The central Pacific Ocean island nation of Kiribati claims that its easternmost landmass, uninhabited Caroline Island, is the first to usher in the New Year.
AUSTRALIA – The fireworks of Sydney, the largest city in Australia, are one of the most-watched events on television worldwide.
BRASIL – As pessoas geralmente se vestem de branco e, no Rio de Janeiro, vão para a beira do mar ver os fogos. Em outras praias – Santos/Praia Grande – visitam a estátua de Iemanjá e lançam flores, perfumes e velas ao mar. Em São Paulo, há a corrida de São Silvestre na véspera do Ano Novo [que dá para assistir da minha janela].
FRANCE: They have a great show with fire works shot near the Eiffel tower. French people call New Year's Eve la Saint-Sylvestre. On this day they have a special feast called le Réveillon de Saint-Sylvestre in which they have nice dishes like pancakes and flavoured duck or goose. They drink champagne, a white sparkling wine produced in the Champagne Region of France. They also drink Vin chaud (hot wine), but sparkling cider is also common. They also have a festival cake called galette des rois which has sometimes a little king figure baked inside. They believe, like several other countries, that this nice dinner brings a nice year to the family.
UK: London has a major fireworks display along the River Thames, followed by a parade on New Year's Day. (Pena que os transportes públicos praticamente não funcionam nesse dia).
Bonne Année / Happy New Year /
Buon Anno / Feliz Ano Novo
12.30.2009
12.27.2009
ON THE CUSP = ON THE VERGE
[na iminência de] The online encyclopedia Wikipedia is on the cusp of launching a major revamp to how people contribute to some pages. The site will require that revisions to pages about living people and some organizations be approved by an editor. If a page has a number of controversial edits or is repeatedly vandalized, editors can lock a page, so that it cannot be edited by everyone.
Source: Can't remember... maybe YourDict
Source: Can't remember... maybe YourDict
12.26.2009
TODAY IS BOXING DAY IN LONDON!
Boxing Day is traditionally celebrated on 26 December, St. Stephen's Day, the day after Christmas Day. [...] --------
Boxing Day sales are getting under way as high street* retailers open their doors to bargain-savvy shoppers.
*High Street, or the High Street, is a metonym for the generic name (and frequently the official name) of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in city centres, and is most often used in reference to retailing.
Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday (a shopping spree), much as the United States treats the day after Thanksgiving. It is a time where shops have sales, often with dramatic price decreases. For many merchants, Boxing Day has become the day of the year with the greatest revenue.
-----Many retailers open very early (typically 5 am or even earlier) and offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. It is not uncommon for long queues to form early in the morning of 26 December, hours before the opening of shops holding the big sales, especially at big-box consumer electronics retailers. Once inside, the shoppers often rush and grab, as many stores have a limited quantity of big draw or deeply discounted items ... hectic shopping experience ... customer stampedes...In recent years, retailers have expanded their deals to "Boxing Week"...
[...] The name derives from the tradition of giving seasonal gifts, on the day after Christmas, to less wealthy people and social inferiors, which was later extended to various workpeople such as labourers and servants.
[More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_day]
Boxing Day sales are getting under way as high street* retailers open their doors to bargain-savvy shoppers.
*High Street, or the High Street, is a metonym for the generic name (and frequently the official name) of the primary business street of towns or cities, especially in the United Kingdom. It is usually a focal point for shops and retailers in city centres, and is most often used in reference to retailing.
Boxing Day is primarily known as a shopping holiday (a shopping spree), much as the United States treats the day after Thanksgiving. It is a time where shops have sales, often with dramatic price decreases. For many merchants, Boxing Day has become the day of the year with the greatest revenue.
-----Many retailers open very early (typically 5 am or even earlier) and offer doorbuster deals and loss leaders to draw people to their stores. It is not uncommon for long queues to form early in the morning of 26 December, hours before the opening of shops holding the big sales, especially at big-box consumer electronics retailers. Once inside, the shoppers often rush and grab, as many stores have a limited quantity of big draw or deeply discounted items ... hectic shopping experience ... customer stampedes...In recent years, retailers have expanded their deals to "Boxing Week"...
