Vocabulary In the News : Yahoo! News (Online Article From 31 December 2010)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/new_year_s_eve;_ylt=Au.EDaRl._gD.QwBr2YE2kKs0NUE;_ylu=X3oDMTNlY2NscGgwBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTAxMjMxL25ld195ZWFyX3NfZXZlBGNjb2RlA21vc3Rwb3B1bGFyBGNwb3MDMgRwb3MDNgRwdANob21lX2Nva2UEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDbWlsbGlvbnNnYXRo

If you are awake at midnight and are celebrating the arrival of the New Year, we say in English that you are ringing in the New Year. At midnight the world ushers in 2011, in other words, the world will inaugurate 2011. Some dream that in 2011, successful talks between Israel and Palestine will usher in a new era of peace.

Worldwide (around the world), people are celebrating  and enjoying themselves by being lively and noisy. Many of these revelers are singing, dancing and drinking. These revelers are gathering in large crowds such as in Times Square, New York. Others are simply at home gathered with their family. When people gather, they come together in one place to see or do something. This Christmas, I returned to the States to gather with my family.

Happy New Year 2011!!

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Cartoon : Happy New Year!

Cartoon by Steve Breen of The San Diego Union-Tribune in California and published on 29 December 2010.

Vocabulary In the News : Yahoo! News (Online Article From 31 December 2010)

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20101231/wl_nm/us_france_newyear

Well, it’s that time of year in France when friends get together with a glass of champagne around a blazing fire. However, that blazing fire could be your car! Once again, French authorities brace for these annual New Year torchings. In other words, they are preparing for an unpleasant night. Have you ever watched a movie where a boat, ship or space ship are about to be hit by a large object? Usually in this situation, the captain will cry out, “Brace for impact!” This tells the crew to prepare themselves for the impact or blow that will hit the vessel. In France, the authorities are bracing for the impact of the car torchings.

Disaffected youths in France’s suburbs compete with other suburbs to see who can cause the most damage. To be disaffected means to longer feel any loyalty. Many of France’s youth in the suburbs feel that they are discriminated against and thus have become hostile and rebellious toward authority.

Bracing for this night and in an attempt to fight against this competition between suburbs, the police will keep the vandalism statistics under wraps. If you are good at not telling anyone a secret, you can keep it under wraps. You could also say that the French police will keep a lid on the vandalism statistics.

To read the full article, click on the link or image above.

Vocabulary In the News : 01 January 2010 - Atlanta Journal & Constitution

Visit the AJC homepage at : http://www.ajc.com/

It’s the first front page for the AJC for 2010 and of course there is the obligatory article concerning the hopes and fears we have for the upcoming new year. The headline states that “Grins replace the grimaces.” A grin is a huge smile that shows your teeth. There is a good idiomatic expression to describe someone who smiles a lot because they are very happy which is “to grin (or smile) from ear to ear.”

Some people are saying that 2010 will be even a more difficult year than 2009 which means we may just have to grin and bear it. This means to accept a difficult situation without complaining or without showing how you really feel. Now there are some people who just annoy you and they seem to enjoy annoying because they have a smile on their face when they do it. Sometimes you just wish that you could somehow stop them from being so happy and pleased with themselves that you wish you could find a way to wipe the grin (or smile) off their face!

A grimace is a facial expression you make by twisting your face due to pain or because you don’t like something. If you fall and hurt your ankle, you might grimace with pain each time you walk. I tend to grimace with disgust when I get my gas bill in the winter for heating my apartment!

In any case I wish that for all of you, your grimaces of 2009 will be replaced by grins in 2010!

Read the full article at: http://www.ajc.com/news/a-new-year-brings-263703.html