Wise words from a dead man
Thanks for all your comments. It seems that no matter where you are in the world, finding somewhere to live that you can afford is very tricky indeed. All of you said that property prices are sky high and Jimmy in Shanghai joked that maybe the only way to afford to buy a home is to rob a bank – I know how you feel, Jimmy!
My best wishes go to Pilar in Spain and Hyoshil, who are experiencing their own housing challenges at the moment. I think probably Manas is right, and it’s easier to think about grammar than to think about property, which is indeed a nightmare.
I won’t give you the answers to the questions about articles from last lesson yet, as I don’t want to spoil it for Naheed, who I’m sure is just desperate to complete those tasks. :-> Just kidding! (Ooh, aren’t I evil, Naheed?)
So, seeing as I have made you all depressed by talking about property and how expensive it is, I feel it is now my duty to try to cheer you up again. I will do this by telling you about a dead man. Bear with me – all will become clear.
I was reading the newspaper a little while ago and I came to the obituaries page. There was an obituary of an American writer called Kurt Vonnegut. I’ve never read any of Kurt Vonnegut’s books (I think he writes science-fiction books?) but something in that obituary stopped me in my tracks. The writer of the obituary was talking about Kurt Vonnegut’s philosophy, and I can’t remember whether it was something Kurt Vonnegut himself said, or something that one of the characters in one of his books said, but it was basically something like this (I’m paraphrasing):
‘Almost every day, you’ll have a moment when you think ‘that’s nice’, or when you feel content. Notice those moments, and think to yourself: if this isn’t happiness, what is?’
This really struck me, because it’s so simple, but it’s so true. I don’t think it’s the big things in life, like flashy clothes, a big house or lots of money, that make us happy. It’s the small, everyday things. I guess Kurt Vonnegut is talking about a kind of constant, low-key happiness – not a wild, ecstatic happiness. I’m trying to remember this idea and build on it.
One time of day when I almost always feel happy is when I’m walking the dog, Raffles. I always see something pretty or something new. For example, this afternoon I went for a walk up to the top of the hill behind my house. And this is the view from there:
Isn’t it great?
Also, outside my kitchen window I have a bird-feeder. Every day, usually first thing in the morning and last thing at night, a kind of bird called a woodpecker comes to visit. It always makes me smile to see him pecking away at the peanuts I’ve put out. In this photo, you can see two woodpeckers – the fluffy one on the right is the baby, and the bird on the left I guess is the parent, because it feeds bits of peanuts to the fluffy one.
So, I’m trying not to think too much about the price of property in the UK. Anyway, I’m not going anywhere in a hurry, because Richard and I will probably need to save for another year before we can afford to get a place of our own. To do this, of course, you’ll need to talk to an estate agent. I don’t know whether it’s the same in your country, but estate agents in the UK have a language of their own. You need a special dictionary to decipher what they say. For example, here is a description of a flat written by an estate agent:
2bd grdflr flat, sea views, new kitchen units and bathrm. GCH, DG, OIEO £190,000. No chain.
It’s gobbledegook, isn’t it? Can you work out what any of it means?
This is an extreme example, but it does bring me on to my language point for today: context. Sometimes it’s not possible to look up words in a dictionary to find out what they mean. However, by looking at the context of an unfamiliar word (by that I mean the text that comes before and after the unfamiliar word), you can probably have a good guess at the meaning. Think about what part of speech the word is (noun? verb? adjective? etc.) and think about the meaning of the text. What is the sentence before and after the unfamiliar word talking about? You’ll probably be able to guess the correct meaning of an unfamiliar word more times than you’d expect. Which is why I’m not giving you all the explanations for the vocabulary listed below – some of them I have left blank, so see if you can work it out from the context – no dictionaries!
Vocabulary
tricky
sky-high
duty
If you bear with someone, you wait patiently.
An obituary is an article about someone who has recently died. You’ll usually find an obituary in a newspaper.
stopped me in my tracks
Someone’s philosophy is what they think and believe.
When you paraphrase, you use your own words to explain a meaning or an idea.
struck
everyday
Something that is low-key is gentle and restrained.
If you’re ecstatic, you’re extremely happy.
To build on something in this context means ‘to add’ or ‘increase’.
bird-feeder
pecking
fluffy – covered in soft fluff
estate agent – you use an estate agent to buy or sell a home. They advertise properties and arrange viewings in exchange for a percentage of the sale price. They basically put the buyer and the seller in contact.
decipher
gobbledegook
Answers to your comments
Tomo: Yes, there are still more pets to come. Maybe you’ll meet one of them at the weekend …
Uddhav: I can understand what you mean perfectly. Please keep writing!
