Clip of the Day

"The Quiet Man is a 1952 American Technicolor romantic comedy-drama film. It was directed by John Ford and stars John Wayne, Maureen O'Hara and Barry Fitzgerald. The storyline is an Irish village version of "The Taming of the Shrew," the tamer being an ex-pugilist Sean Thornton (John Wayne) retired to the land of his fathers where he purchases "that little place across the brook, that humble cottage."

But no sooner does he arrives on a soft spring morning than he falls in love with Mary Kate (Maureen O'Hara) a beautiful but poor maiden, and younger sister of ill-tempered "Red" Will Danaher. The riotous relationship that forms between Sean and Mary Kate, punctuated by Will's pugnacious attempts to keep them apart, form the main plot, with Sean's past as the dark undercurrent.


"Probably the best movie in the world,as Orson Welles may have said during his later work doing lager adverts for carlsberg. Watch the Clip. HC

http://youtu.be/8Bm0RIs-VJU

LAUGHTER’S THE BEST MEDICINE

A Different Perspective

A little boy went up to his father and asked:

- ‘Dad, where did my intelligence come from?’

The father replied.

- ‘Well, son, you must have got it from your mother, cause I still have mine..’

At the Courthouse

‘Mr. Clark, I have reviewed this case very carefully,’ the divorce court Judge said, ‘And I’ve decided to give your wife $775 a week,’

‘That’s very fair, your honor,’ the husband said. ‘And every now and then I’ll try to send her a few bucks myself.’

At the ER

A doctor examining a woman who had been rushed to the Emergency Room, took the husband aside, and said, ‘I don’t like the looks of your wife at all.’

‘Me neither doc,’ said the husband.

‘But she’s a great cook and really good with the kids.’

At the Wizard's

An old man goes to the Wizard to ask him if he can remove a curse he has been living with for the last 40 years.

The Wizard says, ‘Maybe, but you will have to tell me the exact words that were used to put the curse on you.’

The old man says without hesitation,

- ‘I now pronounce you man and wife.’

Blonde

A blonde calls Delta Airlines and asks, ‘Can you tell me how long it’ll take to fly from San Francisco to New York City ?’ The agent replies,

- ‘Just a minute.’

‘Thank you,’ the blonde says, and hangs up.

Religion

Moe: - ‘My wife got me to believe in religion.’

Joe: - ‘Really?’

Moe: - ‘Yeah. Until I married her I didn’t believe in Hell.’

‘Oops!’

A man is recovering from surgery when the surgical nurse appears and asks him how he is feeling.

- ‘I’m O. K. but I didn’t like the four letter-words the doctor used in surgery,’ he answered.

- ‘What did he say,’ asked the nurse.

- ‘Oops!’

Shopping

While shopping for vacation clothes, my husband and I passed a display of bathing suits. It had been at least ten years and twenty pounds since I had even considered buying a bathing suit, so I sought my husband’s advice.

‘What do you think?’ I asked. ‘Should I get a bikini or an all-in-one?’

‘Better get a bikini,’ he replied ‘You’d never get it all in one.’

He’s still in intensive care.

At the Graveyard

The graveside service just barely finished, when there was massive clap of thunder, followed by a tremendous bolt of lightning, accompanied by even more thunder rumbling in the distance.

The little old man looked at the pastor and calmly said,

- ‘Well, she’s there.

Famous Quotations

"It is by the goodness of God that in our country we have those three unspeakably precious things: freedom of speech, freedom of conscience, and the prudence never to practise either of them." Mark Twain

Famous Last Words

"Well, gentlemen, you are about to see a baked Appel." George Appel, executed by electric chair in 1928.

RULES OF THUMB

The thumb is the short, thick finger on your hand, the one that helps you hold things.

Thumb Nouns

The noun “thumb” is used in a lot of expressions: to give someone the thumbs up/down (to give someone approval/disapproval)

Thumb Verbs

'Thumb is also used as a verb.
to thumb a ride (informal) to hitchhike; to try to get a ride by standing on the road sticking out your thumb.

Thumb Idioms

Here are some idioms with thumb. Can you guess their idiomatic meanings by thinking about their literal meanings?

To stick out like a sore thumb: Betty sticks out like a sore thumb in that yellow dress. Everyone else is wearing blue. (Betty looks very different from everyone else; she looks a little foolish.)

