Break a Leg
How can breaking a leg be a good thing?
I thought I knew the answer, until my evil twin stepped in… 
Or am I the evil twin 
Also.. go ahead and register for this site if you haven’t already
and that will make you eligible for the report cards 
Posted on February 21, 2008 · Filed Under Lessons
you both are evil
love it
You realy speak a good German
, wasn´t bad, I could not do better 
.
Hals und Beinbruch we say when we wish someone/ourselves good luck on something, usually.
There also exist other similar expressions, e.g. he pulls out his leg (when he/she does something really motivated and concentrated)….. There are some others to go.
This past weekend i was in a musical theater production. i got to explain to the director the meaning behind the phrase “break a leg,” and he was very interested and surprised. he went on to explain it to the whole cast! all thanks to you!
Hello Marina. I had heard that the phrase, ‘Break a Leg…” had developed from the success of one’s performance in that when a crowd was not pleased it threw tomatoes, but when they really loved it, they gave you flowers. In response the performer would bend down to accept the roses, hence the phrase ‘break’ (to bend one’s leg) a leg…
I this not accurate? Source material’s origins can be distorted and/or obfuscated depending on the source and their subjective interpretation…http://www.hotforwords.com/wp-inclu des/images/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif
Just curious.
Best Wishes Always
D a v i d : )
I want that sense of boobs
As you probably know, it’s curently Lent, which ends on Easter Sunday. Traditionally, (and for a reason unknown to me) we celebrate a giant rabbit that hides eggs and goodies for little children. I was wondering if you could find the origin of the Easter Bunny in honor of the upcoming holiday. Also, could you find the link that ties this massive egg hiding rabbit to the resurection of Jesus Christ? I’m really curious to find out where we got this odd tradition.
Your newly devoted fan,
Chrisby280
Marina;
Your “Zwillingsschwester” in white is right. The origin of the expression derives through Yiddish / German : “Hals und Beinbruch”
{hallz oont bine-BROOKh] i.e Break your neck and leg.
Wishing a performer “Good luck!” is bad luck.
I marina!
I have a word or two to investigate. Luna,lunatic,moonstruck. You get the idea, Thank!
Carpenderant.
my GOD you are good. Come to NZ and marry me
Spitting Image? That’s disgusting.
When someone looks similar to another person why do we say they are the spitting image of them? Or better still where does the synonymous expression “Dead Ringer” come from? These don’t seem to complimentary to me. I mean - if someone looks like me I would hope that you wouldn’t have to use words like “spitting” and “dead” to describe them.
Marina, this is my first comment. I am a long time subscriber through iTunes, but I am now subscribed to your channel. This is a fantastic show. Do you have a paypal # to make donations? I want to make sure you have funding for you next adorable outfit.
Here’s my word request:
TURKEY
Which came first, the turkey or the Turkey? Why is the bird called “turkey”? is it named after the country? What do Turks call a turkey? A Turkish friend said they call it “hindi”. Isn’t that an Indian allusion?
This might be a useful suggestion to pick up next Thanksgiving or Christmas.
I adore your show.
hello there! I’m in a wheelchair. i was wounding where the word ” disability” came from. i would really like to know, thank you!
Hows about an older, simple word? “kine”. Of interest to me because it is the only word in the English language that shares no common letters with its singular form (kine is plural). Or is it? I would love to know if there are any more…
Hi there
Hey Marina,
I was in class today and we read an article that said “he would foot the bill” and I was curious as to where the term comes from. So, I thought of you. I was wondering where the term “foot” comes from when used in this fashion.
Thanks,
Matt
Hello Marina
I d like to know where the expression sleep tight comes from.I was once told that some centuries ago spring mattresses where made of ropes and people had to pull these ropes before going to sleep to make sure their mattresses were firm enough….
Is that true?if so could you please give us a proper explanation?
Thank you
Iván
Hello Marina
I d like to know where the expression sleep tight comes from.I was once told that some centuries ago spring mattresses where made of ropes abnd people had to pull these ropes before going to sleep to make sure their matresses were firm enough….
