Saturday, February 23, 2008

Confusing Words

HUMAN FEELINGS

We have many idioms which express human emotions. An idiom is a fixed expression, both grammatically and lexically. It is not possible to replace any of the words in the idiom and retain the idiomatic meaning. For example to let it all hang out means to have a very good time. If you said: I'm going to allow it all to hang out, this would change the meaning completely and you might be talking about putting the washing out to dry.

All of the following idioms describing just one human emotion are currently in use. Pay attention to meaning, but pay particular attention too to the context in which they are used as this will help to clarify when and how to use them.

degrees of anger (in increasing intensity)

- to be / get steamed up = feel annoyed
- to be / get hot under the collar = feel irritated
- to be on the warpath = prepare to vent one's anger
- to be up in arms = protest strongly
- to be hopping mad = feel very angry
- to fly off the handle = suddenly lose one's temper
- to throw a wobbler = become suddenly angry with someone and break down in tears
- to do one's nut = totally lose one's temper
- to hit the ceiling / roof = comprehensively lose one's temper
- to blow one's top / a fuse / a gasket = totally lose one's temper
- to rant and rave = to argue loudly and energetically
Ex:
  1. When I failed to attend the first seminar, my tutor got very steamed up about it.
  2. Because I told him there's no more money to spend on entertaining clients this month, he got a bit hot under the collar this morning.
  3. I've stained the white carpet in the living room, so my mother's on the warpath.
  4. The unions are up in arms since management declared there would be only a 2 percent increase on basic wages this year.
  5. He's hopping mad because his daughter has borrowed his car for the weekend without first asking his permission.
  6. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have flown off the handle like that. Please forgive me.
  7. When she learnt that Bill had been cheating on her, she threw a wobbler and wouldn't stop crying.
  8. My mother did her nut / hit the roof / blew her top when I told her I was quitting university.

    If you need to calm somebody down, you could say:

- Take it easy.

Or you might hear young people say:

- Chill out!

to feel annoyed and disappointed

  • to be miffed
  • to be sick as a parrot

Ex:

  1. I was a bit miffed when I wasn't invited to Julie's wedding.
  2. I was sick as a parrot at the way we lost the match in the last minute.

to annoy someone

  • to rub someone up the wrong way
  • to make someone's blood boil

Ex:

  • He certainly knows how to rub you up the wrong way and he's only four years old.
  • It made my blood boil when I saw that he had taken all the credit for the work I'd done.

There are, of course, many emotions (and related idioms) apart from anger.

Saturday, February 16, 2008

IMPORTANT DAYS OF THE YEAR


HISTORY OF VALENTINE


Let me introduce myself. My name is Valentine. I lived in Rome during the third century. At that time, Rome was ruled by an emperor named Claudius.

Claudius wanted to have a big army, so he expected men to volunteer to join. Many men just did not want to fight in wars, and they did not want to leave their wives and families. That not many men signed up made Claudius furious. So what happened? He had a crazy idea. He thought that if men were not married, they would not mind joining the army. So, Claudius decided not to allow any more marriages. Young people thought his new law was cruel. Certainly, I wasn't going to support that law!

Did I mention that I was a priest? One of my favorite activities was to marry couples. Even after Emperor Claudius passed his law, I kept on performing marriage ceremonies -- secretly, of course. It was really quite exciting. Can you imagine a small candlelit room with only the bride and groom and myself?. We would whisper the words of the ceremony, listening all the while for the steps of soldiers.

One night, we did hear footsteps. It was scary! Thank goodness the couple I was marrying escaped in time. I was caught, thrown in jail, and told that my punishment was death.

I tried to stay cheerful. And do you know what? Wonderful things happened. Many young people came to the jail to visit me. They threw flowers and notes up to my window. They wanted me to know that they, too, believed in love.

One of these young people was the daughter of the prison guard. Her father allowed her to visit me in the cell. Sometimes we would sit and talk for hours. She helped me to keep my spirits up. She agreed that I did the right thing by ignoring the Emperor and going ahead with the secret marriages. On the day I was to die, I left my friend a little note thanking her for her friendship and loyalty. I signed it, "Love from your Valentine."

I believe that note started the custom of exchanging love messages on Valentine's Day. It was written on the day I died, February 14, 269 A.D. Now, every year on this day, people remember it. But most importantly, they think about love and friendship. And when they think of Emperor Claudius, they remember how he tried to stand in the way of love, and they laugh -- because they know that love can't be beaten!