A green thumb:

He has a green thumb. He is good at making plants grow. Everything in his garden flourishes.

A Rule of Thumb: (a practical rule) “You should pay your best attention to the Tips of Grammar as well as The Rules of Thumb listed in every issue of this BULLETIN”.

Words Origin

The origin of the word "OK"

During historic civil wars, when troops returned without any casualties, a writing was put up so all can see which read. "0 Killed". From here we get the esxpression OK, which means "all is good".

There have been numerous attempts to explain the emergence of this expression, which seems to have swept into popular use in the US during the mid-19th century. Most of them are pure speculation. It does not seem at all likely, from the linguistic and historical evidence, that it comes from the Scots expression och aye, the Greek ola kala ('it is good'), the Choctaw Indian oke or okeh ('it is so'), the French aux Cayes ('from Cayes', a port in Haiti with a reputation for good rum) or au quai ('to the quay', as supposedly used by French-speaking dockers), or the initials of a railway freight agent called Obediah Kelly who is said to have written them on documents he had checked.

A more likely explanation is that the term originated as an abbreviation of orl korrekt , a jokey misspelling of 'all correct' which was current in the US in the 1830s. The oldest written references result from its use as a slogan by the Democratic party during the American Presidential election of 1840. Their candidate, President Martin Van Buren, was nicknamed 'Old Kinderhook' (after his birthplace in New York State), and his supporters formed the 'OK Club'. This undoubtedly helped to popularize the term (though it did not get President Van Buren re-elected).

The only other theory with at least a degree of plausibility is that the term originated among Black slaves of West African origin, and represents a word meaning 'all right, yes indeed' in various West African languages. Unfortunately, historical evidence enabling the origin of this expression to be finally and firmly established may be hard to unearth.

Word of The Day

Fillip

verb

a : to strike by holding the nail of a finger against the ball of the thumb and then suddenly releasing it from that position

b : to make a filliping motion with

: to project quickly by or as if by a fillip : snap

: to urge on : stimulate

e.g.: Inexplicably, Carl walked up to his baby sister and filliped her on the nose.

Clip of the Day

Tommy Johnson - you ain't gonna believe this one! Tommy Johnson plays boogie woogie. An amazing pianist. Plays boogie-woogie piano music incredibly! The Real Boogie Man!

LAUGHTER’S THE BEST MEDICINE

Looks Can Be Deceptive

A 54 year old woman had a heart attack and was taken to the hospital.

While on the operating table she had a near death experience.. Seeing God she asked

- “Is my time up?” God said,

- “No, you have another 33 years, 2 months and 8 days to live.”

Upon recovery, the woman decided to stay in the hospital and have a face-lift, liposuction, breast implants and a tummy tuck.She even had someone come in and change her hair color and brighten her teeth! Since she had so much more time to live, she figured she might as well make the most of it.

After her last operation, she was released from the hospital. While crossing the street on her way home, she was killed by an ambulance.

Arriving in front of God, she demanded,

- “I thought you said I had another 33 years? Why didn’t you pull me from out of the path of the ambulance?” God replied:

- “Shit! I didn’t recognize you.”

Quick Thinking

A man walked into the produce section of a local supermarket and asked to buy a half head of lettuce. The boy working in that department told him that they only sold whole heads of lettuce. The man was insistent that the boy ask his manager about the matter.

Walking into the back room, the boy said to the manager:

- "Some asshole wants to buy a half head of lettuce."

The manager was looking behind the boy, so the boy turned around to see the man standing right behind him. So he quickly added:

- "And this gentleman kindly offered to buy the other half."

The manager approved the deal and the man went on his way. Later the manager said to the boy:

- "I was impressed with the way you got yourself out of that situation earlier. We like people who think on their feet here."

- "Thank you, sir," the boy replied.

- "Where are you from, son?"

- "Texas, sir."

- "Well, why did you leave Texas?" the manager asked.

The boy said

- "Sir, there's nothing down there but whores and football players!"

- "Really," said the manager. "My wife is from Texas."

- "No kidding!" replied the boy. "Who'd she play for?"

