Friday, December 19, 2008

#921 The Twelve Days Of Christmas, Nosy In-laws, Naked First Lady


Show 921 Friday 19 December
Watch today’s show at YouTube or BlipTV.


Hi, I’m Sarah, welcome to The Daily English Show.

Today we’re going to study a song called: The Twelve Days of Christmas

I think this is a good song to study because of the repetition.
I’m not a huge fan of the original song – probably because the lyrics don’t really mean much to me.

A partridge in a pear tree.

A partridge is a kind of bird, I don’t think there are any partridges in New Zealand – or maybe I’ve just never seen one.

In Wikipedia it says: Partridges are native to Europe, Asia, Africa, and the Middle East. Partridges are ground-nesting seed-eaters.

There are many parodies of the song – that you might enjoy – and because of the repetition I think it’s a good way to learn new vocabulary.

There is one by a model called Janice Dickinson – and if you watch that one you can learn the word: fledgling.
On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a fledgling modelling agency.

fledgling
a person, an organization or a system that is new and without experience

And if you listen to the parody by boymongoose, you can learn the words: insufficient and dowry.

Insufficient means not enough and a dowry is money or property that a bride gives to her new husband when they get married.

On the first day of Christmas my true love gave to me a totally insufficient dowry.



STICK NEWS

Kia Ora, in Stick News today the first lady of France has been awarded 40 thousand Euros in damages after a company sold a bag featuring a photo of her naked.

Carla is a 40-year-old former model. According to Wikipedia, in the 1990s, she was among the 20 highest-paid fashion models. In February this year, she married the President of France. Since then a clothing company produced 10,000 bags featuring a photo of the first lady naked. The photo was taken in 1993. Carla sued the company and they’ve now been ordered to pay her damages. Reuters reported the founder and manager of the company said he would appeal because 40,000 Euros seemed expensive for "a small blunder."

And that was Stick News for Friday the 19th of December.
Kia Ora.





tdes Niseko Snow Report
in Kutchan


Today’s snow report comes to you from … looking out my window late at night. You can’t see any snow because it’s too dark.
This is the car park.
And these are the lights at the entrance to the car park.



Word of the Day

Today’s word is nosy.
It can be spelt with or without an e.

adj. (informal) showing too much curiosity about other people’s affairs

One of the lines in (one of) the parodies I mentioned today is: two nosy in-laws.

In-laws are your relatives by marriage, especially the parents of your husband or wife.

Do you have nosy in-laws, or nosy workmates or schoolmates?

I found an article online called: How to Cope With In-laws During the Holidays.

This is what it says:
Tolerate nosy in-laws by answering only the questions you feel comfortable talking about. Avoiding dangerous topics can help, but plan ahead with your spouse so they can take over if you start feeling uncomfortable.



friday joke

* I found this joke here.


What’s the difference between outlaws and in-laws?
Outlaws are wanted.



conversations with sarah
#575 How can you tell, though?


Step 1: Repeat Taka’s lines.
Step 2: Read Taka’s lines and talk to Sarah.

Taka What’s the difference between being nosy and being interested?

Sarah Yeah, that’s a good question - I guess it’s a matter of opinion.

Taka Yeah, true.

Sarah I think it could be something to do with what the person plans to do with the information, or why they want to know.

Taka What do you mean?

Sarah Well, if they want to know just because they want to pass the information on as gossip – then that’s nosy, but if they want to know because they care about you and they hope that you’re doing well and if you’re not, they want to help you … then that’s genuine interest.

Taka How can you tell, though?

Sarah I think it’s usually pretty obvious.



links

today's news
today's STICK NEWS pictures
parody photo

music

show start
artist: Boom Tschak
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: More Chocolate, Please
from: Former Yugoslavia
MySpace

nsr start
artist: Zeropage
album: Ambient Pills Update
track: Is It Real?
from: Switzerland
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

nsr bgm
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: Bass Vibes
artist site
YouTube channel

WOD start
artist: DJ iPep's
album: Home Mix 2007
track: Game Toy
from: EVREUX, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

friday joke start
artist: AdHoc
album: Toutes directions
track: Sumbala
from: Annecy, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

cws start
artist: Wolfgang S.
album: Indietronic CCBit.
track: Dynamite
from: Belgrade, Serbia, Former Yugoslavia
artist site
MySpace

qa start
artist: ioeo
album: triptracks
track: triptrack2
from: Saint Raphael, France
album at Jamendo
artist at Jamendo
artist site

nsr/qa bgm
artist: Kevin MacLeod
track: We Wish you a Merry Christmas
artist site
YouTube channel

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