THE PARALYMPICS - DID YOU KNOW....?

The Paralympic symbol

Excitement is building again in London with only a few hours to go before the Paralympics Opening Ceremony.  It starts at 8.30 pm British time - that's 9.30 pm in Italy - and you will be able to see it on Rai Sport 1 in Italy.

Here are ten facts which you may not know about the Paralympics and the 2012 Paralympics in London in particular:

1.  The word "Paralympics" means that the Games run parallel to the Olympics.

2.  The Olympic Rings are not used as a symbol for the Paralympics.  These Games use three "agitos" [from the verb "to move" in Latin]. They are coloured red, blue and green because these are the colours most often used in the world's national flags.  The motto of the Paralympics is "Spirit in Motion".

3.  For the 2012 Paralympic Games, the four national flames of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland have been combined to form one flame which is being carried from Stoke Mandeville Hospital in Buckinghamshire to the Olympic Stadium in London in a torch relay.  Stoke Mandeville Hospital is famous for its pioneering rehabilitation work with people who have suffered spinal injuries.

4.  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge [Prince William and his wife, Kate] will attend the Opening Ceremony.

5.  The organisers in London expect these to be the first Paralympic Games where all the seats for spectators will have been sold.

6.  4,000 athletes and 150 nations are taking part.

7.  There are 21 different events in the Games.

8.  There is a classification system in place to ensure fairness.  Athletes who have a similar range of movement compete in each event.

9.  The sports of goalball and boccia are exclusive to the Paralympics.

10. The organisers also hope that the 2012 Paralympics in London will help change attitudes towards disability all over the world.

You can find out more on the Guardian Events Guide,  the London 2012 site, and, of course, by watching the Games!

Good luck to all the athletes!

BOLTS AND FENCES

It's the last day of the London Olympics and everyone is talking about athlete Usain Bolt.   But do you know the following expressions which use the word bolt?

First of all, this is what we normally mean by a bolt:

Image: www.wpclipart.com

A bolt can also be a flash of lightning and this is what Usain Bolt's famous pose refers to.  We usually say bolt of lightning to make the meaning clear.  We also say thunderbolt when lightning is accompanied by the noise of thunder.

Image: www.wpclipart.com

A bolt from [or out of] the blue is a sudden, negative, shock or surprise.

If someone sits bolt upright, they are sitting in a very straight, rigid position.

If someone bolts their food down, they eat very fast and inelegantly.

If someone tells you that you should get down to the nuts and bolts of something, they mean that you should stop wasting timne and examine the important details of a situation or a thing.

The verb to bolt means to move away very suddenly and quickly [like our athlete!].

If you close the stable door after the horse has bolted, you are trying to solve a problem when it is already too late.

Image:  www.wpclipart.com

In the famous novel The Pursuit of Love by Nancy Mitford, there is a character whose nickname is "The Bolter" because she is always running away from one man in order to start a relationship with another!

In my town of Modica in Sicily, everyone is talking about another athlete as well:  He is Giorgio Avola, a Modican fencer who was in the Italian male fencing team that won a gold medal in London.

Image:   www.wpclipart.com

Fencing is the sport of fighting with swords.  A fence is a barrier that people put around their property to enclose and protect it and the sport derives its English name from the concept of defending or protecting something.

Image:   www.wpclipart.com

If you fence something off, you build an enclosure around it.

If you sit on the fence, you are being indecisive about something.

If you mend your fences, you are trying to end a disagreement or argument. [This expression is often used in international politics.]

In British slang, a fence is someone who deliberately and illegally buys stolen property in order to sell it again later.

If you fence someone in, you are limiting them in some way so that they don't feel free to act as they wish.

Finally, do you agree with this proverb?

"Good fences make good neighbours."

Now try to complete these sentences with the right expression.  You will need to put the verbs into the correct tenses, too. The answers are below:

1.  I feel _________  by my parents' rule that I must get home before midnight.

2.  Losing my job was a real shock.  It was a ________________ .

3.  "I wish I'd studied harder for the exam!"
     "That's like ________________________ !"

4.  The USA is trying to _________________  with China on this issue.

5.  He ____ his lunch ____  because he was in a hurry.

6.  Some jewellery was stolen from my house but I expect the thieves have sold it to a _____ by now.

7.  She heard a noise during the night and _________________ in bed.

8.  The police have _______________  the crime scene.

9.  Make your mind up! Stop ___________________ !

10. Last night there was thunder and I also saw a ________________ .


To see the answers, highlight the space below:

1. fenced in  2. a bolt from the blue / out of the blue  3. closing the stable door after the horse has bolted
4.  mend its fences  5.  bolted.... down  6.  fence  7.  sat bolt upright  8.  fenced off  9.  sitting on the fence
10.  bolt of lightning.

Now here's a song!

Ray Conniff Singers - Don't Fence Me In




Chorus lyrics

Oh, give me land, lots of land under starry skies above
Don't fence me in
Let me ride through the wide open country that I love
Don't fence me in
Let me be by myself in the evenin' breeze
And listen to the murmur of the cottonwood trees
Send me off forever but I ask you please
Don't fence me in.

GOING FOR GOLD

An Olympic Gold Medal from 2000
Image:  Wikipedia

All that glisters is not gold

- English proverb from Shakespeare
[Modern English would use "glitters".]

I would guess that we are all interested in gold medals at the moment, so today let's have a look at some expressions and idioms that use the words gold or golden.

First of all, what is the difference between gold and golden?  Basically, gold means that something is made of the metal gold, whilst golden means "having the appearance of gold" and is often used poetically or figuratively.  We talk about a gold ring but a golden age or golden opportunity, for instance.  As always, there are exceptions, so it is always worth checking the context of these two words.

Now see if you can match up the gold or golden expressions 1 - 6  with their meanings a - f.  You will find the answers below:

1.  good as gold

2.  to be sitting on a goldmine

3.  a gold digger

4.  to have a heart of gold

5.  worth its weight in gold

6.  a golden rule


a.  a woman who forms relationships with a rich man or men because she is interested in his / their money

b. an important rule in a particular field / a principle ensuring fairness

c.  extremely valuable or useful

d.  a well-behaved, genuine person

e.  to be very kind

f.  to own something that could make you a lot of money

To see the answers, highlight the space below:

1d, 2f, 3a, 4e, 5c, 6b.  You can also use expression number 5 about a person, for example:  "A teacher who could help me with this exercise would be worth their weight in gold."

To go for gold means to try as hard as you can to achieve something.

By the way, did you know that Welsh gold is very rare and that the wedding rings of the royal brides of Britain are made from it?

Is it raining where you are? Never mind - you may find a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow!  In Irish folklore, a leprechaun is supposed to guard it.

Image: www.cartoon-clipart.com

Now it's time for a song!

This Beatles prelude to Carry That Weight  is based on a 1603 poem by Thomas Dekker.

The Beatles - Golden Slumbers / Carry That Weight

And you have to clap your hands to this one! [In American English, a wedding ring is sometimes called a wedding band.] James Gilreath - Little Band of Gold



Little Band of Gold - Lyrics
There you were, standing there, smiling as you made your plans You were going to leave me and go with him You said you loved him so and your love would always be And that's the very same thing you once told me.
And you still had my little golden band on your hand Does my little band of gold mean nothing to you? To me it means the world but you've torn my world apart You're leaving me alone with my broken heart.
So take my little golden band from your hand My little band of gold means nothing to you To me it meant the world but you've torn my world apart You're leaving me alone with my broken heart.

THE BEST BOND GIRL EVER!

007

As the whole world saw yesterday, the latest and most unlikely "Bond girl" is none other than Her Majesty the Queen!

Just for fun, here is a James Bond wordsearch:

S C F R A O T L C T A S N G R

G X O G U E J O N S E M E A E

T N E C R S D J T Y Q U K D T

K N I C K E S O T D T G A G P

T K E M N T N I C V H G H E O

R S T A E M A E A E U L S T C

G E M J A L L I G M N E L S I

X E G R V M F A L N D R C W L

V K T N Y N N E P Y E N O M E

V I T G I O F D E R R I T S H

N Y P S I F L Y Q F B Y D H T

C M D P B D D Y L H A I D T V

E E S B B P Y L N Y L Y K N P

F E H I T M A N O U L C V J U

M O O N R A K E R G G Z U D D

AGENT

ASTONMARTIN

COCKTAIL

CODENAME

ESPIONAGE

FLEMING

GADGET

GOLDFINGER

GUN

HELICOPTER

HITMAN

MONEYPENNY

MOONRAKER

RUSSIA

SECRET

SHAKEN

SMUGGLER

SPY

STIRRED

THUNDERBALL

This post gives me an excuse to post a James Bond film theme sung by Dame Shirley Bassey, who is from my home town of Cardiff, UK:

Dame Shirley Bassey - Goldfinger

ALL TOGETHER, NOW....

Jeremy Irons - London Pride [BBC Proms, 1999]

London Pride - Lyrics

London Pride has been handed down to us,

London Pride is a flower that's free.

London Pride is our own dear town to us,

And our pride it forever will be.
Whoa, Liza,

See the coster barrows,

 Vegetable marrows and the fruit piled high.
Whoa, Liza,

Little London sparrows,

Covent Garden Markets where the costers cry.

Cockney feet 

Mark the beat of history.

Every street pins a memory down.

Nothing ever could quite replace

The grace of London Town.

There's a little city flower,

Every spring unfailing,

Growing in the crevices,

By some London railing.

Though it has a Latin name

In town and countryside,

We in England call it

London Pride.

London Pride has been handed down to us,

London Pride is a flower that's free.

London Pride is our own dear town to us,

And our pride it forever will be.

Hey, lady,

When the day is dawning,

See the policeman yawning

On his lonely beat.

Gay lady,

Mayfair in the morning,

Hear your footsteps echo 

In the empty street.

Early rain,

And the pavement's glistening,

All Park Lane 

In a shimmering gown.

Nothing ever could break or harm

The charm

Of London Town.

In our city, darkened now,

Street and square and crescent,

We can feel our living past

In our shadowed present.

Ghosts beside the starlit Thames

Who lived and loved and died

Keep throughout the ages

London Pride.

London Pride has been handed down to us,

London Pride is a flower that's free.

London Pride is our own dear town to us,

And our pride it forever will be.

Grey city,

Stubbornly implanted,

Taken so for granted

For a thousand years.

Stay, city,

Smokily enchanted,

Cradle of our memories,

Our hopes and fears.

Every Blitz,

Your resistance toughening.

From the Ritz

To the Anchor and Crown,

Nothing ever could override

The pride

Of London Town.

- Sir Noel Coward

Notes:
whoa - a command, usually used when speaking to horses, meaning "Stop". The speaker or singer is telling his companion to stop for a moment and look around.

coster [archaic]  - a seller of fruit or vegetables 

Cockney - traditionally someone born within the sound of the bells of the Church of St Mary-le-Bow in London. See also this post.

beat - [1] the passing of time [2] the area which a policeman patrols on foot

gay - here used with its old meaning of "happy"!

Blitz [here] - the bombing of Britain during World War II

Ritz - the Ritz Hotel

The Anchor & Crown - name of a pub

London Pride flower
[saxifraga x urbium]
Image:  Picture Esk on flickr

Now, you all have to clap your hands while you sing this one! Are you ready? Go!

The Business - Maybe it's Because I'm a Londoner

Maybe it's Because I'm a Londoner - Lyrics
Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner That I love London so Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner That I think of her wherever I go I get a funny feeling inside of me Just walking up and down Maybe it's because I'm a Londoner That I love London town
- Hubert Gregg
Note:Towns and countries are sometimes referred to in the feminine gender.  This is mostly a poetic usage these days.
ENJOY THE LONDON OLYMPICS, EVERYBODY!

OLYMPIC FLAMES AND ROYAL FLAMES

When the Olympic Flame arrived at the Tower of London last Friday, Mayor of London Boris Johnson joked that, as King Henry VIII had discovered, the Tower was "the perfect place to bring an old flame".  An old flame is a person you loved romantically in the past and the Mayor was referring to Henry's second and fifth wives, Anne Boleyn and Catherine Howard, who were both imprisoned in the Tower prior to their execution.  The ghost of Anne Boleyn is said to haunt the building.

You can also have a "new flame" or "latest flame", as in the Elvis Presley song:

Elvis Presley - His Latest Flame

What about you? Do you still think about your old flames?

AN OLYMPIC WORDSEARCH

The excitement is mounting in London this week so here is an "Olympic" wordsearch for you:

AN OLYMPIC WORDSEARCH

LONDON OLYMPICS, 2012

P E S R F G R S D A U P H S T

F O Z C N E C E R I E A N T R

S U W I I I N C L Q R R O A A

C U W E P T H C U A R A L D C

Z O C M R E E E I N Y L H I K

R P Y S R L S L N N R Y T U G

V L W Y I T I S H Z G M A M N

O S C R R D M F J T V P I M I

F G N I L C Y C T B A I R K V

Z M A R A T H O N I C C T H I

J N K T O R C H E F N S I M D

L L A B Y E L L O V S G E C G

L O O P A L T A R T H D M O P

F F W L A G Q S S V A G C W N

Z S U S T O Z F H L I W B I N

ARCHERY

ATHLETICS

CYCLING

DISCUS

DIVING

EQUESTRIAN

FENCING

MARATHON

MEDAL

OLYMPICS

PARALYMPICS

POOL

POWERLIFTING

RELAY

ROWING

STADIUM

TORCH

TRACK

TRIATHLON

VOLLEYBALL