[...] The name derives from the tradition of giving seasonal gifts, on the day after Christmas, to less wealthy people and social inferiors, which was later extended to various workpeople such as labourers and servants.
[More: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boxing_day]
12.21.2009
CHRISTMAS PUDDING (PLUM PUDDING) / BOLO REI / CHRISTMAS WORLDWIDE
Christmas pudding is the dessert traditionally served on Christmas Day (December 25). It has its origins in England, and is sometimes known as plum pudding, though this can also refer to other kinds of boiled pudding involving a lot of dried fruit… [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plum_pudding]
Bolo Rei é um bolo tradicional português que se come na consoada por alturas do Natal (25 de Dezembro) até ao Dia de Reis (6 de Janeiro), numa clara alusão aos mesmos (reis magos). De forma redonda com grande buraco no centro lembra uma coroa pintalgada por frutos secos e cristalizados. No interior do bolo Rei encontram-se misturadas com a massa branca e fofa: passas, frutos secos, frutas cristalizadas além da característica fava, dizendo a tradição que tem o direito a pedir um desejo quem tal fava lhe calhar em fatia (ou muitas vezes cabendo-lhe o pagamento do jantar). Inicialmente escondia-se também em cada bolo rei uma pequenina surpresa ou brinde. A inclusão de brinde foi proibida pela União Europeia, por alegados motivos de segurança, já que o brinde é feito de metal. ... [http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolo_rei]
Christmas worldwide - The Christmas season is celebrated in different ways around the world, varying by country and region. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_tradition]
Bolo Rei é um bolo tradicional português que se come na consoada por alturas do Natal (25 de Dezembro) até ao Dia de Reis (6 de Janeiro), numa clara alusão aos mesmos (reis magos). De forma redonda com grande buraco no centro lembra uma coroa pintalgada por frutos secos e cristalizados. No interior do bolo Rei encontram-se misturadas com a massa branca e fofa: passas, frutos secos, frutas cristalizadas além da característica fava, dizendo a tradição que tem o direito a pedir um desejo quem tal fava lhe calhar em fatia (ou muitas vezes cabendo-lhe o pagamento do jantar). Inicialmente escondia-se também em cada bolo rei uma pequenina surpresa ou brinde. A inclusão de brinde foi proibida pela União Europeia, por alegados motivos de segurança, já que o brinde é feito de metal. ... [http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bolo_rei]
Christmas worldwide - The Christmas season is celebrated in different ways around the world, varying by country and region. [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christmas_tradition]
12.09.2009
BOISTEROUS / RAMBUNCTIOUS
(adjective)
Boisterous: [impetuoso, tumultuoso, irrequieto, violento]:Exuberant, loud, rowdy.
Rambunctious: [barulhento, agitado, violento]
--------"Prezada Mãe: Seu filho... " [Tenho um sobrinho que não acreditava que havia mães que não recebiam esse recado da professora - minha irmã recebia tantos que ele já sabia de cor o conteúdo da mensagem. E, depois dos 30, além de ser um brilhante tecladista, com sua própria banda, retomou os estudos e é um advogado!]
--------Boisterous has been used by teachers for decades as a kind way of explaining to parents that their children were being bad. Being tactful, the teacher may say, "Oh, he's not bad. Just rambunctious and boisterous." Mom and Dad knew what the teacher meant, and you always heard from them when they got home from the conference. The meaning of the word depends highly on context: boisterous crowds are often the most fun to be a part of, but boisterous town hall meetings are not.
--------Boisterous can mean jolly and excited just as well as rowdy or unrestrained. It is one step removed, however, from being violently so. While often employed in terms of people, it may be used to describe rough, stormy weather, particularly on the sea. The adverb form boisterously and the noun boisterousness are seen less frequently but are no less grammatically correct.
Source:YourDictionary
Boisterous: [impetuoso, tumultuoso, irrequieto, violento]:Exuberant, loud, rowdy.
