Grieving the end of a relationship

• to be in mourning, to go through a period of mourning (for death loved one)
• to get closure, to achieve closure, to bring closure to one's grief (for a relationship)

Letting go of a relationship follows the same process as mourning a death, even if you are the one that initiated the breakup and believe that the breakup is the best thing for all involved, the steps are: the denial, anger and finally acceptance.


Acceptance entails making peace with the loss, letting go of the relationship and slowly moving forward with your life.

Begin a new chapter. 
You'll never be able to erase your memory of this person, but you can use the experience to better yourself and to help others. If you wronged someone, resolve never to make the same mistake again, and take it a step further: help others avoid making the same mistake you did. If you were a victim, reach out to other victims, and teach others how to avoid the wrongdoing that you faced. Make the end of your relationship with that person a turning point in your life. Start moving in a new direction.

Live in the present!

Bumptious

  /ˈbʌmpʃəs/

used of temperament lacking retraint or modesty - suffisant, prétentieux

• offfensively, overly assertive
• overly self-confident

To be a pain in the neck

If someone is very annoying and always disturbing you, he/she is a pain in the neck. 
Syn: nuisance, pest, a drag

• Filling out the forms for my recent insurance claim was a real pain in the neck.- casse-pieds
• This assignment is a pain in the neck. Your little brother is a pain in the neck.

Slang: 
it's a drag! - ca me rase
what a drag! - bonjour la galère

"Salon du chocolat"

Last weekend our capital was all about the Salon du Chocolat. After hitting major trendsetting cities like Paris, Cannes, London, Cairo, New York and Shanghai, the Salon du Chocolat is finally setting up shop in the city it should call home: Brussels.

What can you find at the Salon du Chocolat? Pretty much everything you could possibly imagine. There's loads of chocolate to nibble on (grignoter) and delight (tickle: réjouir) your taste buds (papilles gustatives), of course, and there are workshops with famous chefs and patissiers too, workshops for children, books about chocolate, a fashion show with naught but sugary creations on the catwalk, a work of art made especially for the Salon by Belgian chocolatier Godiva and lots more.

There are different types of cocoa bean which are used in chocolate production today. They are the noble Criollo, the common Forastero and a hybrid between the two, the Trinitario. Criollo and Trinitario are often referred to as fine or flavour cocoa beans, while Forastero is considered the ordinary or bulk bean for mass production (although there are exceptions to this rule -- see below). Over 90% percent of the world's cocoa is bulk production, mostly from the Forastero bean. The remainder is fine/flavour cocoa, from most of the Trinitario and all of the Criollo varieties.

TRADITIONALLY CHOCOLATE IS NOT thought of as healthy -- after all it is mostly (cocoa) fat and sugar. In recent years however this idea has been challenged by numerous studies examining the health effects of chocolate. As chocolate is a complex substance, its constituents can affect the body in many different ways:

Flavonoids such as epicatechin have been shown to reduce the risk of heart disease, since they act as anti-oxidants and thus reduce cholesterol levels.

Theobromine is the defining chemical component of cocoa, which gives it its bitterness. It is a stimulant, but not as strong as caffeine.

Tryptophan is an amino acid from which the body makes serotonin, a messenger in the brain. High levels of serotonin are usually associated with an elevated mood.

Phenylethylamine is an amphetamine, and is responsible for chocolate's reputation as an aphrodisiac.

Anandamide is a cannabinoid -- it targets the same regions of the brain as cannabis. The quantities involved however, are once again very small, so that one is much more likely to be sick than high after consuming enough chocolate for anandamide to have an effect!

If chocolate is consumed in moderation -- perhaps 10 or 20g a day -- the beneficial compounds such as flavonoids outweigh the negative effects of the sugar and fat. This holds particularly for dark chocolate.

Today Belgium produces 172,000 tons of chocolate per year, almost 70,500 tons of which are consumed within the country. 

The world is your oyster!

One rules the world, one is in charge of everything.

