Animals in Britain: Foxhunting

Fox hunting is the sport of hunting foxes with foxhounds by people riding on horses.
Fox hunting takes place in the UK between November and early spring. The horse riders usually wear red coats, and the hunt is controlled by the Master of Foxhounds.
Foxhunting is thought of as a sport for rich people who own land in the countryside. Many people think that fox hunting is cruel and want parliament to pass a law against it, but foxhunters argue that it helps to control the number of foxes.

Did you know?

The term stirrup cup originally referred to a drink offered to a man mounted on horseback and about to depart for the hunt. Now, the phrase refers to the drinking vessel itself. Commonly connected with hunting, many of the cups are made of silver and engraved with mottoes taken from the chase. They are usually in the form of a fox’s head or, more rarely, the head of a greyhound or hare.

Animal Curiosities: Tarantulas, not dangerous to humans

Tarantulas represent a group of hairy and very large (approximately 3-4 cm in length) spiders which belong to the family Theraphosidae. There are many colour variations of tarantulas – from light-brown to dark-gray. Tarantulas live in deep and damp holes in prairies and desert places. In the dark of night tarantulas hunt their prey. The tarantula’s poison is not very dangerous to humans, and some people even keep them as pets. The worst of a tarantula bite to a human is generally severe pain in the spot of the bite, later changing into reddening and swelling. Within 5-6 hours the mild illness resulting from the bite passes.

Swans and their symbolic significance

A great mass of myth, tradition and poetry has gathered in praise of the swan, the spotless bird whose whiteness, strength and grace have made it a living manifestation of light itself...
It is common knowledge that Apollo, the god of poetry and prophecy, was born on Delos on a seventh day. On that day sacred swans flew seven times round the island and then Zeus presented the young god with a chariot drawn by white horses as well as his lyre. This causes Victor Magnien to write that the swan symbolizes "the powers of poetry and of the poet himself". The swan thus becomes the image of the divinely inspired poet.
The swan is also part of alchemical symbolism. Alchemists have always regarded it as an emblem of mercury, being of the same colour and as mobile. Its volatility, too, is displayed by its wings.
In the Far East the swan is the symbol of gracefulness, nobility and valour. This is why the Mongols made the Chou Emperor, Mu, drink swan's blood. it is also the symbol of music and of song.
The fable that the swan sings but one beautiful song just before it dies seems to have strong appeal to the poets. There are references to the dying swan's lovely singing in English as far back as Chaucer and Ben Jonson, for instance, hung the phrase "Sweet Swan of Avon" on Shakespeare.
Swan is one of the oldest words in English and its ancient roots are perhaps related to the source of the English word "sound".
There is also a Black Swan, not disacralized, but charged with occult and inverted symbolism. One example can be found in Andersen's story The Travelling Companion, drawn from the depths of Scandinavian folklore. A bewitched and bloodthirsty maiden is seen in the shape of a black swan. When the swan is dippped three times into cleansing water, it turns white and the princess, freed from the spell, is able at last to love her young husband.

Christmas Animals: Al About Deer

Traditional Christmas cards usually depict Santa Claus and his group of reindeer. Santa Claus's reindeer are a team of flying reindeer traditionally held to pull the sleigh of Santa Claus and help him deliver Christmas gifts.
A deer is any of various hoofed ruminant mammals of the family Cervidae, characteristically having deciduous antlers borne chiefly by the males. The deer family also includes the elk, moose, caribou, and reindeer.

Word History

In various Middle English texts one finds a fish, an ant, or a fox called a der, the Middle English ancestor of our word deer. In its Old English form dor, our word referred to any animal, including members of the deer family, and continued to do so in Middle English, although it also acquired the specific sense "a deer." By the end of the Middle English period, around 1500, the general sense had all but disappeared. Deer is a commonly cited example of a semantic process called specialization, by which the range of a word's meaning is narrowed or restricted. When Shakespeare uses the expression "mice and rats, and such small deer" for Edgar's diet in King Lear, probably written in 1605, we are not sure whether deer has the general or the specific sense. It is interesting to note that the German word Tier, the cognate of English deer, still has the general sense of "animal."

