PLAYING WITH ENGLISH
Oral Tradition and Unknown Authors
O início da nossa apresentação é um apanhado de brincadeiras e curiosidades sobre a língua inglesa. Para nós, essa é uma parte muito divertida... e também muito importante, pois foi do nosso olhar de estranhamento e deleite com outra língua que nasceu essa contação de histórias.
Os textos abaixo foram achados na internet e, por vezes, acrescentados ou escritos por nós mesmos.
THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE
(Ulisses Belleigoli & Wikipedia)
Language is our primary source of communication. It's the method through which we share our ideas and thoughts and feelings with other human beings. There are thousands of languages in this world. Countries have their own national languages in addition to a variety of local languages spoken and understood by their people in different regions. Some languages are spoken by millions of people, others by only a few thousand.
English is just one of these languages. An important one. It is the most common foreign language. This means that two people who come from different countries (for example, a Mexican and a Japanese) usually use English as a common language to communicate. In the field of education, in many countries, children are taught and encouraged to learn English as a second language, because it is the dominant language in the sciences; and at the university level, students in many countries study many subjects in English to produce material more accessible to international students. It is the language of international banking and business. On the Internet, most websites are written and created in English. It's the primary language of the press: more newspapers and books are written in English than in any other language.
Out of the world’s approximately 7.5 billion inhabitants, 1.5 billion speak English — that’s 20% of the Earth’s population. However, most of those people aren’t native English speakers. About 360 million people speak English as their first language. According to the British Council, around 1.2 billion people around the world are learning English.
It is the language of Hollywood. Shakespeare. The Beatles. Virginia Woolf and Beyoncé. J.K.Rowling and Eminem. Martin Luther King and Winston Churchill. Sometimes, it is, for us, The Tongue Twisters, a foreign language. Sometimes, it is the language engraved in our hearts. And to you? What is English to you? Let’s find out together?
We welcome you to “The beautiful language show”!
IDIOMS
(Oral Tradition)
Idioms are words, phrases, or expressions which are commonly used in everyday conversation. They are often metaphorical to make language more colorful. You can use them to express something more vividly and often more briefly. They serve as an image or mental picture.
Hit the road: To depart, to start a journey.
Call it a day: To declare the end of a task.
Beat around the bush: Avoiding the main issue. Not speaking directly about a topic.
Hot saw hot see: Quente viu, quente vê.
Off the hook: To escape a situation of responsibility, obligation, or danger.
Have a blast: To have a good time or to enjoy.
Pushing up daisies: Euphemism for dying.
Tea with me that I book your face: Chá comigo que eu livro sua cara.
A bitter pill: A situation or information that is unpleasant but must be accepted.
Piece of cake: A job, task or other activity that is easy or simple.
Couch potato: A lazy person.
Before afternoon than never: Antes tarde do que nunca.
Não enche meu saco / eu sou mais eu: Don't fill my bag / I am more I.
A SAD STORY ABOUT NOBODY
(Unknown Author)
This is a story about four people named Everybody, Somebody, Anybody and Nobody. There was an important job to be done and Everybody was sure that Somebody would do it. Anybody could have done it, but Nobody did it. Somebody got angry about that, because it was Everybody's job. Everybody thought Anybody could do it, but Nobody realised that Everybody wouldn't do it. It ended up that Everybody blamed Somebody, when Nobody did, what Anybody could have done.
OXYMORONS
(Oral Tradition)
An oxymoron is usually defined as a phrase in which two words of contradictory meaning are brought together:
clearly misunderstood - exact estimate - small crowd - act naturally - found missing - fully empty - pretty ugly - seriously funny - only choice - original copies - and the mother of all... happily married!
Veja a cena do filme Extremely Loud and Incredible Close (Tão perto, tão forte), na qual nos inspiramos para criar este momento:
TONGUE TWISTERS
(Oral Tradition)
Rory the warrior and Roger the worrier were reared wrongly in a rural brewery.
Can you can a can as a canner can can a can?
Bill had a billboard, Bill also had a board bill. The billboard bored Bill so Bill sold the billboard to pay for the board bill
The thirty-three thieves thought that they thrilled the throne throughout Thursday.
Elizabeth's birthday is on the third Thursday of this month.
I wish to wish the wish you wish to wish, but if you wish the wish the witch wishes, I won't wish the wish you wish to wish.
I miss my Swiss miss. My Swiss miss misses me.
saw Susie sitting in a shoe shine shop. Where she sits she shines, and where she shines she sits.
Conheça mais trava-línguas em inglês clicando aqui
CRAZY LANGUAGE
(Unknown Author)
Let's face it--English is a crazy language. There is no egg in eggplant, nor ham in hamburger; neither apple nor pine in pineapple. English muffins weren't invented in England nor French fries in France. Quicksand can work slowly and boxing rings are square.
And why is it that writers write but fingers don't fing, grocers don't groce and hammers don't ham? If the plural of tooth is teeth, why isn't the plural of booth beeth? If teachers taught, why didn't preacher praught? If a vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a humanitarian eat?
In what language do people recite at a play and play at a recital? Ship by truck and send cargo by ship? Have noses that run and feet that smell? Park on driveways and drive on parkways? How can the weather be hot as hell one day and cold as hell another? And, in closing, if father is pop, how come mother’s not mop?
WORDS, WORDS, WORDS
(Ulisses Belleigoli and Google)
Esse texto já vem mais no meio da apresentação e serve como ponte entre o diálogo entre Alice e Humpty Dumpty e a música Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.
Words, words, words! So many of them! But often we invite to the party the old same ones. What about to spread our wings a little bit:
Instead of pretty, you can say gorgeous, lovely, cute, exquisite.
Instead of smart, you can say witty, intelligent, bright, ingenious.
Instead of big, you can say huge, large, gigantic, massive.
Instead of little, you can say tiny, minute, teeny, compact.
Instead of funny, you can say laughable, hilarious, silly, amusing.
Instead of nice, you can say kind, gracious, benevolent, humane.
Instead of happy, you can say glad, merry, cheerful, jolly.
Instead of sad, you can say, unhappy, depressed, miserable, sorrowful.
Instead of bad, you can say wicked, dreadful, nasty, despicable.
Instead of great, you can say amazing, awesome, breathtaking, brilliant, delightful, extraordinary, fascinating, flawless, magnificent, marvelous, mind-blowing, miraculous, outstanding, perfect, remarkable, spectacular, terrific, top-notch, unbelievable, wonderful, pitiful…
“Hey, what? Pitiful is not as same as great at all!”
“I know! I just like this word very much!”
“Well, if it is about that, I like dragonfly, and overwhelming, and struggle, and knowledge!”
“I like felicity, electricity, eccentricity!”
“Purple!”
“Mesmerizing”
“Signature”
“Joyfully!”
“Unfortunately!”
“Cruel!”
“Strawberry!”
“Handkerchief!”
"Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious."
