All the world’s a stage, and all the men and women merely players. (W. Shakespeare)
My name’s Jacques. I’m French, and I have a story to tell you. Personally, I find it a gripping story, both simple and complicated, sad and happy, a bit trifling maybe, but moving nevertheless. Well, you’ll be able to judge by yourselves in a while, but there’s no hurry: it’s raining here in Strasbourg on this late February Sunday afternoon and I have nowhere to go, and as for you, obviously you’re not in a hurry, either, or you wouldn’t have begun to read this in the first place…
It’s not a story about myself, but I must give you a few personal details to help you understand, to put you in the picture, as they say, and picture couldn’t be more appropriate, since my story has something or rather a lot to do with a picture…As I was saying, I’m French, my name’s Jacques, and I’m what you’d call an old man. Well, actually, I’m seventy-six, but I’m in reasonably good health, hale and hearty would no doubt describe it quite well, and I still walk nimbly to my shop and back, five times a week, Mondays to Fridays.
I own a small antique shop, and every day, summer or winter, rain or shine, I make a point of opening it at nine, and of keeping it open, customers or no customers, until five, with a short break for lunch, from one to two. At my age, one tends to fall into fixed, regular habits, and in my case, especially since I have nobody to go home to any longer after that cruel leukemia took my Mathilda away from me five years ago, I cling to routine as the only thing left to me, the only reason for living. Well, routine and the shop. Because the moment I set foot in my shop and I find myself surrounded by all those objects of art, I begin to breathe, to live…It’s not so much the business itself that I’m so keen on, though I have made enough to last me to the end of my days, even if I were to live to be a hundred…There’s a substantial nest egg in my bank account, the flat I live in and the shop itself, which, as my dear wife and I had no children, will go with the rest of it to some distant relative I haven’t even heard of…Well, I couldn’t care less; once I’m gone, I don’t give a damn one way or the other, unless…But I’m wandering off the point. What I meant to tell you, before I begin my story, is that inside my shop I feel alive, joyful, just by looking at those antique knick-knacks, some more valuable than others, but all with a story of their own to tell to those who like me are only too willing to listen.
Among these pieces of art there are some that are precious to me; you could say they are a permanent part of the shop and I wouldn’t dream of selling them, however much I was offered: there’s the beautiful Ming vase that wretched young man pawned for a few francs, hoping to recover it one or two months later, but which he never came back for (I even tried to return it, but found he had given me a false name and address), there’s the splendid Chippendale roll-top desk I like to write at and keep all my important papers in, and there’s that old painting (early Renaissance), showing a naked pregnant woman in all her glorious pregnancy, which I like to put in the window, and which, with the passing of time, has become a sort of sign or trademark for my shop. Although it’s unsigned, I’m sure it’s a Hans Baldung Grien: the magical combination of light and colour, the serenity on the girl’s face…it reminds me of “Death and the Maiden” in the Basel Museum. It has the same dimensions (30 x 14.5 cm.) and there’s also a young woman in the nude in it. But mine’s different. This pregnant woman with her protruding, almost obscene belly, is shouting a message of life and hope, of fertility.
It was this Portrait of a Pregnant Woman that I found Bernard, one of the characters in my story, gazing at one day. Nothing special about this, as “my pregnant woman” attracts the attention of many a curious passer-by, but there was such a sad, melancholy, fascinated look in the elderly man’s eyes that I decided to invite him into the shop to tell him what I knew about the picture…That was a little over three years ago, and it was the beginning of a good friendship. Practically every afternoon after that he came to the shop to visit, and we would sit silently looking at Baldung’s painting while we had coffee from a Thermos flask he’d always bring with him. It was like that for many days, a sort of ritual, the contemplation of the ancient oil painting, with no talk at all, or some small talk about unimportant matters. Until one day, unbidden, he told me the story of his life. It was a simple story, and tragic, as only real life can be at times: Bernard, a young man of peasant extraction, had been finishing his studies at the Sorbonne, when he met Geneviève, a bright modern girl with a promising career as a novelist. They fell in love, married and she was soon pregnant. For him, it was all he could wish for in life, a son by the girl he was madly in love with; for her, imbued with Sartre’s ideas about human dignity and the freedom of the individual, the pregnancy was untimely, an obstacle to her career. So, when she matter-of-factly announced to him one day that she’d had an abortion, he lost his head and killed her. Strangled her, in a fit of rage and despair, as the earth sank under his feet, all his legitimate hopes and expectations shattered by her rash action. He was sentenced to a 20-year term, of which he served twelve. The rest of his life story was dull and without interest: he had become a teacher and taught History of Art at various Lycées, here and there all over France, until his retirement, seven years ago in Strasbourg where he had stayed on to this day. Now I understood Bernard’s fascination with Grien’s picture, which for him was a symbol of motherhood, a painful reminder of his son who had never been born.
