Bring it on 2014!

 Let's put 2013 behind us.

That 2014 be a great year!

Feliz Natal para Todos,

                                     Feliz Natal!
Santa Claus is coming to town!
You better watch out 
You better not cry 
You better not pout 
I'm telling you why 
Santa Claus is coming to town 
He's making a list, 
Checking it twice; 
Gonna find out who's naughty or nice. 
Santa Claus is coming to town
He sees you when you're sleeping 
He knows when you're awake 
He knows if you've been bad or good 
So be good for goodness sake 

Bacharelato = Bacharelado

bacharel(a):  1  Indivíduo diplomado em qualquer curso de graduação . 2  Indivíduo que concluiu a graduação em faculdade de Direito. 3  Indivíduo que completou o ensino fundamental.  4  (Pej.)  Indivíduo tagarela, palrador..
bacharelado = bacharelato: pessoa que recebu o grau de bacharel. Diz-se de quem recebeu esse grau: Ela é bacharelada em Ciências. Curso que confere o grau de bacharel . Grau de bacharel.
bacharelando: Estudante univsersitário que está prestes a tornar-se bacharel (bacharelando em informática); FORMANDO; GRADUANDO
bachareleiro: adj. (p. us.) || de bacharel, palavroso.  (Alent.) || Diz-se de quem fala muito e não sabe guardar segredos. Indiscreto. |
bacharela: s. f. || mulher que tem o bacharelato.  (Fig.) || mulher palradora; sabichona.   F. fem. de Bacharel.
bacharelete: (ê) ,s. m. (deprec.) || bacharel sem importância.   F. Bacharel.

Baccalaureate = Bachelor = bachelor's degree: an academic level of higher education (a four-year program of study). When referring to an academic degree, the words "bachelor" and baccalaureate" have become interchangeable.
bachelor: An unmarried man. A person who has completed the undergraduate curriculum of a college or university and holds a bachelor's degree.
bachelorette: an unmarried woman
bachelor girl: an unmaried woman and especially a young girl one who supports herself and often lives alone.

 


  

AMIGO SECRETO

A Western Christmas tradition in which members of a group or community are randomly assigned a person to whom they anonymously give a gift. Often practiced in workplaces or amongst large families, participation in it is usually voluntary. It offers a way for many people to give and receive a gift at low cost, since the alternative gift tradition is for each person to buy gifts for every other person. In this way, the Secret Santa tradition also encourages gift exchange groups whose members are not close enough to participate in the alternative tradition of giving presents to everyone else.
Australia:       Secret Santa, Kris Kringle or Chris Kindle 
Austria:          Wichteln or Engerl und Bengerl.
Brazil:            Amigo secreto or amigo oculto (secret friend)
Canada:        Secret Santa or Kris Kringle
Germany:      Wichteln or Engerl und Bengerl
Ireland:          Kris Kringle or Chris Kindle (derivado do austríaco "Christkindl", ie, "Christ Child") i
Philippines:    Secret Santa or Kris Kringle  (where it is also known as Monito-monita);  Three Kings.
Spain:            Amigo invisible (invisible friend)
Switzerland:   Wichteln or Engerl und Bengerl
UK:                Secret Santa / Father Christmas
USA:             Secret Santa (The term Secret Santa can refer to the practice itself, or any of the people participating)
                      Southern Pennsylvania and New Jersey: Pollyanna

Quorum vs. quórum

Segundo o dicionário Caudas Aulete:

Quorum: sm    Número de indivíduos presentes numa assembleia, necessário para o funcionamento
                       ou votações na mesma assembleia.   F. lat. Quorum (genitivo pl. de Qui).
Quórum: sm.    Número mínimo de pessoas necessário para que se faça uma votação,
                        uma assembleia etc.: Adiaram a sessão por falta de quórum.  [Pl.: -runs.]
                       [F.: Do lat. quorum 'dos quais']