Rambunctious: [barulhento, agitado, violento]
--------"Prezada Mãe: Seu filho... " [Tenho um sobrinho que não acreditava que havia mães que não recebiam esse recado da professora - minha irmã recebia tantos que ele já sabia de cor o conteúdo da mensagem. E, depois dos 30, além de ser um brilhante tecladista, com sua própria banda, retomou os estudos e é um advogado!]
--------Boisterous has been used by teachers for decades as a kind way of explaining to parents that their children were being bad. Being tactful, the teacher may say, "Oh, he's not bad. Just rambunctious and boisterous." Mom and Dad knew what the teacher meant, and you always heard from them when they got home from the conference. The meaning of the word depends highly on context: boisterous crowds are often the most fun to be a part of, but boisterous town hall meetings are not.
--------Boisterous can mean jolly and excited just as well as rowdy or unrestrained. It is one step removed, however, from being violently so. While often employed in terms of people, it may be used to describe rough, stormy weather, particularly on the sea. The adverb form boisterously and the noun boisterousness are seen less frequently but are no less grammatically correct.
Source:YourDictionary
12.08.2009
FIGARO, FIGARO, FIGARO...
CARMEN opens the 2009-2010 opera season in Milan!
Ouça aqui a abertura de Carmen direto do site do Teatro Alla Scala:
http://www.teatroallascala.org/en/index.html
Ouça aqui a abertura de Carmen direto do site do Teatro Alla Scala:
http://www.teatroallascala.org/en/index.html
KNOCK! KNOCK! WHO IS THERE? IT'S ME OR IT'S I?
You're trying to make the right impression as you knock on the door.
"Who's there?" you're asked.
What's your reply? If you've ever been unsure, read on.
Pronouns as subject complements.
-----A subject complement is a word or phrase that follows a linking verb such as is or seems; it's the that in This is that, and it's the gray in All cats seem gray. A subject complement isn't the object of a verb but something linked to the subject by the verb. The rule for subject complements is very simple: They should be in the same case as the subject they are linked to, which is, of course, the subjective case.
-----It's me and It's us break the rule, a fact that has probably generated more incredulity among grammar-school students than any other precept of "good grammar," because It's I and It's we seem impossibly unnatural to them. Grammar experts often advise breaking the rule whenever the subjective pronouns I and we seem stiff or prissy, as they do following the informal contraction It's and in many other situations. That was we waterskiing by your cabin yesterday; When you hear three knocks, it will be I; His chief victim was I -- such sentences may obey the rule, but they are idiomatically objectionable.
-----There are, of course, sentences in which obeying the rule is not idiomatically objectionable. In It was I who broke your ski, the subjective who seems to make I preferable even though in principle there need be no agreement in case between a pronoun and its antecedent. The ear has to be the judge, hence our graphic for this column (just in case you were wondering).
-----It's him and It's her cannot be defended quite as energetically, because the rule-observing It's he and It's she, though perhaps slightly stilted, are not outlandish; most careful speakers and writers do use them. It's them is perhaps more often defensible, because It's they is more than slightly stilted. Again, the ear must be the judge; That was he skiing by your house seems fine to most, but His chief victim was she seems contrary to idiom, and to a lesser extent so does That was they skiing by your house.
-----So, when asked, "Who's there?" and you want to sound natural and idiomatic, go with "It's me." But if you are eager to impress with your impeccable grammar, consider replying with "It is I."
Source: Your Dictionary
"Who's there?" you're asked.
What's your reply? If you've ever been unsure, read on.
Pronouns as subject complements.
-----A subject complement is a word or phrase that follows a linking verb such as is or seems; it's the that in This is that, and it's the gray in All cats seem gray. A subject complement isn't the object of a verb but something linked to the subject by the verb. The rule for subject complements is very simple: They should be in the same case as the subject they are linked to, which is, of course, the subjective case.
-----It's me and It's us break the rule, a fact that has probably generated more incredulity among grammar-school students than any other precept of "good grammar," because It's I and It's we seem impossibly unnatural to them. Grammar experts often advise breaking the rule whenever the subjective pronouns I and we seem stiff or prissy, as they do following the informal contraction It's and in many other situations. That was we waterskiing by your cabin yesterday; When you hear three knocks, it will be I; His chief victim was I -- such sentences may obey the rule, but they are idiomatically objectionable.
