What Does Avoir Un Poil Dans La Main Mean in French

Avoir un poil dans la main  is a rather common French expression. It means to be extremely lazy, though the literal translation requires a bit of explanation. The Meaning of  Avoir un poil dans la main Avoir un poil dans la main  is pronounced  ah vwah roo(n) pwahl da(n) lah meh(n). It literally means to have a hair in the hand, which doesnt make a lot of sense at first. However, the expression is used to convey that someone is extremely lazy, bone-idle, or, quite simply, a lazybones. When using the expression, do remember that you need to conjugate  avoir  (to have) to match the subject pronoun and tense of the sentence. The phrase falls into Frenchs informal register, meaning it is often reserved for casual conversations with people youre most familiar with. Making Sense of an Odd Expression Though its unclear as to where the expression originated, its often attributed to the late 1800s, if not earlier. The reason this expression refers to laziness likely has something to do with manual labor, which was standard at the time. It also requires an exercise in visualization to get the full picture.   Avoir un poil dans la main  and its accompanying gesture offer a very precise image of a hand that is so idle theres actually a  hair growing out of it.  This is assumed to be because a hand that does not work is not subject to the friction that inhibits hair growth on the palm. The biological facts of how rare hair growth is in the palm calls this into question. And yet, we must also remember that this is something French peasants centuries ago may not have understood. Its also possible that the phrase could be saying that the person is so lazy that he cant be bothered to pluck—or even notice—a hair growing in such a ridiculous place. Other people speculate that a hair is a very personal object which is not to be lost. Therefore, if someone holds something so dear, they cannot possibly open that hand to do any manual labor. Using the Expression in Context How would you use such an odd expression in conversation? Its actually quite easy and can simply be added to express the extent of the laziness youre trying to explain. Depuis le dà ©mà ©nagement, il ne fait rien. Il a un poil dans la main. -  Since the move, he hasnt done anything. Hes a real lazybones. To express even greater laziness, you can take it a step further by increasing the size of the hair. Both of these are common variations on the expression.   Il une queue de vache dans la main.  - He has a cows tail in his hand.Ce nest plus un poil (quil a dans la main), cest une canne  ! or un bambou  ! -  Its no longer a hair (that he has in his hand), its a cane! or a bamboo stick!

How Reading Influences Your Essay Writing Skills

If you’re a college student, you have definitely read tons of tips and recommendations on how to improve your essay writing skills, but the thing is that most of them used your writing as the starting point. But we have good news for you! Changing your reading habits is the first step to improving your writing skills! Even if you are not really inspired by reading, you must know that on some subconscious level its content can influence your writing. You Write what You Have Read When you’re into the reading process of some book, your creative mind is focused on that particular writing style, characterization methods, as well as word usage. For instance, if you have been a huge fan of Victorian epoch novel, your writing will definitely have the so-called ornate flourish. At the same time, the fan of Hemingway will produce a minimalistic and understated prose. Thus, if you’re not impressed by your current state of writing, check the list of the books you have been reading recently. They will be the key to your current writing troubles. The Books that Cut to the Heart Your reading skills can be influenced greatly beyond mere stylistic influences. For instance, if you’re reading a touching story, it may leave a huge impact on your entire mindset in the process of writing. A touching love story could make you glummer and the consequences may be traced in all of your writing drafts. Just think about the following. When you are at the cinema watching some horror flick, its atmosphere will be there with you even when you’re at home getting ready for the bed time. Now imagine what a book that you have been reading for weeks can do to your psyche! And this can be applied to not only sad stories, but to all genres. The text will definitely bleed into the overall mood of your essay writing. Background Knowledge Everything you read stays in your mind as the bits of information, and you have not the slightest idea of when it can become really useful! The point is that the more proficient your knowledge is, the better equipped you happen to be whatever challenge you have. Take Benefits from Reading It is highly recommended to experiment with new genres. In other words, if you are willing to try writing in an exceptionally new genre (or you know that you will have to deal with it the next academic year), there is no better way to start that by choosing some classic novel written by one of the Brontà «s family members of Isaac Asimov. Reading is the tool that truly works magic! The sooner you understand that and make the most out of it, the better off your essay writing abilities will turn to be!

