therefore pronunciation is constantly evolving I do get irritated when people "invent" a new syllable in a word, as in your example of "mischievous". All too often, people simply don't read the word as it is written, preferring to vocalise what they think they see rather than what is actually written down. It is almost as if some people are not aware that the pronunciation of a word is based upon the letters which make it up. Pure laziness I call it!

Eamonn Hennessy, Kendal, UK

Most alterations to the English don't really bother me, as they are simply the evolution of a living language. However, hearing the incorrect pronunciation of the letter H really does annoy me. It also gives me the impression that the person uttering it is a complete twerp. An obviously personal view, you understand. I notice that certain BBC presenters are now using the "haytch". If it ever reaches the national BBC News then I'm sure it'll certainly be the death of the correct "aytch" pronunciation.

Andy, Southampton

This is all fine and dandy, but does anyone seriously refer to the National Health Service as the 'En-Haitch-Ess'??

Matt, Newmarket

As a 65 year old Yorkshireman I have a fairly strong Yorkshire accent, but also have had a good education and acquired a good command of the English language. When saying the letter H alone it should paradoxically be Aitch, but the rest of the time in 99% of cases it should be pronounced. I visibly cringe when newsreaders say an 'ospital, 'orse, 'otel, 'istoric, 'orrendous etc. Its not hard to say "a hotel". Regarding other words, I have always said "Garridge" and "Skedule". Skedule has always been the correct pronunciation according to the Oxford dictionary, along with scheme, schism, school and many more. Only words of Germanic origin pronounce it "Sh".

Peter Northrop, Wakefield

The way you pronounced H was used by kids playing at sectarianism, in 1950s Luton where my Irish Dad spent most of his childhood. Native English speakers would say "aitch" and be assumed to be Protestant, whereas those of Irish decent would say "haitch" and be assumed to be Catholic. This self-consciousness meant my Dad quickly lost his Irish accent and to this day speaks with a broad Bedfordshire lilt. On the other hand my Mum never had any hang-ups about her accent and skips between broad Bury and broad Dundonian. Incidentally, as a Scot, she uses neither pronunciation of H, she says "itch". Perhaps that's why my Dad married her!

Flora, Shipley

The article mentions the move from garage to garridge, but I'm now 25 and as long as I can remember, anyone pronouncing it in the original way would be ridiculed as using an American pronunciation! maybe this is indicative of my social class! Rah-thur! I say! Eh what?!

Antonion, London

The one that gets me is 'th' becoming 'ff' as in the word 'nothing' becoming 'nuffink'. Sentences like "I ain't done nuffink!" that litter the dialogue of a certain London-based BBC soap opera influence the speech of people far beyond the M25.

Rod, Edinburgh

What a letter sounds like and what it is called don't have to match ('doubleyoo' as opposed to 'wuh' is a good example). So calling H aitch is not a problem. I was brought up to use aitch and that haitch was only used by ignorant people. A certain amount of snobbery there. If haitch is a local variant or otherwise accepted (I would use the OED as my guide there) I am happy to change my view of it. But I will never, I hope, change my view of sloppy or lazy pronunciation. Especially when it leads young people to write 'could of' when they mean 'could have'. And while language does develop and evolve, some uses are simply incorrect and probably always will be. In speaking as much as writing, clarity is all.

Sandy Fox, Derby

Try thinking outside the box!

2010-10-16T01:31:00.001-07:00

Nice article from Oxford about cliches. What are your unfavourite cliches?

All the best

James

Try thinking outside the box!

When it's all said and done at the end of the day, I can say I made a difference in the world.

Does the above cliché-ridden sentence (taken from a transcript of a 2004 TV show) make you cringe? If so, join the club (whoops, another one). Although it can be hard to avoid them, I don't like clichés. I especially dislike the fact that they seem to be proliferating – two of my current 'unfavourites' are wake up and smell the coffee and what's not to like. Clichés are like prefabricated chunks of language and are often quite a lazy way of expressing an idea. Whenever I hear on a daily basis, at this moment in time, or to all intents and purposes, I wonder if the speaker has really thought about what they mean or what impression they are making.

To tweak a famous World War II saying: is your cliché really necessary?

Although the media collectively seem to be particularly prone to this 'clichéphilia', there are some individual journalists who care passionately about the overuse of stock phases, as this article from the online version of The Australian demonstrates.

Intensive purposes??

Because clichés are increasingly bandied about, people sometimes mishear one and repeat the misheard version in writing, which is a good indication that they haven't really thought about what they're saying. For example, recently we've seen the growth of the meaningless for all intensive purposes, a mutation of for all intents and purposes.

There are 35 examples of this garbled phrase on the Oxford English Corpus, a 2-billion word database of today's English. Some of these examples appear in some rather lofty places, such as a scientific journal, where the contributors and editors really should know better. If you really have to use a cliché, then please, at the very least, try to get it right!

Declutter your language!

At Oxford, we like to promote good writing – in other words, the type of writing which gets your message across in the most straightforward way, enabling your audience to understand what you're saying, and which doesn't result in steam issuing from the reader's ears when they encounter a cliché, a grammatical blunder, or some other faux pas.

Here's our advice on clichés

We're not going to ask you to send us your pet cliché hates (we've got plenty of our own to keep us going for years!), but if you email us by 30 November 2010 with the correct version of the following garbled cliché, you could win* the latest edition of the Colour Oxford Thesaurus.

It's not that difficult and it sure ain't rocket surgery.

Catherine Soanes

23 September 2010

*Email us your answer before 30 November 2010. The first three correct answers we receive will each win a copy of the Colour Oxford Thesaurus. Please read our terms and conditions before entering the competition.

Recycle rubbish, not phrases - this month on Oxford Dictionaries Online

2010-10-16T01:04:00.001-07:00

In case you're interested, a very good resource, OUP!!!

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Dear newsletter subscriber

This month on Oxford Dictionaries Online...

Recycle rubbish, not phrases

"When it's all said and done at the end of the day, I can say I made a difference in the world."

Cliché-ridden sentences such as the one above are abundant in all types of writing today, from newspaper articles to scientific journals. It's not always easy to avoid clichés in your writing, but we think it's worth the effort.

Find out why we're irritated by clichés and learn how to avoid using them.

The final frontier

From aphelion to foo fighter to supernova, the field of space exploration has helped to enrich the English language with new words and phrases. Sci-fi has also played an important role; how would we have described "a building that is larger inside than it appears to be from the outside" before Dr Who and the Tardis?

Explore words relating to space with our interactive image

Do you think that prefix is a type of glue?

Do you assume that only lawyers should have to worry about non-restrictive relative clauses?

If you're baffled by grammatical terms, help is at hand with our Jargon Buster. Read our clear, concise summaries of the most important terms, from adjective to verbal noun.

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The English language is full of idioms, from "it's raining cats and dogs" to "saved by the bell".

Identify the meaning of a popular English idiom to be in with the chance of winning a copy of the Oxford Dictionary of English Idioms.

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Here, then, are six keys to achieving excellence:

2010-10-12T01:13:00.000-07:00

This is an excellent article. I've extracted the six points first so in case you don't feel inclined to read the full article at least you'll get the points:

All the best

James

Here, then, are six keys to achieving excellence:

1. Pursue what you love. Passion is an incredible motivator. It fuels focus, resilience, and perseverance.

2. Do the hardest work first. We all move instinctively toward pleasure and away from pain. Most great performers, Ericsson and others have found, delay gratification and take on the difficult work of practice in the mornings, before they do anything else. That's when most of us have the most energy and the fewest distractions.

3. Practice intensely, without interruption for short periods of no longer than 90 minutes and then take a break. Ninety minutes appears to be the maximum amount of time that we can bring the highest level of focus to any given activity. You may even have to start with 45 or 60 minutes. The evidence is equally strong that great performers practice no more than 4 ½ hours a day.

4. Seek expert feedback, in intermittent doses. The simpler and more precise the feedback, the more equipped you are to make adjustments. Too much feedback, too continuously, can create cognitive overload, increase anxiety, and interfere with learning.

5. Take regular renewal breaks. Relaxing after intense effort not only provides an opportunity to rejuvenate, but also to metabolize and embed learning. It's also during rest that the right hemisphere becomes more dominant, which can lead to creative breakthroughs.

6. Ritualize practice. Will and discipline are wildly overrated. As the researcher Roy Baumeister has found, none of us have very much of it. The best way to insure you'll take on difficult tasks is to ritualize them - build specific, inviolable times at which you do them, so that over time you do them without having to squander energy thinking about them.