Is that true?if so could you please give us a proper explanation?
Thank you
Iván
p.s. sorry for the first “the” it aint supposed to be there.
Hi!! Marina! id like tu request a word, no offense to anybody i just wanna know the where it comes from, the word “gringo”.
Hey teacher, im Abedoer my word request is: catharsis.
This rather amusingly phrased word is used often by those who know not its source, and is stereotypically associated with sea pirates, which may have something to do with its origin. The word is ‘Scallywag,’ and though it is not a commonly accepted ‘real’ word, I still wish to know its origin.
P.S. All words are artificial, so which are real?
P.P.S. By that matter, what is the source of the word stereotype? I think it has been around longer than the stereo, so what is the origin of that term and/or prefix as well?
Marina,
I’m amazed.
I had been told that it came from the curse of Macbeth, a legend in the theatre about breaking legs during the play! “Break a leg”, of course reverse psychology, intended to stop any jinxed shows of Macbeth. Learn about the connection with Macbeth: http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmacbeth.html
They also agree about some of its original etymological origins. (See the break-a-leg link on the above page.)
Hi Teacher! On youtube I am MileyFan0218! And I love this site and our lessons! See ya!
Great video, as usual!
A few word/phrase requests:
Counterfeit - I’ve looked it up and apparently it used to mean “legitimate copy”
Guess - Originally meant “to take aim”
“I could care less” - Technically, this should be “I couldn’t care less”
Why do some people say “I could care less”?
There’s a few others, but I can’t be bothered to look them up now.
My username is Sims2Addict01 on YouTube
Good morning. A test for teacher…. Lullaby
Thanks,
Socialis
Another expression for you Marina - to ’shake a stick at’, as in, for example, “there are more people here than you can shake a stick at”.
thanks
I’m a bit of a frustrated musician. How did the banjo, get its name? Keep on educating!
Well, Latin in origin… my Oxford Latin Dictionary defines it as, “guilty mind”.
I have a word for you, this will be a challenge. The word is “mens rea”.
I will give this hint, its a legal term. But I would like to know where it came from and if it’s still used.
Good luck
William
Last night we saw George Clinton, creator of the P-Funk, in concert. I bring this up because of the peculiar vocabulary which has developed in relationship to his music. Such as funkadelica, electric spank, and my favorite maggot brain. You can view the word list and definitions here, http://www.georgeclinton.com/ enter, click on funkateers and then funkcyclopedia. To see a documentary on the P-Funk visit http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-7yyT7K-5jg As a music addict I realized that there are many genres of music or particular artists that have their own vocabulary and was interested if anyone could list a genre/artist and then give a few examples of the associated jargon.
Hi,
What is the origin of “jigsaw puzzle”?
Thank You
Chunkylover1138
Just a guess, but cutting out the pieces requires the use of a tool called a jigsaw. A type of saw used to cut tight corners or curves.
A word request:
“Scapegoat”
It sounds to me like a wierd marriage of the words “escape” and “goat”.
Marina or anyone,
There are a lot of requests for phrases. From my educational background phrase origins belong to the field of Cultural Anthropology or Folklore. Are phrase origins included in the field of Philology? Although constructed of words they seem to represent a different level of analysis to me. Although they would require many of the same research methods and theory. I was also thinking that if a word is included in a phrase that is a part of a folk tradition then it is less likely that the word will change in meaning over time. Since folklore or folk wisdom tends to be conservative in character. The phrase and thus the meaning is maintained over time. As well as the meaning of each word. Such as the phrase, “A rolling stone gathers no moss.” Preserves the meaning of the word, “stone” as a grinding stone long after this practice has been popularly abandoned. But the meaning of the phrase has been preserved due to its moral relevance to the culture. Is my reasoning correct?
buzzword,
not sure what you’re trying to get at but I’ll give it a shot.
from a syntactical point of view, words — as well as sentences — are phrases, too. the orthographical definition of “word” is: a word is something between two spaces. this definition is somewhat naive.
consider compounds. a compounds is a word that consists of more than one word. in german, compunds are written in one word.