-----There are, of course, sentences in which obeying the rule is not idiomatically objectionable. In It was I who broke your ski, the subjective who seems to make I preferable even though in principle there need be no agreement in case between a pronoun and its antecedent. The ear has to be the judge, hence our graphic for this column (just in case you were wondering).
-----It's him and It's her cannot be defended quite as energetically, because the rule-observing It's he and It's she, though perhaps slightly stilted, are not outlandish; most careful speakers and writers do use them. It's them is perhaps more often defensible, because It's they is more than slightly stilted. Again, the ear must be the judge; That was he skiing by your house seems fine to most, but His chief victim was she seems contrary to idiom, and to a lesser extent so does That was they skiing by your house.
-----So, when asked, "Who's there?" and you want to sound natural and idiomatic, go with "It's me." But if you are eager to impress with your impeccable grammar, consider replying with "It is I."
Source: Your Dictionary
12.07.2009
TINHAM CHEGO OU TINHAM CHEGADO? EXCEÇÃO: ACEITO / ACEITADO
De repente, na TV, alguém fala: “Os jogadores tinham chego...” Ai, isso doeu!
Chego é forma inepta do particípio de chegar, que só tem forma plena (chegado), e não a forma contrata (como aceito, de aceitar). Portanto, o correto é: Tinha chegado atrasado. Dê uma chegada (não um chego) aqui.
Certo: Eu tinha chegado atrasada. / Eu tinha trazido o bolo. / Trago o que quiser.
Errado: Eu tinha chego atrasada. / Eu tinha trago o bolo.
EXCEÇÃO: ACEITO / ACEITADO
Quando há duplo particípio, usa-se a forma regular (terminada em “do”) com os auxiliares ter ou haver; com os verbos ser ou estar, usa-se a forma irregular.
1: Apesar de TER (ou HAVER) aceitado o jogo, ele estava desconfiado.
2: Mesmo não cumprindo todos os requisitos, o rapaz FOI aceito como aluno.
Fonte: Várias
VERBOS COM DUPLO PARTICÍPIO:
INFINITIVO / PARTICÍPIO / PARTICÍPIO IRREGULAR
aceitar / aceitado / aceito, aceite /[tem] aceitado / [foi/está] aceito
acender / acendido / aceso
benzer / benzido / bento
contundir / contundido / contuso
dispersar / dispersado / disperso
eleger / elegido / eleito
entregar / entregado / entregue
enxugar / enxugado / enxuto
expelir / expelido / expulso
expressar / expressado / expresso
exprimir / exprimido / expresso
expulsar / expulsado / expulso
extinguir / extinguido / extinto
findar / findado / findo
frigir / frigido / / frito
ganhar / ganhado / ganho
imergir / imergido / imerso
imprimir / imprimido / impresso
incorrer / incorrido / incurso
inserir / inserido / inserto
isentar / isentado / isento
limpar / limpado / limpo
matar / matado / morto
morrer / morrido / morto
murchar / murchado / murcho
pagar / pagado / pago
prender / prendido / preso
salvar / salvado / salvo
secar / secado / seco
segurar / segurado / seguro
soltar / soltado / solto
submergir / submergido / submerso
suspender / / suspendido / suspenso
tingir / tingido / / tinto
vagar / vagado / vago
veja mais em: http://kplus.cosmo.com.br/materia.asp?co=48&rv=Gramatica
Chego é forma inepta do particípio de chegar, que só tem forma plena (chegado), e não a forma contrata (como aceito, de aceitar). Portanto, o correto é: Tinha chegado atrasado. Dê uma chegada (não um chego) aqui.
Certo: Eu tinha chegado atrasada. / Eu tinha trazido o bolo. / Trago o que quiser.
Errado: Eu tinha chego atrasada. / Eu tinha trago o bolo.