I can truly tell you that I came to like and respect the man. The fact that he had killed did not make him a murderer in my eyes, and whatever his sins, his sufferings had long ago redeemed him. We never talked about this again, and he continued to come to the shop to look at the picture and keep me company, until one day, not long afterwards, we saw her, looking at the pregnant woman in the shop window. An attractive, slender, tall blonde with blue eyes, who stood there spellbound, bewitched by Baldung’s painting. But what could it be that made two elderly men want to talk to this pathetically young girl (she couldn’t have been more than nineteen) on St. Valentine’s Day? We must have sensed a tragedy behind those pretty laughing eyes of hers…Anyway, we went up to her, and we talked…, had coffee and talked, and Monique – that was the young girl’s name – soon found herself disclosing her secret to us: she was single and pregnant by a man who would not hear of marrying her, and she was thinking of having an abortion. “But why?”, I heard an anguished Bernard ask…why, why, why did you have to kill my son? Why didn’t you ask me?
I had a right to my son, and my son had a right to live…I felt all this flash through my friend’s mind, and for a second I feared a violent, disproportionate, uncalled-for reaction to the poor girl’s words, but nothing like that happened, and we went on amiably talking about other things. But I was conscious of a curious bond that had just been born between Bernard and Monique, and as we conversed she kept casting fond, trusting looks in his direction…A year went by before we saw her again. It was just on St. Valentine’s Day, and there she was as if keeping a date, standing outside the shop beaming cheerfully and confidently at the “Pregnant Woman”, and…yes, you’ve guessed, she had a baby in her arms…When I turned to look at Bernard, I thought I could see an excited, happy glint in his tired eyes, the look of a father who’s about to meet his son, a son who had been delayed for fifty years…
SEMANTIC ANALYSIS (for help go here)
1.2.1 LEARNING NEW WORDS AND PHRASES
actually (de hecho, en realidad)
anguished (angustiado)
antique shop (tienda de antigüedades, anticuario)
beam ( sonrisa de oreja a oreja)
bewitched/spellbound (hechizado)
bond (lazo, vínculo)
to breathe (respirar)
Chippendale
dull (aburrido, soso)
a fit of rage (un arrebato de cólera)
fond (afectuoso) (to be fond of – tener afecto a alguien; gustar algo)
glint (brillo)
gripping (fascinante, apasionante, absorbente)
to have to do (tener que ver)
to keep a date (acudir a una cita)
to keep sb company (hacer compañía)
knick-knacks (baratijas)
matter-of-factly (con total naturalidad)
moving (conmovedor)
nest egg (ahorros, ahorrillos)
of peasant extraction (de origen campesino)
a painful reminder (un doloroso recordatorio)
passer-by (transeunte)
to pawn (empeñar)
pregnant (embarazada)
protruding (prominente)
to put sb in the picture (poner a alguien al tanto de algo)
rash (precipitado, irreflexivo)
roll-top desk (buró, escritorio de tapa corredera)
to serve a sentence (cumplir condena)
small talk (palique, cháchara, conversación sobre trivialidades)