example: “treibhauseffekt” consists of “treib-”, “haus”, and “effekt”. those three words can stand alone (free morphemes). when put together, those three words make a new word that has another meaning. this is a morphological process called composition, as opposed to another morphological process called derivation.
now, “treibhauseffekt” means “green house effect”. this is one word. it’s a compound.
usually, the meaning of a phrase that consists of more than one word is made of the meanings of the words that belong to that phrase.
the meaning of “mary’s house is green” is easily understood by everyone that knows the meanings of the words in that phrase.
consider spoken language. “mary has a green house”. what “green house” means in that phrase depends on the stress: “mary has a GREEN house” vs. “mary has a green HOUSE”.
idioms (I guess this is what you’re talking about) are somewhat like compounds. the meaning of an idiom is not made of the meanings of the words in that idiomatic phrase. so, actually, you can think of an idiom as a word. everyone has a mental lexicon.
in your head, you have lexicon entries for “(to) pull”, “my”, and “leg”. consider someone who’s learning english. he might have those lexicon entries, too. he knows what “leg” means (body part), what “my” means and so forth. he will be able to generate phrases with the words that have an entry in his mental lexicon. “pulling my leg” is an idiom, though. he will not be able to deduct the meaning of that idiomatic phrase from its elements or structure respectively. you, as a native speaker, know what it means. the other one has to learn that idiom and thus create a new lexicon entry. so it’s like a new word. every phrase (words, compounds, idioms, etc.) has a history. if it has a history, there must be an origin. since words are phrases, philology and etymology deal with phrases. since words are phrases with a certain meaning, and since an idiom is something like a word (new lexicon entry), idioms have to be included in the field of philology.
is my reasoning correct?
alright, I didn’t proofread …
It’s my understanding that “philology” is more “broad” than “etymology”. Etymology involves the study of words And phrases, while philology involves the study of the evolution of languages and communication.
So to try and answer your question, I would guess that, philology also includes the study of phrases and that cultural anthropology and folklore can be used to help understand their evolution. But the study of phrases is not limited to cultural anthropology and/or folklore.
Hey, I’m wondering if you can do the word “Flick”. Such as “seeing a flick”, like a movie.
Thanks,
Joe
Ahhh, life in the digital age. Remember when seeing a film meant it was on film and our pulses would beat with the flickering of lights and shadow.
Marina, I have a word for you. I am reading a Tom Robbins novel, and he has mentioned that the words Ravel and Unravel have the same meaning. I looked it up and it appears to be true. Maybe you could investigate the words ravel and unravel etymologically.
Hello Marina, could you please explain what a “sophist” is? I think you are very smart, funny, and beautiful. I love your lessons.
Thank you
Well if this is not a “rhetorical” question and you really want to know the answer, you could PM my YouTube account. (you can link their from my name in this post)
I know the answer, but wouldn’t want to spoil any future lesson that Marina might have planned for the word.
And - you probably would rather here it from her anyway!
Hello Marina, could you please explain what a “sophist” is? I think you a very smart, funny, and beautiful. I love your lessons.
Thank you
are very smart
Why is the flavor of some mints called “Peppermint” or “Spearmint”? The taste isn’t peppery…? And what does a spear taste like?!
What does a Spears taste like? I don’t know… ask Kevin Federline, maybe he knows.
I just came back from Thailand where they use the word Farang to describe a foreigner. I read somehwere that in fact the word Foreign is derived from the Thai word. When did this happen. How could this be as Foreign seems such a very important English word? Is it more complex than this as some Asian and European languages are related to old commion asian languages like Sanscipt? If this is the case what other words have their commons orgin very old asian languages.
Actually, the Thai word “Farang” is used to describe Westerners (caucasians) and is not used to describe other foreign nationalities such as Chinese, Indians, Japanese or Malays.
The explanation always given by the Thais themselves is that Farang is a shortened Thai transliteration of “Francais”, pronounced Fa-rang-set, and is applied to caucasians because the first ones the Thais encountered were the French colonists from Indo-china - Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam.
