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FUN with WORDS: Homophones

24 Saturday Aug 2013

Posted by blogsense-by-barb in Articles, Attitudes, blogsense, Creativity, education, Fun, humor, Interests, Lifestyle, Musings, writing

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English, fun, homophones, language, word games, words

homophones

FUN with WORDS: Homophones

An old joke tells of someone asking the assistant at a paper shop: ‘Do you keep stationery?’ and she replies: ‘No, I wriggle about a bit.’ She clearly thought he meant the word that is spelt ‘stationary’. There are many pairs of words like this, which sound the same but are spelt differently. They are called homophones or sometimes homonyms.

Identify the pairs of homophones from the following clues.

Example: One word means a place for keeping aircraft; the other word means a shaped piece of wood, metal, etc. on which you can hang clothes.
Answer: Hangar/hanger.

1. One word means simple; the other means an aircraft.

2. One word means expected; the other word means condensed vapour (vapor).

3. One word is nautical; the other is central to the body.

4. One word means connections; the other is an animal.

CONTINUE HERE

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Which Pledge Works?

16 Tuesday Jul 2013

Posted by blogsense-by-barb in America, American History, blogsense, censorship/political correctness, Character, Civility, Community interest, Courage, Current Events, Faith, Family values, FREEDOM, Lifestyle, Military Veterans, National Security, Opinion, Random, TRUTH, US Constritution

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adaptation, America, Arabic, citizens, English, history, Socialism, The Pledge of Allegiance, WE THE PEOPLE

kids-saying-pledge

The Pledge of Allegiance

I read an article today about the children in a high school in Colorado reciting the Pledge in Arabic, and replacing “under God” with under Allah. It reminded me of the history of the Pledge, so I thought I’d remind us all.

    “The Pledge of Allegiance was written in August 1892 by the socialist minister Francis Bellamy (1855-1931). It was originally published in The Youth’s Companion on September 8, 1892. Bellamy had hoped that the pledge would be used by citizens in any country.

    In its original form it read:

    “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

    In 1923, the words, “the Flag of the United States of America” were added. At this time it read:

    “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America and to the Republic for which it stands, one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

    In 1954, in response to the Communist threat of the times, President Eisenhower encouraged Congress to add the words “under God,” creating the 31-word pledge we say today. Bellamy’s daughter objected to this alteration. Today it reads:

    “I pledge allegiance to the flag of the United States of America, and to the republic for which it stands, one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”

    Section 4 of the Flag Code states:

    The Pledge of Allegiance to the Flag: “I pledge allegiance to the Flag of the United States of America, and to the Republic for which it stands, one Nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all.”, should be rendered by standing at attention facing the flag with the right hand over the heart. When not in uniform men should remove any non-religious headdress with their right hand and hold it at the left shoulder, the hand being over the heart. Persons in uniform should remain silent, face the flag, and render the military salute.”

    The original Bellamy salute, first described in 1892 by Francis Bellamy, who authored the original Pledge, began with a military salute, and after reciting the words “to the flag,” the arm was extended toward the flag.

      At a signal from the Principal the pupils, in ordered ranks, hands to the side, face the Flag. Another signal is given; every pupil gives the flag the military salute — right hand lifted, palm downward, to a line with the forehead and close to it. Standing thus, all repeat together, slowly, “I pledge allegiance to my Flag and the Republic for which it stands; one Nation indivisible, with Liberty and Justice for all.” At the words, “to my Flag,” the right hand is extended gracefully, palm upward, toward the Flag, and remains in this gesture till the end of the affirmation; whereupon all hands immediately drop to the side. The Youth’s Companion, 1892


    Shortly thereafter, the pledge was begun with the right hand over the heart, and after reciting “to the Flag,” the arm was extended toward the Flag, palm-down.

    In World War II, the salute too much resembled the Nazi salute, so it was changed to keep the right hand over the heart throughout.”

The original pledge was designed as a Socialist tool, but it was also made to be adaptable to any nation. It may well be that we, as Americans, will have to lay claim to the version, the adaptation of the Pledge we want. As for me and my house, we will cling to our God and our guns and the Pledge of Allegiance to the United States of America under God. As a Vet, my oath never expired, so that, too, continues to be my oath! It is up to us, the People of this nation to DEFINE the nation we want.