BREADCRUMBS = MIGALHAS DE PÃO

“The [London] city’s layout is crazy, as if designed by a drunken alien with a wry sense of humor. I wandered around with my A-Z street map book, wondering which direction I was going in and wishing that the old, strew-breadcrumbs-in-your-wake trick applied to metropolitan areas.”
       Hänsel und Gretel (João e Maria no Brasil e Hansel e Gretel em Portugal) é um conto de fadas de tradição oral e que foi coletado pelos irmãos Grimm.
       Este conto relata a aventura dos irmãos Hansel e Gretel, filhos de um pobre lenhador, que em acordo com a mulher, decide largá-los na floresta porque a família não tem condições para os manter. No caminho pela floresta, Hansel e Gretel espalham migalhas de pão. As migalhas, que é o detalhe mais conhecido e característico da obra, acabam por ser comidas pelos pássaros e com isso Hansel e Gretel acabam perdidos na floresta.
       Na tentativa de encontrar o caminho de volta, as crianças encontram uma casa feita de doces e, com fome, começam a comer as guloseimas. São então recolhidos pela dona da casa que se revela uma bruxa. Ela planeava engordar as crianças para depois comer a sua carne. Enquanto Hansel se alimentava e ia engordando, Gretel trabalhava na casa para depois ser a próxima.
       Porém, espertas, as crianças descobrem o plano da bruxa e enganam-na atirando-a para dentro do próprio forno. Assim, livres, Hansel e Gretel são encontrados pelo pai, cuja mulher tinha morrido, e voltam para casa levando consigo provisões suficientes para o resto de suas vidas.
Análise
       A história tal como a conhecemos dos Irmãos Grimm é uma versão esterilizada para a classe média do século XIX, mas a original era uma admoestação da dureza da vida na Idade Média. Devido à fome e à constante escassez de comida, o homicídio infantil era uma prática comum na Idade Média. Nesta história os irmãos são deixados no bosque para que morram ou desapareçam porque não podem ser alimentados.
       Nas primeiras cópias da coleção dos Irmãos Grimm não havia madrasta; a mãe persuadiu o pai a abandonar os seus próprios filhos. Esta mudança, como na Branca de Neve, parece ser uma atenuação deliberada da violência contra as crianças, para as mães modernas que não suportariam ouvir sobre mães que ferissem os próprios filhos.
       O fato de que a mãe ou madrasta tenha morrido quando as crianças matam a bruxa é porque a mãe ou madrasta e a bruxa são, de facto, a mesma mulher, ou pelo menos que a personalidade delas está fortemente ligada. Além de porem as crianças em perigo, têm a mesma preocupação pela comida: a mãe ou madrasta para evitar a fome e a bruxa com a casa feita de comida e o seu desejo de comer as crianças. Temos também outra versão que é a de que João e Maria que resolveram dar um passeio e não que a mãe os expulsou de casa, eles se perdem na floresta e aí que encontram a casa de Doces.
Fonte: http://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/H%C3%A4nsel_und_Gretel

SORRY!

Elton John: "Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word": https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7InnhKoi-ro
"Despite what Elton John sang, sorry seems to come easy these days.

Saying sorry used to be a way of apologising, but these days the s-word has come to mean many different things, and its heavy use says much about modern British attitudes."
In UK, the word “sorry” has so many meanings as there are hours in the day.

Read More: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/magazine/6241411.stm

JOÃO BOBO / BOP BAG / PUNCHING CLOWN

 

João-bobo é um brinquedo que consiste em um objeto de base arredondada que por mais que seja inclinado tende a permanecer de pé.

REBOUND / RESILIENCE = RESILIÊNCIA

(verb)   Retornar ao ponto de partida.[A bola resiliu contra quem a chutara]
to bounce back off something after hitting it
to increase or improve after a recent decrease or decline
to spring back on or as if on collision or impact with another body
to recover from setback or frustration

the ability to become strong, healthy, or successful again after something bad happens

the ability of something to return to its original shape after it has been pulled, stretched, pressed, bent, etc.
Habilidade que uma pessoa desenvolve para resistir, lidar e reagir de modo positivo em situações adversas.

An older post:

11.19.2012

RESILIENCE / BOUNCING BACK / REBOUNDING
capacidade de recuperação/adaptação
           "The resilience frame speaks not just to how buildings weather storms but to how people weather them, too. Here, psychologists, sociologists and neuroscientists are uncovering a wide array of factors that make you more or less resilient than the person next to you: the reach of your social networks, the quality of your close relationships, your access to resources, your genes and health, your beliefs and habits of mind.

