12.29.2008

GOOD RIDDANCE TO 2008?

(Já vai tarde?)
Is 2009 welcome? Que sera, sera! (See lyrics below)
1. A deliverance from or removal of something unwanted or undesirable: “He took it easy as a good riddance for both sides” (Charles Dickens). “Before you say say good riddance to 2008, there are three things you should consider doing.”
2. The act of ridding or getting rid of something useless or used up: disposal, dumping, elimination, jettison: riddance of household pests.
3. The act or process of eliminating: clearance, elimination, eradication, liquidation, purge, removal. See keep/release.

QUE SERA, SERA (Doris Day)
(Written by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans for Alfred Hitchcock's 1956 re-make of his 1934 film "The Man Who Knew Too Much" starring Doris Day and James Stewart.)

When I was just a little girl,I asked my mother, "What will I be? Will I be pretty? Will I be rich? "Here's what she said to me: "Que sera, sera,Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see.Que sera, sera,What will be, will be."

"When I was just a child in school,I asked my teacher, "What will I try?Should I paint pictures"Should I sing songs? "This was her wise reply: "Que sera, sera,Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see.Que sera, sera,What will be, will be."

When I grew up and fell in love.I asked my sweetheart, "What lies ahead? Will we have rainbows Day after day?" Here's what my sweetheart said: "Que sera, sera,Whatever will be, will be. The future's not ours to see.Que sera, sera,What will be, will be."

Now I have Children of my own. They ask their mother, "What will I be?" Will I be handsome? Will I be rich?" I tell them tenderly: "Que sera, sera, Whatever will be, will be; The future's not ours to see. Que sera, sera, What will be, will be. Que Sera, Sera!"

12.27.2008

CHRISTMASTIDE / MISTLETOE / EPIPHANY

Christmastide: Época de Natal. The season of Christmas, especially the festival celebrated from Christmas eve to the eve of Epiphany, January 5.

Epiphany: Epifânia. In many Christian churches, a yearly festival, held January 6, commemorating both the revealing of Jesus as the Christ to the Gentiles in the persons of the Magi and the baptism of Jesus; an appearance or manifestation of a god or other supernatural being. Also called "Twelfth Day" (12 noites após o Natal). A moment of sudden intuitive understanding; flash of insight. (Vivi algum tempo na Itália, na região do Vêneto, a poucos quilômetros de Veneza, em Oderzo. Lá, a Epifânia é uma festa de celebração da morte e renascimento da natureza, representada por uma bruxa boa [La Befana], que distribui doces para as crianças. As vitrines trazem diversas figuras de bruxas e as pessoas decoram suas casas com uma bruxa.)

Mistletoe: Visco. Às vezes confundida com o azevinho (holly). A semi parasitic green shrub with thick green leaves and waxy white berries used as Christmas decoration in English-speaking countries, where it is believed that it has the magical powers of granting the right to kiss anyone standing beneath it. The tradition in England is that, after every kiss, a berry is plucked from the twig and when the last berry is removed, the twig's powers are exhausted. The powers of American mistletoe last much longer. It is difficult to dissociate mistletoe from the act of kissing: "This pickle makes me pucker up more than a tree full of mistletoe." But during the holidays, avoid insults like: "I would sooner eat the mistletoe than kiss him." If someone rubs you the wrong way, rather than resort to crude language, in keeping with the holiday spirit, simply say: "As I walk away, kindly note the mistletoe attached to my coattail”.
Source: YourDictionary

12.22.2008

FALL FOR

to be strongly attracted to someone and start loving them(sera que é daí que vem o nosso “caido/caidinho por”?)

E.g.1: They fell for each other immediately, and got married 3 months later.
E.g.2: He's unhappy because he's fallen for a girl who loves someone else.

This phrasal verb can't be separated.
Source: Knights English

12.19.2008

CONE OFF

(nas férias, possivelmente encontraremos cones nas estradas)
to close an area like a road or part of a road using large (orange) plastic cones in order to stop people driving on or using this part.

E.g.1: There were long traffic jams on the M25 (motorway round London) because police had coned off 2 lanes after an accident.
E.g.2: There will be road works on this part of the road. The workmen will cone it off very quickly.

This phrasal verb can be separated.
Source: Knights English

12.18.2008

BURN ONE’S BRIDGES

To leave all of your friends and acquaintances behind; to cause permanent damage in your relationships.

1) Even though you're quitting your job tomorrow, try not to burn your bridges. You never know when you'll need help in the future.
2) There may be a conflict of interest if I work with both companies. Of course I don't want to burn any bridges, so I should choose one company and let the other know that I can't work with them.

Etymology: People form bridges to their past. If you forget or insult your relationships, you burn your bridges and cannot go back. (How true!)

12.15.2008

PERIPATETIC / SEDENTARY

(Eu preciso mudar: deixar de ser "sedentary and take up peripatetics")

Peripatetic (adjective) 1) On foot, walking from place to place. (2) Relating to the methods and thought of Aristotle, who conducted discussions while walking. )The word gains a capital when you're talking about philosophy. A peripatetic is someone who rambles on foot; a Peripatetic is an adherent of Aristotle.

