Vocabulary In the News : 21 September 2009 – The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

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- Hospital emergency rooms in Atlanta are bracing for an onslaught of patients with flu-like symptoms. If you brace for something, you are getting yourself ready physically or mentally for something unpleasant. It’s what you would do with your body while driving if your car was about to hit or be hit. Here, emergency rooms are preparing for an onslaught, or a large number of people that all come at the same time. Another way of saying this is they are preparing for a surge of people. Because of fears concerning the H1N1 flu, more people are flooding emergency rooms. Most of these cases are simply due to the seasonal flu.

http://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta/atlanta-ers-brace-for-142731.html

- City employees for the city of Atlanta wanting to lose weight are part of an intensive fitness boot camp being led by an Atlanta city detective and former US Marine. The term boot camp is a military term for the initial intensive training all soldiers must do when they join the military. Here the term is used because it is an intensive program three times a week. During the workout (l’entraînement physique), the workers are feeling the burn! This is common expression used during a workout to describe that feeling in your muscles as they are being challenged and becoming fatigued! As we also say, “No pain, no gain!”

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- Due to an overpopulation of dogs across the state of Georgia and the rest of the South, thousands of animal shelters are being forced to euthanize thousands of dogs not claimed by their owners. So many of these “Dixie” dogs are being adopted by yearning Northerners where strict and obligatory neutering laws have created a demand for pets. Dixie, as most you might know, is an old nickname for the Southern United States. Volunteer pilots, with the goal of saving 5,000 dogs by Sunday, are flying these dogs north where people yearn for them. The term is a bit strong here in this headline but if you yearn for something, you want it a lot but risk not getting it. Some couples yearn to have a baby but have difficulties conceiving one. Some people yearn for the love of another who doesn’t love them.

http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-dogs-adopted-by-142702.html

Idioms & Slang: Dog Talk (VOA Special English)

Today’s post comes directly from Voice of America Special English.

VOA News - Dog Talk: Every Dog Has His Day

Dog Talk: Every Dog Has His Day

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A look at dog-related expressions. Transcript of radio broadcast:
06 December 2008

Now, the VOA Special English program, Words and Their Stories.

Americans use many expressions with the word dog. People in the United States love their dogs and treat them well. They take their dogs for walks, let them play outside and give them good food and medical care. However, dogs without owners to care for them lead a different kind of life. The expression, to lead a dog's life, describes a person who has an unhappy existence.

Some people say we live in a dog-eat-dog world. That means many people are competing for the same things, like good jobs. They say that to be successful, a person has to work like a dog. This means they have to work very, very hard. Such hard work can make people dog-tired. And, the situation would be even worse if they became sick as a dog.

Still, people say every dog has its day. This means that every person enjoys a successful period during his or her life. To be successful, people often have to learn new skills. Yet, some people say that you can never teach an old dog new tricks. They believe that older people do not like to learn new things and will not change the way they do things.

Some people are compared to dogs in bad ways. People who are unkind or uncaring can be described as meaner than a junkyard dog. Junkyard dogs live in places where people throw away things they do not want. Mean dogs are often used to guard this property. They bark or attack people who try to enter the property. However, sometimes a person who appears to be mean and threatening is really not so bad. We say his bark is worse than his bite.

A junkyard is not a fun place for a dog. Many dogs in the United States sleep in safe little houses near their owners' home. These doghouses provide shelter. Yet they can be cold and lonely in the winter.

Husbands and wives use this doghouse term when they are angry at each other. For example, a woman might get angry at her husband for coming home late or forgetting their wedding anniversary. She might tell him that he is in the doghouse. She may not treat him nicely until he apologizes. However, the husband may decide that it is best to leave things alone and not create more problems. He might decide to let sleeping dogs lie.

Dog expressions also are used to describe the weather. The dog days of summer are the hottest days of the year. A rainstorm may cool the weather. But we do not want it to rain too hard. We do not want it to rain cats and dogs.

(MUSIC)

This VOA Special English program, WORDS AND THEIR STORIES, was written by Jill Moss. I'm Faith Lapidus.

VOA News - Dog Talk: Every Dog Has His Day