Deception Point Page 73 Free Essays

Corky leaned forward to look at her. â€Å"Please don’t tell me your new theory is that NASA took a fossilized rock up in the space shuttle and sent it hurtling toward earth hoping nobody would notice the fireball, the massive crater, or the explosion?† Rachel had not thought of that, although it was an interesting premise. Not feasible, but interesting all the same. We will write a custom essay sample on Deception Point Page 73 or any similar topic only for you Order Now Her thoughts were actually closer to home. All natural atmospheric elements. Clean burn. Striations from racing through the air. A faint light had gone off in a distant corner of her mind. â€Å"The ratios of the atmospheric elements you saw,† she said. â€Å"Were they exactly the same ratios you see on every other meteorite with a fusion crust?† Corky seemed to hedge slightly at the question. â€Å"Why do you ask?† Rachel saw him hesitate and felt her pulse quicken. â€Å"The ratios were off, weren’t they?† â€Å"There is a scientific explanation.† Rachel’s heart was suddenly pounding. â€Å"Did you by any chance see an unusually high content of one element in particular?† Tolland and Corky exchanged startled looks. â€Å"Yes,† Corky said, â€Å"but-â€Å" â€Å"Was it ionized hydrogen?† The astrophysicist’s eyes turned to saucers. â€Å"How could you possibly know that!† Tolland also looked utterly amazed. Rachel stared at them both. â€Å"Why didn’t anyone mention this to me?† â€Å"Because there’s a perfectly sound scientific explanation!† Corky declared. â€Å"I’m all ears,† Rachel said. â€Å"There was surplus ionized hydrogen,† Corky said, â€Å"because the meteorite passed through the atmosphere near the North Pole, where the earth’s magnetic field causes an abnormally high concentration of hydrogen ions.† Rachel frowned. â€Å"Unfortunately, I have another explanation.† 87 The fourth floor of NASA headquarters was less impressive than the lobby-long sterile corridors with office doors equally spaced along the walls. The corridor was deserted. Laminated signs pointed in all directions. LANDSAT 7 TERRA ACRIMSAT JASON 1 AQUA PODS Gabrielle followed the signs for PODS. Winding her way down a series of long corridors and intersections, she came to a set of heavy steel doors. The stencil read: Polar Orbiting Density Scanner (PODS) Section Manager, Chris Harper The doors were locked, secured both by key card and a PIN pad access. Gabrielle put her ear to the cold metal door. For a moment, she thought she heard talking. Arguing. Maybe not. She wondered if she should just bang on the door until someone inside let her in. Unfortunately, her plan for dealing with Chris Harper required a bit more subtlety than banging on doors. She looked around for another entrance but saw none. A custodial alcove stood adjacent to the door, and Gabrielle stepped in, searching the dimly lit niche for a janitor’s key ring or key card. Nothing. Just brooms and mops. Returning to the door, she put her ear to the metal again. This time she definitely heard voices. Getting louder. And footsteps. The latch engaged from inside. Gabrielle had no time to hide as the metal door burst open. She jumped to the side, plastering herself against the wall behind the door as a group of people hurried through, talking loudly. They sounded angry. â€Å"What the hell is Harper’s problem? I thought he’d be on cloud nine!† â€Å"On a night like tonight,† another said as the group passed by, â€Å"he wants to be alone? He should be celebrating!† As the group moved away from Gabrielle, the heavy door started swinging closed on pneumatic hinges, revealing her location. She remained rigid as the men continued down the hall. Waiting as long as she possibly could, until the door was only inches from closing, Gabrielle lunged forward and caught the door handle with just inches to spare. She stood motionless as the men turned the corner down the hall, too engaged in their conversation to look back. Heart pounding, Gabrielle pulled open the door and stepped into the dimly lit area beyond. She quietly closed the door. The space was a wide open work area that reminded her of a college physics laboratory: computers, work islands, electronic gear. As her eyes became accustomed to the darkness, Gabrielle could see blueprints and sheets of calculations scattered around. The entire area was dark except for an office on the far side of the lab, where a light shone under the door. Gabrielle walked over quietly. The door was closed, but through the window she could see a man sitting at a computer. She recognized the man from the NASA press conference. The nameplate on the door read: Chris Harper Section Manager, PODS Having come this far, Gabrielle suddenly felt apprehensive, wondering if she could actually pull this off. She reminded herself how certain Sexton was that Chris Harper had lied. I would bet my campaign on it, Sexton had said. Apparently there were others who felt the same, others who were waiting for Gabrielle to uncover the truth so they could close in on NASA, attempting to gain even a tiny foothold after tonight’s devastating developments. After the way Tench and the Herney administration had played Gabrielle this afternoon, she was eager to help. Gabrielle raised her hand to knock on the door but paused, Yolanda’s voice running through her mind. If Chris Harper lied to the world about PODS, what makes you think he’ll tell YOU the truth? Fear, Gabrielle told herself, having almost fallen victim to it herself today. She had a plan. It involved a tactic she’d seen the senator use on occasion to scare information out of political opponents. Gabrielle had absorbed a lot under Sexton’s tutelage, and not all of it attractive or ethical. But tonight she needed every advantage. If she could persuade Chris Harper to admit he had lied-for whatever reason-Gabrielle would open a small door of opportunity for the senator’s campaign. Beyond that, Sexton was a man who, if given an inch to maneuver, could wriggle his way out of almost any jam. Gabrielle’s plan for dealing with Harper was something Sexton called â€Å"overshooting†-an interrogation technique invented by the early Roman authorities to coax confessions from criminals they suspected were lying. The method was deceptively simple: Assert the information you want confessed. Then allege something far worse. The object was to give the opponent a chance to choose the lesser of two evils-in this case, the truth. The trick was exuding confidence, something Gabrielle was not feeling at the moment. Taking a deep breath, Gabrielle ran through the script in her mind, and then knocked firmly on the office door. â€Å"I told you I’m busy!† Harper called out, his English accent familiar. She knocked again. Louder. â€Å"I told you I’m not interested in coming down!† This time she banged on the door with her fist. Chris Harper came over and yanked open the door. â€Å"Bloody hell, do you-† He stopped short, clearly surprised to see Gabrielle. â€Å"Dr. Harper,† she said, infusing her voice with intensity. â€Å"How did you get up here?† Gabrielle’s face was stern. â€Å"Do you know who I am?† â€Å"Of course. Your boss has been slamming my project for months. How did you get in?† â€Å"Senator Sexton sent me.† Harper’s eyes scanned the lab behind Gabrielle. â€Å"Where is your staff escort?† â€Å"That’s not your concern. The senator has influential connections.† â€Å"In this building?† Harper looked dubious. â€Å"You’ve been dishonest, Dr. Harper. And I’m afraid the senator has called a special senatorial justice board to look into your lies.† A pall crossed Harper’s face. â€Å"What are you talking about?† How to cite Deception Point Page 73, Essay examples

