2003年11月24日(月) 10 Ways to Celebrate the Year-End 年末の祝い方10

あるサイトから(一番下にタイトルがあります)。
年末にある世界の10の祝祭を説明してあります。
最後にOmisokaもありますが、記述は短く正確です。
祝日を闘いとらずして過ごせるように願うばかりです。

Are you ready for the holidays (after Thanksgiving)? Whose holidays are you ready for? If you've got global and multicultural clients and friends as we do, here's a list to help you keep it all in mind.

1. Eid al-Fitr (Muslim) -- lunar, when new moon is sighted, so around November 25, depending upon where you live.

Eid Al-Fitr, or the Celebration of Breaking the Fast, marks the end of Ramadan, the month of fasting. Money is given to the poor, and to children, and everyone gets a new set of clothing.

2. Saint Nicholas Day (Christian) -- December 6

Popular for centuries esp. in Northern Europe, celebrating Saint Nicholas, a 4th century bishop of the city of Myra (in what is now Turkey), who was known for his kindness and generosity. Good children receive candies, cookies, apples and nuts, while naughty children receive switches or lumps of coal in their shoes.

3. Bodhi Day (Buddhists) -- December 8

aka Rohatsu, celebrates the day in 596 BC when the Buddha achieved enlightenment.

4. Fiesta of Our Lady of Guadalupe (Mexican) -- December 12

One of the most important dates on the Mexican calendar, dedicated to the Mother of all Mexicans.

5. St. Lucia Day (Swedish) -- December 13

Each family awakens a young girl who dresses in a white robe with red ribbon around the waist, and wears a crown of candles on her head. She then brings breakfast to the family -- sweet buns flavored with saffron. The boys (called star boys) wear long white shirts and pointed hats and help carry the sweets. What do you say? God Jul!

6. Hanukkah (Jewish) -- begins December 19

Known also as Festival of Lights, this 8-day, 2,000-year-old holiday celebrates God's glory, an ancient victory of the Jews over their enemies, and the freedom Jews enjoy today.

7. Winter Solstice -- December 22

Long before Christmas, people celebrated the Winter Solstice on the eve of the shortest day of the year. They burned a Yule log in a great bonfire, danced, sang, hung mistletoe from doorways of their home, and decorated with evergreens. The Chinese call it Dong Zhi. In Iran it's called Shabe-Yalda.

8. Kwanzaa (African American) -- begins December 26

Habari Gani? That's Swahili "What's the News?", the Kwanzaa greeting. Kwanzaa's seven days of celebration focus on seven principles: unity (umoja), self-determination (kujichagulia), collective work and responsibility (ujima), cooperative economics (ujamaa), purpose (nia), creativity (kuumba), and faith (imani). Kwanzaa is Swahili for "first fruits of the harvest."

9. Boxing Day (Australian, Canadian, English, Irish, Scottish) -- December 26

Way back when, servants had to work on Christmas, but were given the 26th off to visit their families. Their Landlords gave each servant a box with gifts and bonuses, and churches opened their alms boxes for the poor. Nowadays most people have the day off, and visit, go shopping and celebrate.

10. Omisoka (Japanese) -- December 31

The family gathers to get ready to celebrate the new year. They clean house (susu harai), put things in order and decorate. In the evening they have toshikoshi soba (buckwheat noodles) and then go to temple to make wishes known to buddhist or shinto divinities. At midnight, in all Buddhist temples, the bell (bonsho) is rung 108 times to announce the new year.

Namaste*,
Mahtowin & Marta
BUFFALO WOMAN'S VISION
P.O. Box 261, Ekalaka, MT 59324
406/775-6664

*"We honor the place within you where the whole universe resides."



2003年11月17日(月) 24−7 休みなく

最近よく見る、珍しい、数字のイディオム。

Twenty-four-sevenと読みます。

24 hours, seven days a weekという意味。

 It’s open 24-7.(年中無休)
 He’s at it 24-7.(彼はもうそれにかかりっきり)
 I love you 24-7.(いつも愛してる)

エスカレートして24-7-365となります。

もちろん、24 hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a yearという意味。

次のような表記でもよいようです。(西暦365年7月24日とも読めそうですが。)

 We are available 24/7/365. (年中無休でやっております)
 You can call me 24/7/365.(連絡はいつなんどきでもよいですよ)

読みはTwenty-four-seven-three-sixty-five.となる。

日本語になりそう。

 あの店は24−7の店。

ニーヨンナナと読む?

と、アメリカから、セブン・イレブンは7−11から24/7に変えましたよというメールのお知らせが。

 日本の7イレブンはどうなるのか。
 CMは歌いにくくなるのか・・・。



2003年11月11日(火) Up, Up and Away!
Rain, rain, rain. I hope it lets up soon.

以下知人より「アップ、アップ」という名件名で拝領。ネットに出回っています。
UPの持つ意味は多用であり、面白い(苦しい)イディオムがいろいろあるというお話をどうぞ。
最後の問題は蛇足ですが、腑に落ちるもの、落ちないもの、いろいろありそうです。あなたはいくつご存知ですか?

There is a two-letter word that perhaps has more meanings than any other two-letter word, and that is "UP."

It's easy to understand UP, meaning toward the sky or at the top of the list, but when we awaken in the morning, why do we wake UP? At a meeting, why does a topic come UP? Why do we speak UP and why are the officers UP for election and why is it UP to the secretary to write UP a report? We call UP our friends. And we use it to brighten UP a room, polish UP the silver, we warm UP the leftovers and clean UP the kitchen. We lock UP the house and some guys fix UP the old car. At other times the little word has real special meaning. People stir UP trouble, line UP for tickets, work UP an appetite, and think UP excuses. To be dressed is one thing but to be dressed UP is special .

And this UP is confusing: A drain must be opened UP because it is stopped UP. We open UP a store in the morning but we close it UP at night.

We seem to be pretty mixed UP about UP! To be knowledgeable about the proper uses of UP, look the word UP in the dictionary. In a desk-sized dictionary, it takes UP almost 1/4th of the page and can add UP to about thirty definitions. If you are UP to it, you might try building UP a list of the many ways UP is used. It will take UP a lot of your time, but if you don't give UP, you may wind UP with a hundred or more. When it threatens to rain, we say it is clouding UP. When the sun comes out we say it is clearing UP. When it rains, it wets the earth and often messes things UP. When it doesn't rain for awhile, things dry UP.

One could go on and on, but I'll wrap it UP, for now my time is UP, so.... Time to shut UP!

Oh...one more thing: What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night? U-P


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