My English blog by englishbaby2008 | English, baby! Blogs

word power

englishbaby2008 — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 06:33:35 GMT

word power

Whould you abdicate or advocate?

Absolve(v): to forgive or free from blame

As part of the king's historic decision , he decided to absolve all those villains who languished in the tower.

Abysmal(adj) : extremely wretched, bottomless

The prisoners had been living in an abysmal situation.

Acquiesce(v): to comply passively , to give in

The king's cabinet did not easily acquiesce to the pardons.

Amnesty(n): an official pardon for a group of people who violate a law

In fact, the king himself had granted amnesty five years before to a ring of conspirators who had been planning to rob a bank.

Anomalous(adj): irregular ,abnormal,unusual

The price secretly plans to hang all criminals once he is crowned,as he considers his father's decision regarding amnesty as anomalous one.

How to write an English Paragraph?

englishbaby2008 — Wed, 13 Aug 2008 06:16:38 GMT

How to write an English Paragraph?

A classic format for compositions is the five-paragraph essay. It is not the only format for writing an essay, of course, but it is a useful model for you to keep in mind, especially as you begin to develop your composition skills. The following material is adapted from a handout prepared by Harry Livermore for his high school English classes at Cook High School in Adel, Georgia. It is used here with his permission.

Introduction:

Introductory Paragraph

See, first, Writing Introductory Paragraphs for different ways of getting your reader involved in your essay. The introductory paragraph should also include the thesis statement, a kind of mini-outline for the paper: it tells the reader what the essay is about. The last sentence of this paragraph must also contain a transitional "hook" which moves the reader to the first paragraph of the body of the paper.

Body:

Body — First paragraph:

The first paragraph of the body should contain the strongest argument, most significant example, cleverest illustration, or an obvious beginning point. The first sentence of this paragraph should include the "reverse hook" which ties in with the transitional hook at the end of the introductory paragraph. The topic for this paragraph should be in the first or second sentence. This topic should relate to the thesis statement in the introductory paragraph. The last sentence in this paragraph should include a transitional hook to tie into the second paragraph of the body.

Body — Second paragraph:

The second paragraph of the body should contain the second strongest argument, second most significant example, second cleverest illustration, or an obvious follow up the first paragraph in the body. The first sentence of this paragraph should include the reverse hook which ties in with the transitional hook at the end of the first paragraph of the body. The topic for this paragraph should be in the first or second sentence. This topic should relate to the thesis statement in the introductory paragraph. The last sentence in this paragraph should include a transitional hook to tie into the third paragraph of the body.

Body — Third paragraph:

The third paragraph of the body should contain the weakest argument, weakest example, weakest illustration, or an obvious follow up to the second paragraph in the body. The first sentence of this paragraph should include the reverse hook which ties in with the transitional hook at the end of the second paragraph. The topic for this paragraph should be in the first or second sentence. This topic should relate to the thesis statement in the introductory paragraph. The last sentence in this paragraph should include a transitional concluding hook that signals the reader that this is the final major point being made in this paper. This hook also leads into the last, or concluding, paragraph.

Conclusion:

Concluding paragraph:
This paragraph should include the following:

an allusion to the pattern used in the introductory paragraph,
a restatement of the thesis statement, using some of the original language or language that "echoes" the original language. (The restatement, however, must not be a duplicate thesis statement.)
a summary of the three main points from the body of the paper.
a final statement that gives the reader signals that the discussion has come to an end. (This final statement may be a "call to action" in an persuasive paper.)

SONG

englishbaby2008 — Thu, 05 Jun 2008 07:44:02 GMT

SONG

Song—A Red, Red Rose

Robert Burns (1794)

O my Luve’s like a red, red rose,
That’s newly sprung in June:
O my Luve’s like the melodie,
That’s sweetly play’d in tune.

As fair art thou, my bonie lass,
So deep in luve am I;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
Till a’ the seas gang dry.

Till a’ the seas gang dry, my dear,
And the rocks melt wi’ the sun;
And I will luve thee still, my dear,
While the sands o’ life shall run.

And fare-thee-weel, my only Luve!
And fare-thee-weel, a while!
And I will come again, my Luve,
Tho’ ’twere ten thousand mile!

Give all to love ((Ralph Waldo Emerson

englishbaby2008 — Mon, 12 May 2008 07:22:27 GMT

Give all to love ((Ralph Waldo Emerson

Give All to Love

GIVE all to love;
Obey thy heart;
Friends, kindred, days,
Estate, good-fame,
Plans, credit, and the Muse,--
Nothing refuse.
'Tis a brave master;
Let it have scope:
Follow it utterly,
Hope beyond hope:
High and more high
It dives into noon,
With wing unspent,
Untold intent;
But it is a God,
Knows its own path
And the outlets of the sky.
It was never for the mean;
It requireth courage stout.
Souls above doubt,
Valor unbending,
It will reward,--
They shall return
More than they were,
And ever ascending.
Leave all for love;
Yet, hear me, yet,
One word more thy heart behoved,
One pulse more of firm endeavor,--
Keep thee to-day,
To-morrow, forever,
Free as an Arab
Of thy beloved.
Cling with life to the maid;
But when the surprise,
First vague shadow of surmise
Flits across her bosom young,
Of a joy apart from thee,
Free be she, fancy-free;
Nor thou detain her vesture's hem,
Nor the palest rose she flung
From her summer diadem.
Though thou loved her as thyself,
As a self of purer clay,
Though her parting dims the day,
Stealing grace from all alive;
Heartily know,
When half-gods go,
The gods survive.