Tony Schwartz

President of The Energy Project, Author of The Way We're Working Isn't Working

Posted: August 26, 2010 09:20 AM

6 Keys to Being Excellent at Anything

I've been playing tennis for nearly five decades. I love the game and I hit the ball well, but I'm far from the player I wish I were.

I've been thinking about this a lot the past couple of weeks, because I've taken the opportunity, for the first time in many years, to play tennis nearly every day. My game has gotten progressively stronger. I've had a number of rapturous moments during which I've played like the player I long to be.

And almost certainly could be. Until recently, I never believed that was possible. For most of my adult life, I've accepted the incredibly durable myth that some people are born with special talents and gifts, and that the potential to truly excel in any given pursuit is largely determined by our genetic inheritance.

During the past year, I've read no fewer than five books -- and a raft of scientific research -- which powerfully challenge that assumption (see below for a list.) I've also written one, The Way We're Working Isn't Working, which lays out a guide, grounded in the science of high performance, to systematically building your capacity physically, emotionally, mentally and spiritually.

In work with thousands of people, we've found that it's possible to build any given skill or capacity in the same systematic way you do a muscle: regularly push past your comfort zone, and then rest. We've seen people dramatically improve skills ranging from focus, to empathy, to creativity, to summoning positive emotions, to deeply relaxing.

Like everyone who studies performance, I'm indebted to the extraordinary Anders Ericsson, the world's leading researcher into high performance. For more than two decades, Ericsson has been making the case that it's not inherited talent which determines how good we become at something, but rather how hard we're willing to work - something he calls "deliberate practice." Numerous researchers now agree that 10,000 hours of such practice as the minimum necessary to achieve expertise in any complex domain.

There is something wonderfully empowering about this. It suggests we have remarkable power to influence our own outcomes. But that's also daunting. One of Ericsson's central findings is that practice is not only the most important ingredient in achieving excellence, but also the most difficult and the least intrinsically enjoyable.

If you want to be really good at something, it's going to involve frustration, struggle, setbacks and failures. It will require relentlessly pushing past your comfort zone. That's true as long as you want to continue to improve, or even maintain a high level of excellence. The reward is that being really good at something you've earned through your own hard work can be immensely satisfying.

Here, then, are six keys to achieving excellence:

I've practiced tennis deliberately over the years, but never for the several hours a day required to achieve a truly high level of excellence. What's changed is that I don't berate myself any longer for falling short. I know exactly what it would take to get to a much higher level.

I'm not willing to make that a priority at this stage, but I find it incredibly exciting to know that I'm still capable of getting far better at tennis -- or at anything else. And so are you.

Here are the recent books on this subject:

n Talent is Overrated by Geoffrey Colvin. My personal favorite.
n The Talent Code by Daniel Coyle
n Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
n The Genius in All of Us by David Schenk.
n Bounce by Mathew Syed

What's, like, so wrong with like?

2010-09-29T02:40:00.001-07:00

28 September 2010

Teen slang: What's, like, so wrong with like?

By Denise Winterman BBC News Magazine

Teenage slang - do I not like that?

Actress Emma Thompson says young people make themselves sound stupid by speaking slang outside of school. But while the use of the word "like" might annoy her, it fulfils a useful role in everyday speech.

"That's, like, so unfair."

One response to Emma Thompson's comments likely to trigger a rush of steam from her ears.

The Oscar winner has spoken out against the use of sloppy language. She says people who speak improperly make her feel "insane" and she criticises teenagers for using words such as "like" and "innit".

But is peppering one's sentences with "like" such a heinous crime against the English tongue?

Language experts are more understanding of teen culture than Thompson, pointing out the word's many uses. It's the unconventional uses that are probably getting the actress hot under the collar. One of the most common is using "like" as a filler word in a conversation.

But fillers are a way we all stall for time when speaking and historically always have. It has nothing to do with sloppiness, says John Ayto, editor of the Oxford Dictionary of Modern Slang.

"It is not a lazy use of language, that is a common fallacy among non-linguists," he says. "We all use fillers because we can't keep up highly-monitored, highly-grammatical language all the time. We all have to pause and think.

"We have always used words to plug gaps or make sentences run smoothly. They probably did in Anglo Saxon times, it's nothing new."

But crucially, we often use non-word fillers, such at "um" and "ah". The fact that "like" is an actual word could be why Thompson doesn't like it.

Using 'um' may seem more correct to Emma Thompson because using 'like' as a filler is not a feature of her language"

"When words break out from a specific use and become commonly used in a different way, people come down on them," says Dr Robert Groves, editor on the English team at Collins Dictionaries.

"Using 'um' may seem more correct to Emma Thompson because using 'like' as a filler is not a feature of the language she uses. The more disassociated you are from the group that uses a word in a different way, the more that use stands out. It will be invisible to teenagers."

Another common use of "like" by young people is as a quotative, which is a grammatical device to mark reported speech. For example: "She was like, 'you aren't using that word correctly' and I was like, 'yes I am'."

It is also commonly used to indicate a metaphor or exaggeration. "I, like, died of embarrassment when you told me to stop using slang." Alternatively, it is employed to introduce a facial expression, gesture or sound. A speaker may say "I was like..." and then hold their hands up, shrug or roll their eyes.

While certain uses of language - such as fillers - have probably always been around, the appropriation of "like" in this context can be traced to a familiar source of so much modern day slang- California's Valley Girls.

I, like, so wish she'd just give it a rest

"Many of these uses of 'like' originate in America," says Dr Groves. "They were probably introduced into British English through the media, like films and television."

Using "like" in this way is also about signalling membership of a club, says English language specialist Professor Clive Upton, from the University of Leeds.

"If they [young people] do deploy the sort of language they're using on the streets in formal settings then it could well be a disadvantage to them but at other times it's quite clearly the way they get along, the way that they signal they belong in a group, the way that they fit in.

"And we all do that in our professional lives as well. We've got all our acronyms and our little words that we use that send a signal - I'm one of the club."

Thompson just isn't part of the "like" club.

Below is a selection of your comments

Like it or not, the way we speak creates an impression on other people. A person with a good vocabulary is generally perceived to me more intelligent than someone who has a poor vocabulary. Elocution is important and should be taught and enforced at school. If you cannot control the way you speak in an formal environment like a school, then how are you going to control your language in an interview? And the way you speak whilst seeking job is just as important as how you dress.

Justin Keenan, Leeds

Normally I would agree with most things that Emma Thompson says, but it annoys me that the views that she and Stephen Fry espouse (who also put his tuppence worth about the English language in the Radio Times recently) are given so much airspace. Just who are these people and who gave them the power to make judgements on others? Being a lovely-dovey from Oxbridge does not make you a world-reknowned scholar. Like - Emma - tune out.

Jennifer, London

It niggles me to hear people, not just children, using words such as "anythink", "somethink" and "nothink", it is quite widespread. I am no expert myself but I try to stick with the basics I had drummed into me at school all those years ago, when education had some discipline.

C.F.Self, Canvey Island, UK

Comparing "like" to "um" and "ah" as a filler/thought pause is okay, but there's one major difference. The listener can easily filter out the "um" and "ah" because they have no meaning. But "like" does, so the listener has to process "like" in the sentence's context to determine if it's relevant or not. This hinders comprehension because it has to be done before the full sentence is known. "I smell like a rat" means what? I stink, or I suspect a double-cross? Compare that with "I smell um a rat". No double meaning there.

Colin S, Massachusetts

I don't really mind when a teenager uses "like" in a slang context, but it drives me mad when a fully grown adult "tasks" me with something to do or "cascades" some piece of information to me. Why can't they just "ask" or "tell" me?

Chris Healy, Croydon, UK

It's a good job Emma didn't live in the late 16th Century/ early 17th Century. There was a guy running around back then who didnt use language as his peers did, he made up words, changed the structure of how he used these new made up words and flouted the conventional thinking on most aspects of English. He was called William Shakespeare... Language is not a set of rules, its a way of communication. The one constant thing with a thriving language is change.

Martin , Guildford

One of my pet hates is the use of "well" at the beginning of a sentence, as demonstrated by many roving news reporters. It's completely superfluous.

Warren Head, Manchester

Not everyone talks the same! Most of us don't converse remotely like any example in this article. Please stop trying to put everyone into a box. Every one of us is different and all of us should appreciate this.

'Normal' comprehensive-schooled teenager , Bristol, UK

The worst perpetrator I've found for "fillers" is "y'know". It's almost like a nervous tick, the worst being for people not used to being interviewed and having to stall for time.

