ELISA ENGLISH's Blog 英語園地

A shotgun approach       

An approach that aims at covering a broad spectrum, all inclusive, nonselective and haphazard.

I wanted to write about this for some days, but kept putting it off due to lack of time. 

On the day of Martin Luther King’s day, I thought of Martin Niemoller.  Today, I read a message from someone about the attitude towards answering questions in Yahoo Knowledge and I thought of him again.  I am deeply touched by his famous quote.  Ignorance is what brings disaster to mankind.  (This is not his quote.  I don’t know if anyone ever said so, if not, I will claim it mine – Elisa’s quote. J)

Robert Browning’s quote "Ah, but a man's reach should exceed his grasp -- or what's a heaven for?" means “One should reach for more than they can see or get their hands on or grasp or touch”

I don’t know how to better translate this in Chinese.  My husband thought that it would be better translated as "把眼光放遠". 

“Having said that” or “That (being) said” or “That having been said”:  It is used when we make a bold assertion or an assertion that might be taken as bold, and we wish to soften the impact lest we seem too absolute.

See http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/08142/883453-294.stm

http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/42/messages/212.html

What does "without citing anyone" mean?

In general, this phrase is normally seen used in journalism to indicate that the source is not revealed, without stating where the source is from, without stating who said that.

Limerent object

愛慕, 迷戀的對象

過分的著迷的對象

Usage of “there is” vs. “there are”

When a compound subject follows the verb and the first element is singular, the verb may be either singular or plural (as stated by The Merriam-Webster Guide to English Usage).

The boy who was not - 隱形男孩(守秩序)

Author – 法里德．卡拉特巴里(Farideh Khalatbaree)

A gloomy day right after the President’s inauguration

The day back to work after a day off from Martin Luther King Day and the President’s inauguration doesn’t seem to be such a great day.  Our CEO announced at our town hall a cut of 300 jobs over the course of the year in response to the current economic turmoil.  Our company, along with the other financial companies, has the front-row seat to the financial blow. 

With a grain of salt

= with reservation or skepticism