The Bronze Ring (17): The Hero Falls

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GET READY:

What would you do if you suddenly lost everything you had?

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An old man has stolen the bronze ring.

READ THIS:

[104] Hardly had the old man reached his own house when, taking the ring, he said, "Bronze ring, obey thy master. I desire that the golden ship shall turn to black wood, and the crew to hideous negroes; that St. Nicholas shall leave the helm and that the only cargo shall be black cats."
[105] And the genii of the bronze ring obeyed him.
[106] Finding himself upon the sea in this miserable condition, the young captain understood that someone must have stolen the bronze ring from him, and he lamented his misfortune loudly; but that did him no good.
[107a] "Alas!" he said to himself, "whoever has taken my ring has probably taken my dear wife also. What good will it do me to go back to my own country?" And he sailed about from island to island, and from shore to shore, believing that wherever he went everybody was laughing at him, and very soon his poverty was so great that he and his crew and the poor black cats had nothing to eat but herbs and roots.

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NOTES:

Here is some vocabulary from the story:

a. hideous: horrible-looking. frightening
b. to lament: express sadness; cry and moan
c. misfortune: bad luck
d. Alas!: a sound of hopelessness
e. poverty: condition of being poor
f. herbs: the leaves of plants used for food. In modern cooking, can be used as seasonings.

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PRACTICE:

Use one of the above terms in each of the following sentences. Be sure to use the correct form.

1. I was sorry to hear about your __________.
2. I enjoy using __________ when I prepare a meal.
3. His accident left a __________ scar across his back.
4. It does no good to __________ the past; you just have to get on with your life.
5. __________ can be overcome with hard work--and a little luck.

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QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION OR WRITING:

If you can, try to talk about these questions in English with a friend. If not, try writing your answers.

1. The old man turned everything the gardener's son had to black: black ship, black men ("negroes"), black cats. Why do think he did that?
2. How did the gardener's son know someone had stolen the ring?
3. What is the gardener's son state of mind? What tells us this in the story?

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ANSWERS TO THE PRACTICE:

1 c; 2 f; 3 a; 4 b; 5 e

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This lesson is ©2012 by James Baquet. You may share this work freely. Teachers may use it in the classroom, as long as students are told the source (URL). You may not publish this material or sell it. Please write to me if you have any questions about "fair use."

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Mini-Lessons from Monday, Jan. 30, 2012

These Mini-Lessons are posted on Twitter, and in China on Weibo, throughout the day. You can follow them there!

To get the most from them, you should try to use them in sentences, or discuss them with friends. Writing something on Twitter or Weibo is a great way to practice!

• Tip: Discuss what you read. For school, for fun--whenever you read, talk about what you have read and it will stay in your longer mind.
• Proverb: Where there's a will, there's a way: Nothing is impossible if you really want it badly enough.
• Academic Vocabulary: maximize: Make bigger; make the best use of. "Study hard to maximize your learning opportunities."
• Literature: Turn the other cheek: Jesus said if someone hits you on one cheek, offer him the other one, too, instead of seeking revenge.
• Art: The Thinker: one of more than 20 large bronze statues by French sculptor Rodin, shows a seated man with arm on knee and chin on wrist.
• Slang: or something like that: the information might not be exactly right. "He's a VIP, like a president or CEO or something like that."
• Geography: Euphrates River: River in southwest Asia that joins the Tigris in Iraq to form ancient Mesopotamia, "The Land Between the Rivers."

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NOTES:

1. Academic Vocabulary is the Academic Word List from Oxford University Press. This is "a list of words that you are likely to meet if you study at an English-speaking university."
2. The Proverb, and the Literature, Art, and Geography words are from lists in the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. I wrote the definitions and examples myself.
3. The Tip and Slang words are from my own lists, and I wrote the definitions and examples myself.