the earth sinks under sb’s feet (venírsele a alguien el alma a los pies)
Thermos flask® (termo)
trademark (sello distintivo; marca registrada)
trifling (futil, nimio, insignificante)
trusting (confiado)
unbidden (espontáneamente, sin pedírselo)
uncalled-for (injustificado, inapropiado, fuera de tono)
untimely (inoportuno)
willing (dispuesto a)
wretched (desgraciado, infeliz)
1.2.2 SYNONYMS AND NEAR-SYNONYMS
fascination ( attraction, allure, obsession, great interest)
gripping ( enthralling, captivating, fascinating, compelling, absorbing)
joyful (cheerful, happy, exuberant, jolly, merry, joyous)
keen on (interested in, enthusiastic about)
naked (nude, in the nude, stripped, undressed, uncovered; colloq.: without a stitch on, in one’s birthday suit, stark naked, starkers)
nimbly (agilely, spryly)
slender (slim, svelte)
spellbound (fascinated, enthralled, captivated, rapt, entranced, bewitched, enraptured, hypnotized)
trifling (unimportant, insignificant, trivial)
to visit (to call on sb, to look sb up; colloq.: to pop by/in on/round/over/ to drop by/in on)
1.2.3 ANTONYMS
appropriate (inappropriate, irrelevant)
gripping (boring, lacking interest)
sad (cheerful, amusing)
signed (unsigned)
slender (plump, fat)
untimely (timely, opportune)
1.2.4 POLYSEMOUS TERMS
fit [en forma; apto, adecuado; ataque (de nervios, de histerismo, de risa), acceso (de tos), crisis (epiléctica), arranque (de ira), ramalazo (de locura); to fit: fijar; quedar bien, ser la talla de uno; ajustarse, adecuarse; encajar; caber; instalar]
rash [imprudente, alocado, irreflexivo, precipitado, temerario; a rash sarpullido; (fig) avalancha, oleada]
shattered [hecho añicos (objeto, cacharro, cristal); truncada (esperanza); reventado (muy cansado), hecho polvo; deprimido, destrozado]
1.2.5 HOMONYMS
bank (the financial institution) (from F. banque)/bank (of a river) (from ME, probably from ON banki)
mine (mío) (from OE mīn)/mine (mina) (from OF mine)
well (bien) (from OE. wel)/ well (pozo) (from OE. wella)
1.2.6 METONYMY AND METAPHOR
…”my pregnant woman” attracted the attention of many a curious passer-by (my pregnant woman is a metonymy for my picture of a pregnant woman)
There’s a substantial nest egg in my bank account [nest egg (ahorro, ahorrillos; lit. huevo en el nido) is a metaphor for ‘a sum of money saved for the future’].
1.2.7 LEXICAL FIELDS
- a) illnesses:
AIDS (sida)
Alzheimer’s disease (Alzheimer)
anaemia (anemia)
appendicitis (apendicitis)
arterioesclerosis (arterioesclerosis)
arthritis (artritis)
asthma (asma)
bronchitis (bronquitis)
cancer (cáncer)
chickenpox (varicela)
cholera (cólera)
cirrhosis (cirrosis)
(common) cold [resfriado (común)]
coronary (heart) disease (enfermedad coronaria)
coronary (thrombosis) (infarto)
cystitis (cistitis)
dementia (demencia)
diabetes (diabetes)
diphtheria (difteria)
Down’s syndrome (síndrome de Down)
dysentery (disentería)
emphysema (enfisema)
epilepsy (epilepsia)
flu (gripe)
food poisoning (intoxicación)
gangrene (gangrena)
gastritis (gastritis)
gastroenteriris (gastroenteritis)
German measles (rubeola)
glaucoma (glaucoma)
goitre (bocio)
gout (gota)
haemophilia (hemofilia)
hay fever (fiebre del heno)
heat stroke (golpe de calor)
hepatitis (hepatitis)
hernia (hernia)
herpes (herpes)