• I feel like the world is my oyster today. - le monde m'appartient
• The world is my oyster! I'm in love!

if the world is your oyster, you have the ability and the freedom to do anything or go anywhere 

• You're young and healthy and you've got no commitments, so the world is your oyster.

Agony column

a column in a newspaper or magazine offering advice on personal problems to readers who write in.

In the same idea:

gutter press = presse à scandale
classified advertisements = petites annonces
comic(s) = magazines illustrés
glossy = magazine au papier de luxe
newsagent = marchand de journaux



More information:

• Classified advertisements' is also known as 'The classifieds" or "Small ads". 
• The larger (employment) ads are known as Display Advertisements.
• Comics are very specifically aimed at children and are usually published weekly on newsprint (newspaper type) paper. They are essentially cartoons (bandes dessinées)
• The person who gives advice, in a newspaper or magazine, to correspondents with relationship problems is called an Agony Aunt. 

To get one's wires crossed

When people get their wires crossed, they have a different understanding of the same situation - s'emmêler les pinceaux

• Somehow we got our wires crossed because I'd got the 23rd written down in my diary and Jen had the 16th.

Syn: misinterpretation, mistaking

A couch potato!

A person who spends a lot of time sitting or lying down, often watching television, eating snacks or drinking alcohol.

Synonymes:

• idler - paresseux
• layabout - familier: glandeur

Love is in the air!

How to boost your popularity as French President

Philanderer
a man who likes many women and has short sexual relationships with them.- Don Juan, coureur de jupon
Syn: womaniser, womanizer

• Tupper's reputation as a philanderer shocked Lady Aberdeen,

Skirt chaser
a man who is aggressive in making amorous advances to women
Syn: woman chaser, masher


In the same idea and without comments :=)

• Behaving like a rabbit 
• Roaming hands
• to cheat on somebody - tromper quelqu'un
• She flipped her lid/She blew her top -->> pêter un câble ! pêter un plomb! c'est la conséquence...;=)

!!!!! Special thanks to our animator and all those crazy ladies !!!!!
for the very special giggling evening!

Idiom: "wise old owl"

When you say someone is a wise old owl, you mean they are very experienced in life.

• My English teacher was a wise old owl. He told me that I shouldn't give up on things when they don't work the first time.
• Mary saved 20% of her salary for her retirement. She was a wise old owl.

"Desert Rose" Sting

"Desert Rose" Sting

http://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=BE&v=Gff_5BA4QYM

[Cheb Mami Introduction (Algerian Arabic):]

Hadaee mada tawila

Wa ana nahos ana wahala ghzalti

Wa ana nahos ana wahala ghzalti

Wa ana nahos ana wahala ghzalti

[English:]

Oh night oh night

It has been a long time

And I am looking for myself and my loved one

And I am looking for myself and my loved one

And I am looking for myself and my loved one

I dream of rain

I dream of gardens in the desert sand

I wake in vain

I dream of love as time runs through my hand

I dream of fire

Those dreams are tied to a horse that will never tire

And in the flames

Her shadows play in the shape of a man's desire

This desert rose

Each of her veils, a secret promise

This desert flower

No sweet perfume ever tortured me more than this

And as she turns

This way she moves in the logic of all my dreams

This fire burns

I realize that nothing's as it seems

I dream of rain

I dream of gardens in the desert sand

I wake in vain

I dream of love as time runs through my hand

I dream of rain

I lift my gaze to empty skies above

I close my eyes

This rare perfume is the sweet intoxication of her love

[Cheb Mami (Algerian Arabic):]

Aman aman aman

Omry feek antia

Ma ghair antia

Ma ghair antia

[English:]

Aman aman aman

My life is for you

And no one other than you

And no one other than you

I dream of rain

I dream of gardens in the desert sand

I wake in vain

I dream of love as time runs through my hand

Sweet desert rose

Each of her veils, a secret promise

This desert flower

No sweet perfume ever tortured me more than this

Sweet desert rose

This memory of Eden haunts us all

This desert flower

This rare perfume, is the sweet intoxication of the fall

[Cheb Mami (Algerian Arabic):]

Ya lili ah ya leel

[English:]

Oh night oh night

Mongrel

 /ˈmʌŋgrəl/

noun: 
a plant or animal, esp a dog, of mixed or unknown breeding; a crossbreed or hybrid, 

adj:
of mixed origin, breeding, character, etc

Synonyms:
mixed-breed, crossbred (croisé), hybrid

Variations around "to take a back seat"

Take a back seat

1. if an activity takes a back seat, you spend less time doing that than other things

• He's been putting all his energies into house-hunting recently so his studies have had to take a back seat. (sometimes + to ) 
• In my early twenties, politics very much took a back seat to sport and socializing.

