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Have you ever wondered what people are going on about when they say their excuse is ‘bona fide’, describe your girlfriend as rather ‘gauche’, or tell you to quit ‘kowtowing’ to everyone?

A new book in the library can shed light on these and other words and phrases from other languages. The explanations are clear, giving the often fascinating origins of the words and examples of their current use.

 KOWTOW : Derived from words meaning ‘knock’ and ‘head’, kowtow relates to the one-time practice in China of touching the head to the floor as a mark of extreme respect in the presence of a superior; hence it means to ’show sycophancy’, to ‘grovel’:

eg. French critics have accused their own government of simply kowtowing to Beijing.

Each word or phrase is also given a ‘Pretensiousness Index’, so you can decide whether you really wish to include it in your vocabulary! 

Anyone interested in language will enjoy dipping into Faux Pas when they have a few moments to spare. 

Mrs Sweeney

The English language is so broad, yet so meticulous, and thus we can all (or at least most of us) find that one word that means something completely different to what one would guess, that sounds utterly crazy or that we feel the need to use in every sentence. I have many a favourite, though I’d like to hear some of yours first. However, do remember that the length, meaning and pronunciation of a word are not its only attributes!

Facts related to the English language:

> There are about 700,000 words in the English language, of which only about 20,000 are
in common use at this stage in history
> Shakespeare used around 34,000 words in all of his works
> The King James Bible uses approximately 8,000 different words

Tyronec

I like this Chinese proverb…

 A peasant must stand for a long time on hillside with his mouth open before a roast duck flies in.

What do you think it means?
Do you have any favourite expressions/proverbs?

 Mrs Sweeney

Image : http://china.kylereed.com/YunnanPeople/index.html 17/5/08

There’s been some pretty tough competition, with some amusing and clever suggestions, but a team of (perhaps narcissistic) judges has decided on  Jason’s  flattering entry in the Acronym competition…

 Perspectives

Of

Really

Talented

All-seeing

Linguistic, Literature Lovers

We also really liked this one by koalaboy

Place

Of

Random/Rebellious

Thoughts

About

Literature

Well done boys!

Feel free to keep posting suggestions – you never know, we might award another prize if there’s a stunning entry!

Mrs Sweeney

Collective nouns are such fun – and so collectable! Some are mundane, some superbly apt, and some simply astonishing!

It’s entertaining to try making up your own – this website has lots of suggestions for collective nouns as well as accepted ones. For example…

an attitude of teenagers 

an ambush of widows

a compromise of senators

an embarrassment of parents

a pretension of intellects 

a shortage of dwarves

My own inventions…

a hassle of homework

a quagmire of excuses

a suicide of cyclists

a slick of politicians 

Do you have some favourites that bring a smile to your dial – either established ones or your own creations? Post them in comments and I’ll  publish a  list of the best ones.

Get creative!!!

Mrs Sweeney

Image : http://www.youthblog.org/archives/teenagers%20hiphop%20cartoon.jpg 17/5/08

Bravo boys – you’ve contributed some great collective nouns! So far we have…

 from dweedidwee

a circuit of computers

a flash of cameras

a wave of sound

from Gilla

a round of circles

a rumble of earthquakes

a tree of books

a forest of dust

a boggle of letters

It has been brought to my attention by a keen competitor that the Acronym Competition  hasn’t been judged yet. Come on guys – give koala boy a run for his money! Entries close next Thursday (22nd May), and the winner will be announced the following day.

Mrs Sweeney

A big congratulations to Nicko, the lucky person to have posted the 100th comment on The Portal. A yummy treat awaits you Nicko!

Mrs Sweeney

(Image : http://www.thedctraveler.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/07/fireworks.jpg 9/5/08).

Seen in ”Your Say” in the Herald Sun on 24th April: “I was interested to read that Peter Costello is about to publish his memoirs. I wonder if the book will have a spine.”

 Mrs Clements

I love this quote from Mark Knopfler…

Sometimes you’re the windshield, sometimes you’re the bug.

Do you have any favourite quotes?

Mrs Sweeney

 Posted by Tyrone

The decline in the proper use of the English language has resulted in various forms of ‘computer language’, new acronyms, and an unfathomable amount of unnecessary slang. In addition, general grammatical rules – for example, the use of the apostrophe – are being abandoned to an age of instant communication and fast-paced business. Some of the major spoken flaws, although some of these are not publicly recognised (even to great intellectuals), include:

‘for free’ – greatest offender – commonly used on commercial television

‘have’ replaced by ‘got’ – for example, ‘I got a dog at home’

‘peoples’ – this is a word, although some deny it, but it is generally misused

like – like is meant to mean ’similar to’, yet some use it as a conjunction

And the list goes on…