hypertension (hipertensión)
irritable bowel syndrome (colon irritable)
jaundice (ictericia)
laryngitis (laringitis)
legionnaire’s disease (enfermedad del legionario)
leprosy (lepra)
leukemia (leucemia)
malaria (malaria, paludismo)
measles (sarampión)
meningitis (meningitis)
mumps (paperas)
osteoporosis (osteoporosis)
paranoia (paranoia)
Parkinson’s disease (parkinson)
peritonitis (peritonitis)
phlebitis (flebitis)
phobia (fobia)
plague (peste)
pleurisy (pleuresía)
pneumonia (pulmonía)
poliomyelitis (poliomelitis)
rabies (rabia)
rheumatism (reuma)
rickets (raquitismo)
salmonella (salmonela)
scarlet fever (escarlatina)
schizophrenia (esquizofrenia)
sciatica (ciatica)
sclerosis (esclerosis)
scurvy (escorbuto)
septicaemia (septicemia)
shingles (herpes, culebrilla)
sinusitis (sinusitis)
sleeping sickness (enfermedad del sueño)
smallpox (viruela)
strabismus (estrabismo)
stroke (ataque de apoplejía, derrame cerebral)
sunstroke (insolación)
sudden infant death syndrome (síndrome de muerte infantil súbita)
syphilis (sífilis)
tetanus (tétano)
thrombosis (trombosis)
tonsillitis (amigdalitis)
trichinosis (triquinosis)
tuberculosis/TB (tuberculosis)
tumour/tumor (tumor); benign/malignant (benigno/maligno)
typhoid (tifus)
venereal disease/VD (enfermedad venérea)
whooping cough (tos ferina)
yellow fever (fiebre amarilla)
[see also 2.2.4b (minor) health problems]- b) banking terms:
account balance (saldo de la cuenta)
bad/bounced cheque (cheque sin fondos)
balance (saldo)
bank account (cuenta bancaria)
bank statement (estado de cuenta)
bank transfer/banker’s order (transferencia)
banking charges (cargos)
banknote/note (BrE)/bill (AmE) (billete)
bill of exchange (letra de cambio)
cash (dinero en efectivo)
to cash a cheque (cobrar un cheque)
cash dispenser (cajero automático)
cash flow (flujo de caja, flujo/movimiento de efectivo)
cashier (cajero)
cashier’s desk (caja)
cheque(BrE)/check (AmE) (cheque)
credit balance (saldo acreedor)
credit card (tarjeta de crédito)
current account (cuenta corriente)
debit (cargo)
to debit an amount to sb’s account (cargar en cuenta)
debit balance (saldo deudor)
deferred payment (pago diferido)
deposit (ingreso)
down payment (pago inicial)
to draw money from the bank (sacar dinero del banco)
fixed-term deposit (imposición a plazo fijo)
healthy cash flow (liquidez)
in the black (con saldo a favor)
in the red (en números rojos)
interest rate/rate of interest (tanto por ciento/tasa/tipo de interés)
IOU (pagaré)
joint account (cuenta conjunta o mancomunada)
loan (préstamo)
long-term/short-term loan (préstamo a largo/corto plazo)
money order (orden de pago)
mortgage (hipoteca)
outstanding account (cuenta pendiente)
overdraft (descubierto)
payment (abono, pago)
pension fund (fondo de pensiones)
savings account (cuenta en cartilla de ahorro)
savings bank (caja de ahorros)
savings book (cartilla de ahorros)
to settle an account (saldar una cuenta)
standing order (domiciliación bancaria)
unit trust (fondo de inversión)
withdrawal (reintegro)
- c) shops
antique shop (tienda de antigüedades)
baker’s (panadería)
bookshop (librería)
boutique (boutique)
butcher’s (carnicería)
chain store (centro comercial de una cadena)
chemist’s/pharmacy/drugstore (AmE.) (farmacia)
