THE PATH - CHAPTER ONE

Chapter One

His friends crowded the place. He had invited everyone he still kept tabs with. This job promotion would get him a place among the best lawyers in the whole country. Including, among the top paid ones.
Steven was very well dressed, as always. His charmeuse baby-blue shirt was so smooth and shiny that the girls couldn’t walk past him without gawking at him. That was the whole point for buying a US$ 1,200.00 one-of-a-kind designer garment. Wearing custom-made expensive pants and a Platinum Rolex watch nearly made him a million dollar man.
He danced for a little while and before he started sweating, he made a stop at the bar and ordered a double BOZ-MOPOLITAN.

Noel slouched right next to him: ‘Nice crowd, buddy’

‘You bet. I want everybody to know how sucking up can take you places. Besides, I’ve worked my ass off to deserve my own office on the top floor.’ He worked hard, round the clock. He’s reaping his reward as a member of clerisy.

Noel laughed. He knew his friend loved to flaunt his accomplishments. More than that, he loved to see the impressed look on people’s faces; it was one indescribable pleasure.

‘Think you are going to hook one tonight?’

‘I might. There are interesting possibilities. See that redheaded? She’s had her eye on me all night. She’s my type, I’m alone tonight, fill in the blanks.’

‘Sounds to me as if someone is in love’

‘Yeah, right. Like love is really around’

‘What’s her face?’

‘That’s what I am about to find out.’

He walked confidently to her and began a conversation by mentioning his new Maserati Quattroporte. Of course she denied she knew he drove that kind of car, but she’d been following his moves since before he got there. She was aware of everything about him. Weeks ago, her friend Donna had tipped her off about the ‘catch’ who was throwing a costly party that night.

With long wavy reddish-brown hair, an angel face and a figure able of breaking even the pope’s neck, Stacey decided long ago that now it was time to find a well-off yuppie, settle down and, if things didn’t work out the way she had planned, rip him off when he files for divorce. Apparently, Steven had all she ever dreamed of. And more.

‘So, what’s your favorite wine?’

‘The one that pleasures me!’ she spoke with a softened southern accent that turned Steven on and smiled.

He hung out with her for some time, browsed around to see what else was on the ‘shelves’ and chatted with close friends. When he was drained of the conversation, he paid everybody’s bills – he was running a tab - and left with this incredibly gorgeous woman.


. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .


In the morning, the telephone rang once. Through the satin curtains, Steven was able to see the dark blue sky and the sun, which was about to rise. He quickly picked up the receiver and said hello with a husky voice that evidenced his nightly exertion.

‘Was she the one?’ Noel asked sarcastically.

‘Yeah. She’s the ONE . . . night stand!’

TO GET TOSSED AROUND

Pro-active is a word that gets tossed around quite often.

It's that time of year again, when the words "must win" get tossed around more than a frisbee at a hippie convention.

http://communities.canada.com/OTTAWACITIZEN/blogs/hockeycapital/archive/2010/03/22/gameday-preview-senators-at-canadiens-on-march-22-2010.aspx

By reading these sentences, I am pretty sure you can understand what the expression means.

But just in case: used in many ocasions

BRING ABOUT and FACTOR IN

Enthralling question, ny friend:

Here goes

Bring about means to cause.

e.g.

Land reform brought about some people to move to the country.

or

like in this book title:

The Hollow Hope: Can Courts Bring About Social Change?

Factor in means include as an important element; take into account.


If we factor in his amazing effort to quit smoking, we must say he was responsible for his success.

or


How do child care costs get factored in?

http://family-law.freeadvice.com/child_support/child_care_costs.htm

RAIN ON MY PARADE

Sergio,

thanks for your interest in my blog. But let's get down to business.

RAIN ON MY PARADE is an expression that means 'spoil my plans'

e.g.

Don't rain on my parade. I have plans to visit my folks on the holidays.

or

Get ready for me love
'Cause I'm a "comer"
I simply gotta march
My heart's a drummer
Don't bring around the cloud to rain on my parade

Bobby Darin - Don't Rain on My Parade Lyrics

also, you can say:

don't burst my bubble. got it?

UPTAKE

Uptake

Don't ask Jess about anything. He's really slow on the uptake.

- understanding; mental grasp

WEAR THIN

Wear thin

verb


- become less appealing, less interesting or less tolerable.


e.g.

You want to dump this board game on me because it wore thin.

or

Australian broadband is fake and our patience wore thin quicker.

http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=6795543421

LOGY

Hey everyone

To answer Barbara's question:

Logy means lacking in energy; sluggish

e.g.

After taking a strong pain-killer, she felt logy.

or

"Initiated by the bite of a deer tick that has previously fed on an infected mouse, vole, or white-tailed deer, the victim first feels logy, headachy and strangely disconnected ..."

http://www.mvtimes.com/calendar/2006/05/04/off_north_road.php

clear?