Alex Vukmirovic, Southampton

Emma's like cool, but like so out of touch, right?

John, Southampton

French phrases and sayings that are used in English

2010-09-23T19:52:00.001-07:00

Here's a list of French phrases and sayings that are used in English often enough to have become part of the language. Many of these relate to those French preoccupations, fashion and food.

À la carte	On the menu, with each dish priced.
À la mode	Fashionable; also, in the USA, with ice cream.
Agent provocateur	A police spy employed to induce or incite a suspected person or group to commit an incriminating act.
Aide-de-camp	An officer who assists a general in his military duties.
Aide-mémoire	An aid to memory.
Après-ski	Socializing after a skiing session. Also a name of a type of footwear worn after removing ski boots.
Art nouveau	A style of art developed towards the end of the 19th century. It is characterized by ornamentation based on organic or foliate forms and by its asymmetric and curvaceous lines.
Au contraire	To the contrary. Often used with an arch or rather camp form of delivery.
Au naturel	Undressed or 'in a natural state'.
Au pair	A young foreigner, usually female, who undertakes domestic tasks in exchange for accommodation.
Au revoir	Farewell for the time being. Sometimes given in English in the jokey au reservoir version.
Avant garde	The pioneers or innovators in art in a particular period. Also, a military term, meaning vanguard or advance guard.
Carte blanche	Having free rein to choose whatever course of action you want.
Cause célèbre	An issue arousing widespread controversy or debate. An English invention, rarely used in France.
C'est la vie	That's life or such is life. Often used in disappointed resignation following some bad fortune.
Chaise longue	'Long chair' - a form of sofa with an elongated seat long enough to support the legs. Often erroneously called a chaise lounge in the USA. This isn't the derivation of either the noun or verb lounge, which both long pre-date the invention of chaise longues.
Cherchez la femme	Literally, "look for the woman."
Cinéma vérité	A form of filmmaking that combines documentary-style techniques to tell a story.
Cordon bleu	High quality, especially of cooking.
Coup d'état	An abrupt overthrow of a government through unconstitutional means, for example, by force, or by occupation of government structures during the leader's absence.
Coup de grâce	Originally a blow by which one condemned or mortally wounded is 'put out of his misery'. Figuratively, a finishing stroke, one that settles or puts an end to something.
Crème de la crème	The best of the best. Literally the cream of the cream.
Cul-de-sac	A thoroughfare that is closed at one end - a blind alley. Also, figuratively, a venture leading to no successful outcome.
Déjà vu	The feeling of having seen or experienced something before. Literally 'already seen'.
De rigueur	Obligatory or expected, especially with reference to fashion.
Double entendre	A word or phrase that has a double meaning - one of which is often vulgar or sexual in nature. A staple form of British toilet humour - Carry On films would be virtually silent without it. For example, see 'gone for a P' in wee-wee.
Éminence grise	A powerful adviser or decision-maker who operates secretly or unofficially. Literally 'grey eminence'.
Enfant terrible	Literally, a "terrible child". It is sometimes used to describe unruly children. More commonly, it is used in relation to adults who cause trouble by unorthodox or ill-considered speech or behaviour - especially those who have habitually done this from an early age.
En route	On the way.
En suite	A series of rooms that adjoin each other, forming a suite.
Esprit de corps	The regard entertained by the members of a group, especially a military unit, for the honour and interests of the group as a whole. Literally, 'spirit of the corps'.
Fait accompli	An irreversible action that has happened before those affected by it knew of its existence.
Faux pas	A social blunder, causing embarrassment or loss of reputation. Literally, a 'false step'.
Femme fatale	A dangerously attractive woman.
Fleur de Lis	The heraldic lily; a device supposed by some to have originally represented an iris, by others the top of a sceptre, of a battle-axe or other weapon.
Force majeure	Irresistible force or overwhelming power.
Grand prix	The premier events of several sports, especially the races in the Formula I motor racing championship. Literally, 'grand prize'.
Haute couture	Trend-setting high fashion. Also, the collective name for the leading dressmakers and designers.
Haute cuisine	High class cooking. Literally, 'upper kitchen'.
Hors d'oeuvres	An extra dish served as a relish to whet the appetite, normally at the start of a meal.
Je ne sais quoi	An indescribable or inexpressible something. Literally, 'I know not what'.
Joie de vivre	A feeling of healthy enjoyment of life; exuberance, high spirits.
Laissez-faire	The principle that government should not interfere with the action of individuals. Also, more generally, a policy of indulgence towards the actions of others. Literally, 'let (people) do (as they think best)'.
L'esprit de l'escalier	This isn't actually widely adopted into English. I include it here in the hope that it might become so. It means - thinking of a suitable retort or remark after the opportunity to make it has passed. Literally, 'the wit of the staircase'.
Mal de mer	Seasickness.
Mardi gras	The last day of the Carnival or pre-Lenten season. Literally, 'Fat Tuesday', called Shrove Tuesday in the UK.
Ménage à trois	A living arrangement comprising three people in a sexual relationship.
Merci beaucoup	Thank you very much.
N'est-ce pas?	Is it not so?
Noblesse oblige	The responsibility conferred by rank. Literally, 'noble rank entails responsibility'.
Nom de guerre	A name assumed by individuals engaged in a military enterprise or espionage, usually in order to conceal their true identity. Literally, 'war name'.
Nom de plume	An assumed name under which a person writes or publishes. Literally, 'pen name'.
Par excellence	Pre-eminently supreme - above all others.
Pas de deux	Impossible to avoid the corny 'father of twins' joke here. The real meaning is a dance (typically a ballet), and in extended use a partnership, between two people.
Pièce de résistance	The best part or feature of something, especially of a meal.
Pied-à-terre	A second home, typically an apartment in the city.
Prêt-à-porter	Ready-to-wear clothing.
Pot-pourri	A mixture of dried petals of different flowers mixed with spices, kept in a jar for its perfume. Also, a stew made from a variety of meats cooked together. By extension, any collection of miscellaneous items.
Quelle horreur	What a horrible thing. This is frequently used sardonically, when the 'horror' is trivial.
Qu'est-ce que c'est?	What is this?
Raison d'être	The thing that is central to our existence. Literally, 'reason for being'.
Sacré bleu	This general mild exclamation of shock is the archetypal French phrase, as viewed by the English. No portrayal of a stage Frenchman in an English farce could be complete without a character in a beret and striped jumper, shrugging his shoulders and muttering 'Sacré bleu!'. Literally, 'holy blue', which refers to the colour associated with the Virgin Mary.
Sang-froid	Coolness, indifference. Literally, 'cold blood'.
Savoir-faire	Social grace; means know-how in French.
S'il vous plaît	Please. Literally, 'if it pleases you'.
Soupe du jour	'Soup of the day' - the soup offered by a restaurant that day.
Table d'hôte	A full-course meal offering a limited number of choices and served at a fixed price in a restaurant or hotel.
Tête-à-tête	A private meeting between two people. Literally, 'head-to-head'.
Tout de suite	At once.
Tour de force	A masterly stroke or feat of strength or skill. Literally, 'feat of strength'.
Trompe l'œil	An art technique involving high levels of realism in order to create the illusion that the depicted objects are real rather than paintings. Literally, 'trick the eye'.
Vis-à-vis	In a position facing another. Literally 'face to face'. Often now used in the sense of 'in relation to'.
Vive la différence.	Long live the difference (between male and female).
Zut alors	A general exclamation. Like Sacré bleu, this is more likely to be spoken by pretend Frenchmen than by real ones.

Try This Quiz

2010-08-23T06:19:00.001-07:00

Try this BBC quiz. Let me know how you scored!!
QUIZ

James
--
http://www.facebook.com/#!/pjamesmmvi
http://twitter.com/2pjames
http://birdswalton.blogspot.com/
http://englishwithpjwalton.blogspot.com/
http://alternativenews-views.blogspot.com/

English proverbs

2010-07-29T22:38:00.001-07:00

Here is a list of many of the proverbs in the English language, with links to the meaning and origin of some of them. Many proverbs have been absorbed into English having been known earlier in other languages. The list here is specifically of English proverbs and the dates given are those when the proverb first appeared in English. Click on the links. -- Fascinating!!!