Related reading:

  • What’s Conservative about the Pledge of Allegiance?
  • Resolution Revolution: Making a Better America by Being a Better Me
  • Is America a Democracy or a Republic?

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Life is an Adventure, for Sure!

21 Saturday May 2011

Posted by blogsense-by-barb in blogsense, education, life, thoughts

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Tags

"life lessons", decision, English, fun, life, tales

Life certainly has a way of sneaking up on you when you’re looking the other way. Ever notice? I’ve made some good decisions, but I’m the first to admit, I’ve also made some humdingers! I can only laugh at my thought process in some of these.

For example, there I was having the time of my life in college, cruising the North Shore of Boston in my ’68 GTO, thinking about what major to declare. It was the end of my sophomore year at Gordon College (Wenham, MA), and I had a week to make my decision. It wasn’t as obvious as one might think. I took the list of classes being offered for Spring term and checked all the classes that sounded remotely interesting to me. Hah! That week, I declared my English Literature major! But … to teach? Heck no!

"Old Hag" English Teacher


All I pictured when I thought of English teachers was the old hag with a tightly twisted bun somewhere near the top of her head. Ugh! That was the last thing I wanted to be. I declared myself … a WRITER! Wish I could say I lived happily ever after on that note, but …

After many twists and turns, I did take a turn as an English teacher. It was intimidating at first, but I quickly fell in love with the kids and vowed never to make them read something without some present-day truth to it to apply to their own lives. For 10 years I taught British lit, American lit, grammar, composition, the novel, drama, and strangely, sign language in a small, private school. A terrific gig, for sure!

Then life moved on … and I followed!

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What the Heck is Passive Voice, Anyway???

28 Thursday Apr 2011

Posted by blogsense-by-barb in blogsense, Creativity, inspirational, thoughts

≈ 5 Comments

Tags

"life lessons", English, grammar, passive voice, style, writing

Once again, I clicked the “Publish” button only to discover more underlined phrases indicated as PASSIVE VOICE. What the heck! It’s VERY annoying!

What is PASSIVE VOICE? It’s a hard thing to define because there is no ALWAYS. Many times, the use of “have” or “be” indicates a passive voice, but not always. It comes down to who or what is going on in the sentence … and by whom or what!

Consider the following examples:

    The ball was caught by the dog.

What, if anything, is the action? If there is action, what is at the beginning of the sentence? Is it the person or thing performing the action? In the sentence above, yes, there is action: a ball is being caught. At the beginning of the sentence, is the OBJECT of the action, rather than the performer of the action. The sentence also contains a form of the verb “to be” (was) and a past participle (caught). Therefore, this sentence is PASSIVE VOICE.

Try this one: The peony has been crushed by the rowdy dogs next to the tree.

    Action: yes
    Beginning, performer of action or recipient of action? Recipient (The dogs were not crushed, the peony was crushed.)
    “To be” verb: has been
    Past participle: crushed

One more: The rowdy dogs crushed the peony next to the tree.

    Action: yes
    Beginning, performer of action or recipient of action? Ah, performer of the action!
    “To be” verb: none
    Past participle: crushed
    Because the action is performed by the subject, and there is no use of “to be” verb, this is ACTIVE VOICE sentence.

Get it?

Try this one:

    When her room was ransacked, Samantha had to think of ways to avoid the subject with her boyfriend.

Action: yes
At the Beginning: recipient of action
“To be” verb: was
Past participle: ransacked

We can correct passive voice by simply re-ordering the words. This will change the voice from passive to active and clarify the meaning of the sentence.

    When the thief violated her room, Samantha had to think of ways to avoid the subject with her boyfriend.

PASSIVE VOICE is a common issue. It does not necessarily constitute a grammatical error, but rather, a stylistic problem.

    PASSIVE: The peony has been crushed by the rowdy dogs next to the tree.
    ACTIVE: The rowdy dogs crushed the peony next to the tree.

Notice the active voice sentence has more clarity. The meaning is easier to determine. English professors and writing instructors often require the complete elimination of passive voice from academic writing. I just want the proofreader to pass me through without underline!

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