Phrase and Fable

We really enjoyed our trip to Brno last weekend, particularly the Burčak walk from Mutěnice. The weather, walk, company and Burčak were excellent. We had some adventures on the trains getting there and back, of which I hope to write more when I get some time.

On Sunday, as we were strolling through Brno and talking, the topic turned to English words or phrases which sound odd to the language student.

Jay mentioned that one student was puzzled by the term "drinking a toast" and asked if this was the same word as the toast which we had for breakfast. He explained that it was.

I mentioned that he could have gone on to explain the origin of the phrase, when people used to put pieces of spiced toast into the wine-cup.

Later we were all discussing the fact that on Saturday's walk we saw a lot of people were carrying branches of various kinds (including marijuana allegedly). I asked of this was a tradition, but none of our Czech friends was sure. I also wondered if it was related to the fact that in ancient times a bush hanging above the doorway indicated wine on sale. "Hence the phrase 'A Good Wine Needs no Bush'", I said. Sue in particular was convinced that I was making this up. I referred her to Brewer's dictionary of Phrase and Fable, of which there is an online edition here.

To support my case that I remember, rather than invent, these things, here is Dr Brewer's take on Good Wine needs no Bush.

Good Wine needs no Bush

It was customary to hang out ivy, boughs of trees, flowers, etc., at public houses to notify to travellers that “good cheer” might be had within.

“Some ale-houses
upon the road I saw,
And some with bushes showing they wine did
draw.”

Poor Robin’s Perambulations (1678).

So if you are ever looking for the origin of a word or phrase, try looking in Brewer. For completeness, below is the good doctor's entry on drinking a toast.

To next year's Burčak trip!

Toast

A name given, to which guests are invited to drink in compliment. The name at one time was that of a lady. The word is taken from the toast which used at one time to be put into the tankard, and which still floats in the loving-cup, and also the cups called copus, bishop, and cardinal, at the Universities. Hence the lady named was the toast or savour of the wine—that which gave the draught piquancy and merit.

The story goes that a certain beau, in the reign of Charles II., being at Bath, pledged a noted beauty in a glass of water taken from her bath; whereupon another roysterer cried out he would have nothing to do with the liquor, but would have the toast—i.e. the lady herself. (Rambler, No. 24.)

“Let the toast pass, drink to the lass.”—Sheridan: School for Scandal.

“Say, why are beauties praised and honoured most,The wise man’s passion and the
vain man’s toast.” Pope: Rape of the Lock, canto i.

Fifty Years of the Space Age

Fifty years ago this evening, Sputnik 1, the first artificial satellite was launched, and changed the world.
That first mission can be seen as little more than a propaganda coup, and many people are dismissive of the benefits of space flight, particularly manned flight. On the other hand, satellites have brought huge benefits in communications and navigation as well as in the understanding and management of earth resources.

I believe that the space programmes have provided us with a great technological stimulus, and given us with huge benefits. I wish I could be as confident that the next fifty years will bring about technological changes as great as those we have seen in the last fifty, but let's try to be optimistic.

The Man With Two Jobs

I have been back in the UK for two months, and I have been working as an IT contractor for five weeks. I figured that it would be nice to do more teaching sometime, but haven't been looking for work.

I was surprised and delighted when I had a call from the local college asking me if I wanted to teach an evening class. The college staff knew I was back in the country when I asked for a reference, and they must have thought I did a good job on last year's Sumer School.

I start tomorrow with an Elementary class. I met them briefly yesterday evening and I'm looking forward to teaching them tomorrow.

The day job? They have a flexi-time scheme so I can leave early for college on Monday and Wednesday and make up time during the rest of the week.
It's going to be a busy time, but I'm excited!

English Language Opportunity in Prague

I am indebted once again to "The Register" for this story. They report that in a document promoting the Czech Olympic Committee's Olympic Bid, the committee came up with the following gem.

Three times will Prague examine courting with international Olympic collection. Previous two advances arrange games are over always inglorious. A how go in for Twentieth Century typical, capital you-break teeth among others on policy. Historian sport and Olympic motion Francis wheelwright prove this story, which he began write at the end 19. century, tell very attractive.

