8.31.2011

FIGURE OUT

Definition: to find the answer to a problem, a question, or the reason for something by investigating it and thinking about it carefully.
       -  I can’t figure out why these totals don’t match.
    - I’ve finally figured out why she got so upset yesterday.

This phrasal verb can be separated.
Source: Knight's English

8.25.2011

PASS OVER / STEER AWAY FROM

pass overto deliberately avoid discussing something.
(This verb has more than one meaning; this phrasal verb can be separated.)

               He talked about his childhood, but passed over his teenage years.
                   We’ll pass over what happened last week, shall we?
steer away from: to avoid talking about something or doing something. (This phrasal verb can be separated.)
               She tried to steer the conversation away from the topic of her ex-boyfriend.
               He usually steers away from serious subjects.
Source: Knight's English

POP-UP STORES = LOJAS TEMPORÁRIAS

8.21.2011

CARRY ON /HANG ON

Today's "London Evening Standard": The proprietor of a café who used a baseball bat to warn off looters said he would 'keep calm and carry on' as his business opened his morning.

8.18.2011

QUORATE, QUORUM

noun: A quorum / adjective: Having a quorum
         - With only five people able to make it to the meeting, we were barely quorate.
         - It shall be quorate only if the majority of its members are present. (O quorum somente será atingido será atingido se a maioria dos seus membros estiver presente.)
         - The Panel’s resolutions will be considered quorate if at least three of its members are present. (Para serem válidas, as deliberações devem contar com a presença de, pelo menos, três dos membros do painel.)
         - The House had better be quorate indeed more than quorate or we risk having no budget. (É bom que haja quórum na Assembleia - mais do que quórum -, caso contrário arriscamo-nos a ficar sem orçamento.)
         - Madam President, on the same point of order that Mr Duff raised earlier, the roll-call vote has just shown that we are not quorate, so therefore, under the same rules, I would like to ask for the quorum to be established and I call on Members to support me by standing. (Senhora Presidente, intervenho para um ponto de ordem sobre a mesma questão que há pouco aqui foi suscitada pelo Sr. Duff. Com efeito, a votação nominal acaba de demonstrar que não há quórum, pelo que, nos mesmos termos aqui invocados pelo senhor deputado Duff, gostaria de solicitar a verificação do quórum, e convido os colegas da assembleia a erguerem¬se em sinal de apoio ao meu pedido.)

8.17.2011

"MIND YOUR LANGUAGE!"

“(...) We seem unable to differentiate between "compare to" and "compare with". This, from a recent piece about the cricketer Mark Ramprakash, is typical: "Watchers compared the schoolboy with Denis Compton as he smashed the Yorkshire attack around Lord's." This sentence conjures up an image of the watchers, perhaps viewing archive footage of the late Compton, attempting to assess the similarities and differences between the two batsmen. What the watchers actually did was liken Ramprakash to Compton. They said he was just like Compton. They compared him to Compton! How hard is that?
         We have similar problems deciding between "who" and "whom". You can bet what's left of the equity in your house that, on one of the rare occasions when we summon up the courage to use the latter, the former would have been correct. It may not matter too much, as "whom" seems to be disappearing from English usage altogether, but it would be nice to get it right once in a while.
        As for "that" and "which", my faith in the infallibility of the style guide's formula (which I stole from a former colleague at the Independent) – "this is the house that Jack built; but this house, which John built, is falling down" – is daily tested by a near universal failure of my colleagues to observe the distinction.
        Although grammar is often fuzzy and open to interpretation, in my book these three mistakes all come down to a Manichean choice between good and evil, light and dark, right and wrong. If the style guide is no help, perhaps when faced with deciding between "compare to" and "compare with", "who" and "whom", or "that" and "which", we should simply toss a coin.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/aug/24/grauniad-spelling-grammar-subeditors?INTCMP=SRCH
guardian.co.uk/styleguide

KEEP IT SIMPLE!

Keep it simple! UK is easier to read than U.K. and OK is easier than okay. (The Guardian Style Guide)

8.16.2011

PIMM'S

PIMM'S, a brand of fruit cups, is a traditional beverage served at UK pubs and restaurants. The most popular is Pimm's No. 1, prepared as follows:
        Take a jug or long drink glass and fill it with ice.  Mix 1 part PIMM'S* No.1 with 3 parts chilled lemonade. Add some mint, cucumber, orange and strawberry.
        Voilá! Enjoy!

8.15.2011

UP AND RUNNING

in operation; functioning properly: "I'm up and running!"

8.13.2011

Ask yourself: "Am I doing this because I want to, or because someone else think I should?"

"I'm so passionate about my work that boundaries have merged and I no longer know when I'm working or not. I'd encourage people to ask themselves: "Am I doing this because I want to, or because someone else think I should?"  You can accept being trapped, or you can break out  and find something more fulfilling."
                                                                 - Deborah Meaden

8.04.2011

STORE D'OEUVRES

Snacks and food samples that a grocery store will serve at various locations in order to tempt the patrons into buying something they weren't planning on (pizza, chips and dip, sausage, etc.).
        - I went to Costco the other day and filled up on store d'oeuvres.
Stopping at the store or usually a quickie mart to grab and throw down some snacks while on your way to eat at someone's house. Usually because you know there's going to be little or no good food there.
        - We better stop and grab some store d'oeuvres, you know that she never has enough food.  (on the way to a party at some chick's house)
        - Isn't she a vegetarian? We'd better stop and get some store d'oeuvres. I can't eat that shit all night.