Types of deer & deer-related words:

antler - deciduous horn of a member of the deer family
scut - a short erect tail
flag - a conspicuously marked or shaped tail
ruminant - any of various cud-chewing hoofed mammals having a stomach divided into four (occasionally three) compartments
Cervidae, family Cervidae - deer: reindeer; moose or elks; muntjacs; roe deer
pricket - male deer in his second year
buck - a male deer

doe - a female deer

fawn - a young deer
red deer - common deer of temperate Europe and Asia
American elk - large North American deer with large much-branched antlers in the male
Cervus nipon, Japanese deer, sika - small deer of Japan with slightly forked antlers
Virginia deer, white-tailed deer - common North American deer; its tail has a white underside
elk / moose - large northern deer with enormous flattened antlers in the male; called `elk' in Europe and `moose' in North America
fallow deer - small Eurasian deer
roe deer - small graceful deer of Eurasian woodlands having small forked antlers
caribou, reindeer - Arctic deer with large antlers in both sexes; called `reindeer' in Eurasia and `caribou' in North America

Language & Animals: Parrots

A parrot is any of a large group of usually tropical birds that have a curved beak and usually brightly coloured feathers. Some of these birds can be taught to copy human speech. They are sometimes taken to other countries and kept as pets.
Polly is a traditional name for a parrot and parrots are often taught to say “pretty Polly”. In stories, pirates often have a parrtot which sits on their shoulder and says “pieces of eight” (= old valuable coins).
A parrot is also a person who copies, often without understanding, the words or actions of another.
Parrot fashion means by continuous repeating, but without real understanding
The children learnt the poem parrot fashion.
If someone's sick as a parrot about something, they are unhappy, disappointed or depressed about it.
The Dead Parrot sketch, known as the Pet Shop sketch or Parrot Sketch, is a popular sketch from Monty Python's Flying Circus, and one of the most famous in the history of British television comedy. The sketch portrays a conflict between disgruntled customer Mr Praline and a shopkeeper, who hold contradictory positions on the vital state of a "Norwegian Blue" parrot.
Psittacosis is a bacterial disease that can be caught from birds such as parrots, pigeons, and parakeets (= a small slender long-tailed parrot). The disease is not common, with only 50 reported cases in the United States each year.
Psittacosis usually gives flu-like symptoms, such as fevers, chills, headaches, muscle aches, and a dry cough. The disease can also look like pneumonia on an x-ray. In rare cases, Psittacosis can cause endocarditis - swelling of joints, and swelling of the cornea.
Psittacosis can be easily treated with antibiotics, especially with Tetracycline. The disease rarely kills people, with only 1% of those who get the disease dying.

Animals: Pheasants in UK and US

A pheasant a large long-tailed bird, shot for food, the male of which is usually brightly coloured. Pheasants can legally be shot in certain seasons in Britain and the US, and in Britain shooting them is considered an upper-class sport.

Cool Link:
Animal Symbolism of the Pheasant

Pets in Britain: Rottweilers

The rottweiler is a German breed of dog which has a large body and head, and very strong muscles, used to guard people, property or (originally) animals.
Rottweilers became feared by many people after a series of violent attacks on adults and children in the late 1980s and early 1990s. In Britain rottweilers must now be registered and wear a covering around their mouth when outside to prevent them from biting.

PC Language: Cupcakes or Fairy Cakes?