confectioner’s (pastelería)
dairy (lechería)
delicatessen/deli (tienda de platos preparados, quesos y fiambres de diversos países)
department store (grandes almacenes)
dry cleaner’s (tintorería)
fishmonger’s (pescadería)
florist’s (florista)
fruiterer’s (frutería)
garden centre (vivero, centro de jardinería)
gift shop (tienda de artículos de regalo)
greengrocer’s (verdulería)
grocery (ultramarinos)
haberdashery (antic.) (mercería, quincalla)
hypermarkets (hipermercados, grandes superficies)
ironmonger’s (BrE)/hardware store (AmE) (ferretería)
jeweller’s (joyería)
junk shop (tienda de objetos usados)
kiosk (kiosco)
laundry (lavandería)
newsagent’s (tienda de periódicos, revistas y golosinas)
off licence (tienda de bebidas alcohólicas)
outfitters (antic.) (tienda de ropa para hombre)
secondhand shop/store (tienda de objetos de segunda mano)
shopping centre/mall (centro comercial)
stall (puesto)
stationer’s (papelería)
supermarket (supermercado)
tobacconist’s (estanco)
NOTE: At a tobacconists only tobbaco and related items are sold; stamps can be bought from post offices and, occasionally, from a newsagent’s
1.2.8 ANALYSIS BY DISTINCTIVE SEMANTIC FEATURES
- a) looking:
to look (at) [mirar (a)]
to stare (at) [+ fixedly] (mirar fijamente)
to gaze (at) [+ intently, as in wonder, delight or interest, a work of art, a beautiful landscape, etc.] (mirar fijamente, con la mirada perdida, embobado, contemplar, una obra de arte, un hermoso paisaje, etc.)
to glance (at) [ + quickly, momentarily, superficially] (mirar rápido, echar una ojeada)
to glare (at) [ + angrily] (mirar con enfado/furia, airadamente)
to peer (at) [ + closely, with difficulty] (mirar de cerca, con dificultad, con ojos de miope)
to glimpse [ + momentarily, so that the object is hardly perceived] (entrever, vislumbrar)
to gape (at) [ + with mouth open, as in wonder or curiosity] (mirar embobado/boquiabierto, con admiración/curiosidad, etc.)
to gawk/gawp (at) [ + stupidly] (mirar con la boca abierta, estúpida o descaradamente)
to ogle [ + with lust] (comerse con los ojos/la mirada, lanzar miradas amorosas)
to goggle (at) [ + with bulging eyes, with surprise or shock] (mirar con ojos desorbitados, sorprendido, asombrado, escandalizado)
to squint (at) [+ having the eyes turned in different directions] (bizquear)
to leer (at) [+ with lust or ill will] (mirar de forma lasciva o con rencor)
to peek (at) [+ quickly or slyly] (mirar a hurtadillas/furtivamente = to peep)
to peep (at) [ + slyly, with curiosity, secretively, through a small opening or behind sth] (mirar furtivamente, mirar por una rendija/un agujero, espiar)
to scowl (at) [+ angrily, annoyed, bad-tempered, with strong disapproval] (mirar con el ceño fruncido, furioso, molesto, de mal humor, con desaprobación)
to glower (at) [ + angrily, menacingly] (mirar con cara de enfado, con el ceño fruncido, amenazadoramente)
to scan [ + intently, at every part, looking for a particular person or thing] [recorrer con la vista, otear; (med) escanear]
to eye [ + observe closely in a specific way (with admiration, curiosity, suspicion, desire, etc.)] [mirar detenidamente, de una manera determinada (con admiración, curiosidad, sospecha, anhelo, etc.)]