Kailarai: I have found this page on the BBC Learning English site, which explains a bit about auxiliary verbs. Let me know if it’s useful. http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/grammar/learnit/learnitv10.shtml
Comments
Jo, your woodpeckers appear to be suburban ones. Funny thing, we also have woodpeckers near our cottage in the country, but we hardly see them at home in the city. Your question was a tough one: 2 bedroom ground floor flat, sea views, new kitchen and bathroom. Garage, double glazing, offers in excess of £190,000. No offers from chain dealers. A very good exercise.
Hello Jo, you really made my day by quoting wise words from the dead man. So nicely said, I think it is essence of being happy, looking for happiness in small things, wining little victories, taking time and enjoying present moment. In process of running behind the big happiness, we miss out so much in life...! After getting inspired by this thought, I tried to list out when I thought something was nice recently, starting with smell of soil in first rain of the season, site of beautiful rainbow from my balcony, surprise call from my dear friend, site of golden full moon coming out in the sky and most recently special mention of my name in Jo's blog. When I think of all these small things, i realize life is beautiful. Thanks a ton, Jo, you manage to cheer us up, by sharing wonderful thought and beautiful pictures. It was just what doctor ordered after heavy discussion about owning a house. I liked woodpecker picture very much. I wonder whether Naheed is already thinking of bringing it on paper. Here goes my homework. (1) tricky = not straight and simple. (2) sky-high = to the extreme on the higher side, extremely expensive when we say prices are sky-high. (3)duty = conscience act. (4)struck = realized suddenly, stopped with sudden surprise, difficulty. (5)bird-feeder = something which is for feeding the bird. (6) Pecking = snatching or picking. (7)decipher = extracting the meaning. (8) gobbledegook = something confusing and un-understandable. Cheers and enjoy this moment, Manas
Hello Jo, it's nice to be back. I used to read and post comments on the bbc blog very often, but lately I haven't had much free time. But I'll try to become a regular again. You and Naheed certainly deserve to be read as often as I can. Let me say that the picture of the view from the top of the hill behind your house is breath-taking. Do you go there very often? I hope you do because it certainly must be very recovering to be able to enjoy such a view everyday. I'm crazy about green landscapes like this. The area where I live also has some very beutiful landscapes too. I wish I could show you. Thanks for your great entries. I'll try to read them everyday, because I'm sure I'll learn a lot. Best wishes. Bye for now.
Thank you, Jo. I’m looking forward to seeing one of them! And thank you, Richard. What a nice comment I've got. You’re the luckiest man in the whole world to be other half of such a beautiful and kind lady, Jo. May happiness last forever! Well, Jo, I haven’t answered your question about houses yet, so let me write them briefly. Properties are also so expensive in cities in Japan. People who are over eighteen to early twenties are not so independent as British ones. We tend to live together with our parents until we get marry or when we are difficult to commute to work or go to university from our houses or so on, then we leave our homes. In my view, the young prefer to rent one-room apartments where are usually expensive and small. I guess, there aren’t many people who have their own houses in their twenties, except the rich. I hope you come across your ideal home one day in the future. Jo, yes, it is definitely great landscape! I close my eyes, I feel cozy breeze with a delightful scent of the mother earth toward me and I hear rhythmic birds songs of little birds and big ones. I feel something sniffing my shoes... Aaaaaah! Raffles! They are not stinky, right? This is a kind of my low-key happiness. :-) Here's my guess the gobbledegook. <2 beds(rooms), ground floor flat, bathroom, Good Cared House?, Decorations Good?, Own something Only?> Um, I throw up my hands! Bye for now.
Hi Jo! What a dazzling view you have!And the woodpecker, so beautiful. Hmm... Let´s move on! I´ll try to answer the questions: tricky: something difficult; sky-high: something very expensive; duty: your responsibilty; stopped me in my tracks: something that catches your attetion; struck: something that comes to your mind suddenly; everyday: something that is part of your routine, something that you do ever single day; bird-feeder: a place where you put food and water to birds, in order to have them around; pecking: biting ( biting the peanuts); decipher: try to understand, try to figure out something; globledegook: Oh Gee! I´ve never heard about this word before!Uh... I think it´s a kind of language which comes from the space, really difficult to decipher. Am I right? Well, I´ll have to wait for your next entry to figure out. :-) Best wishes, Ana Paula.