James

A cat may look at a king
A chain is only as strong as its weakest link
A change is as good as a rest
A drowning man will clutch at a straw
A fish always rots from the head down
A fool and his money are soon parted
A friend in need is a friend indeed
A golden key can open any door
A good beginning makes a good ending
A good man is hard to find
A house divided against itself cannot stand
A house is not a home
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step
A leopard cannot change its spots
A little knowledge is a dangerous thing
A little of what you fancy does you good
A man who is his own lawyer has a fool for his client
A miss is as good as a mile
A new broom sweeps clean
A nod's as good as a wink to a blind horse
A penny saved is a penny earned
A person is known by the company he keeps
A picture paints a thousand words
A place for everything and everything in its place
A poor workman always blames his tools
A problem shared is a problem halved
A prophet is not recognized in his own land
A rising tide lifts all boats
A rolling stone gathers no moss
A soft answer turneth away wrath
A stitch in time saves nine
A swarm in May is worth a load of hay; a swarm in June is worth a silver spoon; but a swarm in July is not worth a fly
A thing of beauty is a joy forever
A trouble shared is a trouble halved
A volunteer is worth twenty pressed men
A watched pot never boils
A woman's place is in the home
A woman's work is never done
A word to the wise is enough
Absence makes the heart grow fonder
Absolute power corrupts absolutely
Accidents will happen (in the best-regulated families).
Actions speak louder than words
Adversity makes strange bedfellows
All good things come to he who waits
All good things must come to an end
All is grist that comes to the mill
All roads lead to Rome
All that glisters is not gold
All the world loves a lover
All things come to those who wait
All things must pass
All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
All you need is love
All's fair in love and war
All's for the best in the best of all possible worlds
All's well that ends well
A miss is as good as a mile
An apple a day keeps the doctor away
An army marches on its stomach
An Englishman's home is his castle
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure
Any port in a storm
Any publicity is good publicity
April showers bring forth May flowers
As you make your bed, so you must lie upon it
As you sow so shall you reap
Ask a silly question and you'll get a silly answer
Ask no questions and hear no lies
Attack is the best form of defence
Bad news travels fast
Barking dogs seldom bite
Beauty is in the eye of the beholder
Beauty is only skin deep
Beggars should not be choosers
Behind every great man there's a great woman
Better late than never
Better safe than sorry
Better the Devil you know than the Devil you don't
Better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all
Better to light a candle than to curse the darkness
Better to remain silent and be thought a fool that to speak and remove all doubt
Beware of Greeks bearing gifts
Big fish eat little fish
Birds of a feather flock together
Blood is thicker than water
Boys will be boys
Brevity is the soul of wit
Business before pleasure
Caesar's wife must be above suspicion
Charity begins at home
Cheats never prosper
Children should be seen and not heard
Cleanliness is next to godliness
Clothes make the man
Cold hands, warm heart
Comparisons are odious
Count your blessings
Cowards may die many times before their death
Crime doesn't pay
Cut your coat to suit your cloth
Dead men tell no tales
Devil take the hindmost
Discretion is the better part of valour
Distance lends enchantment to the view
Do as I say, not as I do
Do as you would be done by
Do unto others as you would have them do unto you
Don't bite the hand that feeds you
Don't burn your bridges behind you
Don't cast your pearls before swine
Don't change horses in midstream
Don't count your chickens before they are hatched
Don't cross the bridge till you come to it
Don't cut off your nose to spite your face
Don't keep a dog and bark yourself
Don't let the bastards grind you down
Don't look a gift horse in the mouth
Don't meet troubles half-way
Don't put all your eggs in one basket
Don't put the cart before the horse
Don't put new wine into old bottles
Don't rock the boat
Don't spoil the ship for a ha'porth of tar
Don't throw pearls to swine
Don't teach your Grandma to suck eggs
Don't throw the baby out with the bath water
Don't try to walk before you can crawl
Don't upset the apple-cart
Don't wash your dirty linen in public
Doubt is the beginning not the end of wisdom
Early to bed and early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise
East is east, and west is west
East, west, home's best
Easy come, easy go
Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die
Empty vessels make the most noise
Enough is as good as a feast
Enough is enough
Even a worm will turn
Every cloud has a silver lining
Every dog has his day
Every Jack has his Jill
Every little helps
Every man for himself, and the Devil take the hindmost
Every man has his price
Every picture tells a story
Every stick has two ends
Everyone wants to go to heaven but nobody wants to die
Everything comes to him who waits
Fact is stranger than fiction
Failing to plan is planning to fail
Faint heart never won fair lady
Fair exchange is no robbery
Faith will move mountains
Familiarity breeds contempt
Feed a cold and starve a fever
Fight fire with fire
Finders keepers, losers weepers
Fine words butter no parsnips
First come, first served
First impressions are the most lasting
First things first
Fish always stink from the head down
Fish and guests smell after three days
Flattery will get you nowhere
Fools rush in where angels fear to tread
For want of a nail the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe the horse was lost; and for want of a horse the man was lost
Forewarned is forearmed
Forgive and forget
Fortune favours the brave
From the sublime to the ridiculous is only one step
Genius is an infinite capacity for taking pains
Give a dog a bad name and hang him
Give a man rope enough and he will hang himself
Give credit where credit is due
God helps those who help themselves
Good fences make good neighbours
Good talk saves the food
Good things come to those who wait
Great minds think alike
Half a loaf is better than no bread
Handsome is as handsome does
Hard cases make bad law
Hard work never did anyone any harm
Haste makes waste
He that goes a-borrowing, goes a-sorrowing
He who can does, he who cannot, teaches
He who fights and runs away, may live to fight another day
He who hesitates is lost
He who laughs last laughs longest
He who lives by the sword shall die by the sword
He who pays the piper calls the tune
He who sups with the Devil should have a long spoon
Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned
Hindsight is always twenty-twenty
History repeats itself
Home is where the heart is
Honesty is the best policy
Hope springs eternal
Horses for courses
If anything can go wrong, it will
If a job is worth doing it is worth doing well
If at first you don't succeed try, try and try again
If God had meant us to fly he'd have given us wings
If ifs and ands were pots and pans there'd be no work for tinkers
If life deals you lemons, make lemonade
If the cap fits, wear it
If the mountain won't come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain
If wishes were horses, beggars would ride
If you can't be good, be careful
If you can't beat em, join em
If you can't stand the heat get out of the kitchen
If you lie down with dogs, you will get up with fleas
If you pay peanuts, you get monkeys
If you want a thing done well, do it yourself
Ignorance is bliss
Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery
In for a penny, in for a pound
In the kingdom of the blind the one eyed man is king
In the midst of life we are in death
Into every life a little rain must fall
It ain't over till the fat lady sings
It goes without saying
It is best to be on the safe side
It is better to give than to receive
It is easy to be wise after the event
It never rains but it pours
It takes a thief to catch a thief
It takes all sorts to make a world
It takes one to know one
It takes two to tango
It's all grist to the mill
It's an ill wind that blows no one any good
It's better to give than to receive
It's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all
It's better to light a candle than curse the darkness
It's better to travel hopefully than to arrive
It's never too late
It's no use crying over spilt milk
It's no use locking the stable door after the horse has bolted
It's the early bird that gets the worm
It's the empty can that makes the most noise
It's the squeaky wheel that gets the grease
Jack of all trades, master of none
Judge not, that ye be not judged
Keep your chin up
Keep your powder dry
Laugh and the world laughs with you, weep and you weep alone
Laughter is the best medicine
Least said, soonest mended
Less is more
Let bygones be bygones
Let not the sun go down on your wrath
Let sleeping dogs lie
Let the buyer beware
Let the dead bury the dead
Let the punishment fit the crime
Let well alone
Life begins at forty
Life is just a bowl of cherries
Life is what you make it
Life's not all beer and skittles
Lightning never strikes twice in the same place
Like father, like son
Little pitchers have big ears
Little strokes fell great oaks
Little things please little minds
Live for today for tomorrow never comes
Look before you leap
Love is blind
Love makes the world go round
Love thy neighbour as thyself
Love will find a way
Make hay while the sun shines
Make love not war
Man does not live by bread alone
Manners maketh man
Many a little makes a mickle
Many a mickle makes a muckle
Many a true word is spoken in jest
Many hands make light work
March comes in like a lion, and goes out like a lamb
March winds and April showers bring forth May flowers
Marriages are made in heaven
Marry in haste, repent at leisure
Might is right
Mighty oaks from little acorns grow
Misery loves company
Moderation in all things
Monday's child is fair of face,
    Tuesday's child is full of grace,
    Wednesday's child is full of woe,
    Thursday's child has far to go,
    Friday's child is loving and giving,
    Saturday's child works hard for its living,
    And a child that's born on the Sabbath day
    Is fair and wise and good and gay.
Money doesn't grow on trees
Money is the root of all evil
Money isn't everything
Money makes the world go round
Money talks
More haste, less speed
Music has charms to soothe the savage breast
Nature abhors a vacuum
Necessity is the mother of invention
Needs must when the devil drives
Ne'er cast a clout till May be out
Never give a sucker an even break
Never go to bed on an argument
Never judge a book by its cover
Never let the sun go down on your anger
Never look a gift horse in the mouth
Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today
Never speak ill of the dead
Never tell tales out of school
Nine tailors make a man
No man can serve two masters
No man is an island
No names, no pack-drill
No news is good news
No one can make you feel inferior without your consent
No pain, no gain
No rest for the wicked
Nothing is certain but death and taxes
Nothing succeeds like success
Nothing venture, nothing gain
Oil and water don't mix
Old soldiers never die, they just fade away
Once a thief, always a thief
Once bitten, twice shy
One good turn deserves another
One half of the world does not know how the other half lives
One hand washes the other
One man's meat is another man's poison
One might as well be hanged for a sheep as a lamb
One law for the rich and another for the poor
One swallow does not make a summer
One volunteer is worth ten pressed men
One year's seeding makes seven years weeding
Only fools and horses work
Opportunity never knocks twice at any man's door
Out of sight, out of mind
Parsley seed goes nine times to the Devil
Patience is a virtue
Pearls of wisdom
Penny wise and pound foolish
People who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones
Physician, heal thyself
Possession is nine points of the law
Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely
Practice makes perfect
Practice what you preach
Prevention is better than cure
Pride goes before a fall
Procrastination is the thief of time
Put your best foot forward
Rain before seven, fine before eleven
Red sky at night shepherd's delight; red sky in the morning, shepherd's warning
Revenge is a dish best served cold
Revenge is sweet
Rob Peter to pay Paul
Rome wasn't built in a day
See a pin and pick it up, all the day you'll have good luck; see a pin and let it lie, bad luck you'll have all day
See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil
Seeing is believing
Seek and ye shall find
Set a thief to catch a thief
Share and share alike
Shrouds have no pockets
Silence is golden
Slow but sure
Softly, softly, catchee monkey
Spare the rod and spoil the child
Speak as you find
Speak softly and carry a big stick
Sticks and stones may break my bones, but words will never hurt me
Still waters run deep
Strike while the iron is hot
Stupid is as stupid does
Success has many fathers, while failure is an orphan
Take care of the pence and the pounds will take care of themselves
Talk is cheap
Talk of the Devil, and he is bound to appear
Tell the truth and shame the Devil
That which does not kill us makes us stronger
The age of miracles is past
The apple never falls far from the tree
The best defence is a good offence
The best-laid schemes of mice and men gang aft agley
The best things in life are free
The bigger they are, the harder they fall
The bottom line is the bottom line
The boy is father to the man
The bread never falls but on its buttered side
The child is the father of the man
The cobbler always wears the worst shoes
The course of true love never did run smooth
The customer is always right
The darkest hour is just before the dawn
The devil finds work for idle hands to do
The devil looks after his own
The early bird catches the worm
The end justifies the means
The exception which proves the rule
The female of the species is more deadly than the male
The fruit does not fall far from the tree
The good die young
The grass is always greener on the other side of the fence
The hand that rocks the cradle rules the world
The husband is always the last to know
The labourer is worthy of his hire
The leopard does not change his spots
The longest journey starts with a single step
The more the merrier
The more things change, the more they stay the same
The only good Indian is a dead Indian
The opera ain't over till the fat lady sings
The pen is mightier than sword
The price of liberty is eternal vigilance
The proof of the pudding is in the eating
The road to hell is paved with good intentions
The shoemaker's son always goes barefoot
The squeaking wheel gets the grease
The truth will out
The way to a man's heart is through his stomach
There are more ways of killing a cat than choking it with cream
There are none so blind as those, that will not see
There are two sides to every question
There but for the grace of God, go I
There's a time and a place for everything
There's an exception to every rule
There's always more fish in the sea
There's honour among thieves
There's many a good tune played on an old fiddle
There's many a slip 'twixt cup and lip
There's more than one way to skin a cat
There's no accounting for tastes
There's no fool like an old fool
There's no place like home
There's no smoke without fire
There's no such thing as a free lunch
There's no such thing as bad publicity
There's no time like the present
There's none so blind as those who will not see
There's none so deaf as those who will not hear
There's nowt so queer as folk
There's one born every minute
There's safety in numbers
They that sow the wind, shall reap the whirlwind
Third time lucky
Those who do not learn from history are doomed to repeat it
Those who live in glass houses shouldn't throw stones
Those who sleep with dogs will rise with fleas
Time and tide wait for no man
Time flies
Time is a great healer
Time is money
Time will tell
'tis better to have loved and lost, than never to have loved at all
To err is human; to forgive divine
To the victor go the spoils
To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive
Tomorrow is another day
Tomorrow never comes
Too many cooks spoil the broth
Truth is stranger than fiction
Truth will out
Two blacks don't make a white
Two heads are better than one
Two is company, but three's a crowd
Two wrongs don't make a right
Variety is the spice of life
Virtue is its own reward
Walls have ears
Walnuts and pears you plant for your heirs
Waste not want not
What can't be cured must be endured
What goes up must come down
What you lose on the swings you gain on the roundabouts
What's sauce for the goose is sauce for the gander
When in Rome, do as the Romans do
When the cat's away the mice will play
When the going gets tough, the tough get going
When the oak is before the ash, then you will only get a splash; when the ash is before the oak, then you may expect a soak
What the eye doesn't see, the heart doesn't grieve over
Where there's a will there's a way
Where there's muck there's brass
While there's life there's hope
Whom the Gods love die young
Why keep a dog and bark yourself?
Women and children first
Wonders will never cease
Work expands so as to fill the time available
Worrying never did anyone any good
You are never too old to learn
You are what you eat
You can have too much of a good thing
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make it drink
You can't have your cake and eat it
You can't get blood out of a stone
You can't make a silk purse from a sow's ear
You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs
You can't make bricks without straw
You can't run with the hare and hunt with the hounds
You can't teach an old dog new tricks
You can't tell a book by looking at its cover
You can't win them all
You catch more flies with honey than with vinegar
You pays your money and you takes your choice
Youth is wasted on the young