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This lesson is ©2012 by James Baquet. You may share this work freely. Teachers may use it in the classroom, as long as students are told the source (URL). You may not publish this material or sell it. Please write to me if you have any questions about "fair use"

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Cliches 2

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GET READY:

Look at the cartoons above. Can you guess the "real meaning" of the two expressions? Answers are in the "Notes" below.

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READ THIS:

Here are five more clichés which are similes (using like or as).

a. As fresh as a daisy: To be beautiful, a daisy must be fresh. Daisies wilt quickly, so the only ones we might decorate with are always the fresh ones.

b. As good as gold: Everybody loves gold! But the expression means "well-behaved" and "kind-hearted," so it may be more about gold being pure, not valuable.

c. As mad as a hatter: According to some sources, mercury was used in the process of making hats. Mercury works as a kind of poison on the nerves, so hat makers often shook and appeared crazy. That's one possible explanation of where we got this cliché. (Think of the "Mad Hatter" in "Alice in Wonderland"!)

d. As old as the hills: This phrase is often used to describe old people. You know how old the hills are! So imagine…

e. As white as snow: New-fallen snow is often used as a simile for whiteness and purity. It was used by Shakespeare, Chaucer, and the translators of the King James Bible: Quite a pedigree, but a sure cause of its overuse.

Let's look at how to use these clichés, remembering that it's best to avoid them if possible, but to use them correctly when we do use them.

"With this new detergent, my clothes smell as fresh as a daisy." Actually, any common flower will do here ("as fresh as a rose," "as fresh as a lily.") We can also say, "as fresh as new-fallen snow" or "as fresh as springtime."

If we want to tell someone they are kind-hearted, we can say, "Friend, you're as good as gold." We can even go further and say, "You have a heart of gold." Because of its universal qualities, gold figures in lots of clichés, usually symbolizing either purity (as here) or value.

"My teacher says my English isn't very good." "Oh, don't listen to him; he's as mad as a hatter!" We also say "as mad as a March hare," and "as crazy as a loon." The hare (an animal similar to a rabbit) is said to be "mad" in March because that's his breeding season (but this is doubtful); the loon has a call like a maniacal laugh. These are all models of craziness. But "mad" also means angry, and here we find the easily understood "as mad as a hornet," "as mad as hell," and "as mad as (or madder than) a wet hen."

"The chairman of the board is old as the hills." We can also say "older than the hills." Another version is to say "as old as Methuselah," a proverbially old man in the Bible, said to have lived over 900 years. And my dad used to say "as old as Standard Oil"--meaning the product, not the company!

"Not only does the laundry smell fresh, but my sheets are as white as snow!" This is OK for talking about things; but if we talk about someone being pale (due to fright or illness) we might say, "as white as a ghost" or "as white as a sheet."

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NOTES:
In the cartoons above, the two expressions are clichés. The "real meaning" of "throwing oneself at someone's feet" is putting oneself at their mercy, begging forgiveness, etc. The real meaning of "finding oneself somewhere" is to be surprised that one is there, not certain how one got there.

Here are a few tips to extend your vocabulary even further. You can add the following endings to almost any "as xxx as" expressions and get the same effect. However, these are really overused, so use them only if you can't think of anything else:

"as possible": "Our detergent will get your sheets as white as possible." Useful, but boring. (However, "as soon as possible" is a fixed phrase, and even has an acronym, ASAP, pronounced "Ay-sap.")

"as it gets," "as you can get," "as they get," etc.: "This cliché is as boring as it gets." "This is as good a mark as you can get." There is also a very slangy version of this, "as all get out." "After work yesterday, I was as tired as all get out." And with "they" we sometimes use "come": "That guy is as stupid as they come."

"as ever": "How's work?" "It's as busy as ever."

You can use these ending for virtually any "as xxx as" simile--but try to be more creative!

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PRACTICE:

Look at each of the scenes below. What cliché above goes with each scene?

1. Your mother wasn't feeling well, but today she looks better. You ask her how she feels.
2. You ask how your father how long his grandfather lived.
3. You have a meeting with your child's teacher. You ask about his behavior.
4. Your friend is talking about his boss, who often gets up on his desk and shouts at his employees. You ask what's wrong with him.
5. The walls of your room have been freshly painted. Your friend asks how it looks.