RULES OF THUMB

USING WHO OF WHOM

If you can answer the question being asked with him, then use whom, and it's easy to remember because they both end with m. For example, if you're trying to ask, "Who (or whom) do you love?" The answer would be "I love him." Him ends with an m, so you know to use whom. But if you are trying to ask, "Who (or whom) stepped on Squiggly?" the answer would be "He stepped on Squiggly." There's no m, so you know to use who. So that's the quick and dirty trick: if you can't remember that you use whom when you are referring to the object of the sentence, just remember that him equals whom.
Joseph Bauer, Master Carpenter, Indian Hills, Ohio, USA

Famous Last Words

"Nothing, but death"

When asked by her sister, Cassandra, if there was anything she wanted. Jane Austen, writer, (16 December 1775 – 18 July 1817)

Word Origins

Etymology of Gringo

Origins: The word gringo came from Mexicans' overhearing American soldiers sing the song "Green Grow the Lilacs" during the Mexican-American War. Gringo is also a slang Spanish and Portuguese word used in Spanish-speaking and Portuguese-speaking countries in Latin America, to denote foreigners, often from the United States.

Word of The Day

Amendment

MEANING

Function: noun

Plural: amendments

1 (count) : a change in the words or meaning of a law or document (such as a constitution)

e.g.: Constitutional amendments

Note: This sense of amendment is often followed by to.
e.g.: They proposed an amendment to the law. (they officially suggested that a change be made to the law)
An amendment to section 37 (a) of the tax code

Note: The names of the amendments that have been made to the U.S. Constitution are usually capitalized.
e.g.: The first 10 Amendments to the Constitution of the United States are called the Bill of Rights.
Our right to free speech is protected by the First Amendment (of the U.S. Constitution).


2 (noncount) : the act or process of changing the words or meaning of a law or document : the act or process of amending something

e.g.: Rights that were granted by amendment of the Constitution

Clip of the Day

An intimate tour of Earth's most impressive landscapes as captured by astronauts with their digital cameras. Dr. Justin Wilkinson from NASA's astronaut team shows us the special places that spacemen focus on whenever they get a moment.

Famous Quotations

"If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be - a Christian." Mark Twain

LAUGHTER’S THE BEST MEDICINE

Logic

The researcher interviews a grumpy old guy:

- Do you like theater?
- Nope. I went once and did not like.

- Cinema?
- Nope. I went once and did not like.

- Dance?
- Nope. I went once and did not like.

- Pubs?
- Nope. I went once and did not like.

Precisely at this instant a little boy enters the room. He explains:

- My son.

The interviewer then concludes:

- Your only child, I presume!


Beautiful and Cute

My husband was just coming out of anesthesia after a series of tests in the hospital, and I was sitting at his bedside. His eyes fluttered open, and he murmured, "You`re beautiful."

Flattered, I continued my vigil while he drifted back to sleep. Later he woke up and said, "You`re cute."

"What happened to `beautiful`?" I asked him.

"The drugs are wearing off," he replied.

Word Origins

People have been saying "handicapped" for years. Since 1504, in fact.

In 1504, after a brutal war in England, King Henry VII had an idea. King Henry knew that the war had left his country with a great number of disabled veterans. And King Henry, who unfortunately had skipped his REELife Solutions [not a trademark, thank God] training session that morning, could not envision disabled veterans being able to hold a job, or contribute to society (sic).

So King Henry VII passed some landmark legislation. He proclaimed that begging in the streets be legal for people with disabilities. So into the streets, with their "cap in hand", went King Henry's disabled veterans, to beg for money.

And so originated the term "handicap".

"hand-in-cap"

Famous Last Words

"Am I dying or is this my birthday?"
When she woke briefly during her last illness and found all her family around her bedside. Lady Nancy Astor

RULES OF THUMB

First, Second, and Third.

Whether to use first or firstly, second or secondly.

Traditional usage had first, secondly, thirdly, but this is too inconsistent for modern usage.

Most guides prefer just plain old first, second, third, and so forth, without the -ly ending.

Intensive or intense?

The New Fowler's Modern English Usage is a classical book for learners of this language. And Winston Churchill knew that very well, as he wrote to the Director of Military Intelligence about the plans for the invasion of Normandy:

- "Why must you write INTENSIVE here? INTENSE is the right word. You should read Fowler's Modern English Usage on the use of the two words".(Supplied by Breno Grisi).

Word of The Day

A Pat On The Back

Function: idiom

Status: informal

Meaning:

A show of praise or approval

e.g.: You all deserve a pat on the back (you all deserve to be praised) for making this possible.

You did a great job, so give yourself a pat on the back.