Embedded Files
1 At any rate, in 2005, I was living in New Orleans and working as 2 the general manager of a hotel. It was summer, and I was planning to come to Florida for my birthday, 3 which is at the end of August. The idea was to surprise my family. In other words, they had no idea I was coming. I reserved a room in a luxury hotel on the island of Palm Beach and booked a flight. My plan was to 4 have my aunt in Florida invite my family to dinner at the hotel, and then I'd show up and surprise them. 5 Well, we have a saying in English: “Man proposes and God disposes.” That means that sometimes in life, we make plans, but then our life takes a different course altogether, as if ignoring our plans and obeying another voice — a higher authority. Long story short… the surprise was on me! Three days before my flight, Katrina started moving towards the Louisiana coast. At first, I wasn’t too concerned because 6 I’d been through so many hurricanes that I figured it’d just pass and that'd be the end of it. But nothing doing! That night, the mayor went on tv and told everyone that Katrina was expected to make landfall, 7 i.e., hit the coast, in a day and a half, and that anyone who could, should make arrangements to leave.
__________________1 At any rate | This story started out with a lot of information about hurricanes and their impact. Then in this paragraph, I use At any rate to let you know that I’m finally going to start telling the actual story; everything before was just background information. This is just one of the common phrases used in this context. Learn more here
However, the comma is important here. Without the comma, which is used to specify. For instance, saying ...my birthday which is at the end of August, without a comma, would sound like I have more than one birthday and I'm referring to the one in August. See the difference? This usage of which without the comma is the same as using that; it refers to something specific.
2 the general manager | Note that the definite article the is used for titles and positions normally held by one person… the president, the pope, the mayor, etc. Since hotels have one general manager, I was the general manager, not a general manager.
2 the general manager | Note that the definite article the is used for titles and positions normally held by one person… the president, the pope, the mayor, etc. Since hotels have one general manager, I was the general manager, not a general manager.
3 , which is at the end of August | The relative pronoun which is preceded by a comma when it gives supplementary information — information that can be left out of the sentence without changing its basic meaning. For instance, in this story, I mention my birthday, and then throw in that it's at the end of August. But I could just as well have said It was summer, and I was planning to come to Florida for my birthday with no mention of the date, and the meaning of the sentence wouldn't have changed.
However, the comma is important here. Without the comma, which is used to specify. For instance, saying ...my birthday which is at the end of August, without a comma, would sound like I have more than one birthday and I'm referring to the one in August. See the difference? This usage of which without the comma is the same as using that; it refers to something specific.3 , which is at the end of August | The relative pronoun which is preceded by a comma when it gives supplementary information — information that can be left out of the sentence without changing its basic meaning. For instance, in this story, I mention my birthday, and then throw in that it's at the end of August. But I could just as well have said It was summer, and I was planning to come to Florida for my birthday with no mention of the date, and the meaning of the sentence wouldn't have changed.
_____4 have my aunt... invite | This simply means to ask or tell someone to perform an action, do a favor or otherwise do something that you can’t or don't want to do yourself. In this case, I asked my aunt to invite my family to dinner because if I did it, it’d ruin the surprise, obviously. In other words, it's just another way of asking someone to do something. The only difference is that when you ask someone to do something, they can say no. However, have implies some level or authority or even confidence that the person will do what you ask.5 Well, | This short well follows a description of an ideal situation and suggests that things didn't work out that way and prefaces what actually happened. 6 I’d been | Here, the past perfect has the same nuance of already that we see in the present perfect. In other words, I had already been through so many hurricanes that I figured it'd just pass.7 i.e., | This is an abbreviation of Latin id est literally meaning that is, and can be read as the letters [ai̯•iː] or as that is [ðæɖɪz]. Also note that in writing, we use a comma before and after it.
the idea is/was to… We use this phrase when we want to explain the goal of a game or plan, or the correct way to do something; what you're supposed to do: In chess, the idea is to kill your opponent's king.
to make landfall This is hurricane-talk for the moment a hurricane reaches a coast and comes on land.
the surprise is/was on (someone) We use this expression with the nouns surprise and joke in situations where someone sets out to play a joke on or make fun of someone, or surprise someone, and ends up getting laughed at or surprised themself. In this case, for instance, I was originally planning to surprise my family by showing up in Florida unannounced, but in the end, I’m the one who got the surprise when the hurricane appeared and ruined my plans.
long story short This discourse marker is used in stories when the speaker’s about to summarize something in one statement. In other words, when we want to give the SHORT VERSION of what happened. And long story short is itself actually a shorter version of the longer expression to make a long story short.
...but nothing doing! This odd expression is basically a very sarcastic and categorical way of saying But no! It expresses a disappointment and frustration when things don’t go your way, when things don’t go according to plan. It follows an explanation of what would've been ideal, but, "of course, didn't work out that way" in the end. Here it has a slight element of anger, sarcasm and even self-pity that says «anytime something bad can happen, it does happen!»"I came to your party hoping I wouldn't run into Angie, but nothing doing! The first person I saw when I walked in was her!"
Google Sites
Report abuse