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QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION OR WRITING:

1. Are there clichés in your language that have the same meaning?
2. Can you think of other English clichés that mean the same as the ones above?
3. Write some short scenes that end with the clichés above.

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ANSWERS TO THE PRACTICE:

1. a "Much better, thanks! I feel (as) fresh as a daisy."
2. d "I'm not sure exactly, but he was (as) old as the hills."
3. b "No problem there; he's (as) good as gold."
4. c "Simple: he's (as) mad as a hatter!"
5. e "Crisp, clean, and (as) white as snow."
(Note: As you can see, the first "as" can be left out in each answer. Also, I have added a few words to make it more interesting; you can, too!)

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This lesson is ©2012 by James Baquet. You may share this work freely. Teachers may use it in the classroom, as long as students are told the source (URL). You may not publish this material or sell it. Please write to me if you have any questions about "fair use."

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Mini-Lessons from Sunday, Jan. 29, 2012

These Mini-Lessons are posted on Twitter, and in China on Weibo, throughout the day. You can follow them there!

To get the most from them, you should try to use them in sentences, or discuss them with friends. Writing something on Twitter or Weibo is a great way to practice!

• Science: gravity or "gravitation": the force that attracts two objects to each other. In simple terms, what keeps us from flying off the earth!
• Language Study: jargon: special language used by a profession or other group, like doctors' or lawyers' vocabulary.
• Business: short-term: for a short time, especially less than one year, as a "short-term loan." Opposite is "long-term."
• Literature: A Christmas Carol: Charles Dickens' story of Ebenezer Scrooge, a stingy man who changes after being visited by ghosts.
• New Words: chick lit: literature ("lit") meant for women ("chicks") to read. Pride and Prejudice and romance novels are usually seen as chick lit.
• Slang: You mean, like: asks for more information, with examples. A: "I love TV news." B: "You mean, like BBC, CNN, and stuff like that?"
• Modern History: Queen Victoria: queen of the UK from 1837 to 1901. The "Victorian period" was a time of strict morals and great growth in England.

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NOTES:

1. Except for the Slang words, all the words in these Mini-Lessons came from lists either on the Oxford University Press site or in the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. I wrote the definitions and examples myself.
2. The Slang words are from my own list, and I wrote the definitions and examples myself.

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This lesson is ©2012 by James Baquet. You may share this work freely. Teachers may use it in the classroom, as long as students are told the source (URL). You may not publish this material or sell it. Please write to me if you have any questions about "fair use"

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Cliches 1

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GET READY:

Look at the cartoons above. Can you guess the "real meaning" of the two expressions? Answers are in the "Notes" below.

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READ THIS:

What, exactly, is a cliché? It is a phrase that may once have been fresh and interesting, but has become stale from over use. We all use clichés from time to time; the problem is when our speech or writing becomes so loaded with them that we become boring.

For learners of English as a second language, there is an added problem: What sounds like a cliché to a native speaker may be brand new to someone just learning the language!

The only way to avoid this is to look up lists of clichés and learn to recognize them.

Here are five clichés which are similes (using like or as).

a. As busy as a bee: The bee is notoriously industrious, so this phrase was natural--a little too natural, since it has become overused.

b.As cool as a cucumber: In fact, this means "calm," not "the opposite of warm." Why? No one seems to know; but have you ever seen a cucumber get excited? Not me!

c. As dead as a doornail: A doornail is the large stud we see pounded into doors to hold them together. One suggestion is that it was pounded through and bent over for security, thus making it "dead"--unable to be reused.

d. As easy as pie: Pie isn't especially easy to make--but it's very easy to eat! That may be the origin of this cliché, similar in meaning to "a piece of cake."

e. As fit as a fiddle: We now use this to mean "in good health," but "fit" here originally meant "suitable." No one knows why we say this, other than the suggestion that it sounds good.