2. to let other people take a more active and responsible part in an organization or a situation

• I was content to take a back seat and let the rest of my family deal with the crisis.

To step aside (for someone) or step down

1. Lit. to move out of someone's way. 

• Would you step aside for my uncle and his walker? 
• We had to step aside for the people in wheelchairs to get by.

2. Fig. to retire from an office so someone else can take over. 

• The president retired and stepped aside for someone else. 
• Walter stepped aside for a younger person to take over.

To take a step back or to step back (from someone or something)

to move away from someone or something; to move back so as to provide space around someone or something. 

• Please step back from the injured woman. Give her some air. Step back and give her some air.

To stand aloof

• He should stand aloof from the public sphere.

Variation around "spoof"

Spoof, lampoon, parody, take-off

2006 December, 14

BBC News: "Belgians reacted with widespread alarm to news that their country had been split in two - before finding out they had been spoofed."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6178671.stm

Spoof
syn: lampoon, parody, take-off

• It was a take-off of an old Monty Python scene.

Hoax
Syn: canard, windup

Idioms about kindness

He has a heart of gold =
Il a un coeur d'or

He is a good egg =
C'est une bonne pâte

He'd go through hell and high water for me =
Il se couperait en 4 pour moi

I can speak with an open heart =
Je peux parler à coeur ouvert

He wears his heart in his sleeve =
Il a le coeur sur la main

Sting - A Thousand Years

"A Thousand Years"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQGgFCCPOrY

A thousand years, a thousand more,
A thousand times a million doors to eternity
I may have lived a thousand lives, a thousand times
An endless turning stairway climbs
To a tower of souls
If it takes another thousand years, a thousand wars,
The towers rise to numberless floors in space
I could shed another million tears, a million breaths,
A million names but only one truth to face

A million roads, a million fears
A million suns, ten million years of uncertainty
I could speak a million lies, a million songs,
A million rights, a million wrongs in this balance of time
But if there was a single truth, a single light
A single thought, a singular touch of grace
Then following this single point , this single flame,
The single haunted memory of your face

I still love you
I still want you
A thousand times the mysteries unfold themselves
Like galaxies in my head

I may be numberless, I may be innocent
I may know many things, I may be ignorant
Or I could ride with kings and conquer many lands
Or win this world at cards and let it slip my hands
I could be cannon food, destroyed a thousand times
Reborn as fortune's child to judge another's crimes
Or wear this pilgrim's cloak, or be a common thief
I've kept this single faith, I have but one belief

I still love you
I still want you
A thousand times the mysteries unfold themselves
Like galaxies in my head
On and on the mysteries unwind themselves
Eternities still unsaid
'Til you love me

Let one's hair down

1. to relax and enjoy yourself without worrying what other people will think

• It's nice to let your hair down once in a while and go a bit wild.

• The party gives you a chance to let your hair down at the end of the week.

2. Figurative: to tell [someone] everything; to tell one's innermost feelings and secrets.

• Let your hair down and tell me all about it. Come on. Let your hair down and tell me what you really think.

3. Lit. to undo one's hair and let it fall freely.

• When she took off her glasses and let her hair down, she was incredibly beautiful

A sitting duck!

To be a sitting duck
someone or something vulnerable to attack, physical or verbal. 

Alludes to a duck floating on the water, not suspecting that it is the object of a hunter or predator. Typically: be ~; like ~; looking like~

• You look like a sitting duck out there. Get in here where the enemy cannot fire at you. - cible facile
• The senator was a sitting duck because of his unpopular position on school reform.

