2009年6月8日 星期一

straddle, budding, freakish, muff, earmuff

ALMOST any connoisseur of the world’s great coasts falls hard for Sorrento, Positano and Amalfi. They’re freakish collisions of rock and sea, and the stretch of shoreline they straddle in southern Italy’s Campania region is the geography of pure fantasy.



Microsoft and TomTom have settled a budding patent dispute over car-navigation technology. TomTom will pay Microsoft an undisclosed amount.



Knol is hoping to scratch that itch. Now that budding reference scribers can receive credit for their writings, and even profit from them if they opt in to the Google AdSense program, let's see whether Knol can straddle the thin line between commercialization and integrity.


Abuse Trails Central American Girls Into Gangs

By MARC LACEY
Girls who join the ranks of Central America’s street gangs straddle the line between victims and victimizers.


Will Hillzilla Crush Obambi?
By MAUREEN DOWD
Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Hussein Obama both straddle two worlds, trying to profit from both.





Spotlight: On this date in 1887, Chester Greenwood got a patent for earmuffs — fur sewn on metal bands — calling them "Greenwood's Champion Ear Protectors." He was fifteen years old. Greenwood never finished elementary school, but he had more than 100 patents, including one for a tea kettle, an advertising matchbox and a steel tooth rake, and is recognized by the Smithsonian Institution as one of America's 15 outstanding inventors. His hometown of Farmington, ME, is the Earmuff Capital of the World; they celebrate Greenwood's birthday on the first Saturday in December with a parade, with cars, cows and pets decorated with giant earmuffs.


budding Show phonetics
adjective
beginning to develop or show signs of future success in a particular area:
While still at school she was clearly a budding genius.

straddle
verb [T]
1 to sit or stand with your legs on either side of something:
He pulled on his helmet and straddled the motorbike.

2 Something that straddles a line, such as a border or river, exists on each side of it or goes across it:
Our farm straddles the railway line.

3 to combine different styles or subjects:
It's described as a new kind of dance music which straddles jazz and soul.

4 MAINLY US DISAPPROVING to be unable to decide which of two opinions about a subject is better and so partly support both opinions:
It's not the first time this year that the president has been accused of straddling an issue.


muff (CLOTHING) Show phonetics
noun [C]
a short tube of fur or warm cloth, into which women in the past put their hands in cold weather in order to keep them warm

earmuff

http://images.google.com.tw/images?client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-US%3Aofficial&hl=zh-TW&q=earmuff&btnG=%E6%90%9C%E5%B0%8B%E5%9C%96%E7%89%87&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=

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