          For example, “resilience thinking” is starting to shape how urban planners in big cities think about updating antiquated infrastructure, much of which is robust in the face of normal threats like equipment failures but — as was just demonstrated in the New York region — fragile in the face of unanticipated shocks like flooding, pandemics, terrorism or energy shortages.

          “After 9/11, Lower Manhattan contained the largest collection of LEED-certified, green buildings in the world,” he said, referring to a rating program for eco-friendly design. “But that was answering only part of problem. The buildings were designed to generate lower environmental impacts, but not to respond to the impacts of the environment” — for example, by having redundant power systems."

 

THE EMPEROR'S NEW CLOTHES

           The Emperor's New Clothes" (Danish: Kejserens nye Klæder) is a short tale by Hans Christian Andersen about two weavers who promise an Emperor a new suit of clothes that is invisible to those unfit for their positions, stupid, or incompetent. When the Emperor parades before his subjects in his new clothes, a child cries out, "But he isn't wearing anything at all!" The tale has been translated into over a hundred languages.

Plot:

A vain Emperor who cares about nothing except wearing and displaying clothes hires two swindlers who promise him the finest, best suit of clothes from a fabric invisible to anyone who is unfit for his position or "hopelessly stupid". The Emperor's ministers cannot see the clothing themselves, but pretend that they can for fear of appearing unfit for their positions and the Emperor does the same. Finally the swindlers report that the suit is finished, they mime dressing him and the Emperor marches in procession before his subjects. The townsfolk play along with the pretense not wanting to appear unfit for their positions or stupid. Then a child in the crowd, too young to understand the desirability of keeping up the pretense, blurts out that the Emperor is wearing nothing at all and the cry is taken up by others. The Emperor cringes, suspecting the assertion is true, but continues the procession.
Source: Wikipedia

Mourning

-    the act of mourning for someone who has died

-    great sadness felt because someone has died

-    the act of sorrowing

-    an outward sign (as black clothes or an armband) of grief for a person's death

-    a period of time during which signs of grief are shown

"In a time of drastic changes, it is the learners who inherit the future. The learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no longer exists." - Eric Hoffer

Happy Translator's Day

Saint Jerome: Patron Saint of Translators

SE COMPROMETEM VS. COMPROMETEM-SE

"Universidades se comprometem (ou comprometem-se...)?

1) Um leitor indaga se está correta a colocação pronominal na seguinte frase: "Universidades se comprometem a não penalizar alunos inadimplentes".
2) Ora, em português, o pronome pessoal oblíquo átono, por não ter força sonora própria, pendura-se, quanto ao som, na sílaba forte do verbo mais próximo.
3) Assim, de acordo com a eufonia, pode o pronome estar em uma de três posições: I) – Próclise (pronome antes do verbo), como em "Não se vá!"; II) – Mesóclise (pronome no meio do verbo), como em "Fá-lo-ei com rapidez"; III) – Ênclise (pronome depois do verbo), como em "Buscou-se uma solução".
4) A par dessa observação, deve-se ver que há determinadas palavras que, se existirem antes do verbo, atraem o pronome: negativas, advérbios, pronomes relativos, pronomes indefinidos e conjunções subordinativas.
5) No caso da consulta, o que se tem é uma oração em ordem direta (sujeito [universidades], verbo [comprometem] e complementos), e não aparece nenhuma daquelas palavras que normalmente atraem o pronome para antes do verbo.
6) Pois bem. Quando se tem uma oração com esses dois requisitos (oração em ordem direta e inexistência de palavra atrativa), então é facultativa a colocação do pronome em próclise ou em ênclise.
7) Por isso estão corretas as duas formas de expressão: I) – "Universidades se comprometem a não penalizar alunos inadimplentes" (correto); II) – "Universidades comprometem-se a não penalizar alunos inadimplentes" (correto)."
Fonte: Migalhas
[http://www.migalhas.com.br/Gramatigalhas/10,MI72886,51045-Universidades+se+comprometem+ou+comprometemse]

“Economic” or “Economical”?

