innovation3

As I was perusing today’s posts in my Google Reader, at Lucacept I came across Jenny Luca’s funny and touching story, Students are doing it for themselves, about a student, who posted to the class Ning just when Jenny needed a pick-me-UP. For me it is always good idea to remember not to take myself to seriously, to come DOWN from my perch and remember why we all put so much of ourselves into helping students become self-directed, life-long learners. I wrote this post for the fun of it, I guess.

P.S. It will help you savor the beauty of connectedness if you read Jenny’s post at some point.

DOWN. A little word with a lot of meaning.

SETTLE DOWN AND PAY ATTENTION:

“down”

Lovers of the English language might enjoy this. It is yet another example of why people learning English have trouble with the language. Learning the nuances of English makes it a difficult language. (But then, that’s probably true of many languages.)

There is a four-letter word in English that perhaps has more meanings than any other four-letter word, and that word is ‘DOWN.’ It is listed in the dictionary as being used as an [adv], [prep], [adj], [n] or [v].

It’s easy to understand DOWN, meaning in a lower place or position, esp. to or on the ground or another surface, but when we move about, why do go DOWN the street? And why do so many people live DOWN south while I’m living up north?

At a meeting, why does a topic sometimes make me feel DOWN, and why do people sometimes shout DOWN speakers? Why are candidates for office DOWN in the polls, and why is the secretary responsible for writing DOWN what is said?

If I am sick, I may find it hard to keep my food DOWN, but to recover I probably should DOWN my medicine. At times like that, going DOWN to the pub is out of the question. Of course, lately the ups and DOWNS in the stock market are the reason why so many people are DOWN on their luck!

At other times the little word has a real meaning. People put DOWN others they don’t like, we may decide to stand DOWN if a cause seems lost, I work DOWN the grocery list, and I always seem to be on a diet to slim DOWN.

To dressed up is special but to dress DOWN is more comfortable.

And this “down” seems confusing:

If a football team has four DOWNS to make a first DOWN, why does a player with the ball work so hard to avoid falling DOWN on each DOWN.

We shut DOWN a store at night and return home so we can lie (1) DOWN on the sofa to rest awhile, but we turn DOWN the lights when the sun is bright and we open the store in the morning.

If you plan to chop down trees, you must look DOWN your line of sight to be sure no one is in harm’s way, and (if it is cold out) be sure to wear your DOWN jacket. Also don’t forget to stare DOWN any fear you have for cutting the tree, postponing the work until another day might cause you to miss out on your sailing trip DOWN the coast.

One could go on & on, but I’ll put DOWN my mouse, for now ……. It’s time to go DOWN stairs to turn DOWN the lights and the sound from the TV for a quiet evening at home with the kids!

Oh….despite what I’ve said, there is little I can do to turn your world upside DOWN:

What is the first thing you do in the morning & the last thing you do at night?

That’s right. U P

Jenny, I don’t have access to your class Ning, but if you see fit, feel free to pass this post on to the student who’s post prompted me to model this post on the post she and her dad shared with you and the class through the Ning.

1 “If you exclude the meaning “to tell an untruth” and just focus on the setting/reclining meaning of lay and lie, then the important distinction is that lay requires a direct object and lie does not. So you lie DOWN on the sofa (no direct object), but you lay the book DOWN on the table (the book is the direct object).”

Source of this quote and the correct use of lie in the post: Grammar Girl – http://grammar.quickanddirtytips.com/lay-versus-lie.aspx CAPITALS: mine.