The claim that the English word “foreign” comes from the Thai word is probably as fanciful as the claim that the name of the English town Canterbury came from a group of itinerant Buddhist monks who allegedly founded a monastery there and named it after the Thai province of Chantaburi.
Many English words have found their way into other languages, even French, because of new concepts and new science developed in the west and then introduced to countries where no word exists to describe the innovation, but it is perhaps more difficult to think of words which have come the other way and I would like to see Marina talking about a few such examples; names of food dishes don’t count.
Hi!
Marina I’d like to know why the word “Light” as in sunlight, is also used to describe some thing with less weight?
that’s just an ambiguous or homonymic word. those are words with the same spelling and pronunciation but different meanings. there’s lots of them. consider “bank”.
Hey Marina! It is MileyFan0218 on youtube
Hiya again, someone just said to me that something was “all the rage”; that’s another funny expression! Any idea of why we say that for something popular?
Ecogambler
If you have an “evil” twin maybe we should approach Her “with Kid gloves.” Ever hear that expression? I think it has something to do with life on the farm. Maybe we could get you to milk a goat or something. Seriously Your Intellect supercedes your Beauty and that ,in itself , is a very hard act to follow. By the way I’m sitting at a standard issue school desk with a straight wooden backed chair with my thinking cap on (and not much else-Hey I’m a guy!) larsonel
Marina,
Thanks for all of the wonderful lessons so far.
I’d like to request a word, er, phrase actually. Where does Charley Horse come from. It’s a really bad cramp in your leg, but I don’t know anyone named Charley, and it doesn’t have anything to do with a Horse…
Thanks again for everything!
Vody
Hi Marina, I know my trusty teacher will be able to tell me the origin of the expression “on cloud nine”.
Keep up the good work!
Ecogambler
Hi Marina! First time commenter here, but you did use my brother’s word one time (”blackmail,”) so maybe you’ll consider the phrase I was wondering about, when someone says a child is “the spitting image” of their parent or someone else.
Padre45
I want to ask a word
word= “ChipmunkProduction”
Hi Marina ,
Recently joined your ever growing fan club & felt you can help explain to me …. when to use word ‘Advise’ & when to use ‘Advice’ …I see most Americans using ‘Advice’ in their daily correspondence when I feel they should be using ‘Advise’ but before I try to correct them, maybe I need to be updated myself if in American English both words mean the same …as I feel ‘advice’ is more used in financial transactions like Bank advice,TT advice …..please can you investigate & advise (or advice ) what is correct English usage here…
Thanks,
Vineet
Can you do the word “firmament” Thanks
I don’t know if they are any other definitions but im talking about the firmament in the sky. Can you actually explain what it is also.
I always thought the phrase break a leg was used because it’s bad luck for an actor to wish another actor good luck. Rather than make a snide comment if your wanting to take the lead actors part or unwittingly say good luck, when it has the reverse effect, actors would say break a leg.
Occult, could you do the word occult please
Gratz,
Mike
Can you please tell me the origin of Oxymoron ?
I think it is an oxymoron to ask Marina to explain the origins of words she has already covered.
Luckily, our trusty teacher was a few steps ahead of you, as she covered oxymoron previously, and you can learn the video lesson about the origin of Oxymoron by going to the Complete Word List which is found via the ‘Lessons’ link at the top of this page. Enjoy!
Another great lesson thanks Marina
Tatiana?
Is that Marina’s evil twin?
Dear Tatiana:
You are in my opinion the number one hot internet maven! I would request that you do a series investigating sexuality and its many variants. I do not suggest a sophmoric or scatological rant but instead a learned study of the more commonly used vulgaraties.
One of my favorite words is callipygeous, which adjective aptly describes you mylady.
Best Regards and Keep Up the Great Work!
Brad
O.k., here we fucking go….