To be knackered

To be dog tired!







To be knackered
(exhausted, no more energy or strength, mentally can't think anymore)

• I'm knackered from my first night-shift

Synonyms:
To be out on one's feet
To be drained
To be dead tired
To be worn out (like an old shoe.)
To be burnt out
To be wiped out

Or also:
I'm spent, I'm done, I'm all in, I'm dead on my feet

Good deed

To do a good deed, charitable act

• Have you done any good deeds lately, like donating blood? - bonne action

In word and deed
in what [sb] says and does

• The Greek Prime Minister stressed that his country supports Lebanon in word and deed.- en paroles et en actes

Title deed
property ownership document

• The bank holds the title deed to my house as security for a mortgage. - titre de propriété

Asimbonanga - Johnny Clegg

Asimbonanga - Johnny Clegg

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UJujyzA2Q1E

"A winner is a dreamer who never gives up"
Nelson Mandela

Asimbonanga (We have not seen him)

Asimbonang' uMandela thina (We have not seen Mandela)

Laph'ekhona (In the place where he is)

Laph'ehleli khona (In the place where he is kept)

Oh the sea is cold and the sky is grey

Look across the Island into the Bay

We are all islands till comes the day

We cross the burning water

Chorus....

A seagull wings across the sea

Broken silence is what I dream

Who has the words to close the distance

Between you and me

Chorus....

Steve Biko, Victoria Mxenge

Neil Aggett

Asimbonanga

Asimbonang 'umfowethu thina (we have not seen our brother)

Laph'ekhona (In the place where he is)

Laph'wafela khona (In the place where he died)

Hey wena (Hey you!)

Hey wena nawe (Hey you and you as well)

Siyofika nini la' siyakhona (When will we arrive at our destination)

Tribute to Madiba Mandela

Nelson Mandela Memorial Service: Barack Obama's Speech 

Ubuntu!

Excerpt

"Mandela taught us the power of action, but also ideas; the need to study not only those you agree with, but those who you don’t."

"It took a man like Madiba to free not just the prisoner, but the jailor as well; to show that you must trust others so that they may trust you;"

"there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us."

Barack Obama's Speech [FULL TEXT]

Vocabulary

eulogize: faire l'éloge

tawdry: de mauvais goût

mischief: bêtise, sottise

shrewdness: perspicacité

indictment: accusation, inculpation

chiseled: gravé

unyielding: sans rédition

rebuff: rejeter

oneness: singularité, point commun

embody: intérioriser

run-down: délabré

subjugation: oppression
slight: manque de respect

To Graça Machel and the Mandela family; to President Zuma and members of the government; to heads of state and government, past and present; distinguished guests - it is a singular honor to be with you today, to celebrate a life unlike any other. To the people of South Africa - people of every race and walk of life - the world thanks you for sharing Nelson Mandela with us. His struggle was your struggle. His triumph was your triumph. Your dignity and hope found expression in his life, and your freedom, your democracy is his cherished legacy.

It is hard to eulogize any man - to capture in words not just the facts and the dates that make a life, but the essential truth of a person - their private joys and sorrows; the quiet moments and unique qualities that illuminate someone’s soul. How much harder to do so for a giant of history, who moved a nation toward justice, and in the process moved billions around the world.

Born during World War I, far from the corridors of power, a boy raised herding cattle and tutored by elders of his Thembu tribe - Madiba would emerge as the last great liberator of the 20th century. Like Gandhi, he would lead a resistance movement - a movement that at its start held little prospect of success. Like King, he would give potent voice to the claims of the oppressed, and the moral necessity of racial justice. He would endure a brutal imprisonment that began in the time of Kennedy and Khrushchev, and reached the final days of the Cold War. Emerging from prison, without force of arms, he would - like Lincoln - hold his country together when it threatened to break apart. Like America’s founding fathers, he would erect a constitutional order to preserve freedom for future generations - a commitment to democracy and rule of law ratified not only by his election, but by his willingness to step down from power.