- b) breaking:
to break [romper(se)]
to crack [ + producing lines on the surface of sth but without dividing it into separate parts] [rajar(se), quebrar(se), resquebrajarse (copa, vaso, cristal, porcelana); agrietarse (pared, techo, hielo, piel, madera, suelo); cascar (nueces, huevos)]
to chip [ + damage sth hard by breaking a piece off it, cut pieces off a hard material to alter its shape; a small piece of sth hard breaks off accidentally] [desconchar(se) (plato, taza), descacarillar(se) (pintura), mellar(se) (cuchillo), astillarse (madera)]
to crush [ + press or squeeze sth so hard that it breaks or is damaged] (aplastar, prensar, estrujar)
to shatter [ + suddenly, into small pieces] [hacer(se) añicos]
to smash [ + into small pieces, violently, noisily] [destrozar, hacer(se) pedazos]
to snap [ + with a sudden sharp noise] [quebrar(se), partir(se)]
to split [ + forcibly, in halves, along a straight line] [partir(se) por la mitad; rajar(se); desgarrar(se) tela o papel; resquebrajar(se) (madera), desintegrar(se) (átomo); to split (up) (with sb) (romperse relación/matrimonio, romper con)]
to blast [ + with explosives] (volar con explosivos)
1.2.9 GRAMMATICAL COLLOCATIONS
to be keen on sth (estar interesado por algo)
to continue + -ing form/to-infinitive (continuar/seguir haciendo algo)
to go on + -ing form (seguir/continuar haciendo algo)
to go on to say sth (pasar a decir)
to have a son by (tener un hijo con)
imbued with (imbuido de)
to remember/to remind (see 11.2.7)
1.2.10 LEXICAL COLLOCATIONS
to put: to put sth somewhere (poner algo en algún sitio), to put an advertisement in the paper (poner un anuncio en el periódico), to put a coin in the slot (introducir una moneda en la ranura), to put sb on a diet (poner a alguien a régimen), to put a question to sb (hacer una pregunta a alguien), to put sth to the vote (someter algo a votación), to put sb in a home (ingresar a alguien en una residencia), to put the children to bed (acostar a los niños), to put sb in the picture (about sth) [poner a alguien al corriente (sobre algo)]
to set: to set sth somewhere (poner/colocar algo en algún sitio), to set a ladder against the wall (poner una escalera contra la pared), to set foot in (poner los pies en), to set the table (poner la mesa) (also with lay), to set an exam (poner un examen), to set the alarm clock (poner el despertador), to set a record (establecer un récord), to set a trap for sb (poner una trampa a alguien), to set a date for a wedding (poner fecha para la boda), to set a price on an article (ponerle precio a un artículo), to set fire to/to set sth on fire (incendiar, prender fuego a), to set eyes on sb/sth (ver algo/a alguien) (also with lay), to set free (poner en libertad), to set one’s heart on doing sth (desear hacer algo con todo el alma), to set one’s mind at rest (tranquilizarse) (also with put), to set sail (zarpar, hacerse a la mar), to set sth to music (poner música a algo), to set the pace (marcar la pauta), to set sb against sb (enemistar, poner en contra de)
to lay: to lay sth somewhere (poner algo en algún sitio), to lay the table (poner la mesa) (also with set), to lay the carpet before cleaning (extender la alfombra antes de limpiarla), to lay the fire (preparar el fuego), to lay an egg (poner un huevo), to lay a finger on sb (ponerle a alguien la mano encima), to lay eyes on sb/sth (ver algo/a alguien) (also with set), to lay it on (thick) (exagerar, cargar las tintas), to lay one’s hands on sb/sth (poner la mano encima a alguien, agarrar algo/a alguien), to lay stress/emphasis on sth (hacer hincapié/poner énfasis en algo), to lay the blame on sb (echar la culpa a alguien), to lay the foundations (of sth) [poner los cimientos (de algo)], to lay some money on sth (apostar dinero a)
1.2.11 WORD FORMATION
- a) suffixes used to form abstract nouns: -dom, -hood, -ness, -ship, -th, (see also 9.2.13)
-dom: boredom (aburrimiento), dukedom (ducado), freedom (libertad), gangsterdom (el mundo de los gángsters), kingdom (reino), martyrdom (martirio), stardom (estrellato), wisdom (sabiduría), etc.
-hood: brotherhood (hermandad), childhood (niñez), falsehood (falsedad), fatherhood (paternidad), likelihood (probabilidad), motherhood (maternidad), neighbourhood (vecindario, vecindad), priesthood (sacerdocio), widowhood (viudedad), etc.
