Mahatma Gandhi assassinated

Today is the anniversary of the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. If you'd like to read a little about his life, the BBC History site has a very readable biography of the man. It also contains links to articles on his historical context.

You may have noticed that I've used to talk about his death. Remember that in English, we only use "assassinate" (and its nouns assassination -- the event-- and assassin -- the person) when we are talking about prominant figures: politicians, stars, business leaders.

For a homicide (a technical police and legal term) involving your ordinary man on the street, however, we would use "kill" or "murder".

Machines that end in -er

vs.

A very common mistake for students learning British English is to confuse the words "cook" and "cooker". (In American English, a cooker is called a stove, removing the problem!) This isn't so surprising, as many job titles end in -er or -or, for example, driver, actor, waiter. Please remember, though, that the person is called a cook in this case.

However, there are lots of machines we use everyday at home or in the office, and whose names end in -er. Examples include:

computer
photocopier
printer
hair dryer/drier
washer and dryer/drier (for clothes)
dishwasher
mixer
blender
vacuum cleaner
toaster

What are you wearing?

Three verbs that often get confused are to wear [wore-worn], to carry and to dress.

When you use to wear, you talk about the clothes/clothing that are/is on your body. For example, today I'm wearing grey [AmEng gray] patterned trousers [AmEng pants], a long-sleeved purple top, a green wool cardigan sweater with grey, purple, white and beige flowers (not as horrible as it sounds), and short green suede boots.

We also use to wear for accessories: jewellery [AmEng jewelry] such as earrings, rings, necklaces and bracelets; belts; glasses (and contact lenses/contacts); and hats or caps.

We use to carry for things that you have in your hands or arms or hold on your shoulder: briefcase, umbrella, (hand)bag [AmEng, also "purse"]. For backpacks, it depends whether its on your back (to wear), or you have it over your shoulder or in your hand (to carry).

To dress refers to the style of one's clothing and accessories. So you could dress casually, scruffily, formally, smartly or trendily.

Very often to avoid the adverbs, we use an adjective:
Curt usually wears smart/formal/sporty clothes.
Stephanie is a very trendy/casual/nice dresser.

What are you wearing?

A positive outlook

A bit of folk philosophy:

When life gives you lemons,

make lemonade.

In other words, when faced with a setback or difficulty, try to turn it into something positive. Turn the sour (lemons) into the sweet (lemonade).

[NB: In AmEng, lemonade refers to a beverage made with lemons, sugar and water. In BrEng, it means a carbonated beverage like Sprite, Fanta Lemon or 7-Up.]

Other common optimistic expressions:

Always look on the bright side of life. This expression was made super famous by a song of the same name which appeared in the Monty Python film, The Life of Brian.

Every cloud has a silver lining - a very similar expression to the first one.

Another and other

OTHER vs. ANOTHER

These two words are often confused by Spanish speakers. Let's try to explain the basic difference by looking at when they are used:

We use "other" when talking about two things. It has the idea of "not this one, but that one".

We can use "another" when talking about any number of things (more than one). It has the idea of "one more" or "not this one, but a different one".

Examples of use:

Woman holding up two dresses to show her husband: "Should I wear the blue one or the other one?" (not the blue one)
Somebody giving directions: "It's on the other side of the street." (not on this side)
To someone who's just come back from the hair dresser's: "I liked your hair better the other way." (not this way)
Telling a story: "The other day I was walking down the street when I saw ..." (recently, but not today)

A hostess to a guest: "Would you like another cup of coffee?" (one more)
A customer in a shop (AmEng store): "This shirt has a stain on it, have you got another one in my size?" (a different one from this one)
Someone who's just returned from holiday (AmEng vacation): "That was too short. I need another week off!" (one more week)

Cold turkey

No, this is not a farm animal that's been left out in the snow, but rather a colloquial expression to mean when you quit doing something suddenly, not little by little.

It is most often, but not excusively, used for giving up drinking or drugs. Did you give up anything this New Year's? What about other New Year's Resolutions? If you made any, why not read these tips on keeping them?

The Twelve Days of Christmas

In most of the Western Church, the Twelve Days of Christmas are the twelve days from Christmas until the beginning of Ephphany (January 6th). In some traditions, the first day of Christmas begins on the evening of December 25th but the following day is considered the First Day of Christmas (December 26th).

The origin of the Twelve Days is complicated, and is related to differences in calendars, church traditions, and ways to observe this holy day in various cultures. In the Western church, Epiphany is usually celebrated as the time the Wise Men or Magi arrived to present gifts to the young Jesus. In some places it is traditional to give Christmas gifts for each of the Twelve Days of Christmas. Since Eastern Orthodox traditions use a different religious calendar, they celebrate Christmas on January 7th and observe Epiphany or Theophany on January 19th.

The 12 Days of Christmas are memorably evoked in a traditional Christmas carol of the same name.

On the first day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
A partridge in a pear tree.

On the second day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the third day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the fourth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the fifth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the sixth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the seventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the eighth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the ninth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the tenth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the eleventh day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree.

On the twelfth day of Christmas,
my true love sent to me
Twelve drummers drumming,
Eleven pipers piping,
Ten lords a-leaping,
Nine ladies dancing,
Eight maids a-milking,
Seven swans a-swimming,
Six geese a-laying,
Five golden rings,
Four calling birds,
Three French hens,
Two turtle doves,
And a partridge in a pear tree!