26/10/10

Who is the “Jack” in “Jack O’ Lantern?”

This week thousands of Americans will scoop out the flesh of a gourd, crudely carve a haunting face into its rind, and stick a candle inside. Then the jack-o’-lanterns will proudly be displayed on porches and stoops. Who or what is this wacky tradition named after?

The British can claim ownership of the original use of the phrase “jack-o’-lantern.” In the 17th century, it referred to a night watchman, a man who literally carried a lantern.

But it was also a nickname for strange, flickering lights seen at night over wetlands, or peat bogs, and mistaken to be fairies or ghosts. This natural phenomenon is also called ignis fatuus, which means “fool’s fire,” and will o’ the wisp.

Eventually what was called a “turnip lantern” became known as a jack-o’-lantern. Young boys used these hollowed-out and lit-up gourds to spook people.

Legend has it that this use of jack-o’-lantern was named after a fellow named Stingy Jack, who thought he had tricked the devil. But the devil had the last laugh, condemning Jack to an eternity of wandering the planet with only an ember of hellfire for light.

Irish immigrants brought the jack-o’-lantern custom to North America, which is where pumpkins were first used to make the Halloween decorations.

Impress fellow partiers this weekend with this fact: a jack-o’-lantern is also the name for an orange fungus. The mushroom Omphalotus olearius is found at the base of hardwood tree stumps. It is extremely poisonous.

25/10/10

HALLOWEEN TREASURE HUNT GAME






A Treasure Hunt game that we created last year for a Halloween party became an instant hit and has been requested again this year. Adapt the clues for any age group.

STEP 1: Make 9 rhyming clues and 1 treasure map on paper and place them around the yard. / Escribe 9 pistas con rima y dibuja un mapoa del tesoro; colocalos por todo el jardín o la casa.

STEP 2: Hand the kids Clue #1 and it should lead them to Clue #2 and then Clue #3 and so on. Clue #9 led them to the treasure map. / Comienza dando la pista 1 y esta les conducirá a la segunda y así hasta la última que les guiará hasta el mapa del tesoro.

STEP 3 : They had to find the treasure based on the map drawing and "X" marks the spot! Hide the treasure chest somewhere inside or outside where they can find it, but don’t make it to easy. The treasure can be a cardboard treasure chest filled to the rim with Oriental Trading novelty toys (you can make whatever you want) for Halloween and some candy. / El mapa debe contener una X que será el lugar donde está escondido el tesoro. El cofre del tesoro no debe ser muy fácil de encontrar. Podemos utilizar, caramelos, dulces, para rellenar el tesoro, o lo que queramos!



Here are my clues, but make your own clues to work with your "hunting" area. (My explanatory notes are in parentheses.) / Aquí tenéis unas rimas con pistas de ejemplo, pero debéis crear las vuestras propias para adaptarlas a vuestro entorno.

CLUE #1
HAPPY HALLOWEEN, LITTLE WITCHES AND WARLOCKS!
HERE IS YOUR FIRST CLUE
BUT YOU WILL HAVE TO LOOK UNDER A SLIDE (taped clue to underside of slide)
FOR CLUE NUMBER 2!

CLUE #2
YOU FOUND CLUE NUMBER 2
AS YOU CAN SEE
BUT YOU'LL HAVE TO ASK THE SKELETON (taped somewhere to Halloween party prop)
FOR CLUE NUMBER 3!

CLUE #3
YOU ARE GETTING CLOSER
THAN YOU WERE BEFORE
TRY CHECKING THE TIRE (taped inside of tire swing)
FOR CLUE NUMBER 4!

CLUE #4
DO YOU LIKE TO DANCE?
DO YOU LIKE TO JIVE?
CHECK UNDER THE BOOMBOX (taped underneath CD player that is playing KidzBop Halloween music)
FOR CLUE NUMBER 5!

CLUE #5
THERE IS A SCARECROW
MADE OF STRAW AND STICKS
HOLDING THE RIDDLE (taped somewhere to Halloween party prop)
THAT IS CLUE NUMBER 6!

CLUE #6
THE SKY IS SO BLUE
WHEN YOU LOOK UP TOWARDS HEAVEN
AND SO IS THE THING HIDING (I've still got to find something blue outside to use this year)
CLUE NUMBER 7!

CLUE #7
LOOK CLOSELY WHEN YOU WALK
THROUGH THE WOODEN GATE
AND YOU MIGHT JUST FIND
CLUE NUMBER 8!
CLUE #8

YOU ARE GETTING SO CLOSE
BUT THE TREASURE IS STILL MINE
UNLESS YOU LOOK UNDER THE FIFTH STEP
FOR CLUE NUMBER 9!

CLUE #9
AHA! ONLY ONE CLUE LEFT
IS THERE A PIRATE AMONG THE MEN? (someone is dressing up like a pirate for the party and he is going to have the map)
IT IS HE WHO YOU MUST TRICK
INTO GIVING YOU CLUE NUMBER 10!

Happy Halloween!

HOW TO WRITE A RECIPE FOR YOUR ENGLISH CLASS

In these days, we usually have to make a cake or biscuits for Halloween, here you are an example and some directions tu present your dessert in class. HAPPY DELICIOUS HALLOWEEN!!


Paella

20/10/10

Is “achoo” a word? And what’s the origin of saying “God bless you” after a sneeze?


Every sneeze has a different ring to it, but there are only a few words in English that name the sound. Achoo is the most favored.

This instance of onomatopoeia imitates the sound of sneezing. The first syllable mimics the quick intake of breath, while the second corresponds to the tone of the convulsive expulsion of air through the nose and mouth. “Achoo” is also considered an interjection, in the same class of words as “ouch” or “gosh.” (What are ”gosh,” “golly,” and “gee” short for? They all pertain to religion. Click here for the answer.)

Other languages follow the same approach. A sneeze sound in Russian is apchkhi; in Korean it is achee.

ACHOO is an acronym for a sternutation disorder called Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helioophthalmic Outburst Syndrome that results in uncontrollable sneezing.

After a sneeze, there are a few common responses. “God bless you” (or “bless you”) and “gesundheit” are two. Gesundheit is German for “healthiness.”

As for the origin of “God bless you,” there are a number of ideas. There are superstitious beliefs that connect evil to sneezing, such as the thought that a sneeze releases a soul to the waiting grasp of evil spirits. Hence, a blessing is needed.

A false belief that originated during the Renaissance dictates that a sneeze causes the heart to momentarily stop. The blessing was a brief prayer that the heart would not fail completely.
From Hotword.dictionary.com

16/10/10

Why is “dog” one of the great mysteries of the English language?


Behind the simplest words one can often find the most compelling questions. Take for example, “dog.”

Canis familiaris, also known as “dog,” is essentially a domesticated wolf. The dog is a member of the Canidae family, like the jackal and the fox.

About seven centuries ago, the word “hound,” which came from the Old English hund, was the word for all domestic canines. “Dog” was just used to refer to a subgroup of hounds that includes the lovely but frequently slobbering mastiff.

Of course, the opposite is now true. We use dog to talk about all of man’s best friends, from lovable golden retrievers to panting chow chows. And hound is now used to indicate a type of dog used just for hunting. Hound especially refers to a dog with a long face and large, droopy ears. Linguists still speculate about the reversal of fortune for “hound” and “dog.” One idea suggests that the sub-breed known as “dogs” became so populous that “dog” simply became the generic term (sort of an animal equivalent of the way brand names can become so ubiquitous that they start to be used as a general term for their purpose.)

The number of uses of “dog” is remarkable even by the standards of the dictionary. We call sleazy men dogs. We also call our feet dogs. A worthless object, such as a wobbly, rusty bike, is also called a dog.

(Don’t forget about the hot dog. Read about the gross but amazing origin of this dish, here.)

There also seems to be an endless number of idioms incorporating the word, such as “sick as a dog.”

The expressions “a dog’s life” and “go to the dogs” likely refer to a time when the animals were used primarily for hunting and not kept as pets.

The phrase “put on the dog” means to “get dressed up.” It may refer to the stiff, stand-up shirt collars (also known as dog collars) that were all the rage in the late nineteenth century.

A dog-eared page is named after the way many dogs’ ears fold down, as opposed to the perky, upright wolf ear.

Employing the phrase “hair of the dog” to talk about using alcohol as a hangover cure may be as old as drinking itself. The first recorded use is with Pliny, the ancient Roman writer.
From: hot word blog dictionary.

1/10/10

BABY, song by Justin Bieber

BABY --JUSTIN BIEBER--



Ohh wooaah (3x)
You know you love me,I know you care
Just shout whenever, And I'll be there
You want my love, You want my heart
And we will never ever ever be apart

Are we an item? Girl quit playing
Were just friends, What are you saying
Said theres another, Look right in my eyes

My first love broke my heart for the first time,
And I was like
Baby, baby, baby ohhh
Like baby, baby, baby noo
Like baby, baby, baby ohh
I thought youd always be mine mine

Baby, baby, baby ohh
Like baby, baby, baby noo
Like baby, baby, baby ohh
I thought youd always be mine,mine (oh oh)

For you, I would have done whatever
And I just can't believe, we ain't together
And I wanna play it cool, But I'm losin' you
I'll buy you anything, I'll buy you any ring
And im in pieces, Baby fix me
And just shake me til' you wake me from this bad dream

Im going down, down, down, dooown
And I just cant believe my first love would be around.

And I'm like
Baby, baby, baby ohh
Like baby, baby, baby noo
Like baby, baby, baby ohh
I thought youd always be mine, mine
Justin Bieber Baby lyrics found on http://www.directlyrics.com/justin-bieber-baby-lyrics.html

Baby, baby, baby ohh
Like baby, baby, baby noo
Like baby, baby, baby ohhh
I thought youd always be mine, mine

Luda
When I was 13, I had my first love,
There was nobody that compared to my baby,
And nobody came between us or could ever come above
She had me goin' crazy,
Oh I was starstruck,
She woke me up daily,
Don't need no Starbucks.
She made my heart pound,
And skip a beat when I see her in the street and,
At school on the playground,
But I really wanna see her on the weekend,
She know she got me gazin',
Cuz she was so amazin',
And now my heart is breakin',
But I just keep on sayin'...


Baby, baby, baby ohh
Like baby, baby, baby noo
Like baby, baby, baby ohh
I thought youd always be mine, mine

Baby, baby, baby ohh
Like baby, baby, baby noo
Like baby, baby, baby ohh
I thought youd always be mine, mine

(I'm gone)
Yeah, yeah, yeah (6x)
(Now Im all gone, now im all gone, now im all gone)
Gone, gone, gone,(gone)
I'm gone.







JASON BIEBER SONG: BABY, WORKSHEET


This was the worksheet to work with this song in the English class



JASON BIEBER SONG: BABY, WORKSHEET