Given the sweep of his life, and the adoration that he so rightly earned, it is tempting then to remember Nelson Mandela as an icon, smiling and serene, detached from the tawdry affairs of lesser men. But Madiba himself strongly resisted such a lifeless portrait. Instead, he insisted on sharing with us his doubts and fears; his miscalculations along with his victories. “I’m not a saint,” he said, “unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.”

It was precisely because he could admit to imperfection - because he could be so full of good humor, even mischief, despite the heavy burdens he carried - that we loved him so. He was not a bust made of marble; he was a man of flesh and blood - a son and husband, a father and a friend. That is why we learned so much from him; that is why we can learn from him still. For nothing he achieved was inevitable. In the arc of his life, we see a man who earned his place in history through struggle and shrewdness; persistence and faith. He tells us what’s possible not just in the pages of dusty history books, but in our own lives as well.

Mandela showed us the power of action; of taking risks on behalf of our ideals. Perhaps Madiba was right that he inherited, “a proud rebelliousness, a stubborn sense of fairness” from his father. Certainly he shared with millions of black and colored South Africans the anger born of, “a thousand slights, a thousand indignities, a thousand unremembered moments…a desire to fight the system that imprisoned my people.”

But like other early giants of the ANC - the Sisulus and Tambos - Madiba disciplined his anger; and channeled his desire to fight into organization, and platforms, and strategies for action, so men and women could stand-up for their dignity. Moreover, he accepted the consequences of his actions, knowing that standing up to powerful interests and injustice carries a price. “I have fought against white domination and I have fought against black domination,” he said at his 1964 trial. “I’ve cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”

Mandela taught us the power of action, but also ideas; the importance of reason and arguments; the need to study not only those you agree with, but those who you don’t. He understood that ideas cannot be contained by prison walls, or extinguished by a sniper’s bullet. He turned his trial into an indictment of apartheid because of his eloquence and passion, but also his training as an advocate. He used decades in prison to sharpen his arguments, but also to spread his thirst for knowledge to others in the movement. And he learned the language and customs of his oppressor so that one day he might better convey to them how their own freedom depended upon his.

Mandela demonstrated that action and ideas are not enough; no matter how right, they must be chiseled into laws and institutions. He was practical, testing his beliefs against the hard surface of circumstance and history. On core principles he was unyielding, which is why he could rebuff offers of conditional release, reminding the Apartheid regime that, “prisoners cannot enter into contracts.” But as he showed in painstaking negotiations to transfer power and draft new laws, he was not afraid to compromise for the sake of a larger goal. And because he was not only a leader of a movement, but a skillful politician, the Constitution that emerged was worthy of this multiracial democracy; true to his vision of laws that protect minority as well as majority rights, and the precious freedoms of every South African.

Finally, Mandela understood the ties that bind the human spirit. There is a word in South Africa- Ubuntu - that describes his greatest gift: his recognition that we are all bound together in ways that can be invisible to the eye; that there is a oneness to humanity; that we achieve ourselves by sharing ourselves with others, and caring for those around us. We can never know how much of this was innate in him, or how much of was shaped and burnished in a dark, solitary cell. But we remember the gestures, large and small - introducing his jailors as honored guests at his inauguration; taking the pitch in a Springbok uniform; turning his family’s heartbreak into a call to confront HIV/AIDS - that revealed the depth of his empathy and understanding. He not only embodied Ubuntu; he taught millions to find that truth within themselves. It took a man like Madiba to free not just the prisoner, but the jailor as well; to show that you must trust others so that they may trust you; to teach that reconciliation is not a matter of ignoring a cruel past, but a means of confronting it with inclusion, generosity and truth. He changed laws, but also hearts.

For the people of South Africa, for those he inspired around the globe - Madiba’s passing is rightly a time of mourning, and a time to celebrate his heroic life. But I believe it should also prompt in each of us a time for self-reflection. With honesty, regardless of our station or circumstance, we must ask: how well have I applied his lessons in my own life?