Apparently there is more here. It seems to me that an enterprising school or freelance English teacher might want to approach them and quote a rate to do the job properly.

Textonyms

My former colleague, Alec Muffet has written in his blog about Qwertonyms, words which are different, but use the same keys in predictive text mode on a mobile phone, eg 'home' and 'good'.

I first heard about them a few years ago. Some friends texted to say they were coming over, and I replied with "I'll open the post", which confused them. I meant port

When I explained my puzzling reply, my friend told me that Stephen Fry had spoken about them. His nephew and his friends had started using the word 'book' instead of 'cool', because when they typed 'cool' in the phone 'book' was the first entry in the list. Book became their slang for cool not just in text but in speech as well.

The word textonyms, rather than qwertonyms, has been used to describe these.

The Chambers Dictionary website has an entry for textonym in its wordwatch section - http://www.chambersharrap.co.uk/chambers/features/wordwatch/textonym.shtml

Identifying Bears

I guess this is doing the rounds, but I thought it was funny.

In light of the rising frequency on human/grizzly bear conflicts, the Alaska Department of Fish and Game is advising tourists, hikers, and fishermen to take extra precautions and keep alert for bears while travelling this summer.

We advise that people wear noisy little bells on their clothing so as not to startle bears that are not expecting them. We also advise everyone to carry pepper spray with them in case of an encounter with a grizzly.

It is also a good idea to watch out for fresh signs of bear activity.
Outdoorsmen should recognize the difference between black bear and grizzly bear dung. Black bear dung is smaller and contains lots of berries and squirrel fur.
Grizzly bear dung has little bells in it and smells like pepper.

Don't forget, you don't have to outrun the bear, you just have to outrun your fellow hikers!

Czech falls off motorbike, wakes up with British accent

I saw this story at The Register. A Czech speedway rider racing in England came off his bike and was concussed. When he came around he asked where he was, in perfect English. According to the story he couldn't speak much English prior to the accident, and reverted to this state two days later. Read the story for more details.

I guess the moral of this story is that all it takes to sound like an upper-class Englishman is a blow to the head.

I hope this doesn't mean that English teachers in Prague start taking blunt instruments into class, though.

Michael Jackson is dead

No, not the American singer! I was saddened to learn on Friday that Michael Jackson, the authority on beers of the world, dies recently. The Telegraph has an obituary.

I saw his TV series "The Beer Hunter" in 1990, and learned of the rich variety of beers that were made in Belgium, Germany and Czechoslovakia. There was a discussion of his work on the radio on Friday in which he was credited with stimulating the boom in microbreweries in the US.

His contribution to the well-being of the world will be sadly missed.

Tour of Britain

I missed the start of the Tour de France in London this year because I was still in the Czech Republic. It's a shame because I enjoy cycle racing and the London start was a great spectacle, even if the Tour was somewhat tarnished by the finish.

On Sunday the Tour of Britain started with a Prologue time-trial at Crystal Palace. This is a much lower-key event, lasting just seven days and with mostly minor teams and development squads rather than the stars of the ProTour teams.

Still, I enjoyed watching it, and it was great to see aBritish rider, Mark Cavendish of T-Mobile win on the day, with a number of other britons doing well. This was a big change from when I used to watch the Milk Race in the early 1980s.

In those days the race was an amateur event and young British hopefuls struggled to compete with young riders from Belgium and Holland who were preparing for pro careers, and fully mature riders from Eastern Europe who were employed by state organisations but were able to race more or less full-time. The prospect of a British winner in those days was less likely than a British winner at Wimbledon. Nowadays British riders are dominant in track events and we have some riders in the pro teams who can hold there own.

Mark Cavendish is in his first full season. He went on from the prologue to win yesterday's stage, too. He has won 10 1-day races and stages so far, and he should go on to greater achievements next season. I sincerely hope that cycling is able to keep root out doping and ensure that the new crop of riders can reach their full potential without drugs.

The Fight For English

Browsing through Waterstone's bookshop the other day I noticed that David Crystal has written a counterblast to Lynne Truss's "Eats, Shoots and Leaves" entitled "The Fight for English: How Language Pundits Ate, Shot, and Left".