“Fuck: falls into many grammatical categories, making it one of the most versatile English words. It can be used as a verb, both transitive (John fucked Jane) and intransitive (John and Jane fucked). It can be an active verb (John fucked Jane) or a passive verb (Jane was fucked by John). Or an adverb (Jane is a fucking bitch) and a noun (Jane is a terrific fuck). It can be used as an adjective (Jane is fucking beautiful), and an interjection (John yelled, “Fuck!”), or obviously, an expletive (Jane said, “Fuck you, you Fuck!”). It has the gerund form (John gave Jane a good fucking).
It’s not just a sexual word either. It can be used as a greeting and term of endearment among (male) friends, “How the fuck are you, John, you fucker!” It can be a verb denoting getting ripped off, as when used by Joe Pesci in one of the Lethal Weapon movies, “They fuck you at the drive through!”
It is an expression of many emotions, “Oh, fuck it…” (dismay or maybe just giving up). Aggression, of course, “Fuck you!!!!” Disgust at a given situation: “Fuuuck me….” Confusion or disbelief by saying, “What the fuck??” Or, even the same usage for consternation or rebuke of someone else’s behavior, “What the fuck, man?”
As a congratulation, “Fucking A!”
As a term of joy and elation, “Fuck yeah!”
Incompetence, “Fucked up.”
Failure, “You fucked up.”
Something is broken: “that’s fucked up.”
Inebriation: “You’re fucked up.”
Mental instability: “You’re fucked up.”
Victory, “In your fucking face!”
Resignation, “Fuck it.”
Scorn, “Fuck that!”
Ridicule, “Fuck you.”
Complete surrender: “fuck it all…”
Something bad has happened, “I got fucked.”
Had sex: “I got fucked.”
Question authority: “Who the fuck do you think you are?”
Response to something bad something said to you, “Fuck you very much.”
Liturgical profanity: “Holy fuck!”
Sorry, Marina…. I couldn’t resist….
Listen to my latest post.. a radio show I did this morning.. not for the faint hearted
Great fucking list, I’ve copied it and have shared it. Now its making the rounds. I am correctly citing you as the author of course.
No worries, buzzword. I found some of it online from different websites, and added my own material too. It’s in the public domain - no need to credit.
A fucking difficult word to fucking trace, in part because it was too fucking taboo to the fucking editors of the original fucking OED when the “F” volume was compiled, 1893-97. Isn’t that fucked up? Written fucking form only attested from early 16c. OED 2nd edition fucking cites 1503, in the form fukkit; earliest fucking appearance of current fucking spelling is 1535 — “Bischops … may fuck thair fill and be vnmaryit” [Sir David Lyndesay, "Ane Satyre of the Thrie Estaits"], but presumably it is a much more fucking ancient word than that, simply one that wasn’t fucking likely to be written in the kind of fucked up texts that have survived from O.E. and M.E. Buck cites the fucked up proper name John le Fucker from 1278. The fucking word apparently is hinted at in a fucking scurrilous 15c. poem, titled “Flen flyys,” written in no fucking, bastard L. and M.E. The relevant line fucking reads: Non sunt in celi, quia fuccant uuiuys of heli
Fucking text fucking edited from fucking: http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?search=Fuck&se archmode=none
I like it.
Check out my latest post guys.. a radio show I did this morning
I was wondering where the word “Fuck” came from? Mostley I want to know this because it can be used in almost all parts of speech.
thankyou
0405ad
Hi , I remember one time we had a lesson which they used the idiom
“the tiger flew the coup” where did it come from? I would be grateful for your help on this one.
cheers
Joe00
I always thought that the expression “break a leg” had something to do with soldiers not having to go to war if they break their leg just before getting sent of to the battlefield - so soldiers who broke their leg had good luck and didn’t risk getting killed.
Good theory nighteye.. but not the source of the expression.
I dont know which twin i like better but anyways good lesson!!
I hope to hear from you again latter down the line
thanks Red
Another great lesson
thx
grtz
Hello Marina,
On reflection from my last comment and YouTube wouldn’t let me post the following comment with regard to this video presentation:
Thank you dear teacher, pupil enhanced his knowledge!