Hello Jo, Namaskar, Thank you for your answer to my question. No need to say that you are brilliant and you are helping us so much. I tried to find out the meaning of the words honestly. Tricky- The ideas or something that is difficult to complete. To complete, we have to think slightly different. It is noun. Sky-high- Unimaginable height like sky. Very costly, really expensive, unaffordable for normal people. It is a adjective. Duty- The responsibility that you have complete honestly. Job under your obligation. It is noun. Stopped me in my track- Disturbed your mind by something that you are not expecting. It is a phrase. Idiom???? Struck- Something that hits your mind. It is a verb. Everyday- The things we use or see daily. It is a adverb Bird feeder- The place where we put the food for the bird. Noun Pecking- To take something through the peak. It means the birds use their peck to take food. Adverb Decipher- To find out, to understand. Verb Gobbledegook- Completely mess. Noun 2 bed room, ground floor flat, sea views, new kitchen units and bathroom….. I am little bit confuse about adverb and adjective. Could you please give me some clues to differentiate adjective and adverb?
Hello Jo,I am touched by the wise words from a dead man,just like you, i will build on it in my life.You are an animal fanatic and nature lover,aren't you? What's your philosophy? Mine is Love yourself and Love everything around you.See Ya! Looking forward to your next blog.
Hi Jo, the picture you have posted are really nice and give a clear idea of small everyday things. I am living a period of my life in which I'm trying to change things so sometimes it is difficult to keep to simple things. Therefore thank you to remind it to me. I also would like to share two thoughts that have struck me. I hope to translate them correctly. I've red the first one on a display while I was waiting on a queue in a hospital. “The secret of happiness is not in doing always what you want, but in willing always what you do” (Lev Tolstoj). The second one has a more general meaning. “The child is the father of the humanity and of the civilization, he is a teacher to us even about his own education” (Maria Montessori). Below I've written my guesses. Tricky – difficult, something which need (hard) work to be achieved; sky high – extremely high; duty – something you have to do to fulfil what it is expect from you; stop me in the track – prevent you from going on; struck – catch your attention in a surprising way; everyday things – something you do everyday and that you hardly notice; decipher – reveal or understand something which was said o wrote using a code which is not the common one; Love, always
Hello Jo, In this context, you used an expression " Ooh, aren't I evil, Naheed?". Would you kindly explain why did you use the verb "are" instead of "am"?
Hi, Pls could you tell me more about your sentence : (Ooh, aren’t I evil, Naheed?) I think verb follow subject "I" should be "am". So why do you use "are" here? Thanks. Quynh
Dear Jo! Yesterday I spent almost the whole day on the page - learn it. But great reflections you`ve put into your blog made me to write. Thanks. As I am reading your blogs since the very beginning I can always simultaneously listen to your cheerful voice like birdsongs in that bucolitic-pastoral, reach-green countryside there. And your exceptional student blogger, Naheed, teaches me with her every new entry to understand that feeling as incorporating such simple small moments about our daily duties help us not going down with our mind. All the best!
HI,jo It's been chucking it down for hours and very wet here.How is the weather like where you are? Thank you for your generous wishes and I am sorry you can't get on with your plan as you planed.I do wish you and Richard have a wonderful castle in the future and don't forget to invite us.Here is my homework. 1.tricky-difficult 2.sky-high-very expensive 3.duty-something you have to do 4.stop me in my tracks-something makes you to think because you are shocked by it. 5.stuck-trapped 6.everyday-normal,less important 7.bird-feeder-bird table 8.pecking-a bird use its break to make a hole in a tree or eat something. 9.decipher-to look up a dictionary ,to find the meanings 10.gobbledgook-difficult to understand or guess what they mean.I've done my homework and I am off to a swimming pool as I am getting depressed about this miserable weather.Jo,What do you do when you get depressed? By the way the lanscape looks tranquil and reatful.There are some beautiful lanscapes in where I live.I particularly like a field which has thousands of poppies dazziling and it reminds me of a art of Monet,Clause. Have a great day!hyoshil
Hi Jo!And thanks a lot for your cheer up words! Kurt Vonnegut and you are in the right way. Yes, everyday has special and happy moments, so I promise I will enjoy and appreciate them.Oops!This is one of them! :)"Chatting" with my bbc-blog-teacher and my bbc-blog-friends! (Naheed, Ana Paula, Wisarut, Hyoshil, James...). I go twice a day to walk with my dog, but my view isn't as beautiful as yours. What a privilege! This land is fantastic! Well, time to do the homework. This is what I understand: -2 bd(bedrooms) grdflr (groundfloor)flat, sea views ( the sea can be watched from the window flat), new kitchen units (the kitchen has new furniture and household appliances) and bathrm (bathroom. GCH (gas central heating), DG (?), OIEO (?) £190,000 (Very expensive). No chain.(?) Keep up! I love your blog ;) Bye for now
Hello Jo :=) As for the estate agent code, I think that the first part of the code could be deciphered as: 'it's a groundfloor flat with two bedrooms and a bathroom, new kitchen units and sea view', but the next three abbreviationas are really indecipherable, at least for me. If you will know their meanings, I hope you will tell us what they are for. I'm sure it is only a ritten language to save space in adverts, the spoken language will be surely nice and clear so 'don't worry be happy'(it's words from a well known song). I like the word 'gobbledegook', it looks like a French combination or phrase of 'gobble' and 'gook': 'gobble de gook'; funny, isn't it? And one more word about the view from behind your house; pictures like that one stop me in my tracks, so, please, don't put any more of them because I'm getting envious and I don't want to be envious. Good luck.
