' In English we say it how it is. I live in Italy and here there is a type of specialist doctor known as the 'otorinolaringoiatra', in English simply 'ear, nose and throat doctor'. See what I mean? Over the years many words have entered English from other languages like Latin and French, but the short words of Old English are still those that are most familiar to us in conversation. Think of the farmers and peasants in the fields. They expressed themselves using simple concepts based on their natural environment and that is why many proverbs and idiomatic expressions that we still use today refer to nature, including birds. From tomorrow in my Facebook Group we will be reading 'John Livingston Seagull' so I'm all about the sea and birds this month! I find it fascinating to understand the history behind expressions, so below I will analyse 5 idiomatic phrases related to birds and flying. Do you know them all? Are there similar expressions in your language? 1. A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush Don't risk what you have - it is better to keep what you have (a bird) than to risk getting more and ending with nothing (two birds out of your reach). Imagine you go to Las Vegas and win a lot of money on the machines. Your friend wants to carry on playing to win even more money but you choose to keep the money you do have and not risk losing everything. Phrases with such warnings are very common in English, dating back to the first translations of the Bible in english, so much so that many pubs carry this name and there is even a town in Pennsylvania with this name!
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What is this?When I started lostinclassics I looked for language lessons in the books I was reading, such as for example the use of phrasal verbs or inversion in conditionals and I explained them through examples found in the text. I also did reviews of the books I read and tried to give some advice on how to read classics using the various resources I know of. Then I switched to just reviews and lately I have been doing a bit of creative writing inspired by my reading. Who knows what I will come up with next! Archives
September 2020
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