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L is for leap

Posted by Anne on December 12th, 2009

Look before you leap. — Augen auf beim …!
It being leap year (Schaltjahr), on-air psychiatrist Dr. Frasier Crane challenges everyone, himself included, to take a leap of faith (sich vertrauensvoll auf etwas einlassen, ein Risiko wagen) and do something that they have never tried before. It all goes very wrong… Frasier, Season 3, Episode [...]

K is for knock

Posted by Anne on December 11th, 2009

First on my “K” list is “knowledge”. But I’m afraid I’ve overdosed on clever quotes and clichés for the next decade or so. Go someplace else if you want to talk about knowledge.
Knock, on the other hand, is a great word. In English we knock on wood for good luck (how about you? and what [...]

J is for join in

Posted by Anne on December 10th, 2009

Anytime is a time for singing, so come on, folks, join in!

Benny Goodman 1946:
All the Cats Join In
From “Make Mine Music”, composed by Alec Wilder, Ray Gilbert and Eddie Sauter
Hop in the old jallop
And head for the malted shop
And all the cats join in
Down goes my last two bits
Comes up one banana split
And all the [...]

I is for I spy

Posted by Anne on December 9th, 2009

The lower case letter “i” was going to be for those high-tech gadgets, games and gizmos that have become part of our iCulture. But I read it’s now inappropriate to use the iPhone.
So what about that good old, no-tech game, I spy? That’s the guessing game where you say “I spy with my little eye [...]

H is for horse

Posted by Anne on December 8th, 2009

“You can lead a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink.”
This saying works for me on several implied levels. First, you can’t force the “horse” to do anything, so I follow that you shouldn’t, even if you think it might be good. Chances are, it’s horse manure anyway, at least for this horse. [...]

G is for good

Posted by Anne on December 7th, 2009

Advent Calendar Day 7 – Keep your eyes peeled for dwarves, elves and other Christmas folk!
Good fences make good neighbors. (Liebe deinen Nachbarn, aber reiß den Zaun nicht ein.)
This 17th century proverb is very popular in America. It means “live and let live” and “respect the privacy of others”.
The saying is so well-known because [...]

F is for first

Posted by Anne on December 6th, 2009

First come, first served.
First things first.
One German translation would be “eins nach dem anderen” — one thing after another; break it down. The other would be “das Wichtigste zuerst” — the most important thing first; prioritize. I don’t think there is an equivalent phrase with both meanings in German. Wow: yet another example of [...]