"I wanted you to see what real courage is..... It's when you know you're licked before you begin, but you begin anyway and see it through no matter what".
"Mockingbirds don't do one thing but make music for us to enjoy. They don't eat up people's gardens, don't nest in corncribs, they don't do one thing but sing their hearts out for us. That's why it's a sin to kill a mockingbird."
To Kill a Mockingbird is a novel by the American author Harper Lee. It was published in 1960 and was instantly successful. In the United States, it is widely read in high schools and middle schools. To Kill a Mockingbird has become a classic of modern American literature; a year after its release, it won the Pulitzer Prize. The plot and characters are loosely based on Lee's observations of her family, her neighbors and an event that occurred near her hometown of Monroeville, Alabama, in 1936, when she was ten.
(Book: https://amzn.to/3Xo8e7C )
ululate (UHL-uh-layt, YOOL-)
verb intr.: To howl or wail.
Etymology
From Latin ululare (to howl or shriek), of imitative origin. Earliest documented use: 1623.
Notes
Ululation with a distinctive trilling sound is performed in many cultures in celebration (video) and in mourning (video).
Usage
"Bells rang and the peasantry ululated their pleasure beneath battleship grey skies. Past imperious London buildings, the state coach clattered, followed by the Household Cavalry pompously bobbing. Kate practised waving, the one-word job description of monarchy." — Robert McNeil; Rousing Stuff; The Herald (Glasgow, Scotland); Apr 30, 2011.
2010年4月25日星期日 siding, ululate, lick,recuperate, restful sanctuaries
In Army’s Trauma Care Units, Feeling Warehoused
By JAMES DAO and DAN FROSCH
Warrior Transition Units were intended to be sheltering way stations where injured soldiers could recuperate. But the units are far from being restful sanctuaries.
The fire licked up toward the siding of the house, Anna began to hop on one foot and ululated.
siding,n.
- Material, such as boards or shingles, used for surfacing the outside walls of a frame building.
- A short section of railroad track connected by switches with a main track.
lick
/lɪk/
verb
past tense: licked; past participle: licked
- 1.pass the tongue over (something) in order to taste, moisten, or clean it."he licked the stamp and stuck it on the envelope"
- 2.INFORMALovercome (a person or problem) decisively."all right Mary, I know when I'm licked"
lick v., licked, lick·ing, licks. v.tr.
- To pass the tongue over or along: lick a stamp.
- To lap up.
- To lap or flicker at like a tongue: The waves licked the sides of the boat.
- Slang. To punish with a beating; thrash.
- Slang. To get the better of; defeat: licked her weight problem.
To pass or lap quickly and rapidly: The flames licked at our feet.
n.
- The act or process of licking.
- An amount obtained by licking: a lick of ice cream.
- A small quantity; a bit: hasn't got a lick of common sense.
- A deposit of exposed natural salt that is licked by passing animals.
- A sudden hard stroke; a blow.
- An attempt; a try.
- Informal. Speed; pace: moving along at a good lick.
- Music. A phrase improvised by a soloist, especially on the guitar or banjo.
lick and a promise
- A superficial effort made without care or enthusiasm.
- To bring into satisfactory condition or appearance.
The first example I can find of the figurative use of the phrase is in Gilbert Burnet's An Exposition of the Thirty-nine Articles of the Church of England, 1699:'Lick into shape' sprang from the belief held in mediaeval Europe that bear cubs were born shapeless and had to be made into ursine form by their mother's licking."Men did not know how to mould and frame it; but at last it was licked into shape."
informal A light coating or quick application of something, especially paint:she needed to give the kitchen a lick of paint
- To anticipate delightedly.
- To recuperate after a defeat.
- To behave in a servile or obsequious manner toward someone.
[Middle English licken, from Old English liccian.]
licker lick'er n.
TOKYO, March 31 (Reuters) - Japanese opposition leader Ichiro Ozawa said on Tuesday he would decide whether to quit over a funding scandal based on the outlook for his party winning a general election this year.
Pressure on Ozawa to quit ahead of the general election, which must be held by October, is expected to grow after backing for his Democratic Party has slipped in opinion polls and an opposition candidate was trounced in a local race.[ID:nT111221]
About two-thirds of voters in surveys have said Ozawa should resign. "I must sincerely accept the (results of) the opinion polls and respond, but the final basis on which I will make my judgment is whether or not we can win the election," he told a news conference.
The Democrats had looked set to oust the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party until Ozawa's closest aide was arrested and charged with illegal fundraising this month, clouding chances for a breakthrough in the political deadlock that has been stymying policies as Japan's recession deepens. [ID:nT109240]
All these works are old friends; their pleasure doesn’t pall. This season the slow movements of “Esplanade” seem to have had a particularly fresh lick of paint. The episode when the tall, beautiful Laura Halzack sits on the floor and seems to contract in sobs hit me (and other more experienced Taylor followers) as never before.