It is a question I ask myself - as a man and as a President. We know that like South Africa, the United States had to overcome centuries of racial subjugation. As was true here, it took the sacrifice of countless people - known and unknown - to see the dawn of a new day. Michelle and I are the beneficiaries of that struggle. But in America and South Africa, and countries around the globe, we cannot allow our progress to cloud the fact that our work is not done. The struggles that follow the victory of formal equality and universal franchise may not be as filled with drama and moral clarity as those that came before, but they are no less important. For around the world today, we still see children suffering from hunger, and disease; run-down schools, and few prospects for the future. Around the world today, men and women are still imprisoned for their political beliefs; and are still persecuted for what they look like, or how they worship, or who they love.

We, too, must act on behalf of justice. We, too, must act on behalf of peace. There are too many of us who happily embrace Madiba’s legacy of racial reconciliation, but passionately resist even modest reforms that would challenge chronic poverty and growing inequality. There are too many leaders who claim solidarity with Madiba’s struggle for freedom, but do not tolerate dissent from their own people. And there are too many of us who stand on the sidelines, comfortable in complacency or cynicism when our voices must be heard.

The questions we face today - how to promote equality and justice; to uphold freedom and human rights; to end conflict and sectarian war - do not have easy answers. But there were no easy answers in front of that child in Qunu. Nelson Mandela reminds us that it always seems impossible until it is done. South Africa shows us that is true. South Africa shows us we can change. We can choose to live in a world defined not by our differences, but by our common hopes. We can choose a world defined not by conflict, but by peace and justice and opportunity.

We will never see the likes of Nelson Mandela again. But let me say to the young people of Africa, and young people around the world - you can make his life’s work your own. Over thirty years ago, while still a student, I learned of Mandela and the struggles in this land. It stirred something in me. It woke me up to my responsibilities - to others, and to myself - and set me on an improbable journey that finds me here today. And while I will always fall short of Madiba’s example, he makes me want to be better. He speaks to what is best inside us. After this great liberator is laid to rest; when we have returned to our cities and villages, and rejoined our daily routines, let us search then for his strength - for his largeness of spirit - somewhere inside ourselves. And when the night grows dark, when injustice weighs heavy on our hearts, or our best laid plans seem beyond our reach - think of Madiba, and the words that brought him comfort within the four walls of a cell:

It matters not how strait the gate,

How charged with punishments the scroll,

I am the master of my fate:

I am the captain of my soul.

What a great soul it was. We will miss him deeply. May God bless the memory of Nelson Mandela. May God bless the people of South Africa.

Happy Saint Nicholas!

We wish a well-deserved rest to Saint Nicholas!

Nicholas was a Confessor—one who confessed Christ publicly in times of persecution, remaining faithful despite imprisonment, torture or exile. In the Middle Ages Saint Nicholas, along with Martin of Tours, was celebrated as a true people's saint because of the way he lived. 

This was unusual as most early saints were martyrs who had died for their faith. Nicholas was surely an early example of a saint who was honored for the witness of his life. Nicholas was a saint whose life bore witness to God's work through a life of social value, lived carrying out God's will. Both Nicholas and Martin lived to an old age and died peacefully. This may be one reason they were so very popular: They were examples of how to live, rather than how to die in times of persecution.

Therefore Nicholas does not have a date for formal canonization. Rather, the record shows a gradual spread of reverence until a widespread level of recognition and practice established him as a saint everywhere. He was listed on diocesan saints' calendars and eventually included in the normative calendars of the whole church, both east and west.

Term of abuse

Term of abuse
Offensive or derogatory expression - insulte, injure
Oaf

• An awkward stupid person, clumsy person - lourdaud

Scumbag

• Slang to describe a person who is deemed to be despicable or conptemptible - méprisable

Blighter

• Slang, informal, A persistent annoying person - salaud

Gadfly

• informal, person who irritates by persistent demands, criticism

Cuss word, swear word

• Grandma really surprised us when she used a cuss word.- juron

Time and tide wait for no man

He was waiting for the sun to shine!



Time and tide wait for no man.
Prov. Things will not wait for you when you are late. 

• Hurry up or we'll miss the bus! Time and tide wait for no man. 