I like your themes, I also like the weight you put into your scenes, by trying different visual effects and transitions. Your endings are good, ‘when you blow kisses and show cute mistakes’, “That gets me back if not your information!” Your beautiful, sexy, sensuous in your presentations, I love you, you are great. Look forward to your next video presentation.
‘Success & Blessings’ to you Marina!
May all your dreams come true!
May God Bless You!
jcnick
Thanks jcnick.. why wouldn’t YouTube let you post the comment?
Hello Marina,
The internet may have been crowded at the time!
jcnick.
Copasetic
Serene
Soliloquy
Meticulous
Ridiculous
Masturbation
Uber
Goober
Harmony
Funky
Freaky
Badass
Vivacious
Nerd
See you at Scrabulous, fabulous…
Marina was in blue. So the evil twin was in white. I’m no longer worried about going to Hell.
After watching the video the third time, I started thinking… could both of the origions for the phrase: “break a leg” be accurate, by some odd coincidence? Because both of the origions seem logical and practical.
-Romantic101
No. Logic may show a statement or notional idea to be true but that does not prove a reality. If practicality was sufficient to determine truth then any practical concept that conveniently satisfied ones expectations could be considered real. “A lie told often enough becomes truth” Lenin (1870-1924). There are numerous examples of words and phrases having multiple origin stories. Some are accurate explanations others are merely practical explanations that successfully function to satisfy an unknown. Which as you stated is practical but nonetheless untrue.
For those who prefer a more poetic explanation,
Tell The Truth -
Tell all the Truth but tell it slant –
Success in Circuit lies
Too bright for our infirm Delight
The Truth’s superb surprise
As Lightning to the Children eased
With explanation kind
The Truth must dazzle gradually
Or every man be blind –
Emily Dickenson
Ahh.. I see… both explinations are really good. Thanks, that does help.
-Romantic101
most people confuse “logical” with “plausible”.
dear teacher:
i cannot understand why Livelpool is made of two words that make me think about a horrible scene in a swimming pool full of livers
hey i was wonderin if you could do the origin of the name Wendy. I was once told that it first came from peter pan.
thanks!
Another great lesson , any progress on the calender ? I’ll buy one!!!
Another great video lesson. I think it desreved 10 stars since there were two Marina’s in it.
Could you investigate the expression “Rock and Roll”. I’ve heard a few different explainations and I’d like to find out which one you think is the correct origin. Thanks.
Sex
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTnoSsaeOn0
i liked the first answer better b4 the sister came in. was more interesting
Marina,
Excellent video. You and your sister should be on screen at the same time. That would be unique.
Why do people use the term “Caucases” on politics?
Besos para ti y para tu hermanita!!!
Pupilo No. 1
I hope I get a A in my report card. How about the term “Butterflies in the stomach” ? I know it means when your nervous but what it has to do with butterflies ?
Lovely video once again.Glad you don’t yell at the class like you yell at your sister. Try to be nice to her, she gets better every day too.
I’m either confused or dazed, but I don’t think I’d want either Marina to get mad at me. Knowing the potential of the Ruler from “rule of thumb” ah never mind.
5Stars & a big thanks for the effort & care you put into the vid’s keeps us looking forward to the next one.
Oh & thanx to sis’ for the nice cameo apperance.
One of my colleagues at work today said she had to “pony up” some change for the parking meter. Where does the phrase “pony up” come from?
Ironically it is attributed to the Catholic Church. Catholic Mass was so much better when you didn’t understand a word of it.
hello Marina,
what is the origin of “rammed-sacked”?
Yes,this is the phase I was going to ask you about as well.Plaese answer it,for I’m very curious.
how about the word “crack” how did it go from meaning something is cracked to meaning crack jokes and then to being a slang term for cocaine???
Well the crack cocaine part came from the crackling sound it makes when you smoke it! I had to answer that one on Fox TV when I was on there
hey pick the word hottie thats you
I heard an interesting word today - “Lethologica”. I wonder if the origin is as interesting?