A question

englishbaby2008 — Thu, 08 May 2008 07:20:36 GMT

A question

A voice said, Look me in the stars

And tell me truly, men of earth,

If all the soul-and-body scars

Were not too much to pay for birth.

loooooooooove

englishbaby2008 — Sun, 04 May 2008 09:04:33 GMT

loooooooooove

Love

PROUD of my broken heart since thou didst break it,

Proud of the pain I did not feel till thee,

Proud of my night since thou with moons dost slake it,

Not to partake thy passion, my humility.

================================

MY worthiness is all my doubt,
His merit all my fear,
Contrasting which, my qualities
Do lowlier appear;

Lest I should insufficient prove
For his beloved need,
The chiefest apprehension
Within my loving creed.

So I, the undivine abode
Of his elect content,
Conform my soul as ’t were a church
Unto her sacrament. ===========================

LOVE is anterior to life,
Posterior to death,
Initial of creation, and
The exponent of breath

shakespear sonnet no 36

englishbaby2008 — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:52:48 GMT

shakespear sonnet no 36

XXXVI

Let me confess that we two must be twain,

Although our undivided loves are one:

So shall those blots that do with me remain,

Without thy help, by me be borne alone.

In our two loves there is but one respect,

Though in our lives a separable spite,

Which though it alter not love's sole effect,

Yet doth it steal sweet hours from love's delight.

I may not evermore acknowledge thee,

Lest my bewailed guilt should do thee shame,

Nor thou with public kindness honour me,

Unless thou take that honour from thy name:

But do not so, I love thee in such sort,

As thou being mine, mine is thy good report.

New Idioms

englishbaby2008 — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 06:34:02 GMT

New Idioms

I Wash My Hands Of It
Commonly, when someone has attempted to avert a wrong and it continues anyway, he states, "I wash my hands of the issue", indicating that he is clean and not to blame. This comes from Jesus' trial, as recorded in Matthew 27:24. Pontius Pilate, who was in charge of sentencing Christ, claimed that Jesus was innocent as far as he could tell. However, the crowds pushed to have Him executed. "When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd, saying, 'I am innocent of this Man's blood; see to that yourselves.'

Play by ear
When a situation is handled in an impromptu manner without refering to any set of guidelines. This comes from not using sheet music to play the music.

Like a chicken with its head cut off
Meaning in a frenzied manner. Poultry twitch and sometimes run around after decapitation.
When poultry is decapitated, they begin to twitch and may sometimes begin to run around, that is how this idiom which means 'in a frenzy' comes from.

Turn A Blind Eye

Just stopped by the site on idioms and sayings and noticed that you were missing one I've used forever. 'Turn a blind eye' which stems from the battle at Copenhagen between the British fleet commanded by Admiral Sir Hyde Parker and the Danes (can't remember who commanded it). The attack was led by the famous Admiral Nelson into the bay and during the battle there was a point where Parker had felt that Nelson's losses were unacceptable and hoisted the signal to disengage. When informed of the signal Admiral Nelson held the telescope to his blind eye and said "I see no ships" disobeying the order and winning the battle. Thus the phrase 'turn a blind eye'

Up a blind alley
Meaning on the wrong track. Any alley with no clear or visible passage can be blind.

Your name is mud
This idiom means 'you are not popular'. While escaping after shooting President Lincoln, John Wilkes Booth broke his leg. The doctor that gave him medical attention was Dr. Samuel Mudd. At the time, Mudd had no idea that Booth had committed the murder. Dr. Mudd was unfairly convicted of being a conspirator to Booth.

Asking For Roses - A poem by Robert Frost

englishbaby2008 — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 08:01:24 GMT

Asking For Roses - A poem by Robert Frost

Asking For Roses

A house that lacks, seemingly, mistress and master,

With doors that none but the wind ever closes,

Its floor all littered with glass and with plaster;

It stands in a garden of old-fashioned roses.

I pass by that way in the gloaming with Mary;

'I wonder,' I say, 'who the owner of those is.'

'Oh, no one you know,' she answers me airy, 'But one we must ask if we want any roses.'

So we must join hands in the dew coming coldly

There in the hush of the wood that reposes,

And turn and go up to the open door boldly,

And knock to the echoes as beggars for roses.

'Pray, are you within there, Mistress Who-were-you?' '

Tis Mary that speaks and our errand discloses.

'Pray, are you within there? Bestir you, bestir you!