Let's see how these can be used. We should avoid using clichés if possible. But when we do use them, how do we use them correctly?

When you're working too hard, you'll usually use an ugly simile, like "I've been working like a dog," or some exaggeration such as "I'm working myself to death." But when you want to compliment someone in a bright and cheery way, you might say, "My, you're just as busy as a bee, aren't you?" Remember, this is a positive, upbeat idea.

The next cliché, too, is positive. "My boss never freaks out when bad things happen; he's as cool as a cucumber." We sometimes also talk about "grace under fire," and "making [something] look easy": "The boss really shows grace under fire; when he faces a crisis, he somehow manages to make his job look easy."

Ok, I admit, there's nothing positive about "as dead as a doornail." It can be used figuratively, though: "Sorry I didn't answer your call last night; I had already gone to bed, and I was as dead as a doornail." In this case, we can also say, "I was out like a light," or "I was long gone." As for other "as dead as" expressions, we also say "as dead as a dodo," the dodo being an extinct bird.

"How was the test?" "Oh, it was easy as pie." As I mentioned before, this is like saying "It was a piece of cake." Other common expressions are "It was a breeze" (a gentle wind) and "It was a walk in the park."

As I mentioned before, the word "fit" in "as fit as a fiddle" originally meant "suitable," but these days we use it to mean "healthy." We can also say "as healthy as a horse," "as strong as an ox," etc. These are heavily-used clichés, though, and are best avoided. How about, "I'm fit as an Olympic athlete"?

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NOTES:

In the cartoons above, the two expressions are clichés. The "real meaning" of "tossing one's head in the air" is putting one's head back quickly. The "real meaning" of "sweeping past someone" is going past them quickly, and not paying attention to them, like when one is angry.

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PRACTICE:

Look at each of the scenes below. What cliché above goes with each scene?

1. Your friend had to climb a mountain. When he returns, you ask him how it went.
2. Your uncle runs a small shop. You tell him you haven't heard from him lately, and he tells you why.
3. Your teacher went home to visit her grandfather for the holidays. You ask about his health.
4. Your neighbor's house caught fire, and he saved his wife, his son, his dog, and never looked upset. How would you describe him?
5. Your telephone's battery has no more power. Your friend wants to borrow it. What do you tell him?

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QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION OR WRITING:

1. Are there clichés in your language that have the same meaning?
2. Can you think of other English clichés that mean the same as the ones above?
3. Write some short scenes that end with the clichés above.

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ANSWERS TO THE PRACTICE:

1. d "No problem! It was (as) easy as pie!"
2. a "Sorry, I've been (as) busy as a bee."
3. e "Thanks for asking! He's (as) fit as a fiddle."
4. b "It was amazing! He was (as) cool as a cucumber."
5. c "Sorry, it's (as) dead as a doornail."
(Note: As you can see, the first "as" can be left out in each answer. Also, I have added a few words to make it more interesting; you can, too!)

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This lesson is ©2012 by James Baquet. You may share this work freely. Teachers may use it in the classroom, as long as students are told the source (URL). You may not publish this material or sell it. Please write to me if you have any questions about "fair use."

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Mini-Lessons from Saturday, Jan. 28, 2012

These Mini-Lessons are posted on Twitter, and in China on Weibo, throughout the day. You can follow them there!

To get the most from them, you should try to use them in sentences, or discuss them with friends. Writing something on Twitter or Weibo is a great way to practice!

• Link: Unusual words. Free newsletter, learn "A Word A Day" (AWAD). http://wordsmith.org/awad/index.html
• Ancient History: Saladin: (1138-1193) Kurdish Muslim general, ruled Egypt and Syria. When he captured Jerusalem, Europeans fought against him.
• Irregular Verbs: I input data in my computer every day. I input a lot last night. I have input some of it incorrectly, but I have corrected it.
• Idiom: to turn over a new leaf: to change one's ways. "After his wife caught him smoking, Dan turned over a new leaf and quit completely."
• Pop Culture: Bible Belt: area of the US where many people strongly believe in the Bible and follow it literally in all areas of their lives.
• Slang: hate: sometimes really hate, but usually just dislike. Can also be used as a joke. A: "My parents gave me $100!" B: "I hate you!"
• Government: conscientious objector: person who refuses to fight in a war because of his beliefs.