-ness: blindness (ceguera), clearsightedness (clarividencia), cheerfulness (jovialidad), darkness (oscuridad), friendliness (simpatía), gratefulness (agradecimiento), happiness (felicidad), kindness (amabilidad), loneliness (soledad), madness (locura), sadness (tristeza), sweetness (dulzura), unexpectedness (sorpresa, algo que sucede inesperadamente), etc.
-ship: authorship (autoría), championship (campeonato), friendship (amistad), hardship (privaciones), leadership (liderazgo), relationship (relación; parentesco), etc.
-th: depth (profundidad), growth (crecimiento), length (longitud), strength (fuerza), truth (verdad), width (anchura), youth (juventud), etc.
- b) eponyms:
to bowdlerize – to expurgate, after Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825), who published an expurgated edition of Shakespeare: The Family Shakespeare.
to boycott – to refuse to take part in sth or to buy from sb), after Charles Boycott (1832-1897), land agent for the Irish landowner the Earl of Erne, who was a victim of such a practice for refusing to accept a reduction of rents.
Chippendale – an 18th century English furniture style highly appreciated for its graceful shape and fine decoration, from its originator, the English cabinet-maker and furniture designer, Thomas Chippendale (ca. 1718-79).
daltonism – colour blindness, esp. the inability to distinguish red and green, after the English scientist John Dalton (1766-1844), who himself suffered from this disability and was the first to give a detailed description of it.
hoover ® – a type of vacuum cleaner, after the American William Henry Hoover (1849-1932) who, curiously enough, was not its inventor, but the owner of the company that registered and produced it after buying the rights from a J. Murray Spangler, a caretaker in an Ohio department store, who had invented it.
mackintosh – a raincoat made of rubberized cloth, after Charles Macintosh (1766-1843), a Scottish chemist, who invented it.
sandwich – two or more slices of usually buttered bread with a filling of ham, cheese, etc. between them, after John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich (1718-1792), a compulsive gambler who is said to have eaten food in this form rather than leave the gaming-table.
spoonerism – transposition of the initial consonants of two words: “this place is occupied, I´ll sew you to another sheet”, instead of “I´ll show you to another seat”, after W.A. Spooner (1844-1930), an English clergyman renowned for slips of this kind.
to tantalize – to torment sb with the sight of sth greatly desired but inaccessible, after Tantalus, a mythical king of Phrygia, condemned to stand in Tartarus up to his chin in water which receded as he stooped to drink.
wellington boots/wellingtons – waterproof rubber or plastic boots usually reaching the knee), after Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852). It is interesting to note that the name was originally given to the type of boots he wore (leather boots which covered the front of the knee and were cut away at the back).
1.2.12 IDIOMS
- a) with the word point
to be beside the point (ser irrelevante)
to be on the point of (estar a punto de)
to be to the point (venir al caso)
to get off the point (salirse del tema, irse por las ramas)
to get the point (entender lo que alguien quiere decir)
to get to the point (ir al grano)
in point of fact (de hecho)
to keep to the point (no irse por las ramas)
to make a point of doing sth (asegurarse de hacer algo)
to make one’s point (dejar clara una idea)
to miss the point (no entender algo)
not to put too fine a point on it (hablando en plata)
the point at issue (el tema/asunto en cuestión)
point of view (punto de vista)
to press a point home (conseguir convencer a alguien de algo)
to see the point (entender el por qué de algo)
to stretch a point (hacer una excepción)
sb’s weak point(s) (el punto débil/flaco de alguien)
what’s the point of…? (¿de qué sirve…?)