As Israelis Head To Polls, Anxiety And Fatigue Rule
JERUSALEM, Feb. 9 -- Israel's military has just trounced its enemies in the Gaza Strip. It has been more than a year since an Israeli civilian was last killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber. The economy, while showing signs of strain, has weathered the global downturn better than most.
(By Griff Witte, The Washington Post)
Sunday, January 13, 2008; 12:06 AM
Pressure on Ozawa to quit ahead of the general election, which must be held by October, is expected to grow after backing for his Democratic Party has slipped in opinion polls and an opposition candidate was trounced in a local race.[ID:nT111221]
About two-thirds of voters in surveys have said Ozawa should resign. "I must sincerely accept the (results of) the opinion polls and respond, but the final basis on which I will make my judgment is whether or not we can win the election," he told a news conference.
The Democrats had looked set to oust the long-ruling Liberal Democratic Party until Ozawa's closest aide was arrested and charged with illegal fundraising this month, clouding chances for a breakthrough in the political deadlock that has been stymying policies as Japan's recession deepens. [ID:nT109240]
All these works are old friends; their pleasure doesn’t pall. This season the slow movements of “Esplanade” seem to have had a particularly fresh lick of paint. The episode when the tall, beautiful Laura Halzack sits on the floor and seems to contract in sobs hit me (and other more experienced Taylor followers) as never before.
As Israelis Head To Polls, Anxiety And Fatigue Rule
JERUSALEM, Feb. 9 -- Israel's military has just trounced its enemies in the Gaza Strip. It has been more than a year since an Israeli civilian was last killed by a Palestinian suicide bomber. The economy, while showing signs of strain, has weathered the global downturn better than most.
(By Griff Witte, The Washington Post)
| ||||
 |  | | ||
|
The New Yorker Collection
A cartoon by Lee Lorenz published in The New Yorker on June 22, 2002. | |||
| on Page 69: | |
| "Moreover, his triumph in trouncing the 'old corps' politicians seemed to suggest a new kind of politician and a new kind of politics, neatly encapsulated in Dr Johnson's contrast between Walpole as a `minister given by the king to the people' ,and Pitt as ' minister given by people to the king'. ... " |
Taiwan's KMT trounces DPP in legislature poll
Ralph Jennings (Reuters)
By Lee Chyen Yee
ReutersSunday, January 13, 2008; 12:06 AM
TAIPEI (Reuters) - A landslide victory in Taiwan's legislative polls gave the opposition Kuomintang a fresh mandate to control parliament, but it needs to ride that momentum to retake the presidency in March, newspapers said on Sunday.
While KMT candidate Ma Ying-jeou is frontrunner for the March presidential election, the party that once governed the whole of China must act quickly to capitalize on Saturday's trouncing of the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP).
"The Kuomintang's landslide victory cannot be translated into a sure win for Ma in that race," the China Post said in an editorial.
"The ruling party will be trying to lick its wounds after such a heavy loss in yesterday's election, hoping for a pendulum effect to help them to beat the Kuomintang a little more than two months from now," the English-language paper said.
The KMT, or Nationalist Party, won 72 percent of the vote on Saturday, taking 81 seats in the newly streamlined 113-member chamber.
This sweeping victory strengthens its bid to regain the presidency after eight years of Chen Shui-bian, the pro-independence leader who must step down this year. A KMT presidency would herald better relations with China as the party favors closer economic ties and more dialogue with Beijing.
There was no immediate official comment from China after Saturday's elections. Beijing insists Taiwan is a breakaway province which must return to mainland rule, and has threatened to use force to prevent a formal move towards independence.
A combination of Taiwan's lackluster economic performance and a string of scandals plaguing the DPP helped boost the KMT vote on Saturday, but the China Times newspaper urged the Nationalists not to be complacent.
"The Taiwan people used their votes to teach the DPP a lesson and also give the KMT a chance," the Chinese-language China Times said, adding that the KMT should be humble while the DPP should reflect on its record.
While the DPP won just 27 seats, or 24 percent, the rest going to smaller groups, analysts said it was too early to write off the party completely.
DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh vowed on Sunday to do his best to win the March elections.
"One party dominating three quarters of the parliament is not conducive to Taiwan democracy," he told reporters.
Analysts said Hsieh was likely to take over as party chairman after President Chen resigned to take responsibility for Saturday's loss. Chen left Taiwan on Sunday on a visit to diplomatic allies Guatemala and Saint Lucia.