Cupcakes -and the Magnolia Bakery, where they are baked- became popular after being extensively featured in the programme Sex and the City. A cupcake is a small cake for one person, usually made in a small paper cup container. As with larger cakes, icing and other decorations, such as sprinkles, are often put on them. A simple cupcake uses the same ingredients as most other traditional cakes: butter, sugar, eggs, and flour.
Cupcakes are often served during a celebration, such as children's birthday parties. They are a convenient alternative to cakes because they do not require plates, utensils, or dividing into pieces as they are small. Cupcakes were first invented in the early 1800's and the first recipes for them appeared in the book “American Cookery” by Amelia Simms.
In Australian English a cupcake is called a patty cake or a cup cake. In British English a cupcake is called a fairy cake. The name "fairy cake" makes reference to its size, which would be appropriate for a party of diminutive fairies to share. However, many people tend to disfavour the use of the word “fairy cake” because of its associations with homosexuality.

In English, “Fairy” is an offensive slang term used to refer to a male homosexual.
A butterfly cake is a variant of cupcake, also called fairy cake, because the top of this cake resembles butterfly or fairy "wings". This fanciful descriptive term can also be regarded as potentially offensive. The street term for homosexual in Mexico is “Mariposa”, meaning butterfly in Spanish. The stereotyped image of a homosexual is that of an effeminate male who leads an active social life composed of many appearances at bars and parties. Homosexuals may be called “Mariposas” because of their associations with butterflies symbolizing femininity, and the butterfly’s habit of “flitting” from flower to flower. In America, the term “Flit” has been commonly used as a synonym for homosexual. In British English, the butterfly (symbolizing transformation or metamorphosis) is a popular transgender symbol, used to identify transvestites, transsexuals, and other people who modify their gender.
A butterfly also symbolizes fire since fire is an element of transformation. Curiously, the word flamer (derived from flame) means a blatantly obvious homosexual person.
In this 21st century world, where people have to mind their words so as not to be politically incorrect, words such as fairy cake and butterfly cake can be tainted with negative or offensive connotations.

Did you know?

The term fruitcake (a heavy spiced cake containing nuts and candied or dried fruits) meaning an eccentric (crazy) person began to be used in the 1910s. It derived from the English expression "nutty as a fruitcake". By the 1930s the term fruitcake (a heavy spiced cake containing nuts and candied or dried fruits) began to be seen as not only negative but also to mean a male homosexual. It should be noted that gay people were regularly "treated" with castration, lobotomies, nerve surgery, and electroshock treatment, that is why the meaning of fruitcake, nutty, originally used for someone who is deemed insane, or crazy, was transferred to homosecual people since many apparently believed that they were mentally unsound. In the United States, psychiatric institutions ("mental hospitals") were called fruitcake factories while in 1960s Australia they were called fruit factories.

Special Vocabulary: Bees

English-Spanish Glossary: Bees

as busy as a bee: estar muy ocupado

beehive: colmena

beekeeper: apicultor

beekeeping: apicultura

bee-sting: picadura de abeja

beeswax: cera de abejas

bumblebee: abejorro

drone honey bee: zángano

honey: miel

honey bee: abeja melífera

honeycomb: panal de miel

honey house: almacén de venta de miel

killer bee: abeha asesina

queen bee: abeja reina

royal jelly: jalea real

spelling bee: concurso de deletreo u ortografía

swarm of bees: enjambre de abejas

worker bee: abeja obrera

Did you know?

- In Spanish there is an embroidery technique known as "nido de abejas" (bee nest). In English, however, it is called smocking.

- Melissa is a given name for a female child. The name has a Greek origin and it means "honey bee". Melissa also refers to the plant known as lemon balm, which attracts bees. The herb has a long reputation for its calming properties and is widely used in aromatherapy.

Advertising: The Dog Behind the Paint

Dulux is a type of paint used for painting the inside and outside of houses made by the British company ICI. Dulux is an internationally available brand of paint. It is known for the large sheepdog (= a large dog with long grey and white hair) that appears in its advertisements, and this type of dog is sometimes called a Dulux dog.

Did you know?