Keep your English up to date

2010-07-27T03:32:00.001-07:00

Staycation

A holiday in Britain

Staycation

These days people have less and less money to spend on luxuries, things like holidays, for example. So, when they have some time off work, some are choosing to stay at home, instead of flying, or driving perhaps to the beach or mountains, maybe to another country. It's a staycation, a combination of the words stay and vacation.

Particularly if you live in a big city, you might not get time to enjoy everything that it has to offer in terms of entertainment – to go to the theatre, to concerts or just to go sightseeing. So a staycation might be an attractive idea.

Other reasons to take a staycation might be having very young children, or perhaps you want to make some home improvements, like redecorating. In any case, a staycation will almost certainly save you money! I have some friends from the US who come over to London every year or so and stay with me – so I regularly take some time off and have a staycation. Sometimes I visit them in Seattle, and they have a staycation.

About Mark Shea

Mark Shea has been a teacher and teacher trainer for eighteen years. He has taught English and trained teachers extensively in Asia and South America, and is a qualified examiner for the University of Cambridge oral examinations. He is currently working with journalists at the World Service and is the author of the BBC College of Journalism's online English tutor.

schadenfreude

2010-06-28T02:15:00.001-07:00

Schadenfreude: A malicious satisfaction obtained from the misfortunes of others. Literally 'damage-joy'.

"The course of the game may have been altered had Lampard's goal stood. On the other hand, it may not. Germans will simply regard it as schadenfreude, payback time 44 years on for Sir Geoff Hurst's goal in the 1966 World Cup Final that gave England their first and last win in the tournament."

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Assure vs. Ensure vs. Insure

2010-06-25T19:32:00.000-07:00

By Jane Straus, Blue Book of Grammar, June 22, 2010

Assure, ensure, and insure can be confusing. Here are the definitions along with some examples to help clarify the distinctions for you.
Assure: to promise or say with confidence
Example: Let me assure you that I will be at the meeting at noon.
Ensure: to make sure something will/won't happen
Example: To ensure my family's safety, I have installed an alarm system.
Insure: to issue an insurance policy
Example: I will insure my home with additional fire and flood policies.

Does it "affect" or "effect" your funksmanship?