The newly elected parliament has been cut to half the size of its predecessor, which had 225 seats, in an effort to reduce corruption and boost efficiency.
As is standard, the cabinet led by Premier Chang Chun-hsiung will resign en masse on January 28 before the new legislature convenes at the beginning of February.
Taiwan's political separation from the Chinese mainland dates back to the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 when Mao Zedong's Communist armies swept to victory and the defeated Kuomintang set up their rival government on the island.
(Editing by Roger Crabb)
as never before
in a way that has never been possible before:
Satellite technology offers the opportunity, as never before, for continuous television coverage of major international events.
"The Kuomintang's landslide victory cannot be translated into a sure win for Ma in that race," the China Post said in an editorial.
"The ruling party will be trying to lick its wounds after such a heavy loss in yesterday's election, hoping for a pendulum effect to help them to beat the Kuomintang a little more than two months from now," the English-language paper said.
The KMT, or Nationalist Party, won 72 percent of the vote on Saturday, taking 81 seats in the newly streamlined 113-member chamber.
This sweeping victory strengthens its bid to regain the presidency after eight years of Chen Shui-bian, the pro-independence leader who must step down this year. A KMT presidency would herald better relations with China as the party favors closer economic ties and more dialogue with Beijing.
There was no immediate official comment from China after Saturday's elections. Beijing insists Taiwan is a breakaway province which must return to mainland rule, and has threatened to use force to prevent a formal move towards independence.
A combination of Taiwan's lackluster economic performance and a string of scandals plaguing the DPP helped boost the KMT vote on Saturday, but the China Times newspaper urged the Nationalists not to be complacent.
"The Taiwan people used their votes to teach the DPP a lesson and also give the KMT a chance," the Chinese-language China Times said, adding that the KMT should be humble while the DPP should reflect on its record.
While the DPP won just 27 seats, or 24 percent, the rest going to smaller groups, analysts said it was too early to write off the party completely.
DPP presidential candidate Frank Hsieh vowed on Sunday to do his best to win the March elections.
"One party dominating three quarters of the parliament is not conducive to Taiwan democracy," he told reporters.
Analysts said Hsieh was likely to take over as party chairman after President Chen resigned to take responsibility for Saturday's loss. Chen left Taiwan on Sunday on a visit to diplomatic allies Guatemala and Saint Lucia.
The newly elected parliament has been cut to half the size of its predecessor, which had 225 seats, in an effort to reduce corruption and boost efficiency.
As is standard, the cabinet led by Premier Chang Chun-hsiung will resign en masse on January 28 before the new legislature convenes at the beginning of February.
Taiwan's political separation from the Chinese mainland dates back to the end of the Chinese Civil War in 1949 when Mao Zedong's Communist armies swept to victory and the defeated Kuomintang set up their rival government on the island.
(Editing by Roger Crabb)
in a way that has never been possible before:
Satellite technology offers the opportunity, as never before, for continuous television coverage of major international events.
wound 1
NOUN
trounce
verb [T] INFORMAL
to defeat a competitor by a large amount:
France trounced Germany by five goals to one in the qualifying match.
She trounced her rivals in the election.
v., trounced, trounc·ing, trounc·es. v.tr.
- To thrash; beat.
- To defeat decisively.
To censure something or someone forcefully: “I was out to trounce on every digression and indiscretion conducted (or should I say semiconducted) in this performance” (Robert Maxwell Stern).
[Origin unknown.]
trounce
━━ vt. なぐる （beat）; ひどくこらしめる; （試合などで）さんざんにやっつける.
trouncing
noun [C usually singular] INFORMAL
a serious defeat:
the party's trouncing (= serious defeat) in the local elections
Major changes are expected in the England team following their 3-0 trouncing last Saturday.
2009年1月19日 星期一
hit the ground running, lick (SMALL AMOUNT)
History of a cliche
Who was first to hit the ground running?
By Jan Freeman January 18, 2009WHEN IT COMES to "hit the ground running," reader Rosalie Hanson has hit the wall, and she threatens to hit the ceiling if she keeps hearing the "inane cliche."Her pain won't last long. Since Election Day, it's been prime time for the phrase, with thousands of media references to the intentions, desires, and hopes of the new president and his team to "hit the ground running."
This cliche bubble will pop, however, as soon as Obama is inaugurated, as all those pumping feet sink into the swamp of everyday governance. Meanwhile, Hanson wonders, does the expression at least have a good story behind it?
Well, yes and no. "Hit the ground running" is not an etymological mystery like "the full Monty" and the newspaper slang "bulldog edition." But there is some entertaining history, as well as some imaginative conjecture, attached to its origin.