Crystal has written about the book in the Guardian.

I am a great admirer of Crystal. When I was studying for my CELTA his book "Rediscover Grammar" saved me from becoming an insufferably pedantic prescriptivist* . I was privileged to hear him speak at Westminster University last summer when a friend of mine invited me to a linguistics conference there.

I haven't yet ordered a copy of the book, but I have a paycheck on the way very soon, and my basket at Amazon is filling up.

*I can still be insufferably pedantic on occasion, but only in unarguable matters of fact.

It's not Prague's fault!

The British press yesterday made a lot from a Foreign & Commonwealth Office report on the use of consular services by British tourists abroad. Apparently a higher proportion of British visitors to Prague need consular assistance than those in any other foreign destination.

Somehow the stories seemed to imply that there is something dangerous about Prague. I think that gangs of drunken Brits can lose their wallets, phones, clothes etc wherever they happen to be. So many of them do it in Prague because it's a really great place to visit and a half litre of beer is cheaper than most non-alcoholic alternatives.

A follow-up story in today's Guardian lists other places where Brits get into difficulties, and does put Prague into perspective.

"I don't know whether the Czech Republic is more dangerous than anywhere else," says Frances Tuke of ABTA. "I think the thing is that we can be a danger to ourselves, particularly when cheap booze and - shall we say - other cheap services are so readily available."

A 2004 report by the Czech tourism office found that local police believed 20% of all weekend crime in Prague involved British men on stag trips. My colleague Gary confirms this view of events: "My biggest fear when I'm in Prague - I go most years - is that I'm going to get beaten up by a bunch of English people on a stag or hen do."

I remember one Friday when was catching a lunchtime flight back to the UK for the weekend. I arrived at the airport at about 11:00 and one of the airside bars was full of Brits from a stag weekend. This really puzzled me, I figured that they had got straight off the plane and gone into the first bar they saw, before they even went through passport control. Maybe they were waiting for friends on another flight, or maybe they were on a mission to drink in every bar they saw during their time in Prague.

Luckily the stag and hen parties didn't make their way to my favourite haunts.

A Day In London

Rain was forecast for today and so I decided to go to London as there was nothing pressing to do at home. I had been planning to visit two exhibitions and decided to do this while I still had time. I had some calls to make so I didn't leave home until late morning and got to Waterloo just in time for lunch.

There is a restaurant/gastro-pub near Waterloo called "The Fire Station" (yes, located in an old fire station). Their restaurant menu is quite expensive but the bar menu was more reasonable. I ordered a bacon and chicken baguette and looked at the beer selection before settling for a pint of Staropramen - "beer from Prague" it said on the blackboard. It tastes different in London! The beer has a sharper flavour and is slightly darker than the usual. Almost like a Granat, but not quite that dark. It was definitely worth trying it, and sufficiently different that I wasn't overwhelmed with homesickness for Prague.

The first exhibition was at the Hayward Gallery on the South Bank. Antony Gormley is one of my favourite artists and sculptors and the Hayward has a new exhibition of his work. Much of his work is too big for an indoor venue, such as his Angel Of The North, a gigantic metal sculpture outside Gateshead, near Newcastle and Another Place, an installation of sculptures over several square miles of beach, so I was curious to see what would be exhibited.

One exhibit was called "Allotment" and consists of

300 Reinforced concrete life-size units derived from the dimensions of local inhabitants of Malmö aged 1.5 – 80 years.

Each unit is rectangular and the whole thing reminded me more than anything of a war cemetery.

The flagship of this exhibition is a work called "Blind Light" which is a glass-walled room filled with water vapour, like the inside of a cloud or a very heavy fog. I walked inside and was disorientated almost immediately. I couldn't see my own hand at arm's length and lost site of the entrance within a few metres. I didn't dare lose contact with the wall as I walked around inside, hearing voices of other visitors and not seeing anyone.

There was an external exhibit, too, called Event Horizon which consists of more sculptural figures standing on rooftops in the South Bank area, all looking towards the Hayward Gallery. A more typical Gormley work. I won't write any more about him, but take a look at the exhibition website if you want to know more.