Since the word remains the same whether it's an adjective or noun, there are a lot of applications. With a focus on health, one might say "I've taken up peripatetics as part of my exercise regime." On the contrary, "I told the guy at the garage to get my car ready quickly—I'm no peripatetic." The philosophical use would look something like "Eighteenth-century French dramatists had a largely Peripatetic approach to crafting plays."

Etymology: Greek peripatetikos from peripatein "to walk up and down," from -patein "to tread."
Sedentary (adjective): Not migratory, settled, as "sedentary birds;" doing or requiring much sitting, as "a sedentary job;" attached, as "sedentary barnacles."The adverb is "sedentarily" and the noun, "sedentariness." The word is obviously related to "sediment," "sit," "seat," and "settle," as well.

It is a near antonym of "active" when referring to people.Some of us lead sedentary lives or work at sedentary jobs (that require long spells of sitting), but today's word may be stretched to, "An around-the-world cruise sounds good but your mom and I have become sedentary birds who don't migrate very far any more." Indeed, it can even reach sentences like, "Riddley travels a lot but he has such a sedentary mind that he only visits the haunts of English-speakers when he is abroad."

12.12.2008

PINUP

Ouvi hoje, no noticiário, que faleceu a primeira pinup, Bettie Page, a que deu origem ao termo. E não é que o site Wikipedia já estava atualizado? Veja: “Bettie Page (April 22, 1923 – December 11, 2008) was a former American model who became famous in the 1950s for her fetish modeling and pin-up photos. She was also one of the earliest Playmates of the Month for Playboy magazine.” Como suas fotos passaram a ser penduradas (pinned up) na parede, surgiu o termo “pinup girl”.
1. that is or can be pinned up on or otherwise fastened to a wall a pinup lamp
2. (informal) designating a person whose sexual attractiveness makes her or him a suitable subject for the kind of pictures often pinned up on walls; such a person, picture, etc. (calendar girl, playmate, centerfold girl, gatefold girl; see nude)
She was China's first pinup girl and later Hong Kong's premiere sex phone girl.
It's a virtual pinup calendar that could have used some more variety.
Source: Your Dictionary

12.10.2008

CURRY

O “curry” de hoje não é aquela delícia indiana que é o prato típico da gastronomia inglesa. Aqui, é um verbo: "curry", que significa bajular, lisonjear, persuadir/dissuadir: to curry somebody out of some thing: persuadir/dissuadir alguém de fazer alguma coisa. (to coax and cajole personal benefit with flattery)

We can curry acquaintance with people in high places or curry forgiveness for forgetting to bring home the curry. We can curry friends, goodwill, jobs, so long as we do it with the sycophancy (adulação) of a good toady (bajulador, puxa-saco).

The delicious Indian curry dishes? Unrelated. That "curry" comes from Tamil kari, a relish for rice. And this "curry" is unrelated to the noun "curry" of English hunting lore, referring to the leftovers from dressing the kill awarded the hounds for their restive (obstinado) duty. This word comes from French "curée", itself from cuir "hide, skin." Today's word not only has a colorful history; it has multiple personalities and other meanings too.

Suggested Usage: "Today's word has so many flavors it is difficult to avoid using two in the same sentence: "Nothing curries the affection of Madhu better than a bowl of good Indian curry." There is, in fact, much to be curried with curry, "Saroya took her husband to a fine Indian restaurant to curry (obter, conseguir com adulação) his approval of a new car for her."
Source: Your Dictionary

12.07.2008

LIBRA/POUND - PEQUIM/BEIJING – BOMBAIM/BOMBAY OR MUMBAI ?

Estávamos eu e uma pessoa prestes a viajar para Londres conversando sobre a vida em Londres e preços e coisas e tais quando ela me interpelou: “Por que você diz ‘pounds’? A moeda de Londres não é a libra?” Pois é, ao chegar em outro país às vezes nos surpreendemos com a mudança nos nomes a que estamos acostumados. Quem vai ao “Disneyworld” aprenderá que o Pateta é o “Goofy”, Margarida é “Daisy Duck”, Tio Patinhas é o “Scrooge McDuck” (veja a lista em http://stp.ling.uu.se/~starback/dcml/chars/). Lembrei-me disso ao ler o blog do Danilo Nogueira do dia 3/12/2008, sobre topônimos (http://tradutor-profissional.blogspot.com/).

12.05.2008

ORAL / VERBAL

Traditionally, oral means spoken (an oral examination) and verbal means related to words (verbal reasoning).
But 'verbal agreement' is the idiomatic term for one that is spoken, not written. There is no ambiguity here since an agreement necessarily involves words.
Another idiom is 'non-verbal communication', the use of gesture and body language instead of words; effectively this means unspoken since it is only used of people in face to face contact, who can observe one another's physical behavior.
Source: Your Dictionary