2010-06-23T19:36:00.000-07:00

Grammarphobia, June 20, 2010

Q: I used to know the difference between "affect" and "effect," but I'm not sure anymore. I often find them used interchangeably or in ways that I once thought were incorrect. Can you help?

A: Let's begin with an excerpt from the new third edition of Pat's grammar and usage book Woe Is I:

"AFFECT/EFFECT: If you mean a thing (a noun), ninety-nine times out of a hundred you mean effect. The termites had a startling effect on the piano. If you want an action word (a verb), the odds are just as good that you want affect. The problem affected Lucia's recital.

"NOTE: Then there's that one time out of a hundred. Here are the less common meanings for each of these words:

"Affect, when used as a noun (pronounced with the accent on the first syllable), is a psychological term for 'feeling.' Termites display a lack of affect.

"Effect, when used as a verb, means 'achieve' or 'bring about.' An exterminator effected their removal."

In addition, the verb "affect" can be used in the sense of to put on a false show ("He affected a British accent") or to show a liking for ("She affects flashy clothing").

With all these meanings, it's no surprise that people have been confused by "affect" and "effect" since the various usages of these words showed up in English in the 14th, 15th, and 16th centuries.

"All this history of befuddlement has left us with a fat collection of warning notices," says Merriam-Webster's Dictionary of English Usage, which adds that nearly every usage handbook published in the 20th century had such warnings.

Most published writers know how to use these words, according to Merriam-Webster's, but errors get into print because of "inattention to spelling," "poor proofreading," or "no proofreading."

Our advice: When you use these words, especially when you're in a hurry to finish an email, take another look before hitting Send.

http://www.grammarphobia.com/

In the nick of time

2010-06-17T22:01:00.001-07:00

In the nick of time

Meaning

Just in time; at the precise moment.

Origin

The English language gives us the opportunity to be 'in' many things - the doldrums, the offing, the pink; we can even be down in the dumps. With all of these expressions it is pretty easy to see what they refer to, but what or where is the 'nick of time'? It may not be immediately obvious what the nick of time is, but we do know what it means to be in it, i.e. arriving at the last propitious moment. Prior to the 16th century there was another expression used to convey that meaning - 'pudding time'. This relates to the fact that pudding was the dish served first at mediaeval mealtimes. To arrive at pudding time was to arrive at the start of the meal, just in time to eat. Pudding was then a savoury dish - a form of sausage or haggis (see also the proof is in the pudding). Pudding time is first referred to in print in John Heywood's invaluable glossary A dialogue conteinyng the nomber in effect of all the prouerbes in the Englishe tongue, 1546:

This geare comth euen in puddyng time ryghtly.

That seems a perfectly serviceable idiom, so why did the Tudors change it to 'the nick of time'? The motivation appears to be the desire to express a finer degree of timing than the vague 'around the beginning of the meal'. The nick that was being referred to was a notch or small cut and was synonymous with precision. Such notches were used on 'tally' sticks to measure or keep score.

Note: the expressions 'keeping score' and 'keeping tally' derive from this and so do 'stocks' and 'shares', which refer to the splitting of such sticks (stocks) along their length and sharing the two matching halves as a record of a deal.

If someone is now said to be 'in the nick' the English would expect him to be found in prison, the Scots would picture him in the valley between two hills and Australians would imagine him to be naked. To Shakespeare and his contemporaries if someone were 'in (or at, or upon) the (very) nick' they were in the precise place at the precise time. Watches and the strings of musical instruments were adjusted to precise pre-marked nicks to keep them in proper order. Ben Jonson makes a reference to that in the play Pans Anniversary, circa 1637:

For to these, there is annexed a clock-keeper, a grave person, as Time himself, who is to see that they all keep time to a nick.

Arthur Golding gave what is likely to be the first example of the use of 'nick' in this context in his translation of Ovid's Metamorphosis, 1565:

Another thing cleane overthwart there commeth in the nicke:
The Ladie Semell great with childe by Jove as then was quicke.

The 'time' in 'the nick of time' is rather superfluous, as nick itself refers to time. The first example of the use of the phrase as we now know it comes in Arthur Day's Festivals, 1615:

Even in this nicke of time, this very, very instant.

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Secrets of Successful Writing - DeWitt H. Scott

2010-06-08T00:42:00.000-07:00

Helpful book! Secrets of Successful Writing Read it here!

Fwd: How to study!

2010-05-14T06:09:00.001-07:00

I lifted this article from WikiHow -- basic stuff? -- Maybe? Read it. It's very practical and helpful.... and lose the 'mugging'!

All the best

James

Original page, if you want!

When you sit down to study, how do you transfer that massive amount of information from the books and notes in front of you to a reliable spot inside your head? The best way to facilitate that kind of "file transfer" is to develop good study habits, as outlined below. At first, it'll take a good deal of conscious effort to change your studying ways, but after a while, it'll become second nature, and studying will be easier to do.

Steps

Manage your time. Make a weekly schedule and devote a certain amount of time per day to studying. This will improve your grades also. That amount will vary depending on whether you're in high or college, and also varies by field of study.

Study in 20-50 minute chunks. It takes time for your brain to form new long-term memories, and you can't just keep studying flat out. Take 5-10 minute breaks (no more!) and do something physically to get your blood flowing and make you more alert. Do a few jumping jacks, runaround your house, play with the dog, whatever it takes. Do just enough to get yourself pumped, but not worn out.

Make enough time in your schedule to get enough sleep. Think of it this way: If you sleep only 4-5 hours, you'll probably need to double your study time in order to be as effective as if you'd gotten 7-9 hours of sleep. Study more and sleep less? That doesn't sound like a very good deal. Get a good night's sleep every night and you'll be making the best of your study time. If you end up a little sleep deprived despite your best efforts, take a short nap (20 minutes) before studying. Then do some physical activity (like you would do during a break) right before you start.

Find a good study spot. You should feel comfortable, but not so comfortable that you risk falling asleep--a bed isn't a very good study spot when you're tired! The place where you study should be relatively quiet (traffic outside your window and quiet library conversations are fine, but interrupting siblings and music blasting in the next room are not).

As far as music is concerned, that's up to you. Some people prefer silence; others prefer music in the background. If you belong to the latter group, stick to instrumental music (music that has no words like classical, soundtrack, trance, or some celtic) and that you're already familiar with (not something that's bound to distract you)--otherwise, your brain will "multi-task" and not be able to retain information as well.

Having the television on while you study is generally a bad idea.

Clear your mind. If you've got a lot on your mind take a moment to write yourself some notes about what you're thinking about before you start studying. This will help to clear your mind you focus all your thoughts on your work.

Snack smart while you study. Have your snacks prepared when you begin a study session--don't wait till you get hungry and go rummaging for food. Avoid any snacks or drinks that will give you a rush of energy, because with every rush comes a crash in which all the information you studied is lost to an intense desire to sleep. Focus on "slow release" carbohydrates, which not only give you a steady stream of energy, but they also boost serotonin, a brain chemical that makes you feel good:

Rewrite your notes at home. When you're in class, emphasize recording over understanding or neatness when you take notes. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try to understand or organize your notes at all; just don't waste time doing something in class that you can figure out or neaten up at home. Consider your in-class notes a "rough draft" of sorts. Rewrite your notes as soon after the class as possible, while the material is fresh in your mind and so you can fill in any gaps from memory. The process of rewriting your notes is a more active approach to studying--it engages your mind in a way that just reading the notes doesn't.

You may find it easier to keep two notebooks--one for your "rough draft" notes, and another for your rewritten notes.

Some people type their notes, but others find that handwriting enhances their ability to remember the notes.

The more paraphrasing you do, the better. Same goes for drawing. If you're studying anatomy, for example, "re-draw" the system you're studying from memory.

Learn the most important facts first. Don't just read the material from beginning to end, stopping to memorize each new fact as you come to it. New information is acquired much more easily when you can relate it to material that you already know.

When you are beginning to study a new chapter, it will make the information it contains much more meaningful and easier to learn if you first take a few minutes to read the introduction, the headings, the first sentence of every paragraph, and the chapter summary to get a good idea of what the chapter is about before going on to read the chapter as a whole. (Word for word, these portions also contain more information that is likely to be asked about on a test!)

If you can, use a highlighter, or underline the most important points in the body of the text, so that you can spot them more easily when you review the material. It also helps to make notes in pencil in the margin in your own words to summarize or comment on important points. (These practices may make your textbook worth less when you sell it back to the bookstore, but it may make it worth a great deal more to you at test time!)