- b) binomials (estructuras paralelas):
alive and kicking (vivito y coleando)
all and sundry (todo el mundo, todo quisque)
arm in arm (cogidos del brazo)
back and forth (para atrás y para delante)
black and white (blanco y negro)/in black and white [en blanco
y negro (photo/film); por escrito]
bread and butter (pan con mantequilla); bread-and-butter (básico, primordial)]
by leaps and bounds (a pasos agigantados)
day by day (día a día)
down and out (sin hogar ni dinero)
face to face (cara a cara)
first and foremost (ante todo)
fit and proper (apropiado, correcto, como debe ser)
from father to son (de padres a hijos)
give and take (toma y daca)
hale and hearty (sano y fuerte, esp una persona mayor)
hand in hand (cogidos de la mano)
here and there (aquí y allá)
high and dry [tirado, en la estacada (persona); encallado (barco)]
husband and wife (marido y mujer)
hustle and bustle (ajetreo, bullicio, trajín)
ladies and gentlemen (señoras y señores)
law and order (la ley y el orden)
man to man (de hombre a hombre)
odds and ends (cosas sueltas; trastos; retazos)
on and off/off and on (de vez en cuando, a ratos, a intervalos)
part and parcel (parte integrante)
rain or shine (llueva o haga sol/llueva o truene)
rough and ready (no muy bueno ni de gran calidad, pero que hace el avío)
sooner or later (tarde o temprano)
take it or leave it (lo toma o lo deja)
to and fro (de un lado para otro)
to see eye to eye with sb (ser de la misma opinión, ver las cosas de la misma manera)
up and down (hacia arriba y hacia abajo)
1.2.13 REGISTER
to die (morir):
standard English: to die, to expire, to depart this life, to breathe one’s last, to draw one’s last breath, to meet one’s end, to perish, to go the way of all flesh, to be no more, to go to meet one’s maker
informal/colloquial: to give up the ghost, to cash in one’s chips, to peg out, to push up the daisies (estar muerto), to kick the bucket, to pop off
slang: to conk out, to snuff it
not to care (no importar):
standard English: I don’t care
informal/colloquial: I couldn’t care less, I don’t care two hoots (me importa un bledo)
rude/impolite: I don’t give a damn (me importa un rábano)
vulgar/taboo: I don’t give a monkey’s/a fuck (me importa un huevo/una mierda)
1.2.14 EUPHEMISMS AND DYSPHEMISMS
to die (morir):
euphemisms: to pass away, to pass on, to depart this life, to expire, to breathe one’s last, to draw one’s last breath, to meet one’s end, to go the way of all flesh, to go to meet one’s Maker, to give up the ghost
dysphemisms: to kick the bucket, to croak, to conk out, to turn up one’s toes, to cash in one’s chips, to push up the daisies (estar muerto), to snuff it, to peg out
1.2.15 PHRASAL VERBS
to cling to sth (aferrarse a algo)
to come back (volver, regresar)
to go on (seguir, continuar)
to go up to (acercarse a)
to hear of (oír hablar de; cf. to hear from tener noticias de)
to take sth/sb away (llevarse algo/a alguien)
1.2.16 CULTURAL NOTES
William Shakespeare (1564 -1616) – greatest English playwright of all times.
Hans Baldung Grien (ca.1484-1545) – German painter and graphic artist, one of the most outstanding figures in northern Renaissance art.
Basel – the second largest city in N Switzerland.
lycée – French high school.
Ming vases – beautiful and valued vases made during the Ming rule in China (1368-1644).
Jean-Paul Sartre (1905-80) – a famous French philosopher, novelist, dramatist, and critic. A leading existentialist, he dealt in his work with the nature of human life and the structures of consciousness. His best-known works include La Nausée (novel, 1938) and Being and Nothingness (treatise, 1943).
the Sorbonne- a very old part of the University of Paris, the seat of the faculties of science and literature.
1.3 GRAMMAR REVISION
1.3.1 Complex transitive complementation
I find it a gripping story
1.3.2 Contact clauses
The flat I live in
1.3.3 Concessive clauses
I wouldn’t dream of selling them, however much I was offered
whatever his sins…
1.3.4 Cleft and pseudo-cleft sentences (a cleft sentence is a sentence which has been divided into two parts, each with its own verb, to emphasize a particular piece of information. They usually begin with It plus a form of the verb to be, followed by the element which is being emphasized; when there is a what-clause as subject or complement, we have a pseudo-cleft sentence)
It was this Portrait of a Pregnant Woman that I found Bernard…gazing at one day
What we did is sit silently for hours gazing at the portrait
1.3.5 Would for habit in the past
…we would sit silently looking at Baldung’s painting…