I then went to the Imperial War Museum to see their temporary exhibition on camouflage. The exhibition shows how avant-garde artists contributed to the development of camouflage during the First World War and discusses developments since, including the use of camouflage clothing by anti-war protesters and fashion designers. It was interesting, but slightly superficial as it was intended to appeal to a mass-market.

I just had time for a latte at Waterloo station before getting a train home in time to avoid the rush hour.

Back In The Saddle

Yesterday I had my tasks under enough control and the weather was dry enough for me to go out cycling. I went on one of my favourite local rides which is about 21 km and normally takes me about an hour, altough I was expecting it to take anything up to 80 minutes. I was expecting to take it quite slowly but as I rode along something in my brain kept putting the pressure on until either the legs ached or I got out of breath.

It was lovely to get back out into familiar countryside. I got home feeling quite tired and aching in a few places - my bike has a fairly hard leather saddle and my behind has to get accustomed to it again before I can ride for any great distance, but I'm sure that won't take too long. When I got home I realised that I had finished the ride in about 70 minutes.

In the evening I dismantled the framework of an old greenhouse and put it into the skip, thus freeing some time for today and a trip to London.

Extreme Gardening

Anyone who knows me knows that I hold passionate views on gardening - I hate it with a passion. Nevertheless, we have a fairly big garden at home and although Sue enjoys doing things in the garden it has got out of control over the last year or so. I was working in Prague and Sue was coming out most weekends so we had no time to work in the garden and couldn't afford to pay a gardener.

Once we got back from Prague it was obvious that we had to do some major work quite quickly, so last weekend was earmarked for garden work. Apart from the unkempt lawns we have lots of shrubs and climbers at both the front and back of the house, and these were overgrown. We needed to hire a skip (US dumpster) which arrived at 7:15 on Saturday morning, although the hire company said it would come between 8:00 and 12:00!

The weather forecast was not promising, but we made a start. Sue was in charge of cutting back and my job was to fill the skip and to do any trimming which needed ladders or a long reach. The neighbours, who had been making little comments about the state of the garden, were impressed to see the skip which was quite a big one at 8 cubic yards (just over 6 cubic metres).

On Saturday we worked until about 4pm, with breaks for drinks, lunch and rain, and then resumed from 5:30 until we finished at 8:00. Starting again on Sunday was hard as we were both tired and aching from the day before, but we worked through until 4pm, again with a break for lunch before we were both too tired to continue.

The skip still had a bit of space in it, which I can use for some other rubbish which we have accumulated, but we had only cleared the front of the house and part of the side. We still have a lot of work to do and need to hire another skip for two weeks time. Although it was a hard couple of days it had to be done, and it was good to see the results. I did think wistfully about our relaxed weekends in Prague with no gardening responsibilities, though!

One for the Business English teachers

In the light of Google's quarterly figures yesterday, and the subsequent drop in stock price, I was amused to see the article linked above (just click on the title of this post).

Those of you who have to teach vocabulary of trends and rate of change of numbers may find their examples useful. :)

Have a good weekend!

Friday Thoughts

Greetings from sunny but damp Hampshire. The weather forecast promised a wet day in Southern England, and they weren't wrong! It rained solidly, with thunder and lightning, all morning and most of the afternoon. I wasn't too worried as I had too many things to occupy me indoors today. I now have two pending job applications, so fingers crossed. I have spent the afternoon refreshing some of my Solaris and Internet skills so that I will be on firm ground in any interviews for IT jobs.

Earlier this week I was working on my CV and had to deal with various administrative chores as well as buying two new tyres for the car. When we were passing through Belgium last Saturday, Goodyear had people in the motorway services checking tyre pressures and tread. They told me my tyres needed replacing immediately, this wasn't strictly true as the tread was still legal, but it was definitely time to renew them. I need to get a job to keep up with the bills.

It hasn't all been work, though, I have put some photos from Prague onto my Flickr site and I have made time for this update to the blog. I will make some time next week to start writing up our holday in North Bohemia.

I'm still thinking of my friends in Prague, and good luck to Alasdair on his gig at Noel's!