EXCEÇÃO: ACEITO / ACEITADO
Quando há duplo particípio, usa-se a forma regular (terminada em “do”) com os auxiliares ter ou haver; com os verbos ser ou estar, usa-se a forma irregular.
1: Apesar de TER (ou HAVER) aceitado o jogo, ele estava desconfiado.
2: Mesmo não cumprindo todos os requisitos, o rapaz FOI aceito como aluno.
Fonte: Várias
VERBOS COM DUPLO PARTICÍPIO:
INFINITIVO / PARTICÍPIO / PARTICÍPIO IRREGULAR
aceitar / aceitado / aceito, aceite /[tem] aceitado / [foi/está] aceito
acender / acendido / aceso
benzer / benzido / bento
contundir / contundido / contuso
dispersar / dispersado / disperso
eleger / elegido / eleito
entregar / entregado / entregue
enxugar / enxugado / enxuto
expelir / expelido / expulso
expressar / expressado / expresso
exprimir / exprimido / expresso
expulsar / expulsado / expulso
extinguir / extinguido / extinto
findar / findado / findo
frigir / frigido / / frito
ganhar / ganhado / ganho
imergir / imergido / imerso
imprimir / imprimido / impresso
incorrer / incorrido / incurso
inserir / inserido / inserto
isentar / isentado / isento
limpar / limpado / limpo
matar / matado / morto
morrer / morrido / morto
murchar / murchado / murcho
pagar / pagado / pago
prender / prendido / preso
salvar / salvado / salvo
secar / secado / seco
segurar / segurado / seguro
soltar / soltado / solto
submergir / submergido / submerso
suspender / / suspendido / suspenso
tingir / tingido / / tinto
vagar / vagado / vago
veja mais em: http://kplus.cosmo.com.br/materia.asp?co=48&rv=Gramatica
EMBELLISH / EMBEZZLE
EMBELLISH (transitive verb) [enfeitar, decorar]: 1) to decorate or improve by adding detail; ornament; adorn. 2) to add grace notes, syncopated accents, trills, etc. to (a melody). 3) to improve (an account or report) by adding details, often of a fictitious or imaginary kind; touch up.
EMBEZZLE (transitive verb) [dar desfalque; aporopriar-se indevidamente]: to steal (money, etc. entrusted to one's care); take by fraud for one's own use.
Source: Your Dictionary
EMBEZZLE (transitive verb) [dar desfalque; aporopriar-se indevidamente]: to steal (money, etc. entrusted to one's care); take by fraud for one's own use.
Source: Your Dictionary
IMBIBE
(verb) [embeber, absorver]: 1) To take in liquid; the transitive form of the verb means to drink alcoholic beverages, specifically; 2) To absorb anything.
This word goes beyond simply drinking or eating to absorbing anything that one finds essential or pleasurable. Anywhere you would use "drink"or "absorb" you may embellish your speech with this more eloquent term: "Teachers enjoy seeing a student imbibe knowledge with passion." "Meeting Hortense at the party was enjoyable; I imbibed her understanding of the Japanese economy, as well as a few glasses of burgundy." "After two humid, suffocating hours of tennis, let's off to the pub and imbibe a few." [entornar umas e outras?]
Source: YourDictionary
This word goes beyond simply drinking or eating to absorbing anything that one finds essential or pleasurable. Anywhere you would use "drink"or "absorb" you may embellish your speech with this more eloquent term: "Teachers enjoy seeing a student imbibe knowledge with passion." "Meeting Hortense at the party was enjoyable; I imbibed her understanding of the Japanese economy, as well as a few glasses of burgundy." "After two humid, suffocating hours of tennis, let's off to the pub and imbibe a few." [entornar umas e outras?]
Source: YourDictionary
12.06.2009
AMBLÍOPES / INVISUAIS GANHAM SERVIÇO GRATUITO NO METRO DO PORTO
Aquele que sofre de ambliopia, ou seja, enfraquecimento da visão por defeito da sensibilidade da retina, sem que haja qualquer lesão orgânica aparente no globo ocular.
