(A cool picture of it raining in Chicago will be here by the end of the day, Okie-dokie? Come back and lookie real soon!)
Hello dear Yumers, and how is life treating you on this fine Friday, the first of April? As we say here in the States: TGIF!
As I write this and look out over my front room window, I watch the rain fall* on a very grey, dreary day. Sigh. Spring can be such a cruel time when you want to bask in the now warming sun's rays and you are instead forced to gaze at with a steel grey sky.
Such is life. Unfortunately (for those of us who aren't farmers of course), rain is quite normal for this time of year. Considering it is the first of April, it is very fitting for me to share with you a popular American proverb that came to my mind as I watched the rain fall:
Proverb:
April showers bring May flowers
Origin: This is early American poetry written by Thomas Tusser in 1557 in A Hundred Good Points of Husbandry, April Husbandry.
"Sweet April showers
Do spring May flowers"
Meaning: In North America, the snow gives way to rain in April. April tends to be a rainy month, but the good news is that it causes all of the flowers to bloom in the month of May. The proverb can also be read this way:
Yes, your life might be gloomy now and something bad has happened to you but cheer up! Your misfortune will bring forth (aka 'bloom' - wordplay, get it?) wonderful things in the very near future for you.
This proverb has also created a joke in the States that school children love to tell:
Child 1: April showers bring May flowers, and what do May flowers bring?
Child 2: Um...I don't know, sunshine? Tell me, what do May flowers bring?
Child 1: (grinning triumphantly that her little friend is stumped) Pilgrims!
Explanation of the Joke
The Mayflower was a very famous ship that sailed from Plymouth England and brought people to the New World who would be known as Pilgrims. Thus, little kids like to tell this joke to everyone to show that they known some American history and also about their knowledge of English as they are now able to do wordplay. They show people that they understand that May flowers are flowers that bloom in the month of May and also put together as one word (Mayflower) they show that they know this word refers to a very famous Colonial American ship.
Essential Vocabulary
TGIF (expression) ~ Thank God It's Friday!
to bask in (v) ~ to enjoy the pleasure of something
such is life (expression) ~ sometime's we don't get our way but this is just how life works. Maybe if we are patient we eventually will get what we desire.
to spring (v) ~ in this example, to bloom. There is always a lot of wordplay this time of year with the word 'spring' because you can write advertising jingles like 'Spring forth into our Springtime sale.' (If you are a marketing person, don't write and tell me that this is lame. I know it is. That is why I am an English instructor and not a cool advert rep in Cali.)
misfortune ~ an unhappy event in life
triumphantly (adv) ~ in victory of having won
to be stumped ~ to be puzzled in frustration; to not be able to come up with an answer that should be easily known
*Note: In this case I'm saying I am watching the action of the raindrops fall from the sky. I could also have written 'I'm watching the rainfall.' In this case then I am saying that I am watching the little drops themselves. A slight but distinct difference. But that is why you are reading this because you want to learn super cool advanced English, right? :)
Any-whoo, I hope you enjoyed today's lesson. I'm going to put on my wellies (British English: Refers to Wellington boots) and go jump in some puddles! Oh, and take that picture of the rain of course!
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