Another lesson already?! Will somebody get this woman a life so that I can catch up on my lessons? lol and totally kidding… I hope having a sense of humor is allowed here, else I’m going to have a bunch of fanboys and the ever-watching eye of Marina on my case. Yikes! If this muse turns into a mare, I am so outta here! j/k
I’ve always been a fan of things like HotForWords, as public television is full of lots of educational series that are little snippets of random knowledge. I used to watch a bunch of them late at night in L.A. after working some late sessions. Really fascinating all the information out there… until Marina and hotforwords, I hadn’t really encountered such a format for educational programming on youtube/the web, at least not in the DIY way Marina does it. I’m beginning to think there are indeed two of her, as that would explain the amount of lessons she is able to bust out so quickly. It certainly doesn’t seem at all like she is sacrificing quality for quantity… I may be joking, but I’m certainly not complaining, as I’ll catch up sooner or later. Where there’s a will, there’s a way.
I liked this video because it is interesting when Marina mixes in phrase origins with her usual word origins. One thing I don’t do is rate videos, though, because, in my eyes, they are all quite good. Marina’s got a winning formula IMHO wherein she always keeps her videos interesting and informative, and of course does it all while looking quite visually stunning. I realize our trusty teacher does want us to rate her lessons, but I can’t help but feel as a trusting student that Marina is above my judgement, as I am a total amateur when it comes to philology. I am just happy to learn and encounter the unique experience that is HotForWords.com. My perpetual rating of all her videos is 5 stars. 10’s across the board. Fair enough?
I guess I’ll put in a phrase request just for the hell of it. There seems to be some controversy over whether one ‘tows a line’ or ‘toes a line’. I have always thought it meant ‘towing a line’ (as in tugging something by a rope, as in a burden of some sort), but many insist that it is ‘toeing a line’, as in walking a line while keeping your toes lined up. Personally, I feel the ‘toeing a line’ is ridiculous, as ‘toeing’ isn’t a word, at least as far as I know. I doubt if it’s something HotForWords will decide to investigate, but I thought it was worth mentioning.
Thanks again for another lesson, Marina HotForWords. As a poet/lyricist, I find the field of philology quite fascinating and inspiring. A philologist may know how a word is put together, but a poet knows how to put words together. Since I was somewhat ignorant of the field of philology (had heard of etymology but not philology until HFW), I am just learning how the one compliments the other. The love of words can come in many forms… Keep up the excellent work. Thanks, Errin : )
p.s. Since I love cramming these postings of mine with as many words as possible, there was one last thing I wanted to include… I came across an interesting definition of the word ‘commitment’ the other day: “To fight when others fold, pursue while others retreat, conquer while others quit, and make right when all else is wrong”. A profound concept that few are able to follow through with. Kind of sad, really.
Toe the line is a good one Errin…. I’ll have to look into it.
Another random lesson and a song to go along with this replyhttp://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=1vjF1wlhUbI&fea ture=related
http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=yPBwbdRuKPc&feature= related maybe now it will work,
errinf…
It’s a touching sentiment to feel that Marina is above your judgement. I also think the videos are off the scale by now, and there are probably more productive ways to provide feedback. None-the-less, there are is one good reason to rate her videos, especially if you appreciate Marina and the lessons:
As popular as Marina is, there are still plenty of people who don’t know about her. More ratings, comments etc… help push the vids to the featured pages more quickly and this introduces Marina and her channel to potentially thousands more viewers.
As difficult as it is already to “compete” for the teachers attention
, more subscribers and viewers will help her succeed and continue to make better and better videos. I’m not suggesting “gaming” or “spamming” the system on purpose, but if you’ve spent the time watching it, you may as well comment and rate it.
By the way, thats a great quote in your PS…. who is it by?
Errin, I just wanted to second what you said about poets, yes; we may not always know the meaning and origions of words, but we sure can put them together well.
I’ll take a shot in the dark. “Toe the line” comes from some long past drill sergeant getting his recruits to form a straight line.
Just a guess.
“In science one tries to tell people, in such a way as to be understood by everyone, something that no one ever knew. But in poetry, it’s the exact opposite.” Paul Dirac (1902-1984)
buzzword….