You can also read just these portions in order to quickly review the material you have learned while it is still fresh in your memory, and help the main points to sink in.

This is also a great way to review the most important ideas just before a test, when your time is especially limited.

It's also a good way to periodically review in this manner to keep the main points of what you have already learned fresh in your mind if you need to remember a large amount of material for a longer period -- for a final examination, for a comprehensive exam in your major, for a graduate oral, or for entry into a profession.

If you have enough privacy, it also helps to recite your summaries aloud in order to involve more senses in the activity of learning, like listening to music over several channels at once. Incorporate your summaries into your notes, if there is a connection.

If you're having trouble summarizing the material so that it "sticks" in your head, try teaching it to someone else. Pretend you're teaching it to someone who doesn't know anything about the topic, or create a wikiHow page about it! For example, Memorize the Canadian Territories & Provinces was made as a study guide for an 8th grade student.

Make flash cards. Traditionally, this is done with index cards, but you can also download computer programs that cut down on space and the cost of index cards. You can also just use a regular piece of paper folded (vertically) in half. Put the questions on the side you can see when the paper is folded; unfold it to see the answers inside. Keep quizzing yourself until you get all the answers right reliably. Remember: "Repetition is the mother of skill."

You can also turn your notes into flash cards using the Cornell note-taking system, which involves writing grouping your notes around keywords that you can quiz yourself on later by covering the notes and trying to remember what you wrote based on seeing only the keyword.

If your textbook has a vocabulary section, a glossary, or a list of terms, make sure that you understand these completely. You don't have to memorize them, but whenever there is an important concept in a particular field, there is usually a special term to refer to it. Learn these terms, and be able to use them easily, and you will have gone a long way towards mastering the subject itself. (Besides, teachers frequently draw from these lists as a quick and easy way to make up test questions!)

Make associations. The most effective way to retain information is to "tie" it to existing information that's already lodged in your mind.

Take advantage of your learning style. Think about what you already learn and remember easily--song lyrics? choreography? pictures? Work that into your study habits. If you're having trouble memorizing a concept, write a catchy jingle about it (or write lyrics to the tune of your favorite song); choreograph a representative dance; draw a comic. The sillier and more outrageous, the better--we tend to remember silly things more than we remember boring things!

Use mnemonics (memory aids). Rearrange the information is a sequence that's meaningful to you. For example, if one wants to remember the notes of the treble clef lines in music, remember the mnemonic Every Good Boy Deserves Fudge = E, G, B, D, F. It's much easier to remember a sentence than a series of random letters. You can also build a memory palace or Roman room to memorize lists like the thirteen original colonies in America, in chronological order. If the list is short, link the items together using an image in your mind.

Organize the information with a mind map. The end result of mapping should be a web-like structure of words and ideas that are somehow related in the writer's mind.

Use visualization skills. Construct a movie in your mind that illustrates the concept you're trying to remember, and play it several times over. Imagine every little detail. Use your senses--how does it smell? look? feel? sound? taste?

Make a study sheet. Try and condense the information you will need into one sheet, or two if absolutely necessary. Bring it around with you and look at it whenever you have downtime during the days leading up to the test. If you type it up onto the computer, you can get a lot more control over your layout by changing font sizes, margin spaces, etc.

Make it a group effort. Get some friends together--friends who are actually interested in studying, that is--and have everyone bring over their flash cards. Pass them around and quiz each other. If anyone is unclear on a concept, take turns explaining them to each other. Better yet, turn your study session into a game like Trivial Pursuit.

ONLY!

2010-04-26T04:33:00.000-07:00

You probably did this exercise in school. Place the word 'only' at every possible position in the sentence, "I hurt my leg playing football yesterday", and see how the meaning is entirely different each time:

Only I hurt my leg playing football yesterday. (nobody else got hurt)

I only hurt my leg playing football yesterday. (my leg was hurt, no other body part)

I hurt only my leg playing football yesterday. (Nobody else's leg)

I hurt my only leg playing football yesterday. (I have only one leg)

I hurt my leg only playing football yesterday. (no other activity)

I hurt my leg playing only football yesterday (playing nothing but football)

I hurt my leg playing football only yesterday. (Just yesterday)

I hurt my leg playing football yesterday only. (If you are Indian you will know what this means -- the usage doesn't exist in other English-speaking countries)

wastrel

2010-04-26T04:20:00.001-07:00

Word of the Day
wastrel WAY-struhl, noun:

1. A person who wastes, especially one who squanders money; a spendthrift.

2. An idler; a loafer; a good-for-nothing.

Example sentences

Thad risked everything, including his farm, to set Abner up in the
grocery business in the town of Hargrave, only to have Abner turn
wastrel and lose everything.--John Kenny Crane, "Good Fellers", New
York Times, November 15, 1992

Was her father . . . the brilliant, glamorous figure she remembered,
or the alcoholic wastrel his own brother described?--Jean Strouse,
"Making the Facts Obey", New York Times, May 24, 1992

Wastrel is from waste + -rel (as in scoundrel).

Doric

2010-04-12T04:59:00.001-07:00

Although English is spoken, in many parts of Scotland accents and local dialects can seem confusing to visitors, even native English speakers.
The local Aberdeen dialect is Doric, very different what is heard in other parts of Scotland. At first hearing it (and the distinctive accent) may seem utterly impenetrable, even to other Scots. It has its origins in the farming communities nearby and is not as spoken as widely as it used to be. However, there is still a good chance you will encounter the dialect on your travels, so here are a few commonly used words with translations:

"Fit like?" - A greeting, essentially, "How are you doing?".
"Nae bad yersel?" - A reply, essentially, "Not bad, how about you?".
"Fit?" - "What?".
"Fa?" - "Who?".
"Far?" - "Where?".
"Fan?"- "When?".
"Aye" - "Yes".
"Na'" - "No" (usually, an n sound followed by a vowel constitutes "no".
"Wee" - "Little", though this famous Doric word has become common in other areas worldwide nowadays.
"Dinnae ken" - "Don't know".
"H'min" - "Excuse me good sir?"
"far aboot ye fae?" where are you from?
"ben a/eh hoose" - "Through the house/in the other room"
"gie" - "give"
"guy" - "very"

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The Saddest Word...

2010-04-04T21:11:00.000-07:00

One of the saddest words in the English language is the word “almost.”

One of the saddest phrases ever found written was found written on the cell wall of a prison, “If I only had.”

One of the saddest statements ever made was made by a famous lawyer who died an alcoholic in disgrace, “The tragedy is not that I’m not the man I used to be. The greatest tragedy is that I’m not the man I could have been.”

... and the hardest words to say in English (or any language) are, "I was wrong!"

Spreading the words: The King James Bible

2010-04-04T19:30:00.001-07:00

Frank Field, London Times, April 2, 2010

I have only ever learnt two short pieces of literature by heart. One was Lady Macbeth's speech "Out, damn'd spot", which I sprinkled liberally across my O-level English literature paper.

Of more lasting impact have been the few verses in Genesis iii describing mankind's fall. A new vicar at St Nicholas, Chiswick, where I went as a boy, introduced a ceremony of readings and carols that King's has made famous. As head chorister I was allotted that reading.

The event almost immobilised me with an attack of first-night nerves. But once I was up and reading it was as if I had stepped with Alice into another wonderful world. My voice began to throw out those magnificent phrases that would warm the coldest of hearts. "Now the serpent was more subtil than any beast of the field . . ." The spell of the King James language that had intoxicated English men and women down the ages had landed another recruit.

Next year our country will celebrate 400 years of the King James Bible. The translators went about their task with a wonderful self-confidence that allowed them to use much of the pioneering translator William Tyndale's wonderful text. Indeed, many of the phrases still in use in our language are Tyndale's.

James I saw his task as giving his newly acquired kingdom a beautiful gift that would also serve as a unifying force. It didn't quite turn out as he wished, but many of those families who left these shores to begin life in the New World took James's book with them.

The result was beyond what the King could ever have imagined. As James's Bible spread around the world, Britain established a linguistic empire that has outlasted any imperial power. Indeed, the subjects of this English-language commonwealth are bound together by the strongest of bonds, a use and love of the English language.

The English are always slow to blow their own trumpet and this reticence is one of our more gracious characteristics. But come 2011 we will be selling ourselves short if we do not, for once, enter into a great celebration of a book that has helped to define our national character while our language has become one spoken by a third of the globe.

