Category: Popular sayings, proverbs & quotes

Posted in Cross Cultural Comments Popular sayings, proverbs & quotes

Quote of the day

“Quand le train entre en gare, le voyage n’en est pas pour autant fini !” J.B. Pontalis

Literally,

“When the train pulls into the station, this doesn’t mean that the trip is over.” ML

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Posted in Notes on English Popular sayings, proverbs & quotes

“We’re not out of the woods yet”

One of my students came across this great expression listening to an  interview with the President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. Interview by  by Calvin Sims.

(There are a number of remarkable interviews in the “Interviews” section of the Video Library at the NYT.)

the woods:  you can imagine being in the midst of a forest.

not out of the woods = still lost in the midst of that forest.

not out of the woods yet > while we’re still in the woods, we will eventually get out to a clearing.


“On n’est pas sorti de l’auberge!”

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Posted in Cross Cultural Comments France Popular sayings, proverbs & quotes

French expressions: “au four et au moulin”

The French love bread. And to make bread, you need flour. To make the flour, you need wheat. To grind the wheat into flour, you need a mill. The French word for mill is “moulin.” You probably have heard this before as in “Le Moulin Rouge”  – or a “Moulin à Poivre” (Pepper mill)

But to make bread, you need to mix the flour with water, add salt, yeast and make dough. The dough needs to be kneaded and then finally when it has risen after a few hours … you need to bake it in an oven. Oven is the English word for what in French is named “le four.”

There’s a French expression, still used today that says you can’t be both at the mill and watching the oven at the same time.

Ne pas pouvoir être au four et au moulin (en même temps).

No matter how independant we might want to be … we can’t be everywhere, doing everything … and certainly not simultaneously.

What’s the opposite of independence: “dependence” or … “interdependence” ?

Happy July … Four (th) !

… When France lent America a hand …

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Posted in Cross Cultural Comments Fluency Keywords Popular sayings, proverbs & quotes

light

How many concepts does “light” bring to mind? Light itself, weight, humor …

Edith Wharton wrote :

“There are two ways of spreading light: to be the candle or the mirror that reflects it.”

When a word has more than one contrary, more than one antonym, this is proof that it’s a strong word. The pronunciation of the word is vital. The accent is important … and the context is the determining factor. Humor plays on words with more than one meaning.

The word “light” is especially rich. It functions as a noun. A light, the light; it functions as an adjective: it is light, light blue; it also functions as a verb: to light … not to mention “to lighten” … and words with the root like “lightning” and just at the sound of it, you see the long yet short flash, that oh so powerful LIGHT against the (dark, darkened) sky.

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/I-like-to-define.mp3|titles=I like to define words by what they aren’t …]

first by their polar opposites  (black/white) and then in more nuanced ways (shades of grey) according to their uses, their contexts, their connotations.]I like to define words by what they aren’t … first by their polar opposites  (black/white) and then in more nuanced ways (shades of grey) according to their uses, their contexts, their connotations.

What’s the opposite of “light” ? …. Well, it could be …. just a moment … what’s the context?… what time is it? Is is still (light) outside?

What is the opposite in this context? If white is light, black is …… dark.

and of course
And of course the other very frequent context using “light” to describe the concept of weight would give us … heavy, of course.

As for the verb “to light,” .. why… if the linking concept is fire, it seems to me that “to put out” is probably the most frequent in everyday speech, though “extinguish” could be very popular among firemen … and officials.

By the way, Edith Wharton also said this:

If only we’d stop trying to be happy we’d have a pretty good time.

Why don’t you try recording this one?

If only we’d stop trying to be happy we’d have a pretty good time.

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Posted in Notes on English Cross Cultural Comments French/English Keywords Popular sayings, proverbs & quotes

Necessity is the mother of invention

There’s a proverb that says: “Be careful what you wish for. You just might get it!”

So it’s raining. That’s nourishing the earth.

Burt as the French say: “Après la pluie, le beau temps.”

So be it! The sun and fair weather will make our gardens grow!

Another proverb that came up today was one of my mother’s favorites. Sorry … From now on, I’m going to write it this way: Favoritz. Well it was this one:

“Necessity is the mother of invention.”

Mothers like to talk about their children. In the same way that when a woman sits in the passenger seat of a car, she checks the quality of the mirror when the visor is pulled down. Just checking…on the children in the back seat?

Necessity gives birth to invention. When you need something … you find a way to get it, to do it, to solve the problem. We burst with creative power. Inventiveness.

After reading today’s news, good news! We have a very creative and inventive future just ahead of us.

And for a major boost of inventiveness …

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Posted in About Learning a Foreign Language Notes on English Fluency Hear it, Say it, Write it ! Popular sayings, proverbs & quotes

sense – common sense – sensible … & sensitive

Sense and Sensible :  something dear to the Cartesian mind: reason.

Not to be confused with Sensitive: Feeling.

Use your sense : Use your brain. Use reason – not passion! In this … sense … (meaning) sense means taking the various factors of a situation into consideration … BEFORE acting … My grandmother’s expression for this was … Use your noggin (contrary = that’s meshuganah!)

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/MF55069.mp3|titles=sense]

“Common sense isn’t so common,” she used to say. Common sense. What we all (should) know by now!

What are the contraries to “sense” ? How about these two?

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/mf42039.mp3|titles=senseless]

and doesn’t senseless lead us to the idea of something … crazy … mad … insane … > a real absence of reason?

and what about this one … which is a little more fun, isn’t it?

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/MF53128.mp3|titles=nonsense!]

Now who hasn’t been guilty of these … at some point?

Be sensible! Do what reason tells you … you ought to do … (even if it is emotional intelligence …)

Not to be confused with sensitive

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/MF42041.mp3|titles=sensitive] [audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex420411.mp3|titles=Actors are very sensitive to criticism … ]

as in “touchy” “high strung” or people very easily hurt or offended,

often unintentionally.

I say: If being “sensible” is reasonable, then being “sensitive” is feeling.

Be both! Sensitive and Sensible. Of course, it’s taken me quite a few years to come to that conclusion …

Next week, I promise you something on the plural of this: senses. As in 5 … or maybe , in fact, 6 or more …

PS/ (My thanks to François and Fred L.  for this subject … as well as dinner chez Matsuri and an artistic evening the other night!)

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Posted in Notes on English Cross Cultural Comments Popular sayings, proverbs & quotes

“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)

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Posted in Notes on English Popular sayings, proverbs & quotes

“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]

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Posted in Popular sayings, proverbs & quotes

What goes up …

What goes up … must come down.

So observed Issac Newton when he threw an apple into the air. Gravity.

And the saying persists: “What goes up must come down.”

[audio:http://test.paris-savannah.com/wp-content/uploads/ex18057e1.mp3|titles=what goes up must come down]

Our world has its rules, its laws. Even if we do succeed in defying gravity … at least for a while!

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Posted in Notes on English Cross Cultural Comments Popular sayings, proverbs & quotes

“One good turn deserves another”

“One good turn deserves another” or Good Karma ! That’s what this is all about.

When someone returns a favor (en français, un service … par amitié, par exemple), this expression applies. Suppose that, for example,  once upon a time, you gave some of your children’s childhood books or toys to someone with small children … with no expectation whatsoever of any compensation … and then later on, he returns the favor … by helping you … or even tutoring your children in his specialty …. Why, I’d say … “One good turn deserves another” and deeper friendship is the real, positive result!

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