While it is true that poetry is usually esoteric, very good poetry, through the use of symbolism and other techniques, allows us the freedom to apply our own “personal” experience and vision to it. So in a sense, it is more universal, even though the author may have had something very specific in mind when writing it.
may I roll my eyes — or would that be considered inappropriate?
bukowski rocks.
trgoblin,
I must admit, I lack the creative ability to understand poetry as you have explained it. I fail to grasp most poetry provided to me. I am easily confused between the profound and mere contradiction. Your explanation seems to me to have the elements of the poetry as you described. Indicating that you are such a poet, of course limited as I am at appreciating the arts I have been mistaken before.
Thanks for the various responses. And here I thought when my email was blowing up with comment notices that I may have offended with my smartass humor. Not that it was a real fear, tho, as I know there are cool people here. With our trusty teacher being among the coolest if not THE coolest.
Speaking of our cool hot teacher, thanks Marina for checking into the toe the line thing. I just don’t recall ‘toe’ being a verb, but perhaps you will find the true answer. Actually, judging by this lesson’s video, you probably will find the answer if you have the time for it, as you very cleverly dismissed the false notion of what ‘break a leg’ means and instead had your ‘evil twin’ teach us the correct notion. I’m beginning to think that evil twin of yours isn’t so evil! lol
As for my fellow students, thanks for your comments. trgoblin, it is actually cold logic that is my rationale for feeling Marina is above my judgement when it comes to ‘rating’ her videos, tho that’s cool to be ‘touched’ by my ethic. Most artists (be they a video artist like Marina or otherwise), get a 10 from me when they do their own thing and do it in a unique, quality way. I simply do not come from the perspective of rating them. But, I can be eccentric about such things, and am probably missing your point. If it helps HotForWords to be rated, I can just start giving them all 5 stars. Thing is, I honestly feel HotForWords is doing pretty good with or without ratings. I learned an older lesson today on youtube (abracadabra was the word), and happenned to notice that our recent lessons, such as the para lesson, are already at 200,000+ views. And those are lessons that came out only a few days ago! I can see why Marina is so prolific, and that is great that she is staying so busy doing her thing. And I beg to differ when it comes to ‘competing’ for teacher’s attention… as long as you ask her nicely and have an interesting question here, Marina chimes in no problem. Not stuck up or full of herself, and genuinely friendly. And I’m here to learn and enjoy the show, not compete for teacher’s attention. I’d rather she focus on HotForWords, as it seems to be to all our benefit better that way, and hers. Oh, and that quote is from a poster I got for a friend recently that was about Spiderman of all people. I guess most people just don’t understand how profound Peter Parker is. : )
As for poets, a lot of interesting commentary here. I mainly encounter poets that are lyricists or singer/songwriters as I have worked a lot in music, and made a few friends along the way that are skilled in the use of words/poetry as the way they make their living. The modern poet is the songwriter/lyricist IMHO. What I have not encountered much is philologists. I sincerely doubt there are any other like Marina… unless of course you count her evil twin, who also has a degree in philology. ha!
Before I go, I recently realized that there is a word associated with the phrase ‘break a leg’ that is not about being lucky at all. The word is ‘legbreaker’. A legbreaker is a kind of hitman or hired thug who’s job it is to inflict physical damage (as in to collect money rather than to kill), which may mean literally breaking a leg. Crossing paths with a legbreaker would not be a lucky thing at all, as the word has it’s origin in the vernacular of organized criminals. From what I know, there is absolutely no connection between the ‘break a leg’ phrase in this lesson and the word ‘legbreaker’.
Buzzword
I doubt you’re limited in any way, let alone perceiving the arts. And I’m sorry for not doing such a great job explaining myself.
I’ll give it another shot: Read a poem and instead of trying to understand what the author was trying to say, or what the words mean, ask yourself, how it makes you feel?
I think Dirac was only half right. Science does try to simplify the complex and make it understandable, but poetry doesn’t really try to make the simple more complex. It merely allows us the freedom to see things in different ways.
errinf…
As for the exp