Fernville Lord Digby, was the most famous Dulux dog and also made his owner, Cynthia Harrison, famous. When filming advertisements, Digby was treated like a star, being driven to the studio in a chauffeur driven car. The famous British dog trainer Barbara Woodhouse was employed to train Digby and his three stunt doubles, who were used whenever specific tricks or actions needed to be filmed.

Cool Video:

One of the most memorable Dulux adverts from around 1990:

Men & Monkeys: Three & Wise

The Three Wise Men

The Three Wise Men (also The Three Kings or the Magi) in the New Testament of the Bible they were three kings or wise men who came from the East, guided by a star, and brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh for the baby Jesus. Myrrh and francincense, being herbs valued like gold, were mentioned repeatedly in the Old Testament. myrrh was also used to anoint Jesus' body after the crucifixion.

The Three Wise Monkeys

They are three monkeys who are shown in pictures sitting in a row. The first has its hands covering its eyes, the second has its hands covering its ears and the third has its hands covering its mouth. Together they represent the phrase "see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil".

Pets in UK: Chimpanzees

Chimpanzees (= dark-haired African apes) are thought to be the most intelligent of the apes. In British zoos in the past, chimps were often dressed in clothes, sat at tables and given food to have a chimpanzees' tea party for people to watch, but now this is felt to be cruel.

Pets in Britain: Budgerigars

The Budgerigar (nicknamed budgie) is a small parrot. Budgerigars are often called parakeets, especially in American English. The term Parakeet refers to many types of small parrots with long flat tails. The budgerigar is found in the drier parts of Australia. It has lived there for over 5 million years. It is commonly kept as a caged seed-eating bird. Budgerigars are popular pets in Britain due to their small size, low cost, and playful nature.

Language & Animals: Wolves

We all know it is the fable and fairytale wolf who lawlessly huffs down the little Piggies homes and heartlessly swallows Little Red Riding Hood. It is the dastardly wolf who is behind such popular expressions as:

Cry wolf - raise a false alarm.
Wolf at the door - starvation; financial ruin.
Whose afraid of the big bad wolf - a scoff.
A wolf - a cruel, ferocious or rapacious person; a womaniser.
To wolf - to eat ravenously.
A wolf in sheep's clothing - a deceptive or treacherous person.
A wolf's lair - a sinister or cunning person's base.
A wolf pack - a group of bruisers.
Wolf-whistle - a whistle of sexual liking for a woman.
Throw to the wolves - sacrifice someone to save yourself.
Wolf note - a consistent bum note on a musical instrument.
Wolfy - ferocious, uncivilised.

These wolves are the wolf of allegory, fable, myth, parable, anecdote, yarn, exaggeration and fib. Though wolves are pictured in the common mind as brutal ferocity personified, people who live up close to wolves for a long time are struck by their friendliness and varied but unique individual characters.

* Cultural note on wolves:

In the Middle Ages it was believed that people could tranform into animals. The most ferocious and carnivorous animal was the wolf: it was a symbol of cruelty and hunger and it represented winter, storms and the night. The wolf was thus considered a messenger of death.
Stories about woves (especially fairy tales) were told to the most vulnerable: children, so that they understood the difference between good and evil.
It was later discovered the so-called werewolves suffered from a mental disease called lycanthropy: a psychological pathology which implied cannibalism. Lycanthropes used to howl, run in four legs, eat raw meat and have great delusions. Some of them were believed to be acting under the influence of drugs, some used to rub ointments prepared with belladonna, poppy seeds and aconitum which was poisonous and produced hallucinations. In the XVII, lycanthropes were confined to monasteries.

Animals: Greyhounds in Britain & America

The greyhound is a type of thin dog with long thin legs that can run very fast in hunting and especially racing.

The Greyhound Bus is a type of bus service connecting cities in the US, operated by Greyhound Lines Inc. Greyhound buses are a popular way of travelling in the US, because they are cheaper than renting a car or going by plane. However, they often make stops in small towns along the way, so travelling can take a long time.

