That’s a given

That’s a given

From the stable to the cross – from the first Christmas to the Cross – this is the real message of Christmas. There were no reindeer, no Santa Claus, no Father Christmas or Christmas trees with coloured lights. Yes, there were animals in the stable, there was a candle burning in the darkness and a new star shining on the lowly stall below. Yes, there were presents – three: Gold, Frankincense and Myrrh. This is why we give presents at Christmas time.

Gold was given because Jesus was a King and God had placed His Son with Joseph and Mary, and so He wanted to make sure that all His expenses were paid for in the future and that Joseph wasn’t burdened by having God’s Son in his family. Frankincense means the beautiful aroma of the life of Jesus here on earth and the Myrrh was one of the spices that a person’s body was anointed with before they were buried and so this speaks prophetically of the death of Jesus on the Cross.

NOTE: Business English etc.

can be found below the translation exercises.

Translate the Text: Übersetzen:

Susann, Faten, Rico, Heike, Simone and Frank.

Willst du dieses Kleid oder diesen Hut einpacken?

Ich kann das Kleid nicht finden, ist es im Schrank?

Musst du wirklich noch das T-shirt waschen?

Ich muss wieder das T-shirt waschen.

Welche Socken willst du einpacken?

Welche Schuhe willst du einpacken?

Ich muss diese Socken einpacken.

Die Socken sind lustig, sie sind lila und rot.

Ich muss die Socken waschen, sie sind schmutzig.

Welche Socken musst du waschen?

Die Koffer sind voll, sie sind wirklich schwer.

Wir brauchen Sandalen für den Strand.

Nein, ich mag die Socken nicht, sie sind zu klein.

Ich trage im Sommer Sandalen mit Socken.

Ich trage Sandalen mit Socken im Sommer.

Ich brauche diese Sandalen, aber der Koffer ist voll.

Welche Jeans musst du noch waschen?

Meine Koffer sind schon voll, wo sind deine Koffer?

Musst du diese Socken noch waschen?

Sind die Koffer schon voll?

 

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Business English Word of the Week:

GeschäftsenglischWort der Woche:

As they say in business, “time is money.”

Sample Sentence:

“Come on we need to move things on, time is money, we cannot waste any more time on discussing these peripheral issues.”

 

Law English word of the Week:

Gesetz Englisches Wort der Woche:

Attn:

This stands “for attention” or “for the attention of“.

Sample Sentence:

“This legal document is ATTN: of the CEO, FEO, TEO and the OEO.”

Here’s the format that’s usually used in letters, emails and memos: Attn: + [name or title of person]

Attn: Mark Brislin (CEO).

 

Vocabulary for Contracts: Wortschatz für Verträge:

approx.

This abbreviation can be used as a shortened form of the word approximate or approximately.

Sample Sentence:

“We expect the contract to be fulfilled approx. one week and no later after the specified date of completion. After this one-week period of ‘grace’ in the case of unforeseen circumstances, a sum of one per cent of the total cost will be added to the final cost per day.”

 

Vocabulary for Negotiations:

Wortschatz für Verhandlungen:

FYI

This is an acronym for the phrase For Your Information.

It’s often used to draw attention to certain information such as data, reports or file attachments.

FYI, the monthly sales report for June is attached to this email.

Sample Sentence:

“FYI, the monthly sales report for the last six months of the company you are interested in acquiring is attached to this email.”

 

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Word of the day: Wort des Tages:

The word “Christmas” means:

Christmas is a Christian festival celebrating the birth of Jesus. The English term Christmas (“mass on Christ’s day”) is of fairly recent origin. The earlier term Yule may have derived from the Germanic jōl or the Anglo-Saxon geōl, which referred to the feast of the winter solstice.

Sample Sentence:

“Many people think of all the commercial associations of Christmas, like being off work, eating and drinking too much, buying lots of presents, work Christmas parties, decorating the tree and putting up decorations around the house; including lots of coloured lights. Whereas the true meaning of Christmas is firstly in the word CHRIST MAS“. The CHRIST, the Messiah, the Anointed One. We are celebrating the day that God became a man who lived the life of a man so that he knows all of our weaknesses and temptations, yet he never gave in to them. He lived a sinless life so that we can be forgiven of our sinful lives and have a relationship with Him, God the Father and the Holy Spirit. He died in our place on a tree, not a Christmas tree, but a rugged cross. Jesus Christ is God’s gift, God’s present to Mankind; this is free and given with His love, just as we give Christmas presents to those that we love.

 

Phrase of the day: Satz des Tages:

“That’s a given” “That goes without saying.”

Idiom of the day: Redewendung des Tages:

“A bad lot” means slang. : a worthless, unreliable, immoral, or dishonest person: crook, troublemaker. decoyed by a thoroughly bad lot of a friend into helping him in a burglary M. R. Ridley.

Sample Sentence:

“Don’t trust that scoundrel Putin, he’s always making trouble with other countries. In my opinion, he is a bad lot.”

 

British English (B.E.) / American English (A.E.) Vocabulary:

Britisches Englisch / Amerikanisches Englisch Wortschatz:

British English (B.E.) = flex

American English (A.E.) = electric cord or wire.

Special Grammar tip of the week:

Spezieller Grammatik-Tipp der Woche:

The present continuous tense is:

am / is are -ing (eg. doing, eating, raining, running, writing, negotiating, working, telephoning, speaking etc.) This is used to express something that is HAPPENING NOW! Something that has started in the PAST and is continuing right up until the moment of speaking and this action may even go beyond that moment.

For example

“I am painting a lovely picture.” “I am building a house.” “I am making a telephone call.” “I am creating a 3D model of the construction site / the apparatus.” “I am hosting a business meeting.” “I am in the midst of negotiating with a potential client.”

 

Pronunciation tip: Aussprachetipp:

“Twelve twins twirled twelve twigs.”

Try and say this sentence ten times quickly without a mistake.

Versuchen Sie, diesen Satz zehnmal schnell und fehlerfrei zu sagen.

 

False Friends Tip of the Week: Falsche Freunde Tipp der Woche:

German   Translation                 False Friend (F.F.)   Meaning of F.F.

Delikat        delicious; exquisite                  delicate                    heikel

 

Wit, wit, wit:

Witz, Witz, Witz:

“I will be so brief I have already finished.” Quote by Salvador Dali.

 

Slang word of the day: Slangwort des Tages:

“As black as the Ace of Spades” means completely black; totally without light or colour. (“Spades” is a black suit in a deck of cards.) Potentially offensive, due to the history of “spade” as a derogatory slang term for a black person. 

Sample Sentence:

“The basement gives me the creeps, it’s as black as the ace of spades down there!“

 

Colloquial / Colloquialisms:

Umgangssprache / Umgangssprache:

“to be in the sticks” means an area in the country that is far away from towns and cities.

Sample Sentence:

“We live way out in the sticks.“

 

Cockney rhyming slang: Cockney Reimender Slang:

“Brown bread“ = dead.

Sample Sentence:

“No use calling a doctor mate, he’s brown bread!”

 

Quote of the week: Zitat der Woche:

“Ah, the patter of little feet around the house. There’s nothing like having a midget for a butler.” W. C. Fields.

This statement is truer today than it was at the time that George Bernard Shaw made it!

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