Peyote use Essay Example For Students

Peyote use Essay Drug use for religious purposesJamie GipsonSome of my ancestors are Native American so choose the book:The Peyote CultLa Barre, Weston. (1969).New York: Schocken Books. This book is a study of the background of the Mexican and American Indian rituals based on the plant that produces profound, but temporary sensory and psychic derangements. Peyote is a spineless cactus (Lophophora williamsii), ingested by people in Mexico and the United States to produce visions. The plant is a light blue-green and bears small pink flower. The crown, called a peyote, or mescal, is cut off, chewed, brewed into a drink, or rolled into pellets to be swallowed. The active substance in peyote is mescaline, one of several naturally occurring hallucinogenic drugs. Mescaline tastes bitter, causes an initial feeling of nausea, and then produces visions and changes in perception, time sense, and mood. There are no uncomfortable aftereffects. Peyote use is central to traditional Native American religious practic es practices that predate this countrys founding. Anthropologists date the religious use of peyote back 10,000 years, and its use by Native North Americans has been documented since the 1600s. The present day Native American Church, with 250,000 members and chapters in 20 states, advocates the religious use of peyote. According to practitioners, peyote use is a spiritually profound exercise, and ranks among the oldest, largest and most continuously practiced religions in the Western Hemisphere. Peyote is a sacrament to believers, something which when eaten provides awareness of God. The medical evidence shows that religious peyote use is not harmful to the practitioner, and it is taken in private and secluded religious settings. In fact, to ingest peyote other than in a religious setting is regarded as a sacrilege. Aside from this religious use, peyote is a controlled substance, illegal in all 50 states.Professor La Barre strongly supports the legitimate use of natural peyote in th e ritual of the Native American Church: Western man already complacently accepts (since it is ours) the mass use of substances such as tobacco and alcohol which, to physical health can be more dangerous, than a weekly Indian use of a feebly psychotropic desert plant. The book reports that the peyote Indians sometimes hears the voice of the Great Spirit, they feel they are in the presence of God. Some experiences have been described as a feeling of great peace and contentment, floating, peace, contentment, and being a part of goodness. Many say words cant describe the experience.Since the book was written a lot has happened. On April 14, 1994, Representative Bill Richardson introduced an amendment, H.R. 4230, to the American Indian Religious Freedom Act (AIRFA). This amendment protects the First Amendment rights of Native Americans to practice their religion through the use of peyote as a religious sacrament. The Drug Enforcement Administration has a longstanding regulatory exemption, which allows for the non-drug use of peyote in bona fide religious ceremonies for the Native American Church. Twenty-eight states have similar exemptions, but twenty-two states do not. I think the constitutional rights of Native Americans to exercise their religion m ust be ensured.Although 28 states have laws that protect the use of peyote as a sacrament, the laws are inconsistent with each other. Tribes located in different states are treated differently regarding peyote use. Native American Church members who have lawfully acquired peyote in Texas can be arrested and subject to felony prosecution in the 22 states that do not protect religious use of peyote, even for just driving through those states. Anthropologists give the Native American Church a good report, noting among other things that members resist alcohol and alcoholism better than do non-members. The conclusion to which evidence currently points would seem to be that chemicals can aid the religious life, but only where set within a context of faith and discipline. Drugs appear able to induce religious experiences; it is less evident that they can produce religious lives. Religion is more than religious experiences. Bibliography: