ENG 099: Basic Writing, Fall I 2007



ENG 099: Basic Writing Brian T. Murphy

LaGuardia Community College

The following essay is a bit of a mess: there are no paragraph indents, body paragraphs are not in order, sentences in each paragraph are out of order, and several sentences should be deleted completely, as they do not support the ideas of the paragraphs or of the essay. Working together in small groups, read this essay carefully, and double underline the thesis statement and single underline the three topic sentences. Then, determine which sentences should be deleted in each paragraph, and cross them out like this. Finally, rewrite the essay, rearranging the paragraphs and remaining sentences into the correct order.

Some common expressions or sayings come from traditional barroom activities like darts or billiards. However, it is interesting to pause and think about these terms, and one way to do that is to look at three basic categories of expressions: those derived from the use of firearms, those derived from hunting, and those derived from the characteristics of wildlife or game. Expressions derived from outdoor life are so ingrained in everyday English that we fail to notice them or consider their origins. Another group of expressions is derived from hunting. “Stop beating around the bush” is another example of a hunting expression. It comes from the European practice of using “beaters” or people to drive game out of the brush for the hunter to shoot at. To do the job properly, beaters had to get into the middle of the bush where the game was. Otherwise, they were not getting the job done because they were beating around the bush. For example, the word “hello” has its origins there. It comes from hunters calling out “hulloa” or “haloo” when they saw other hunters in the woods in order to attract attention and avoid being accidentally hurt. Today, hunters often wear brightly colored hats or vests instead. If we “make tracks,” we hurry. Originally, this expression referred to an animal going in a hurry and thus leaving behind an easy-to-follow set of tracks. Some animals are easily identified by the tracks they leave. Similarly, if we are “barking up the wrong tree,” we are as mistaken as the hunting dogs that are howling up one tree when the raccoon is out on the limb of a different tree. Being on “the right trail” refers to doing something properly or going in the right direction, but its original meaning referred to a hunter being on the right trail while hunting game. Sayings related to wildlife or game are also interesting. In addition, there are two ways we can get “skunked.” We can actually get sprayed by a skunk, or we can lose a game of some kind very badly—in either case, we lose. For example, we brag about saving money when we are “feathering our nests” or “building our nest eggs,” the way a bird does in the spring. Also, we may be called “owl-eyed” for wearing glasses or be “wise as an owl” for knowing the right answers. If we are “blind as a bat,” we can’t see very well, just as a bat has poor vision. A bat does have outstanding hearing, however. If we have a bad disposition, we are “grouchy as a bear” or old “don’t be such a bear,” since bears have angry temperaments. When hikers are in areas they know are populated by bears, they often wear cowbells or make noises to alert the bears to their presence. Some common sayings come directly from the use of firearms. For example, if we buy something “lock, stock, and barrel,” we have purchased the whole object or believed the whole story. This expression originally meant to buy the whole gun by purchasing its three parts: the “lock” as in the flintlock, the wooden “stock,” and the metal “barrel.” In the half-cocked position, the hammer is between the relaxed position and the fully cocked position, which means the gun is halfway between unready and fully ready for firing. Not all guns can be set to a half-cocked position; automatic rifles, for example, cannot be set this way. We also talk about going off “half-cocked,” which means taking action or setting out without being fully prepared. This expression goes back to having a gun on “half-cock.” Often we say we had our “sights set on” or had a goal “in our sights.” Both of these expressions refer to aiming a gun at something. Also, we can be “primed and ready,” or fully prepared, as when a flintlock rifle is fully primed and ready to fire. Expressions from the outdoors are so common that even those of us who never hunt, shoot, or get close to animals will find ourselves drawing on vocabulary derived from these sources, a fact you may be more aware of from now on.

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