“Economic” and “economical” are two adjectives that are frequently used interchangeably. They are clearly related but they have, strictly speaking, quite distinct meanings.
     According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the definition of economic is related to economics or the economy.
     Economical, however, means “giving good value or return in relation to the resources used or money spent; sparing in the use of resources or money”.
     So, government policies to do with finance would be economic but fuel-efficient cars would be described as more economical.
Briefly:
Economic means, primarily, of or relating to the economy or economics.
Economical means prudent, efficient, or thrifty

COMMAS

"Marty Peretz, a former editor and owner of the New Republic, insists that commas must always come in pairs. He once made his staff count the commas in an entire issue of the magazine, telling them that the number had better come out even. (The incident, which is not fiction, was made famous in the film "Shattered Glass".) (...)

Mr Carey quotes Gertrude Stein: "A comma does nothing but make easy a thing that if you like it enough is easy enough without the comma." Not quite true: commas clean up many things that would be a mess for the reader without them. But few comma-rules are absolute. Don't trust anyone who tells you otherwise."

Comp Time

Compensation Time = Overtime Bank = Banco de Horas

Time banking / Time Credit (UK) / Time Dollar (US)

        Time banking is a pattern of reciprocal service exchange that uses units of time as currency. It is an example of a complementary monetary system. A time bank, also known as a service exchange, is a community that practices time banking.
        The unit of currency, always valued at an hour's worth of any person's labor, used by these groups has various names, but is generally known as a time dollar in the U.S. and a time credit in the U.K.
        Time banking is primarily used to provide incentives and rewards for work such as mentoring children, caring for the elderly, being neighborly—work usually done on a volunteer basis—which a pure market system devalues. Essentially, the "time" one spends providing these types of community services earns "time" that one can spend to receive services. As well as gaining credits, participating individuals, particularly those more used to being recipients in other parts of their lives, can potentially gain confidence,social contact and skills through giving to others.
         Communities therefore use time banking as a tool to forge stronger intra-community connections, a process known as "building social capital." Time banking had its intellectual genesis in the U.S. in the early 1980s.[...] Today, 26 countries have active Time Banks. There are 250 Time Banks active in the U.K. and over 276 Time Banks in the U.S.
From Wikipedia 

Responsibility vs. Liability

Briefly: a person is responsible for duties and is liable for obligations.
Responsibility is an obligation you have to do something. "You're responsible for finishing your work".
Liability means that you're subject to repercussion if your duties are not finished.
"You're liable to get in trouble if you don't finish your work" .

Trooping the Colour 2013 -The Queen’s Birthday Parade

Saturday, June 15, 2013

TRIFLES

"Trifles make perfection and perfection is not trifle."

"Pequenas coisas fazem a perfeição e a perfeição não é uma pequena coisa." 

   Michelangelo

Horas

“8h00”; “17h30” ou “17h30min”. Não use dois pontos [“:”] e nem “hs”.

Brazilian Currency: Real

Brazil's currency unit is the real (plural = reais) and is made up of 100 centavos and written using the symbol R$. The currency exchange symbol for the real is BRL. The real is issued in denominations of 1 real (coin), 2 reais, 5 reais, 10 reais, 20 reais, 50 reais and 100 reais notes. Centavos are issued in denominations of 1 centavo, 5 centavos, 10 centavos, 25 centavos and 50 centavos. (coins)

Abreviaturas

Abreviaturas: Como regra geral, abreviaturas não são terminadas em vogal.[Correto: “Ap.”; Errado: “Apto.”]
Somente em palavras femininas é que a abreviatura incluirá o “a”. [Ex.: “Dra.”, “Sra.” ]

“Atenciosamente”?: Correto: “At.te”. [Obs.: Se a correspondência for formal, use “Atenciosamente”; se for informal, não escreva nada.]

Curiosidade: No inglês, a tendência é não usar ponto nas abreviaturas: Mr    Mrs   ie   etc

Euro

The full term ‘euro’ is used when there is no direct reference to the amount, e.g. in table/graph footnotes (such as ‘The euro became the new currency for 15 Member States’. In English and German, the term euro (German: Euro) is never written in plural. In French, a plural ‘s’ is added (euros). In English and French, euro starts with a lower case letter, in German with an upper case letter. If there is a reference to an amount, the ISO 4217 code of euro ‘EUR’ is used (such as ‘EUR 30’).

"Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." - Leonardo da Vinci

Desculpem-me pelo longo e tenebroso inverno. De repente, fiquei sem vontade de postar, atarefada com uma reforma do apê, aguardando visitas de Albion [Britain]. Tudo já passou, foi muito bom mas não deixo de reconhecer que às vezes exagero. Ainda tenho muito a aprender.

EDITION Vs. ISSUE

           edition (edição): The entire number of copies of a publication issued at one time or from a single set of type. A single copy from this group.  The form in which a publication is issued: a paperback edition of a novel; an annotated edition of Shakespeare. A version of an earlier publication having substantial changes or additions: a newly revised edition of a standard reference work. All the copies of a specified issue of a newspaper: the morning edition; the Sunday edition. A broadcast of a radio or television news program: Thursday's edition of the six o'clock news
           issue (exemplar) : Something produced, published, or offered, as: An item or set of items, as stamps or coins, made available at one time by an office or bureau. A single copy of a periodical: the May issue of the magazine. A distinct set of copies of an edition of a book distinguished from others of that edition by variations in the printed matter.

ONLY

Professor Ernest Brennecke of Columbia is credited with inventing a sentence that can be made to have eight different meanings by placing ONE WORD in all possible positions in the sentence: "I hit him in the eve vesterdav."
The word is "ONLY". The Message:
ONLY I hit him in the eve vesterdav. (No one else did.)
I ONLY hit him in the eye vesterdav. (Did not slap him.)
I hit ONLY him in the eye vesterday. (I did not hit others.)
I hit him ONLY in the eve vesterdav. (I did not hit outside the eye.)
I hit him in ONLY the eye yesterday. (Not other organs.)
I hit him in the ONLY eve vesterdav. (He doesn't have another eye.)
I hit him in the eye ONLY vesterdav. (Not todav.)
I hit him in the eve yesterday ONLY. (Did not wait for todav.)

Cair bem / dar-se bem / fazer bem

cair bem = becoming (adj): Death looks becoming on you (cair bem). That shirt's very becoming on you.
dar-se bem = fare well (v+adj): Audiences have fixed expectations of big-canvas movies, and those who try to subvert them do not fare well.= não se dão bem (se dar bem / dar-se bem)
fazer bem = do well (v+adj): A little planning ahead does you well (fazer bem)

PICKUP LINES

cantadas (pickup lines) - Bad pickup lines:
“Can I have your phone number? I seem to have lost mine.”
“Do you believe in love at first sight or should I walk past again?”
Read more: http://uk.askmen.com/top_10/dating_top_ten/35b_dating_list.html#ixzz2HTSNdVgL

"Fiscal cliff" heard round the world:

 how the term translates across the globe
Argentina:              abismo fiscal
Brazil:                      abismo fiscal (Portugal: "penhasco fiscal")
Denmark                 Afgrundens rand /Økonomisk afgrund / den Finansielle afgrund og "Afgrunden".
England                   in British English it is "WTF are those idiots in the US doing now"
France                     le fiscal cliff / mur de la dette (literally debt wall or “mur budgétaire", or literally, budgetary wall
Germany                 Fiskalklippe / sparbombe (actually, this sounds even scarier than a cliff)
Indonesia                jurang fiskal (which in Indonesian actually translates as "fiscal abyss"
Ireland                    fiscal baby step ("You think that is a fiscal cliff, you should see what we went over in 2008" )
Italy:                        abisso fiscale
Montenegro, Serbia and Croatia     fiskalna litica
Norway                   budsjettstupet  (budget ravine)
Portugal:                 Penhasco fiscal
Spain:                      precipicio fiscal
Sweden                   stupet (the idea of a ravine also holds sway) / finansiella stupet / budgetstupet
Thailand                  หน้าผาทางการคลัง". It pronounces "Nah-pah-tarng-karn-klang"
The Netherlands    Belastingkloof  / begrotingsravijn / begrotingsafgrond / fiscale kloof
Turkey                     mali uçurum (Turkish) (i.e.: capital flight... literally, money running away)
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/fiscal-cliff-blog/2012/dec/27/fiscal-cliff-translated-around-the-world