A partir de um vulgar telemóvel, e após inscrição prévia, utilizadores são localizados na estação e apoiados nos vários passos da viagem.
De acordo com o comunicado da empresa, o serviço Navmetro permite que os utentes invisuais sejam “conduzidos nos vários momentos de utilização do sistema - escolha de título, validação, encaminhamento no interior da estação -, disponibilizando igualmente informação genérica sobre o metro - linhas, horários, títulos”.
A partir de um vulgar telemóvel, e após inscrição prévia, utilizadores são localizados na estação e apoiados nos vários passos da viagem.
De acordo com o comunicado da empresa, o serviço Navmetro permite que os utentes invisuais sejam “conduzidos nos vários momentos de utilização do sistema - escolha de título, validação, encaminhamento no interior da estação -, disponibilizando igualmente informação genérica sobre o metro - linhas, horários, títulos”.
12.02.2009
WHOLLY OWNED SUBSIDIARY
(noun) a subsidiary company that is owned entirely (100%) by its parent company [subsidiária integral]: "Fasty Limited, a company incorporated in England, is a wholly owned subsidiary of Fasty Inc., a company incorporated in the United States."
Related words and concepts
parent company - a company that owns enough voting shares in another firm, called the subsidiary, to control that company's management and operations
affiliated company - a company in which another company has a minority interest, or a company that is related to another company in some way
indirect subsidiary - the subsidiary of a subsidiary
Common phrases
"Smallco will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Bigco."
"We are offering you a contract with our wholly owned subsidiary."
Common mistake
Though often written as "wholly-owned" the correct form is not hyphenated: "wholly owned". With certain exceptions, adverbs ending in 'ly' always modify the word immediately following them. Thus, they do not require a hyphen to indicate which word they modify. This is true in both British and American English.
Source: YourDictionary
Related words and concepts
parent company - a company that owns enough voting shares in another firm, called the subsidiary, to control that company's management and operations
affiliated company - a company in which another company has a minority interest, or a company that is related to another company in some way
indirect subsidiary - the subsidiary of a subsidiary
Common phrases
"Smallco will become a wholly owned subsidiary of Bigco."
"We are offering you a contract with our wholly owned subsidiary."
Common mistake
Though often written as "wholly-owned" the correct form is not hyphenated: "wholly owned". With certain exceptions, adverbs ending in 'ly' always modify the word immediately following them. Thus, they do not require a hyphen to indicate which word they modify. This is true in both British and American English.
Source: YourDictionary
12.01.2009
CHANGES
Kelly & Ozzy Osbourne
[Kelly:] I feel unhappy / I am so sad / I lost the best friend / That I've ever had
[Ozzy:] She is my baby / I love her so / But it's too late now / I've let her go
[Both:] We're going through changes (ohh - [chorus])
[Kelly:] We've shared the years / We've shared each day / I love you daddy / But I found my way
[Ozzy:] You know the world / Is an evil place / My baby is grown now / She's found her way
[Both:] (ohh ahh - [Chorus]) We're going through changes (ohh - [chorus])
[Kelly:] It took so long / To realize / I can still hear / His last goodbyes
[Ozzy:] Now all my days / I'm filled in fears / Wish I could go back / And change the years
[Both:] We're going through changes / We're going through changes (changes - [Chorus]) / Changes...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6i1ywioIm0
[Kelly:] I feel unhappy / I am so sad / I lost the best friend / That I've ever had
[Ozzy:] She is my baby / I love her so / But it's too late now / I've let her go
[Both:] We're going through changes (ohh - [chorus])
[Kelly:] We've shared the years / We've shared each day / I love you daddy / But I found my way
[Ozzy:] You know the world / Is an evil place / My baby is grown now / She's found her way
[Both:] (ohh ahh - [Chorus]) We're going through changes (ohh - [chorus])
[Kelly:] It took so long / To realize / I can still hear / His last goodbyes
[Ozzy:] Now all my days / I'm filled in fears / Wish I could go back / And change the years
[Both:] We're going through changes / We're going through changes (changes - [Chorus]) / Changes...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A6i1ywioIm0
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