Which One?

Remember my post on homophones? Well it's THERE. I'm going to continue with a few other words that may not be homophones but are easily confused with each other.

Let's start, shall we?

1. Lose/Loose

Lose: be deprived of
Loose: not firmly or tightly placed

Do NOT write: Did you loose your trousers? Those seem lose on you.


2. Breath/Breathe

Breath: the air that you take in and let out of your lungs
Breathe: the action of taking in air and letting air out of your lungs

Do NOT write: Breath please, you seem to have lost your Breathe from all that running just now.


3. Quiet/Quite

Quiet: silent
Quite: very or fairly

Do NOT write: Even though she is quite, she is quiet an intelligent girl.


4. Desert/Dessert

Desert: vast dry area of little water and plants
Dessert: sweet food eaten at the end of a meal

Do NOT write: Would it not be such a pleasure to have desert in the dessert.

Reference:
Google Dictionary
Google Images

Inspired by:
Christine Jalleh

Huff and Puff!

Ever been confused on how to identify the literary elements in a short story/novel/poem? Ever asked yourself countless times if a theme is a main theme or a minor one? Confused which character is more important than the other? Don't know which is the point of conflict/climax?

I'm going to explain how to identify those details.

So what is a THEME?

The theme is basically what the story revolves around.
It is the issue that is most addressed in the literary work.
Another way to identify would be what the MAIN CHARACTERS face.

For example, at the end of the Harry Potter books, good prevails over evil, thus one of the themes would be poetic justice.

Let's move on the MAIN CHARACTERS, shall we?

These are the people who turn up the most in the story.
If you notice someone's been talked about more than others in the story, then that's the main character.
Keep note that a main character may be THE ANTAGONIST too.
Also, the main characters are the ones who are most affected by the plot (especially the CLIMAX).

For example, in the comic Superman, Superman and Lois Lane are the main characters.



THE ANTAGONIST, what's that, you ask?

An antagonist is technically the bad guy.
This is the person who ruins the day and creates chaos.
Keep in mind that the antagonist could revert to the end of the story and with some characters it is unsure whether they are protagonists or antagonists until the end of the story.

For example in Three Little Pigs, the antagonist is the Big Bad Wolf.



No, I did not forget to explain the CLIMAX!

This is the turning point, or the peak of the story.
When all the conflicts (i.e.: issues) are piled up and the protagonist is in a rut.
It happens right before everything is resolved.
Also remember that some stories end at the climax for the author to amount to suspense (and allow readers to create their own ending)


So, do you understand? :) Hopefully you do. I'll try continue explaining more literary jargon to you in the next post. Just post questions in the 'comments' area if you have any.

References:
Literary Elements and Devices
Google Images [images]

Box Your Ears

Hi everyone! :)

The other day I was watching (a re-run of) The Ellen Degeneres Show in which she compared knowledge with Hugh Laurie on each other's slang. Below is the video :)

Well, actually I think that as people who watch a lot of American shows, we're quite used to the American slang like 'awesome' or 'sucks', or even 'badonkadonk' for that matter :P

I found out that I am at lack of knowledge with the BRITISH SLANG. I mean, we are supposed to use British English as it is the standardized version of English, so why not we learn the slang too, in order to be good communicators (and not embarrassed when we misunderstand)? :)

1. Well let's take CHIN WAG first. For starters, I'm sure if you were to say "Fancy a chinwag?" to a random Malaysian, they'd either a) stare at you long enough for their eyeballs to fall out; of b) start imagining you actually wagging your chin at them.

(I'd probably be the latter but that's besides the point)

CHIN WAG, as he says in the video, means to talk or chat


2. Next, GIVE US A BELL. This clearly does not mean someone wants you to give them a bell. Well, not necessarily. You never know if people do really ask for bells randomly.

It basically means to give me a call. Bell is probably due to people saying 'Give me a ring' in which a phone 'rings'

So please, do not go overseas and end up sitting around not knowing where to find a bell just because you don't understand


3. NANCY BOY / NANCY means someone who is being pathetic [for example, a NANCY BOY would cry because the cookies he baked didn't turn out right]

It can also mean a gay man. I doubt you need further explanation on that.

So if someone calls you a NANCY BOY, don't be too quick to see it as a compliment for being such a good detective. No way in heaven that an English man (or woman, for that matter) is talking about Nancy Drew when they call you a NANCY BOY.


4. When someone says that something is PEANUTS, it's to say that something is cheap. Yes, I know that in the Malaysian culture, PEANUTS means easy. However, for these English people, it means cheap.

Oh the origin of this word is from the saying 'if you pay peanuts, you get monkeys' meaning that if you give a small salary, then you would definitely get less skilled workers.


So do you feel enlightened? I sure was when I read through part of the list. :D

You can find more words with their meanings in;
The Very Best of British; and also
British Slang and Dialect [fun trivia]


p/s: Box Your Ears means a slap around the head for misbehaving

Leap of Faith

I'm sure all of you have heard the song 'The Only Exception', right? Let's try analyze this song as if it were a poem :) This time we'll go a bit deeper than we went with The Walrus and The Carpenter, explaining further on the author's background and also the meaning of the poem.

When I was younger, I saw my daddy cry

And curse at the wind

He broke his own heart and I watched

As he tried to reassemble it

My momma swore that

She would never let herself forget

And that was the day that I promised

I'd never sing of love if it does not exist

But darling, you are the only exception

You are the only exception (3x)

Maybe I know, somewhere deep in my soul

That love never lasts

And we've got to find other ways to make it alone

Or keep a straight face

And I've always lived like this

Keeping a comfortable distance

And up until now I had sworn to myself that I'm content with loneliness

Because none of it was ever worth the risk

But you are the only exception

You are the only exception (3x)

I've got a tight grip on reality

But I can't let go of what's in front of me here

I know you're leaving in the morning when you wake up

Leave me with some kind of proof, it's not a dream, oh

You are the only exception (3x)

You are the only exception (3x)

And I'm on my way to believing

Oh, and I'm on my way to believing

(Paramore, The Only Exception)


___________________________________

‘The Only Exception’ is a song that is hardly unheard of by today’s generation. The writers are Paramore’s band members Hayley Williams, Josh Farro and Taylor York; namely being the vocalist Hayley Williams.

This song tells a simple story of a girl whose parents’ divorce had wounded her in such a way that she never believed in love again. This is until, of course, the girl meets a boy who loved her and she loved up to the point that she could not help herself but to just take the leap of faith – since he is her only exception. However, a long the lines, it is clear that she is a bit sceptic on whether it’s going to work out for them. At the end, she restates her willingness to just take the risk for him.

The aim of the song is mainly to tell the typical story of sceptics in love. It tells of how one’s parents, could affect a child if they were not in love. In this case, Williams wrote this song in reminiscence of her parents who got divorced when she was young. She probably wanted to express how the divorce had affected her view on love. And supposedly now Williams has found the love of her life, and finally really believes in love.

The song moves in a slow pace, beginning from childhood, to present time. It moves in such deliberation, as if to savour every moment. The abundant repetition of the words ‘You are the only exception’ shows that the writer wants to slowly convince herself that he is the one.

References:

Paramore's The Only Exception
[image] Google Images