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NOTES:

1. The Idiom, the History and Government words, and some of the Pop Culture words, are from lists in the Dictionary of Cultural Literacy. I wrote the definitions and examples myself.
2. The Link was found online; the Slang words, the Irregular Verbs, and some of the Pop Culture words are from my own lists, and I wrote the definitions and examples myself.

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This lesson is ©2012 by James Baquet. You may share this work freely. Teachers may use it in the classroom, as long as students are told the source (URL). You may not publish this material or sell it. Please write to me if you have any questions about "fair use"

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Deadbeats and Windbags

A real "bigwig"

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GET READY:

The two words in the title describe different kinds of people. Do you have funny words in your language to describe people?

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READ THIS:

Here are ten strange names for different kinds of people.

a. bigwig: Also called a "big shot," this is a V.I.P., or Very Important Person. European kings and nobles used to wear wigs. These were expensive to purchase and maintain. And of course, the bigger the wig, the more expensive it was. So a "bigwig" today is a rich, powerful person.

b. cheapskate: This is a person who is stingy. The "cheap" part is obvious, but no one is quite sure where the "skate" comes from.

c. deadbeat: Someone who avoids paying debts. The origin is uncertain: "dead" may mean "absolutely," as in "dead certain." And "beat" was used in the mid-19th century to describe one who didn't pay his bills, but no one seems to know why.

d. fall guy: This is usually a scapegoat, one who takes the blame for the actions of others. To "take the fall" for someone means to take some punishment in their place.

e. goof-off: A person who is lazy or doesn't do his job; without, it's a phrasal verb. To "goof off" means to fool around, especially when you're supposed to be doing something.

f. hired gun: An expert, especially one from outside, who is brought in to solve a problem. Originally applied to a mercenary or assassin, who was hired to literally shoot someone, the meaning is now metaphorical.

g. loose cannon: A person who speaks or behaves carelessly, creating risk. Battleships had cannons mounted on the deck. If one became loose, it could be tossed around during a storm, causing a lot of damage.

h. sellout: One who compromises his own beliefs to gain money or other forms of success. It can also be a verb: "He sold out."

i. tenderfoot: A rookie, a beginner. When a new cowboy bought his first boots, his feet got sore; later, his feet would toughen up, but until then he was a "tenderfoot."

j. windbag: A person who talks a lot and says nothing.

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PRACTICE:

1. We couldn't find the problem in our books, until we brought in a __________ from an accounting firm.
2. I always have to work overtime because my teammate is such a __________.
3. We can't trust "Crazy Bill" to handle the negotiations; he's too much of a __________.
4. Our sales meetings are long and useless, because the manager is such a __________.
5. The staff has to have lunch tomorrow with the __________ from the head office.
6. The artist became a __________, giving up his own style to please the market."
7. The bill collector spent many hours trying to catch one __________.
8. Buy her a big engagement ring; don't be such a __________."
9. Don't blame me for your mistake; I'm not going to be the fall guy.
10. That new salesman's a __________, so he might make costly mistakes.

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QUESTIONS FOR DISCUSSION OR WRITING:

1. How would you translate these words into your language? Do they sound funny when you do?
2. Why do you think people made up such funny names for these kinds of people?
3. What other English words can you think of that are similar to these?

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ANSWERS TO THE PRACTICE:

1 f; 2 e; 3 g; 4 j; 5 a; 6 h; 7 c; 8 b; 9 d; 10 i

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This lesson is ©2012 by James Baquet. You may share this work freely. Teachers may use it in the classroom, as long as students are told the source (URL). You may not publish this material or sell it. Please write to me if you have any questions about "fair use."

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