Stinginess

Stinginess

• To hell with stinginess, Charles Boulin decides to buy his wife a house in the country. - avare

Cheapskate

• My friend is a cheapskate and will not go to a movie with me. - radin

Miserly

• She was left with a miserly amount of compensation. - pingre

Closefisted (with money)
 to be very stingy with money

• The man is closefisted with money and will not spend it.

Tightfisted (with money)

• My uncle is very tightfisted with money and does not want to spend any at all.

Sting - It's probably me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SUYI7kIR0S4

If the night turned cold and the stars looked down
And you hug yourself on the cold cold ground
You wake the morning in a stranger's coat
No one would you see
You ask yourself, who's watched for me
My only friend, who could it be
It's hard to say it
I hate to say it, but it's probably me

When your belly's empty and the hunger's so real
And you're too proud to beg and too dumb to steal
You search the city for your only friend
No one would you see
You ask yourself, who could it be
A solitary voice to speak out and set me free
I hard to say it
I hate to say it, but it's probably me

You're not the easiest person I ever got to know
And it's hard for us both to let our feelings show
Some would say I should let you go your way
You'll only make me cry
If there's one guy, just one guy
Who'd lay down his life for you and die
It's hard to say it
It's hate to say it, but it's probably me

When the world's gone crazy and it makes no sense
There's only one voice that comes to your defense
The jury's out and your eyes search the room
And one friendly face is all you need to see
If there's one guy, just one guy
Who'd lay down his life for you and die
It's hard to say it
I hate to say it, but it's probably me
I hate to say it
I hate to say it, but it's probably me

Having one's nose to the grindstone

Keep (one's) nose to the grindstone
To work hard and steadily, stay diligent; steadily work hard, without breaks or an uneven pace

• She kept her nose to the grindstone all year and got the exam results she wanted.

Put (one's) nose to the grindstone
To work in earnest.

• The boss told me to put my nose to the grindstone. 
• I've had my nose to the grindstone ever since I started working here. 

Undergird

Undergird
to form the basis or foundation of : strengthen, support

• "High school students need to understand the paradigms and traditions that undergird social and political institutions." — From a lesson plan at CNNfyi.com, July 3, 2001
  
• "No one argues that a robust U.S. economy is needed to undergird an effective foreign policy." — From an editorial by Jennifer Rubin in the Washington Post, October 9, 2013

DID YOU KNOW?

The English verb "gird" means, among other things, "to encircle or bind with a flexible band."

When "undergird" first entered English in the 16th century it meant "to make secure underneath," as by passing a rope or chain underneath something (such as a ship).

That literal sense has long since fallen out of use, but in the 19th century "undergird" picked up the figurative "strengthen" or "support" sense that we still use. "Gird" and consequently "undergird" both derive from the Old English "geard," meaning "enclosure" or "yard." "Gird" also gives us "girder," a noun referring to a horizontal piece supporting a structure.

Guinea Pig

Guinea Pig
a subject of research, experimentation, or testing. If someone is used as a guinea pig, new ideas or products are tested on them 

• They're looking for volunteers to act as guinea pigs for a new AIDS vaccine.

Cat vocalizations

Cat communication

Growl, snarl and hiss
The growl, snarl and hiss are all vocalisations associated with either offensive or defensive aggression. They are usually accompanied by apostural display intended to have a visual effect on the perceived threat. - souffler, grogner



Purr
Purring is often believed to indicate a positive emotional state, however, cats sometimes purr when they are ill, tense, or experiencing traumatic or painful moments. - ronronnement (également pour un moteur de voiture)

Meow
Meows are one of the most widely known domestic cat vocalizations.It can be assertive, plaintive, friendly, bold, welcoming, attention soliciting, demanding, or complaining. - miaulement

Chirr
The chirr or chirrup sounds like a meow rolled on the tongue. It is used most commonly by mother cats calling their kittens from the nest. 

Call
The call is loud, rhythmic sound made with the mouth closed. It is primarily associated with female cats soliciting males, and sometimes occurs in males when fighting with each other