Friendly Idioms



   A highly professional pilot in Russia will be referred to as an 'AS' – it has nothing to do with English 'as' but with the old Latin ‘AS’ or old French 'ACE', which means often the highest playing card. In life it is applied to someone of high professional performance and of excellence. 'AS' is someone who is exceptionally talented in a sport or flying the airplanes. In the military  jargon, a fighter ace is a pilot who has successfully shot down five enemy aircrafts. 'AS' refers to victory. 
   It started with pilots of the highest qualification and then was applied to other professions. In Russia, we say, “you need to become an 'AS' in your field,” while in America we say, “do not be such an ASS.”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Thoughts from the Hammock

Image
      I look back at my Raytown congregation that, following my Russian tradition, gave me a blessing for the journey that just begun. I still visit some of my members in the hospitals, answering their e-mails and phone calls.  I am patiently waiting for God to show me the final destination of my transition. I am still in limbo, but I know with all my heart that one day I will understand every moment of my present context of transition as clear as I see my new plants. It is too hot for planting, and I could see how this transition is tough on them for the first two-three days, but what a joy when they start blooming, becoming healthy and joyful again! All they need is patience and watering, the rest will happen by itself. Transition sometimes is simply being.      I feel good about what I accomplished in Raytown and with Paul I recite, “I am confident of this: that the one who began a good work among you will bring it to completion by the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6).
Read more

Just Swing

Image
      Two years ago I started jogging.   To beat the stress, I added walking and jogging, thinking that exercising more would give me a benefit of losing five extra pounds  that I gained in spite of my strict daily regimen.       I downloaded  "lose it" app on my iPhone and began calculating each gram of food that was going into my mouth. My goal was to restore my sleep to be able to look and perform even better.      Thinking that 10 thousand steps and 900 calories a day will do the job, I decided to keep my yoga and pilates practice to maintain flexibility. In an instance, I got addicted to uploading my daily pedometer reading into a fitness software to get digital praises and bonuses from my health insurance company each night. In sixteen weeks,  10 thousand steps a day took me on a virtual journey around the world. I was thrilled. Instead of being fatigued, I felt energized, ecstatic, and younger than ever though the only world attraction I saw on this journey w
Read more

Frogology

Image
        “Frogology” is my invention, my theory of life. The fairy tale of the Russian writer Garshvin comes to mind. It is my favorite story, Ligooshka-Puteshestvennitsa, or “Frog the Traveler,” with a moral lesson.               I was exactly like the frog when I decided to learn to "fly" high. The ambitious little frog bravely approached some geese one day and asked them to teach her to fly. The geese found a simple solution for the little frog’s dream: a stick. 
Read more