The earliest literal use cited in the Oxford English Dictionary comes from an 1895 story published in several US newspapers. You can read a good chunk of that story at the UK website Phrase Finder, which explains that its source is a tall tale called "King of the Liars." In one fantastic episode, the narrator outruns an assailant with a six-gun: "I knew he had five more cartridges, so I hit the ground running and squatted low down when his gun barked a second time."
The same period furnished Americans with several related idioms: hit the trail, hit the grit (road), and hit the flat (prairies). These are literal uses, though, involving actual ground. When did the phrase acquire the figurative sense that's getting such a workout today?
The Phrase Finder takes it back to a slightly incoherent editorial observation in the Hayward (Calif.) Daily Review, in 1940, about the eagerness of fledgling journalists: "It sometimes seems to me that the young idea nowadays wants to hit the ground running and to tell the old editors how to run things."
I suspect that the same anonymous editor had been on the job for at least a decade. In 1938, the editorial column observed that journalism schools "seem to encourage young people to . . . hit the ground running, upon graduation, with a column in hand."
And in 1931, when Reno's new law made it a quickie divorce destination, the Hayward editorial column reported that "One woman was in such a rush to get her decree that she hit the ground running in the morning . . . simply going to court in her pajamas."
In fact, the figurative sense may have shown up as early as 1918, in a Galveston Daily News item about the Texas governor's appropriation of funds for the state university. The archived page is partly illegible, but the the story says someone "will hit the ground running for the leg-[islature?]." Whoever is running here, the sense is probably not literal.
As for our political use, it was in print as early as 1941, when a letter to a Texas paper endorsed Lyndon Johnson's run for the Senate. Because Johnson is a congressman, the writer said, he'll be able to " 'hit the ground running' when he goes to the senate without missing a lick."
It seems reasonable that "hit the ground running" would have eased seamlessly into figurative usage, given how naturally we equate physical and mental motion. We can "go to work" by driving 20 miles, or "go to work" by opening a computer file or a book, barely moving a muscle.
But some people would like a more romantic, or at least more specific, origin for "hit the ground running." So reader beware: You'll find no shortage of imaginative guesses. A 2004 book, "Words to the Wise," lists as possible sources paratroopers, hoboes hopping (or unhopping) freight trains, Pony Express riders, and even the famous photography of Eadweard Muybridge, who proved that a galloping horse does have all four feet off the ground. Except for the hobo sense - attested by the OED in a 1935 quote - these are speculative or (given the dates) just flat wrong.
Cassell's Dictionary of Word and Phrase Origins (2002) suggests the expression "probably comes from the military," and quotes the Times of London sneering at it: "Pentagonese has given us infamous little expressions like: 'Hell, that guy's good. He hit the ground running.' "
With access to online sources expanding rapidly, it's a bit surprising to see 21st-century reference books peddling these tales. Sure, it's possible that a Pony Express rider or a freight-train freeloader was the first guy to say "hit the ground running." But it could just as well have been a ranch hand watching a squirrel jump off a fence and scurry to safety; we may never know for sure. Still, reference books and websites really should start telling us which of their etymologies are evidence-based and which are pure fantasy. Pretty soon, we'll all be able to see for ourselves.
hit the ground running
Seize an opportunity; begin at full speed. For example, As soon as the front office gave its approval for the new department, we hit the ground running. The origin of this term is disputed. It may come from troops dropped into a combat zone, from stowaways jumping off a freight train as it nears the station, or from Pony Express riders avoiding delay when they changed mounts.lick (SMALL AMOUNT) Show phonetics
noun [C] INFORMAL
a small amount or thin layer:
The living room could do with a lick of paint.
ursine
- ur • sine
- 発音
- ə'ːrsain
ul·u·late (ŭl'yə-lāt', yūl'-)
intr.v., -lat·ed, -lat·ing, -lates.
To howl, wail, or lament loudly.
[Latin ululāre, ululāt-, ultimately of imitative origin.]
ululant ul'u·lant (-lənt) adj.ululation ul'u·la'tion n.
re·cu·per·ate (rĭ-kū'pə-rāt', -kyū'-)
v., -at·ed, -at·ing, -ates. v.intr.
- To return to health or strength; recover.
- To recover from financial loss.
- To restore to health or strength.
- To regain.
[Latin recuperāre, recuperāt- : re-, re- + capere, to take.]
recuperation re·cu'per·a'tion n.recuperative re·cu'per·a'tive (-pə-rā'tĭv, -pər-ə-tĭv) or re·cu'per·a·to'ry (-pər-ə-tôr'ē, -tōr'ē) adj.
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