2010年7月29日 星期四

legal wrangling/ 'bag

Global brewer's bid to bag Budweiser trademark rejected, again

Global brewing giant Anheuser-Busch has been told that it cannot register
the name Budweiser as an EU trademark. The decision, in favour of a Czech
brewery, is the culmination of more than a decade's legal wrangling.

The DW-WORLD.DE Article
http://newsletter.dw-world.de/re?l=ew5mi5I44va89pI5

It ain't over till the fat lady sings

It ain't over till the fat lady sings

Meaning

Nothing is irreversible until the final act is played out.

快樂是要蓋棺才能論定

Dan Cook made a closer stab with "the opera ain't over till the fat lady sings", in a televised basketball commentary in 1978. Cook was preceded however by US sports presenter Ralph Carpenter, in a broadcast, reported in The Dallas Morning News, March 1976:

Bill Morgan (Southwest Conference Information Director): "Hey, Ralph, this... is going to be a tight one after all."
Ralph Carpenter (Texas Tech Sports Information Director): Right. The opera ain’t over until the fat lady sings."

2010年7月28日 星期三

"Self-Boarding" System

Continental Testing "Self-Boarding" System
The practice has been growing in airports around the world and is being tested for the first time in the United States in Houston after security officials determined it wouldn't affect safety.

2010年7月27日 星期二

the tempo and the feeling

Google changes tempo of music approach
CNET
by Greg Sandoval LOS ANGELES--Here at the epicenter of the entertainment sector, two news reports about Google's digital music plans have the music sector ...


tempo
n., pl., -pos, or -pi (-pē).
  1. Music. The speed at which music is or ought to be played, often indicated on written compositions by a descriptive or metronomic direction to the performer.
  2. A characteristic rate or rhythm of activity; a pace: "the tempo and the feeling of modern life" (Robert L. Heilbroner).

[Italian, from Latin tempus, time.]

2010年7月26日 星期一

workplace bullying,abusive bos

New Laws Target Workplace Bullying

By Adam Cohen

There are some very important things they don't tell you on career day. Chief among them is that there is a good chance that at some point during your working adult life you will have an abusive boss

2010年7月24日 星期六

withal,compressed the schedule for finding his successor



Couric's Future Clouded by CNN

By BRIAN STELTER
An unexpected slide in Larry King's ratings compressed the schedule for finding his successor

withal (with-OL)

adverb
1. In addition.
2. Nevertheless.
preposition:
With (used postpositively).

((古))[副]
1 そのうえ, 同様にまた, 同時に
The lady is fair and wise and rich withal.
その婦人は美人でそう明でなおかつ金持ちだ.
3therewith.
━━[前]((文のあとに置いて))…で(with).
Etymology
From the joining of the phrase "with al" (with all)

Usage
"I have worked at, and occasionally been in charge of, a few of the country's largest papers -- Newsday, the New York Post, and The New York Times come to mind -- and at a handful of lesser lights or so bright withal." — John Van Doorn; Laid Off After 58 Years in Newspapers; Editor & Publisher (New York); Nov 18, 2008.

2010年7月22日 星期四

disgenic, eugenic

The adjective disgenic has one meaning:

Meaning #1: pertaining to or causing degeneration in the offspring produced
Synonym: cacogenic
Antonym: eugenic (meaning #1)
Pertains to noun: dysgenics (meaning #1)

2010年7月19日 星期一

come to a head

bring to a head
Cause to reach a turning point or crisis. For example, Management's newest policy has brought matters to a head.
The related phrase come to a head means "to reach a crisis," as in With the last break-in, the question of security came to a head. These phrases allude to the medical sense of head, the tip of an abscess that is about to burst. [Mid-1500s]

2010年7月16日 星期五

Grillwalker, bratwurst grilling

European Business Week | 16.07.2010 | 16:30

Grillwalkers give the term "to go" new meaning

Vending cart permits are not available in Berlin anymore, and those that exist are handed down from generation to generation or sold for large sums of money. One entrepreneur who wanted to set up a bratwurst grilling business found a way to get around the lack of a vending cart permit. He invented the portable grill and thus was born the "grillwalker."

Report by: Gerhard Schneibel




brat·wurst (brăt'wûrst', -vʊrst') pronunciation
n.
A small sausage of highly seasoned fresh pork, usually served fried.

[German, from Middle High German brātwurst, from Old High German : brāto, meat + wurst, sausage; see wurst.]

2010年7月15日 星期四

Give me a break! come about/come to pass


come about
1. Also, come to pass. Happen, take place, as in How did this quarrel come about? or When did this new development come to pass? Shakespeare used the first term, first recorded in 1315, in Hamlet (5:2): "How these things came about." The variant, dating from the late 1400s, appears often in the Bible, as in, "And it came to pass ... that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus" (Luke 2:1).
2. Also, go about. In sailing, to change tack (direction), as in It's important to duck under the boom when we come about[Mid-1500s]



True corporate responsibility, sustainability and that treasured “licence to operate” come, above all, from identifying the fundamental dangers to the business and ensuring they don't come to pass.
真正的企业责任、可持续性和那宝贵的“营业执照”,首先来自于认清企业面临的根本危 险,并确保它们不会发生。



  • Give me a break!, Give me a break 是非常口語的說法.在不同的場合有不同的解釋. Give me a break 可以解釋為 “你得了吧!”,或者是 “你算了吧!”,我 們來舉一個例子.下面是一個人在跟他的朋友爭論:
  • You really think Jennifer is the prettiest girl in our class? Give me a break! There are several girls in our class who are better looking then she is. To my mind, Lisa is tops. She not only has looks; she also has brains.
  • 這個人說:“你真的認為珍尼弗是我們班上最漂亮的女生?你算了吧!我們班上有好幾個女生都比她好看.在我的心目中, 莉莎比誰都強.她不僅漂亮,而且腦子還很聰敏。”
  • 在這句話裡,give me a break 是表示不同意別人的意見。
  • 下面我們再來給大家舉一個例子.在這個例句裡, give me a break 的意思又不同了,這是一個哥哥在對他的小弟弟講話:
  • Look, kid, I'm working on a term paper that's due tomorrow. I promise to play the video game with you after dinner, OK? Come on, give me a break so I can finish this!
  • 這個哥哥說:“喂,小鬼,我正在寫一份明天要交的學術報告.我保證吃完晚飯後就跟你一起玩電子游戲,行不行?得啦, 你別煩我啦!讓我把報告寫完吧。”
  • give me a break 讓我休息一下, 得了吧!

    2010年7月13日 星期二

    make passes at/ take a pass at

    Hugh Hefner Makes a Pass at Playboy
    The 84-year-old wants to take the company he founded private, but could face a competing bid from arch-rival Penthouse.



    1. Flirt or make advances to someone, especially of a sexual nature, as in "Men seldom make passes at girls who wear glasses" (Dorothy Parker, Not So Deep As A Well, 1936). [1920s]
    2. Also, take a pass at. Make an attempt, as in I've made a pass at opening it but had no luck, or Jake, will you take a pass at changing the oil? This usage employs pass in the sense of a "jab" or "poke." [Colloquial; 1900s] Also see make a stab at.

    2010年7月10日 星期六

    cross-licensing agreement

    a patent cross-licensing agreement with Denso Corp. ...

    Microsoft in cross-patent deal with Japan's Denso
    MarketWatch
    (PINK:DNZOF) , a Japanese developer of advanced automotive technology. The deal will give Denso access to Microsoft patents for the company's current and ...
    See all stories on this topic »


    A cross-licensing agreement is a contract between two or more parties where each party grants rights to their intellectual property to the other parties.