Hi Jo, The blog today has a philosophic approach to life. Thank you. Best Regards
Hell Jo, nice to meet you here.This is my first time to be your blog. Very interesting and it is a great place to share our views and improve our English as well. thaks to Jo.
Hi Jo! I have tried to work the meaning of the words out and here are some of the anwers: 1. tricky = difficult 2. sky high = exorbitant 3. duty = task 4. struck = impress 5. everyday = ordinary 6. bird-feeder = the container for bird feed 7. pecking = picking 8. decipher = to interpret and I think GCH stands for General Central Heating, but I do not know what the other words and acronymouses stand for. I cannot wait to read your explanations. Cheers, Filippo
Hi Jo,You are right, if we can say "I am happy and good!" for ourselves evry monring before you begin to work, then you are real happy in future.this is a positive attitude! I always do it
Teacher, I think you don't unterstood my questions. I mean what is the particular meaning of the those auxiliary verbs and in which condition we can use them ("ought to", "bear to", "need to" etc and also I want to make sure those are auxiliary verbs or not? Teacher my English exam coming soon so I need to your help please. God may bless you. At last, teacher, mainly I'm in confuse about the informal auxilary verbs as above but not formal. ( is, am, are, has, have, was, were, will etc, calld formal auxiliary in my contry is it right? and any more else informal auxiliary verbs accept above? answer please as long as you can. I have visited the page which you pointed but there is not my correct answer. Thank you and will waiting your reply in details. best regards, kailarai.
Hello Jo. Say Hello to Raffles, Neil, Richard and Scratchy from me. You have great supporters in your family. Your language point for this entry made me read this blog of yours more than twice. Ha,ha,ha! Or is it He,he,he!? Or Hi,hi,hi!? Maybe it is Ho,ho,ho! What are the words which describe the sounds of laughter in English because you made me laugh whole-heartedly when you wrote that, after depressing us, you would cheer all of us commentators up by telling us about a dead man. The sounds of healthy, good laughter, when you laugh because someone has a good sense of humour, not the sounds of mean, evil kind of laughter when someone is mocking me or is making fun of me. Would you tell me, Please? I want to know how to use them if I am having a bad day at work and a worse one after having come back home. I would use them in no other purpose. I Promise.
Dear,Jo.yes, that's the life.thought the price of the house is sky high,many difficulties are standing in front of us, there is also sth simple ,just like a little child's smile face ,it can also make us happy.so let's hope for the best.
Hello there . Thank you so much for your useful tip in reading texts. Regarding to behind house view and lovely woodpeckers, that I feel hilarious life nature,seem to turn me into the partial environment. As I think that you may live in the big city to rush office in the all early morning . But that are all mistake !! Anyway closing to the nature is a good thing . Because it makes you feel relax and have load of energy to continue work in the next days. Next entry I hope you pose about your TV program. Please tell me more !!
i like your writing,it make me feel sweet.
Dear Jo, thanks for paraphrasing Kurt Vonnegut. It must be great to experience almost every day something he called as a moment when you think ‘that’s nice’. Quite often we think about happiness as an aim of our life while this is just a natural consequence of a value based life. If we are not pondering the past too much and look forward rather than back, and are not crazy about having all we want there is really a chance to see all these everyday, small things that make us feel low-key happiness. So the funny thing about happiness is that you can find it while not looking for ... Best,
I wonder what´s the difference, if any, between... " but it DOES BRING me on my..." and "but it BRINGS me on my..." Thanks
Hello JO, I am a new comer and my english is not that good.But would you mind if I join in and ask some questions or add comments? You said " Every day first thing in the morning and last thing at night, a woodpecker comes to visit." What does last thing at night mean? Does it mean before the beginning of the night (twighlight) or before the night's end( down)? thanks a lot.
hey! i was looking for some rented houses fo nxt yr. i'm moving out of my house for the first time and so was slightly confused by the language used. do you by any chance ahppen to know wht "GCH & all appliances" means and what do they mean really when they say "double glazed this and that"? thnakyou so much if you could help!
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