LAY OFF

Right to the point:

LAY OFF - to dismiss (an employee), esp. temporarily because of slack business.

e.g.

"A lot of people are getting laid off," says Jennifer Bender, vice president at Central Casting. "So we have quite a variety of people coming in looking for ways to make extra money, and it's a good way to supplement their income until they can figure out what to do with their next career."

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=104848039

RAMP UP

Hey

With the news of this swine flu, this word has come up ubiquitously.


e.g.

Labs confirmed they are going to ramp up production of anti virus medicine.

or

Influenza vaccine companies are being told to ramp up production of anti-virus vaccines.(politicolnews)

RAMP UP

TAPER OFF

A flood will be inevitable if the storm doesn't start to taper off soon.

Were you able to figure out the meaning?









Taper off means to cease by degrees.
Did it help, Sonia?

RIGHT OFF THE BAT

Hi again

I can't get her phone number right off the bat, but I can get it for you soon.

Did you get the meaning?

She said, right off the bat, that if a photo is in their system, it is considered a "file photo. ..."

www.flickr.com/groups/85408530@N00/discuss/72157607797025817/

Right off the bar means immediately. It is believed to have something to do with the speed of a baseball being hit.

That's it!

PULL SOMETHING OFF

Hey, dudes

Pull something off means to acomplish something successfully; especially something that is somewhat difficult.

e.g.

Meg wasn't sure she could ace the English test, but she pulled it off.

or

If the stadiums in the capitals are not built, the Euro 2012 will go to neither country. What’s amazing and to the host countries’ credit, the reaction was swift coming only two days later, and united making me wonder that Poland and Ukraine just might pull this off - to become the first former communist countries to host a Euro championship.

http://the8thcircle.com/2008/11/14/they-just-might-pull-it-off-in-2012/

capicci?

GET A KICK OUT OF SOMETHING

Hey you,

To get a kick out of something is to be amused by a situation.

e.g.

Brian: What did you tell on me at school today?
Cindy:To get a kick out of it.

or

Bullies may get kick out of seeing others in pain

Aggressive teens' brains light up at the sight of distress, experts say

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27592980/

That's it!

See you.

LACONIC

Hi fellows,

Laconic is an adjective and it means concise; using few words to communicate.


e.g.

No one was surprised Brian's acceptance speech had 12 words. He's always had the reputation for being laconic.

or

Bill Murray, the actor, has become increasingly minimal, increasingly mysterious.

He’s always been sardonic, always been laconic, always appeared smarter and a tad bitter in even more mainstream hits like Stripes, Ghostbusters, and Groundhog Day.

http://sunsetgun.typepad.com/sunsetgun/2005/08/bill_i_love_you.html

O.K.?

FALL BACK ON

Hi everyone

Sorry it took me a while to answer.

Fall back on means to have recourse to save you in case of an emergency.

For instance,

Whenever I can, I save some money from my pay. I think this is wise because I can have something to fall back on in case I lose my job.

or

Josh Brolin, supporting actor for Milk
"Don't do it, become a lawyer; have something to fall back on." —On his father's advice when he became an actor.

http://www.tvguide.com/News/Oscar-Nominees-Quotes-1003093.aspx

See?

See you next time.

BASK

Hello

I got this question by email (yes, you can always email me and ask for privacy).

Bask is to enjoy a pleasant situation.

E.g. As soon as I am finished, I am going to bask in my favorite tropical beach.

Clear?

See you soon.

WHEN PUSH COMES TO SHOVE

Hi there,

"When push comes to shove"

I get asked a lot what this expression means. It simply means that if a situation gets really bad, you have to do what you have to do. An example might help you understand it.

e.g. When push comes to shove, we'll have to sell our dinner table to buy dinner.

Well, let me know if you are able to use this expression now.

Thanks a lot for your question, Lamara.

Take care.

IT'S NOT ALL IT'S CRACKED UP TO BE

Noel (not his real name) has been trying to understand the meaning of this expression and came to me.

Luckily for him ( and for me, after all, it's my blog) I was able to help him.

His latest article is not all it's cracked up to be.

It means it is as not as good as people say it is.

Get it?

See you next time.

CUT FROM THE SAME CLOTH

Some people came to me this week and asked how they could refer to people who are very similar. I take that this question comes from a wide spread saying used in our country.

Here goes:

Cut from the same cloth means to have the same characteristics. So you can say:

I am not sure who I am going to vote for. Both candidates are cut from the same cloth.

P.S. mind you,I am not talking about the American election,right?

That's all for now.

TIT FOR TAT

This expression has been used quite often in the last few weeks by canditates. Tit for tat is an adjective which means something given in return; and equivalent retaliation.
An example may help you understand:

I don't want to get tit fo tat with Sen. MacCain.

Is that clear?