Notes on English – Page 5 – The Paris Savannah Connection

Talk … and Tough Talk

It seems that some people “talk …talk … talk …” but when it comes to “doing … doing … doing … ” they can be hard to find!

There are several expressions dealing with these situations. One common one is:

Talk is cheap.

meaning … this is easy because it doesn’t cost anything except your time …

This same notion is used when calling someone’s bluff:

Put your money … where your mouth is.

Yes, it’s direct .. it’s straight to the point. No kid gloves in this one.

But it does mean what it says… If you mean what you say, risk your hard-earned money to prove it.

As much as I can stand by different just and fair causes, I often think that if every protester were asked to open their wallets and volontarily contribute to the cause according to their means … there might be … fewer protesters:

“Putting your money where your mouth is” describes this.

Obama words

President Obama is more than a good public speaker. His presence, his timing, his choice of words, his pronunication all express what he wants to communicate. He has some favorite terms, too. And repeats them a lot … What did teachers say? “Listen and repeat” ?

While listening to a video recording of Obama the other day, Hélène R. noted that he repeatedly used the word “outstanding.”

… her outstanding work … your outstanding service … making an outstanding contribution … America’s outstanding (…) team

Outstanding means exceptionally good, great. It’s classic word but up-to-date. Obama has adopted it and it’s become one of his favorites along with:

exceptional

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/mf35119.mp3|titles=exceptional]

extraordinary

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/mf36024.mp3|titles=extraordinary]

and … unbelieveable

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/mf43124.mp3|titles=unbelievable]

All are words, you, too, may want to adopt!

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/mf41012.mp3|titles=outstanding]

If you’re interested in words, but not wordiness … The Paris Savannah Connection is for you!

“The bottom line” and “at the end of the day”

The bottom line is the final result.

“The bottom line,” said Dr. Ronald G. Crystal, chief of pulmonology at New York Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Hospital, “is there’s no longterm health effect from volcanic ash.”

(see the article on the vocabulary of green, too)

and at the end of the day …

“I can’t help it…”

Now if this were … “I can’t help you” or “I can’t help him” or “I can’t help them”… it would be easily translatable.

In French, for example, we’d say literally: “Désolé, je ne peux pas vous aider” ou “Je ne peux pas t’aider … dans le sens de “Je ne peux pas te donner un coup de main” , “Je ne peux pas te dépanner … ” “Je ne peux pas vous être utile…” ou même “Mon cher ami, si vous saviez …” … etcetera.

But the “it” … changes everything! Unless you’re talking about Minerva, your pet cat, or Tolleston, your pet dog … for example …,

“I can’t help it” is what someone says when they’re doing something compulsively. Indulging in something. Having an uncontrolled reaction. Cleptomania, for example … just picking up something that doesn’t belong to them. Maybe having … one more drink.

Just listen:

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex17041a1.mp3|titles=can’t help it]

In French, we might now translate this as:

“Je n’y peux rien…” ou “Je ne peux pas m’empêcher …” ou “C’est plus fort que moi …”

Apparently, it’s said on both sides of the Atlantic. As much by women as by men?

Why did I put this little thing in here today?

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/just-couldnt-help-it1.mp3|titles=just couldn’t help it!]

Vitamins: V – L – W – R and P

V as in vocabulary!

Building a strong vocabulary is fundamental. And it gives you a competitive edge.

In both your native language and in a foreign language. I can help you do this. Life is so much nicer, so much … healthier, too with a good, solid active vocabulary at your service!

Why is this what you need to do now? Because, if you feel frustrated or inhibited when you need to speak, it’s likely that you’re … at a lack of words to say what you want to express!

You need a daily dose of Vitamine V In order to

understand spoken English immediately
read the written word quickly
speak – dialogue – share comfortably
write clearly

Q: How can I build my vocabulary?

A. If you’re interested in building your vocabulary … subscribe to the Paris Savannah Connection.

And then there’s Vitamine L:

as in Love to Listen …

We’re so incredibly fortunate to have inherited constitutions which guarantee Free Speech. And broadband access to the Internet has given us access to sources and media hitherto relatively unavailable.