Safely Home

We got up at 4am on Saturday (which was hard work after a final meal with friends in prague the night before) and managed to pack the car for a 6am departure.

The journey went smoothly apart from a 1 hour delay due to an accident on the motorway near Wurtzburg, and we arrived in Calais at 6:30pm. We stopped at a motorway services on the M20 for some food and managed to get home at 9:30 - just in time to get some food for breakfast from Tesco.

Yesterday we managed to get to Watford to see an exhibition of photographs which our friend Janice had organised in memory of her late partner, Malcolm. We saw some of our old friends there and I was really pleased that I was able to get home from Prague in time to see the exhibition.

I started job-hunting today, as well as catching up with some tasks at home.

A Week Of Goodbyes

This week I have been saying goodbye to all of my students. They have been really kind, most of them have given me presents or taken me out for a drink to say goodbye. All of them have said that they wished I could stay. It gives me a feeling that I have helped them and that they appreciate it. I will miss them.

I will also miss my colleagues from the school, both the teachers and the admin staff. We have had a really great social life here, partly because no-one is responsible for decorating their houses or maintaining their gardens and no-one has any children. The community of teachers has been a bit like a group of students in college. Getting back to Real Life in the UK will be strange.

Breaking The Silence

It's been ages since I last wrote anything. My excuse is that I've been too busy having a life to write about it. Since the end of May I have been busy preparing and setting tests and writing reports on all my students. In addition we have been busy at weekends trying to make the most of the remaining time here in the Czech Republic.

Today was my last day of teaching, and I have now handed in all of the materials which the school provided me with in August, and I have received my last salary from them, too. Including my end of year bonus for keeping my paperwork straight in a timely manner.

Sue is flying into Prague tonight and next week we will start a ten day trip around Northern Bohemia. We will then have a day for the last tidying of the flat before we drive home on July 14th.

I hope I get some time before too long to catch up on the blog by writing about some of the trips we have taken. I also want to sort out some of the pictures I have taken, and load them onto my Flickr page. Watch this space, there should be more content soon.

A Weekend Drive

It is over a month since my last entry here. I have been busy working and spending the weekends doing things and seeing things, but I haven't taken the time to write about them.

I have just under three months left here in Prague and am trying to make the most of it. We decided that we should have a car here now that it is Spring. We can travel at weekends to explore the country. I flew to the UK on Friday so that Sue and I could bring my car out here over the weekend.

We left the house at about 5:15 on Saturday to drive to the tunnel. Our check-in time was 7:20 and we arrived in sufficient time to get a second breakfast at the terminal before checking in. The check-in and journey to France went very smoothly, and we were soon settled into our journey along the autoroute. Sue drove through France, Belgium and across the south-east tip of the Netherlands where we stopped for lunch just before the German border.

I took over after lunch and drove through Germany for about 150 miles while Sue had a snooze. She then took over until we arrived at Nuremberg at about 6:30. We found a hotel after a slightly fraught drive through the city, and after a shower we went off to explore the old town and have dinner.

We had no idea beforehand that Nuremberg would be so pretty. We had walked around the centre during the last of the daylight and had a quick beer before looking for a restaurant.

We were delighted to find an authentic bierkeller and had a hearty dinner there. The cuisine was quite similar to Czech food with lots of pork, dumplings and cabbage.

On Sunday morning we found the hotel restaurant crowded so we decided to eat in town. There was a lovely pavement cafe serving a good selection of breakfasts. Sue had croissants and I had ham and eggs. We had decided to stay and explore the town until lunchtime so we walked up to Albrecht Durer Platz, the city walls and the castle.

We weren't too hungry by twelve, so lunch consisted of an ice-cream sundae before we set off on the road once more. Sue drove out of town, only slightly hampered by my GPS-assisted navigation. She drove as far as the German-Czech border, which took about an hour, and we stopped there to buy a motorway vignette. I took over to drive the rest of the way to Prague, and we arrived at the flat at about 4:45. The overall journey was about 800 miles.

We enjoyed the trip, especially with the bonus of the visit to Nuremberg, and realised that driving to Germany for holidays would be quite practical in the future.