Dica de Leitura

Oi pessoal!  Hoje eu vim postar no Blog apenas para comentar sobre um dos meus livros preferidos. O nome da obra é "Wuthering Heights" (O morro dos ventos uivantes), da escritora Inglesa Emily Brontë. Ela é uma das mais famosas obras da Literatura Inglesa, e foi adaptada para o cinema diversas vezes.

Wuthering Heights conta a éstoria de um amor "impossível" entre uma jovem Inglesa de boa família chamada Catherine Earnshaw, e um rapaz pobre (cigano) chamado Heathcliff, que foi acolhido por seu Pai. Logo depois que o Pai de Catherine falece, Heathcliff começa a ser tratado como um "animal" pelos outros habitantes da casa. Os dois sempre foram apaixonados, mas a moça acaba se casando com outro homem pela segurança financeira que ele pode lhe oferecer. Cheio de ciúme Heathcliff vai embora e volta tempos depois Rico e com sede de vingança...

*Claro que não vou contar o resto da obra!  Vocês terão que ler para saber o final.  :)

The origin of the fast food

Many people believe that Fast food is not only synonymous with the American lifestyle, but also had its origins in the United States. To some degree, these beliefs are understandable when one considers the significant impact on traditional cultures that the American media has had, that the term “Fast food” did not appear in the popular vocabulary until 1954 , the success of McDonald’s since Ray Kroc took over management control in 1955, and that the top ten global fast-food brands are US-owned and generate sales of over US$75 billion collectively. 

However, much fast food is European in origin, with a considerable history. For example, John Stow’s 1598 survey of London mentions fast-food-like items, as does Henry Mayhew in his social history of London in the 1840s and 1850s. The hamburger derived from the Baltic provinces of Russia in the Middle Ages, where various tribes ate steak tar tare. These Tartars, or Tatars, introduced the delicacy to their German trading partners from the port of Hamburg. The Germans fried the meat and seasoned it with onions. When German immigrants arrived in the United States, they brought this steak dish with them. This said, there is also some evidence to suggest that the Romans ate a form of hamburger as long ago as about 500 bc, and the Romans are also on record as eating a type of pizza. The sandwich allegedly owes its existence to John Montagu, 4th Earl of Sandwich, who asked for such an item during a gambling session in the early 1770s. The debate concerning the origin of fish and chips, whether it derived from London or from Mossley in Lancashire, only serves to underline the European dimension.

Attributable to the United States is the standardized chain-owned fast-food concept, the subsequent innovations that improved the efficiency of these operations, and their growth through franchising from 1925. Frederick Harvey, an Englishman, is noted as the pioneer who, in 1876, created the uniformity in signs, décor and furnishings, and service staff attire that has become the hallmark of modern fast-food retailing. These features were also apparent in the development of the cafeteria in the 1890s, and later in the opening of Horn and Hardart’s first automat restaurant in 1902. Within the fast-food market, the origin of the standardized chain is attributed to the White Castle company, when Walter Anderson and Edgar Ingram opened their first store in 1921.

The McDonald brothers opened their redesigned restaurant in 1948, and several fast-food chains that exist today opened soon after. Burger King and Taco Bell got their start in the 1950s, and Wendy's opened in 1969. Some chains, like Carl's Jr., KFC and Jack in the Box, existed before the Speedee Service System, but modified their cooking techniques after its debut. McDonald's, which started it all, is now the world's largest fast-food chain.

According to the National Restaurant Association, American sales of fast food totaled $163.5 billion in 2005 . The industry is growing globally as well. Total sales for McDonald's grew 5.6 percent in 2005, and the company now has 30,000 franchised stores in more than 120 countries and .

However, McDonald's - and fast food in general - does not always get a welcoming reception around the world. McDonald's restaurants have been attacked in several countries, including the United States, China, Belgium, Holland, India, Russia, Sweden and the U.K. Protestors have accused McDonald's and other chains of selling unhealthy  food, marketing aggressively to children and undermining local values and culture.

Australian "kiss"

What's an Australian kiss?
The same thing as a French kiss, except down under.

*It can also be called "Aussie kiss".

"The Origin Of The Phrasal Verb"

Samuel Johnson was a distinguished 18th century English author who, in 1755, published the Dictionary of the English Language. In the preface he wrote:

“There is another kind of composition more frequent in our language than perhaps in any other, from which arises to foreigners the greatest difficulty. We modify the signification of many words by a particle subjoined…”

Dr. Johnson was one of the first lexicographers to pay close attention to what is referred to in Modern English as the phrasal verb; and he couldn’t have been any more accurate in stressing just how frequently we use them, and how dumbfounded foreigners are by them.

Apparently phrasal verbs have been present in the English language for centuries. Their ancestors can be found in Old English (mid 5th century to mid 12th) in the form of a prefix verb, meaning the particle always came attached to the verb as a prefix. Post verbal particles did exist; however they were relegated to stressing only direction, place, or physical orientation, as in “to grow up(ward)” (direction) or “to stand by” (place).

Many shifts and influences occurred in the English language which gave rise to the use of the phrasal verb during its Middle English phase. By late Middle English there were a myriad of phrasal verbs in different forms, from “understand” and “overtake” (remnants of Old English) to “take up” and “write-off”.

By early Modern English (late 15th century to mid 17th) phrasal verbs had exploded onto the scene. This is evident in the works of Shakespeare who employed them widely throughout his plays. In fact they were used quite extensively in dramatic texts from this time due to their varying shades of meaning and capacity to form new idioms. Their Latin or Old English based single-word verb roots were delegated to essays and academic writing, i.e. more formal works; a rule of thumb that exists until today.

To give you an example, the phrasal verb “to break up” is synonymous with the Latin based verb “to destroy”. Whereas “to destroy” is somewhat limited to its literal meaning, which is to ruin or demolish something completely, “to break up” has various shades of meaning, from taking something apart to ending a relationship.

Over the last four hundred years phrasal verbs have truly fixed themselves in colloquial English. However have no fear, English hasn’t abandoned its perfectly good single-word verbs…they’re just not as fun to use!

;)

"April Fool's Day" or "All Fool's Day"

April Fools' Day, sometimes called All Fools' Day, is one of the most light-hearted days of the year. Its origins are uncertain. Some see it as a celebration related to the turn of the seasons, while others believe it stems from the adoption of a new calendar.

Unlike most of the other nonfoolish holidays, the history of April Fool's Day, sometimes called All Fool's Day, is not totally clear. It is not like Halloween, where despite an interesting history, most people just put on Halloween costumes, get candy, and leave it at that. There really wasn't a "first April Fool's Day" that can be pinpointed on the calendar. Some believe it sort of evolved simultaneously in several cultures at the same time, from celebrations involving the first day of spring.

The closest point in time that can be identified as the beginning of this tradition was in 1582, in France. Prior to that year, the new year was celebrated for eight days, beginning on March 25. The celebration culminated on April 1. With the reform of the calendar under Charles IX, the Gregorian Calendar was introduced, and New Year's Day was moved to January 1.

However, communications being what they were in the days when news traveled by foot, many people did not receive the news for several years. Others, the more obstinate crowd, refused to accept the new calendar and continued to celebrate the new year on April 1. These backward folk were labeled as "fools" by the general populace. They were subject to some ridicule, and were often sent on "fools errands" or were made the butt of other practical jokes.

This harassment evolved, over time, into a tradition of prank-playing on the first day of April. The tradition eventually spread to England and Scotland in the eighteenth century. It was later introduced to the American colonies of both the English and French. April Fool's Day thus developed into an international fun fest, so to speak, with different nationalities specializing in their own brand of humor at the expense of their friends and families.