Listen not only to the media you’re used to …. but why not the BBC, too … or the Financial Times ? There are interviews and documentaries, often short and sweet – here …. Listen … Whether you’re interested in business, technology, environment, science, the arts or real estate or fashion or sports … You’ll learn to love to listen!

If you love to listen … subscribe to the Paris Savannah Connection.

Vitamine W:

W as in Word? As is What? Why? Where? Who? When?

Why not?

But what about … writing? Now that we’re all online … we spend so much time … writing! Keep it up. Think about writing. Develop your own style.

Write! … Even a comment on this blog!

Need some help … some guidelines for good writing?

If you’re interested in writing … subscribe to the Paris Savannah Connection.

not to mention Vitamine P for … Participation.

This is like Vitamine EE (Expression Experience). You’ve got to speak .. You’ve got to Dialogue. The best way to advance .. to get better .. to improve … is to Participate. Not only do we learn from others … we learn from our experience. From doing it.

Speak and Talk and Say and Tell — Ask and Answer – Participate and you’ll be a happier person!

And you’d be amazed at what you have to say!

If you’re interested in participating … subscribe to the Paris Savannah Connection.

Vitamines V – L – W – R and P : Does your daily diet include the recommended daily doses or do you absolutely have to …

subscribe to the Paris Savannah Connection. ? …… Yes, I think I’m suffereing from a vitamin deficiency..

English: British English, American English.

(“There is the illusion that we speak the same language, but we really don’t.”)

Even in the most cosmopolitan cities, the vast majority of people we meet speak the language they grew up with: their native language. We naturally inherit the sounds, the pronunciations, the accents, the intonations as well as the words, the expressions, the culture of our environments. Radio and TV “feed” us daily with language … mostly originating in our home lands.

I suppose we could say that there are both national and local languages. As we move through time, passing from one year to the next, from one decade to the next, from one generation to the next, so our language habits change. The frequencies with which a word or expression … or proverb … is used change over time. What used to be is no longer and what is … is new. We adopt words. We discard them, too. Like clothes, we wear them … but, when they’re out of fashion, they stay in the closets until they’re given away, thrown out … or brought out again years later.

But what about the same “language” spoken by different cultures?

Here’s a link to an article written last April by Roger Cohen , columnist, called “On Loos and Language.” British … and American. Enjoy it.

I’ll = isle = aisle

three words with the same pronunciation … so if you can pronounce one … you can pronounce all 3, can’t you?

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/MF58195.mp3|titles=I’ll]

“holes … when you’re in one, stop digging!”

Rules … what to do and what not to do. There’s a time for everything. That comes from King Solomon. There’s a time for peace. There’s a time for war. There’s a time to rejoice. There’s a time to cry. There’s a time to love and a time to refrain from loving. There’s … well, you can open the Book of Ecclesaistes, too!

In this morning’s New York Times, our friend Thomas Friedman reminds us of another rule. He wrote:

I’m no expert on American politics, but I do know something about holes. ((And watching the way the Republican Party is reacting to the passage of health care,)) it seems to me the G.O.P. is violating the first rule of holes: “When you’re in one, stop digging.”

Good style! Smart man.

PS. Shhh…. The past of the verb ‘to dig’ is … “dug“

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/MF63504.mp3|titles=dug]

(not to be confused with the Texan pronunciation of man’s best friend: the dog)

By the way, if you’re interested in keeping up-to-date, just subscribe to the Paris Savannah Connection!

“first things first”

Doing things in the right order – first things first; last things last … is certainly a key to avoiding problems.

There’s an old, pre-automobile proverb telling us this – but it still works pretty well:

Don’t put the cart in front of the horse.

First things first.

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex17084d1.mp3|titles=first things first]

If you’re interested in sayings and proverbs … subscribe to my newsletter!

Concept map for “achievement”

This document allowed me to enumerate, elaborate and visualize how the (my) brain sees this idea. What I associate with the idea of achievement. As you’ll see there are two poles: success and failure, one positive and one negative.

achievement

success
to succeed
to win
antonym= to lose/lost

won
victory
1. antonyms: defeat to give up – to surrender – to abandon

successful
profitable
satisfaction
1. antonyms – failure – to fail
2. unsuccessful
3. unprofitable
4. dissatisfaction/ insatisfaction