Saturday, August 21, 2021

How To Tell Someone You Got Vaccinated

Content made on Kapwing 

 





How To Say It:


I got my shot. 

I got my jab. 

I got my vaccine.



How Not To Say It


I got shot.



Usually that kind of shot involves a gun not a syringe,




Sunday, July 25, 2021

I Had No Idea The Song Was About That

 






The following is dedicated to Todd Schindler. A man who taught me the importance of lyrics in songs and dialogue in movies by frequently shushing a distracted version of me while we were watching movies. We also watched several memorable concerts together including Randy Newman and Joe Jackson. 


Many of us love music. The reason being that music gives us so many things to love. You can fall in the love with the melody, the harmony, the production, the musicianship , the mood. One more  thing you can fall in love with are the words. At least in my case , I can love a song  for decades and even see it performed in concert by the original artist and still not see what the lyrics really mean. 


Keep in mind that music like any art form is in the eye or ear of the beholder. You can make it mean what you want it to mean but some song writers pack a bit more to their songs than others. One thing I have noticed with "deeper " songs is  I try to figure out is from whose point of view is the song coming from. Just because you see the pronoun "I" all the time it does not mean the song is from the first person perspective. A good example of that is Barry Manilow's I Write The Songs. 


The songs I chose below have been out many years. Some of them are simple stories. Some of them look like simple stories but are indicative of a deeper theme. It will really enhance your vocabulary and your comprehension if you can find that deeper theme or themes which are usually not found in the words of the song. Read between the lines. The mood or atmosphere of the song may or may not correlate  with the overall theme of the song. In other words, do not assume a bright , lively beat is a happy song. 


See if you can appreciate the melody, the voices and the instruments, then scrutinize the words and try to mine them for meaning.  Enjoy !! 


 



The Dance (medium)




Bus Stop (easy)

 


Don't Worry Baby (medium) 




Davy The Fat Boy (harder) 




Missing You (medium)




Hit Single (hard) 



Lyin Eyes  (medium)





Four Eyes (easy)



Escape The Pina Colada Song (medium) 



 Turn the Page (easy) 



Message In A Bottle (easy)





Roxanne (medium)



Piano Man  (medium) 




Lights of LA County  (medium)


Be My Girl Sally (easy) 




Short People (medium) 



In Germany Before the War (medium) 




Bachelor Boy (harder) 



Greatest Discovery (easy) 




Sunday, June 6, 2021

The Different Meanings of Draft

 







DRAFT 


 

B2 [ C ]

a piece of text, a formal suggestion, or a drawing in its original state, often containing the main ideas and intentions but not the developed form:

This is only a rough draft - the finished article will have pictures too.

She asked me to check the (first) draft of her proposal.

 More examples

I've knocked out a first draft of the report which we can amend at a later date.

We decided to abandon the first draft of the report and start over.

The first draft of his novel needed a substantial amount of rewriting.

We submitted a rough draft of the changes we proposed to make and waited for the council's approval.

He pointed out that the latest chapter was only a draft and not the final version.

 SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

 

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draft noun (MILITARY)

 the draft [ S ] mainly US ( UK conscription)

 

the system of ordering people by law to join the armed forces:

He avoided the draft because of a foot injury.

 SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

draft noun (SPORTS)

 

[ S ]

the system by which sports teams in the U.S. choose new young players at the beginning of each season:

the NBA draft

He was a second-round draft pick by the Raiders.

 SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

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draft noun (MONEY)

 

[ C ]

a written order for money to be paid by a bank, especially to another bank:

I arranged for some money to be sent from London to L.A. by bank draft.

 SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

draft noun (COLD AIR)

 

[ C ] US ( UK draught)

a current of unpleasantly cold air blowing through a room

 SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

draft noun (BOATS)

 

[ C ]   SAILING   US specialized ( UK draught)

the depth of water needed for a boat to be able to float

 SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

draft noun (BEER)

 

[ U ] US ( UK draught)

a system of storing and serving drinks from large containers, especially barrels:

Is the lager on draft or is it bottled?

 SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

 

draft

adjective [ before noun ] US ( UK draught)

US  /dræft/ UK  /drɑːft/

draft adjective [before noun] (BEER)

 

(of drinks such as beer) stored in and served from large containers, especially barrels:

draft beer/lager/cider

 SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

draft adjective [before noun] (ANIMALS)

 

(of animals) used for pulling heavy loads, vehicles, etc.:

a draft horse

 SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

 

draft

verb

US  /dræft/ UK  /drɑːft/

draft verb (PLAN)

 

C1 UK

 


to order people by law to join the armed forces:

He was drafted (into the army) at 18.

 SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases

Phrasal verb

draft sb in

 

draft

adjective [ before noun ]







Sunday, March 21, 2021

Parody and Parity

 


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par·o·dy
/ˈperədē/
noun
  1. an imitation of the style of a particular writer, artist, or genre with deliberate exaggeration for comic effect.
    "the movie is a parody of the horror genre"





par·i·ty1
/ˈperədē/
See definitions in: Medicine
noun
noun: parity
  1. 1.
    the state or condition of being equal, especially regarding status or pay.
    "parity of incomes between rural workers and those in industrial occupations"
    Similar:
    equality
    equivalence
    uniformity
    sameness
    consistency
    correspondence
    congruity
    congruence
    levelness
    unity
    coequality
    parallelism
    evenness
    • the value of one currency in terms of another at an established exchange rate.
      plural noun: parities; noun: purchasing parity; plural noun: purchasing parities
      "the euro's parity with the dollar"
    • a system of providing farmers with consistent purchasing power by regulating prices of farm products, usually with government price supports.






Sunday, March 7, 2021

Defining and Deafening

 


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de·fine
/dəˈfīn/
verb
gerund or present participle: defining
  1. 1.
    state or describe exactly the nature, scope, or meaning of.
    "the contract will seek to define the client's obligations"
    Similar:
    explain
    expound
    interpret
    elucidate
    explicate
    describe
    clarify
    give the meaning of
    state precisely
    spell out
    put into words
    express in words
  2. 2.
    mark out the boundary or limits of.
    "the river defines the park's boundary"





deaf·en·ing
/ˈdef(ə)niNG/
adjective
  1. (of a noise) so loud as to make it impossible to hear anything else.
    "the music reached a deafening crescendo"




Friday, February 19, 2021

Two Meanings of Store

 

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noun
  1. 1.
    NORTH AMERICAN
    a retail establishment selling items to the public.
    "a health-food store"


verb
  1. keep or accumulate (something) for future use.
    "a small room used for storing furniture"

Friday, February 12, 2021

Tempt and Attempt

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tempt
/tem(p)t/
verb
  1. entice or attempt to entice (someone) to do or acquire something that they find attractive but know to be wrong or not beneficial.
    "there'll always be someone tempted by the rich pickings of poaching"





at·tempt
/əˈtem(p)t/
verb
verb: attempt; 3rd person present: attempts; past tense: attempted; past participle: attempted; gerund or present participle: attempting
  1. make an effort to achieve or complete (something, typically a difficult task or action).
    "she attempted a comeback in 1989"

Laughter Means Understanding

  I was teaching last week and for the first time in months I felt the urge to share the original version of the English blooper post.  You ...