Greyhound racing is a popular sport in Britain in which greyhounds run around a track chasing a model hare, driven by an electronic motor. People risk their money on which dog will win the race. This sport is also found in the US, but is not as popular there as in Britain.

Dogs and Science: The Conditioned Reflex

Ivan Petrovich Pavlov (1849-1936) was a Russian scientist who won the Nobel prize for Medicine for his work on the digestive system. He is known especially for his work with dogs, which proved the existence of the conditioned reflex (= a physical reaction that you cannot control, caused by repeated training or experiences). Each time he fed his dogs he rang a bell before giving them their food. The dogs learned to connect the ringing of the bell with the arrival of the food, and they got excited and began to salivate when they heard the bell, even if there was no food.

History and Animals: Elephants

Hannibal (247-183 BC) was a general who led the army of Carthage in its war against the Romans between 218 and 201 BC. Hannibal is known especially for having crossed the Alps into Italy with a large army and 37 war elephants. By marching an army from Iberia over the Pyrenees mountains and the Alps mountains into northern Italy, he defeated the Romans in a series of battles. Hannibal is considered as one of the greatest military commanders in history and the mystery of how he crossed th Alps in 218 BCE with an army accompanied by 25000 men and 37 elephants has fascinated historians of all times.

Did you know?

A war elephant is an elephant trained and guided by humans for combat. Their main use was to charge the enemy, trampling them and breaking their ranks.

British Superstitions: Gibraltar's Barbary Apes

Gibraltar is a huge rock found to the south of Spain. The region belongs to the United Kingdom. The Rock of Gibraltar is cconsidered to be the most famous rock in the world.
The stretch of water that separates Gibraltar from north Africa is called the Strait of Gibraltar and throughout history it has played a strategic part in battles fought and won to control the western Mediterranean seaways.
Intrinsically linked with the sea, Gibraltar is one of the busiest ports of call in the Mediterranean. The apes in Gibraltar are world famous, and perhaps Gibraltar's most important tourist attraction. The Barbary Apes, Macaca Sylvanus, are actually tail-less monkeys and they are the only free-roaming monkeys in Europe.
Natives of North Africa, their presence in Gibraltar probably dates from the early days of the British garrison when it is presumed that they were imported as pets or even game, inevitably finding the rough limestone cliffs and scrub vegetation a congenial habitat.
In fact, many legends have grown up around them. One is that they travelled from their native Morocco via a subterranean tunnel starting at St Michael's Cave leading down underneath the strait.
The fact is that the apes are firmly established on the Rock. Another legend claims that should the apes ever disappear, the British will leave Gibraltar. A popular belief holds that as long as Barbary Macaques exist on Gibraltar, the territory will remain under British rule. During the Second World War, natural causes diminished the ape numbers alarmingly, and they were in danger of extinction on the Rock. Fortunately, Sir Winston Churchill took a personal interest and additional animals were imported from Morocco.
Today, in addition to the pack resident at Apes Den, there are five other packs living wild on the steep slopes of the Rock. The welfare of the Barbary Apes is now in the hands of the Gibraltar Ornithological and Natural History Society and the R.S.P.C.A.

Very British: The Glorious Twelfth

A grouse is a smallish fat bird, which is shot for food and sport. In Britain, grouse shooting begins every year on August 12th (known as the ‘Glorious Twelfth’) and ends on December 10th. It is popular especially with the aristocracy and richer classes of the British society.
The "Glorious 12th" begins the season when thousands of grouse hunters take to Britain's heather moors in pursuit of the bird.
A survey by the Game & Wildlife Conservation Trust said the grouse population has grown by an average of 25%. But some moors have been ravaged by a heather-eating beetle, which have destroyed the grouse's natural habitat. A mild winter followed by a warm and wet early summer provided the ideal condition for heather beetle larvae to thrive. In spite of all difficulties, the Glorious Twelfth is a very traditional day. Everyone gets geared up for it. It is part of Britain's cultural heritage. It's been going for 150 years and it hasn't changed.