'Tis summer again; there's two come for roses.

'A word with you, that of the singer recalling--

Old Herrick: a saying that every maid knows is A flower unplucked is but left to the falling,

And nothing is gained by not gathering roses.'

We do not loosen our hands' intertwining (Not caring so very much what she supposes),

There when she comes on us mistily shining

And grants us by silence the boon of her roses.

New idioms

englishbaby2008 — Wed, 09 Apr 2008 07:54:33 GMT

New idioms

Keep body and soul together
This comes from the religious idea that both the body and soul will always be together as long as life remains. The idiom as come to mean 'to survive'

Money is the Root of All Evil
This idiom is actually a misquote from the Bible. The Apostle Paul, writing to Timothy in I Tim 6:10, says, "For the love of money is the root of all evil..." This is commonly misstated by saying that "money is the root of all evil", rather than greed (love of money).

On a wing and a prayer
This idiom's origin began in the military. It simply means to rely on good fortune. It comes from very damaged aircrafts that were returned to the bases with nothing but prayers that kept them intact.

new idioms

englishbaby2008 — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 10:02:48 GMT

new idioms

Don't look a Gift Horse in the Mouth
When given something don't be ungrateful.

By counting the teeth you can tell the age of a horse. Checking whether a present of a horse was old would be considered impolite.

Foam at the Mouth
To display rape...More than likely this term comes from animals affected by rabies that foam at the mouth.

Get out of the wrong side of bed
Meaning to be in a bad mood, it is considered unlucky to put your left foot on the floor first when getting out of bed

sonnet

englishbaby2008 — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 09:51:59 GMT

sonnet

One day I wrote her name upon the strand"

One day I wrote her name upon the strand,

But came the waves and washed it away:

Again I wrote it with a second hand,

But came the tide, and made my pains his prey.

Vain man, said she, that dost in vain assay

A mortal thing so to immortalize!

For I myself shall like to this decay,

And eek my name be wiped out likewise.

Not so (quoth I), let baser things devise

To die in dust, but you shall live by fame:

My verse your virtues rare shall eternize,

And in the heavens write your glorious name;

Where, whenas death shall all the world subdue,

Our love shall live, and later life renew

Love Song

englishbaby2008 — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 05:27:57 GMT

Love Song

1. The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock


LET us go then, you and I,
When the evening is spread out against the sky
Like a patient etherised upon a table;
Let us go, through certain half-deserted streets,
The muttering retreats	5
Of restless nights in one-night cheap hotels
And sawdust restaurants with oyster-shells:
Streets that follow like a tedious argument
Of insidious intent
To lead you to an overwhelming question …	10
Oh, do not ask, “What is it?”
Let us go and make our visit.

In the room the women come and go
Talking of Michelangelo.

Is there anybody to like sonnets?

englishbaby2008 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:44:55 GMT

Is there anybody to like sonnets?

Shall I compare thee to a summer's day?
Thou art more lovely and more temperate:
Rough winds do shake the darling buds of May,
And summer's lease hath all too short a date:
Sometime too hot the eye of heaven shines,
And often is his gold complexion dimmed,
And every fair from fair sometime declines,
By chance, or nature's changing course untrimmed:
But thy eternal summer shall not fade,
Nor lose possession of that fair thou ow'st,
Nor shall death brag thou wander'st in his shade,
When in eternal lines to time thou grow'st,
So long as men can breathe, or eyes can see,
So long lives this, and this gives life to thee.

Idioms

englishbaby2008 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 09:14:45 GMT

Idioms

Catch-22

Catch-22 is a situation where conflicting rules make the desired outcome impossible. It comes from a novel by the American author Joseph Heller, in which pilots would not have to fly missions if they were mentally ill, but not wanting to fly dangerous missions was held to be proof of sanity, so they had to fly anyway. ('Catch 22', without the hyphen, is also used

Cold fish

A cold fish is a person who doesn't show how they feel.

Come of age

When something comes of age it develops completely and reaches maturity. When someone comes of age, they reach adulthood or fulfill their potential.

English Idioms

englishbaby2008 — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 08:19:11 GMT

English Idioms

Add fuel to the fire

If people add fuel to the fire, they make a bad situation worse.

Add insult to injury

When people add insult to injury, they make a bad situation even worse.

Bad blood

If people feel hate because of things that happened in the past, there is bad blood between them.

Bad hair day

If you're having a bad hair day, things are not going the way you would like or had planned.

poem

englishbaby2008 — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 09:39:01 GMT

poem

The Road not Taken

By Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood
and sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveller, long I stood
and looked down one as far as I could
to where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
and having perhaps the better claim
because it was grassy and wanted wear;
though as for that, the passing there
had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
in leaves no feet had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I --
I took the one less travelled by,
and that has made all the difference

hello ,every body

englishbaby2008 — Thu, 27 Mar 2008 07:06:25 GMT

hello ,every body

When we are born we cry that we are come to this great stage of fools.

William Shakespeare