K is for knock
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 […]
J is for join in
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 […]
I is for I spy
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 […]
H is for horse
“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 […]
G is for good
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 […]
F is for first
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 […]
E is for eating
Nobody spotted the dwarf yesterday, eh? Pity, such a sweet little one, I wonder where George found him. Now for advent calendar day 5: “Eat your words!” (Nimm alles zurück!) … and Milo does. The Phantom Tollbooth (1961) takes him into a parallel world where you have to eat words to use them. — I’m […]