As the newly crowned King asserted his authority and set in train a new translation of the Bible, who could have imagined for the briefest of moments--or "in the twinkling of an eye"--that this would be the outcome?

Comprise, compose or consist? A guide

2010-04-04T19:29:00.000-07:00

OK, everybody, repeat after me: The whole comprises its parts. Bear this in mind as you read further.
The parts do not comprise the whole, nor is the whole comprised of the parts.
But the whole may be composed of--and even consist of or be made up of--the parts.
If this confuses you, take heart. Comprise looks a lot like compose and consist, but it doesn't behave in the same way. And that explains why it is commonly misused.
Take a look at this string of examples:
The board of directors comprises 12 members.
That is, the whole (board) comprises the parts (members).

You could also say:
The board of directors is composed of 12 members. Or:
The board of directors is made up of 12 members. Or:
The board of directors consists of 12 members.

Swinging the sentence around, it's correct to say:
Twelve members compose the board of directors. Or:
Twelve members make up the board of directors.

But you could not say:
Twelve members comprise the board of directors. Nor could you write:
The board of directors is comprised of 12 members.
That's because the whole comprises its parts--and not the other way around.

Comprise is interchangeable with is made up of.

The easiest way to keep this straight is to remember this simple rule: Avoid using is comprised of at all costs. It has no place in the English language. Use comprise--but only when you're communicating about the whole.
Denise C. Baron is a director of global communications with Merck & Co., Inc.

What Is a Ton?

2010-02-15T00:21:00.001-08:00

'Ton' used colloquially

Ton is also used informally to mean a large amount of something (material or not), for example, " I just ate a ton of potato chips". It can also be used as a highly derogatory meaning for very overweight persons, e.g., "look at that ten-ton Tessie" (a fat woman). This type of usage is known as 'hyperbole', an exaggerated statement for the sake of effect, not intended to be taken literally.
In the UK, a ton is colloquially used to refer to 100 of a given unit. Ton can thus refer to a speed of 100 miles per hour e.g. "John was doing a ton down the motorway"; to money e.g. "How much did you pay for that?" "A ton" (£100); to 100 points in a game e.g. "Eric just threw a ton in our darts game"; or to a hundred of pretty much anything else.
Indians are almost certainly familiar that a ton is a 100 runs in the game of cricket (more commonly known as a century).

Metric tonne = 1000 kg

British ton = 1016 kg (2240 lbs also known as a 'long ton')

US ton = 907 kg (2000lbs also known as a 'short ton').

Grammar v Vocabulary

2010-02-14T17:56:00.001-08:00

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Grammar v Vocabulary

via TeachingEnglish | British Council | BBC by on 1/27/10

I give more emphasis to vocabulary

I give more emphasis to grammar

I give equal emphasis to both

When teaching speaking to intermediate students, both grammar and vocabulary are important skills to develop. In your teaching, which of those takes priority?

When teaching intermediate students speaking skills -

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Connectors Keep It Simple

2010-02-12T19:13:00.001-08:00

See my highlighting.

James

Connectors Keep It Simple

By John C. Maxwell, Leadership Wired, February 10, 2010

William Henry Harrison gave the longest inaugural address of any U.S. President, taking two hours to plod through a whopping 8,445-word speech. Even though the speech was delivered outdoors on a frigid and rainy day, the President stubbornly refused to wear an overcoat or hat. As a result, he caught a cold that developed into pneumonia, and he died a month later. The leadership lesson: it pays to simplify.

Two Myths about Simplicity

Myth #1 Simplicity Lacks Depth. A few years ago, I was being interviewed on a television talk show. "John," the host said, "I've read several of your books, and they are all so simple." His mocking tone made it clear to the audience and to me that the comment was not intended as a compliment.

My response was direct: "That's true. The principles in my books are simple to understand, but they are not always simple to apply." The audience applauded, and the talk show host conceded that what I said was true.

We often associate simplicity with a lack of depth or shortage of intelligence. Conversely, we ascribe intelligence to people who communicate using big words or hard-to-grasp concepts. Somehow, we assume that anyone speaking in a dense, academic style must be smart.

The issues we face in life can be complex, with all sorts of intricacies. However, as leaders and communicators, our job is to bring clarity to a subject, reducing rather than adding to its complexity. The measure of a great teacher isn't what he knows; it's what his students know. Simplicity is a skill, and it's a necessary one if you want to connect with people when you communicate.

Myth #2 Simplicity Is Easy. When we encounter something simple, we assume it has been hastily thrown together or not fully thought out. To us, simplicity means taking shortcuts and denying the complex reality of life. However, in a society flooded with information, simplicity has never been more difficult to achieve. Nor has it ever been as important.

Perhaps nobody understands simplicity better than Apple, Inc. The company put its computers back on the map by touting their user-friendly interfaces. Then, Apple leapfrogged the competition by pioneering devices that simplified the way we access, store, and share information.

Despite his success in bringing about simplicity, Apple CEO Steve Jobs attests to the difficulty of doing so.

If you read the Apple's first brochure, the headline was "Simplicity is the Ultimate Sophistication." What we meant by that was that when you first attack a problem it seems really simple because you don't understand it. Then when you start to really understand it, you come up with these very complicated solutions because it's really hairy. Most people stop there. But a few people keep burning the midnight oil and finally understand the underlying principles of the problem and come up with an elegantly simple solution for it. But very few people go the distance to get there.

It may seem counterintuitive, but if you want to take your communication to the next level, don't try to dazzle people with your intellect or overpower them with information. Give them clarity and simplicity. People will relate to you, and they'll want to invite you back to communicate with them again.

Also, don't expect simplicity to come easily. At first, your attempts to find clarity may seem to backfire. Nevertheless, press on and maintain focus. Eventually, you'll reduce your problems to a manageable size, and you'll uncover simple principles that will aid your ability to connect with those you serve.

Fillers

2010-01-15T19:53:00.000-08:00

This article was originally in Vanity Fair. I thought the other articles and pics might be 'distracting' for you. Its a good article on 'speech fillers'.

Click here!

Original article

How new words enter a language...

2010-01-05T20:10:00.001-08:00

It can be interesting to see how new words come into a language. Sometimes the words are borrowed from other languages but are then often misspelled, mispronounced and misappropriated. But this is not necessarily wrong. Many words came into the English language from French and other languages this way. I came across these three words recently:

o Barriel: Mispronounced barrier. All Haryana Roadways employees prefer this pronunciation!

o Flench: Meaning flange. (An external or internal rib or rim (lip), on a wheel or beam.This usage is pretty much universal in India. It had me mystified at first.

o Stroal: I heard this many times but didn't know what it was until I saw it on a sign at Amartex and realized it was 'stole' (a narrower lady's shawl, especially a formal shawl of expensive fabric)

Links

2009-12-28T20:25:00.001-08:00

I haven't had chance yet to post much on this blog. While you wait I am adding links to learning sites that I consider excellent.

Word of the Day: Helps build your vocabulary with a new word everyday. Each word is given in a context to help you to know how to use it. The etymology is included at the end.

[Word of the Day

collude kuh-LOOD, intransitive verb

To act in concert; to conspire; to plot.

Example sentences:

More perniciously still, well-heeled contributors and interest groups that seek political power routinely collude with needy office-seekers to find new paths around the hollow contribution limits.--Max Frankel, "You Can't Dam the Money", New York Times Magazine, February 20, 2000

Chance contingencies, millions of them, bring him to power, and all men now seem to collude in asserting his authority.--Leo Tolstoy, War and Peace

Collude derives from Latin colludere, from con-, "together" + ludere, "to play."]

BBC Probably the best of them all. So many resources and lessons here. Take time to browse around until you find what suits you.

Oxford English Dictionary word of the day

More to come... all the best!

2009-12-10T01:44:00.001-08:00

With the climate summit in progress in Copenhagen, the subject is a 'hot' (pun intended) topic.
How is your climate change vocabulary? Do you know what the Kyoto Protocol is? -- Or a feedback loop?
Click on the link HERE and see the (rather long, sorry) list and see how many words you were already familiar with.
Write to me at walton.phil@gmail.com and let me know how you did!

So You Want to Improve Your English?

Use of Brackets

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, Nov. 15, 2011Brackets are used for a number of purposes:

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Sent to you by nine-one-four via Google Reader:

Grammar v Vocabulary

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Connectors Keep It Simple

See my highlighting.

James

Connectors Keep It Simple

Fillers

How new words enter a language...

Links

[Word of the Day

The Blue Book of Grammar and Punctuation, Nov. 15, 2011
Brackets are used for a number of purposes: