TEN FACTS ABOUT 2014

TEN FACTS ABOUT 2014

1.  2014 sees the centenary of the outbreak of the First World War, or Great War. Official commemorations will be held in many countries.

2.  In Wales, the centenary of the birth of the Welsh poet Dylan Thomas  [27th October 1914 - 9th November 1953] will be celebrated.

Statue of Dylan Thomas
in his hometown of Swansea

3.  On 1st January 2014 Latvia adopted the euro and became the 18th eurozone country.

4.  The Winter Olympics will be held in Sochi, Russia from 7th - 23rd February 2014.

5.  The FIFA World Cup will be held from 12th June - 13th July 2014 in Brazil.

6.  The Commonwealth Games will be held in Glasgow, Scotland from 23rd July - 3rd August 2014.  This will be the largest multi-sport event ever held in Scotland.

7.  On 18th September 2014 a referendum on Scottish independence from the United Kingdom will be held in Scotland.

8.  The United Nations has designated 2014 as the International Year of Family Farming and of Crystallography.

9. The 25th anniversary of the Fall of the Berlin Wall [1989] is on 9th November 2014.

10. The 300th anniversary of the accession of the House of Hanover to the British throne is on 1st August 2014.

King George III of the United Kingdom
by Allan Ramsay

IS HE WORTH IT?

Image: Jacoplane
Wikimedia Commons

At the weekend the football player Gareth Bale was sold to Real Madrid for around €100 million. Do you think he is worth it?

To be worth it = to merit the value given; valere

The expression can also mean that an action is justified;  valere la pena.
In this case it is often used with the -ing form:

"The free concert in the park finishes at 11 pm. It's already 10.30 so it's not worth going."

We sometimes use the word worth to indicate a person's wealth:

"He is worth £3 million" = "He has £3 million."

"How much is it worth?" = "What is its value?"

Someone or something can be worth their weight in gold = extremely valuable or useful.

"I love cooking and my mum's recipes [ricette] are worth their weight in gold."
"He helped me with my homework and I got top marks. He's worth his weight in gold."

The expression for what it's worth is used to indicate that what the person is going to say may not be useful:

"This is what I think, for what it's worth."

Finally, do you know this proverb?

"A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush."  The equivalent in Italian is, "Meglio un uovo oggi che una gallina domani."

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!

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

WHEN AN EGG LEADS TO LOVE....

Image: freeclipart.net

The 2012 edition of the oldest tennis tournament in the world, now known as The Championships, Wimbledon, begins today at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club, Wimbledon, London.

But have you ever wondered why a nil [zero] score is given as "love" in a tennis match? Well, one theory is that the term is a corruption of French l'oeuf, meaning "egg".  The zero used to be drawn in the shape of an egg.  There are other theories about the etymolgy of the term but this is my favourite!

A SOCCER WORDSEARCH

Association Football or soccer, most often called simply "football" in Britain, is on everyone's mind in England and Italy this evening so here is a soccer wordsearch:

D J P M M D E L R F F K R M W

R B L G G F E E E N O E D I Y

A G A Z A T D F P A D U N V S

W H Y P K I C K E L G G L L H

S N E K S Z R N E N E U M A R

E Y R F S N G I K R D A E O E

L E F F X Q F P L T E E P G F

B O R X O D E O A T T B R B E

B C E U I N E R O C S Z K O R

I H H M A F Y J G O D Y E C E

R B C L Y S U P P O R T E R E

D I T T M T O J Q M J Z V C B

J Y Q Z I P I I U C H X O K V

N H R W V P I C A P T A I N W

R E K I R T S Q R L S R C Y M

CAPTAIN

DEFENDER

DRAW

DRIBBLE

FOUL

GOAL

GOALKEEPER

KICK

LEAGUE

MIDFIELDER

OFFSIDE

PENALTY

PITCH

PLAYER

REFEREE

SCORE

STRIKER

SUPPORTER

TEAM

WINGER