Thursday, March 19, 2020

Free Essays on High School

My High School Experience High school, what a long strange trip it's been. Grades, boys, stress, homework, friends, fashion, English papers, PSAT’s, math formulas, dissections, the elements of high school that can make a girl go completely insane! Sometimes, I just feel like life’s a roller coaster and I am not strapped in, a little extreme to say, but very true. I’m sure it wasn’t always that way, but when high school comes around, and we’re all just supposed to immediately assume responsibility and mature, the stress we students endure goes way up. Some of those lucky people in this world, accepted the transition into â€Å"adulthood†, let’s say, quite easily and others, myself for example, struggled. Yes, it was a constant struggle to shed those years of fooling around and grow and hard shell of reality, but it is something we all must do in order to succeed. Realizing this now doesn’t really change my many passed mistakes, but it will change my futur e. My trip started with volleyball, and I guess it all just went downhill from there. At the end of my summer vacation, going into ninth grade I decided to try out for Varsity Volleyball. During the summer, I had a huge ego, and thought my volleyball skills were next to godly. Sadly enough, the coaches did not recognize my obvious talent for the game, so I was demoted to a starter position on the Junior Varity (cough cough loser ahem cough) team. Being the pompous jerk that I was, I felt that my position on JV was unacceptable. I considered myself to be irreplaceable, and took JV for granted. I mouthed off to the coaches, skipped practices, ignored the other players, and did whatever I pleased thinking nothing of the consequences. By the second game, my coaches took notice of my direct negativity and disrespect. As a punishment, they didn’t start me the third game; in fact I was benched for almost the whole time. Of course, at that time in my life I was very immature... Free Essays on High School Free Essays on High School My High School Experience High school, what a long strange trip it's been. Grades, boys, stress, homework, friends, fashion, English papers, PSAT’s, math formulas, dissections, the elements of high school that can make a girl go completely insane! Sometimes, I just feel like life’s a roller coaster and I am not strapped in, a little extreme to say, but very true. I’m sure it wasn’t always that way, but when high school comes around, and we’re all just supposed to immediately assume responsibility and mature, the stress we students endure goes way up. Some of those lucky people in this world, accepted the transition into â€Å"adulthood†, let’s say, quite easily and others, myself for example, struggled. Yes, it was a constant struggle to shed those years of fooling around and grow and hard shell of reality, but it is something we all must do in order to succeed. Realizing this now doesn’t really change my many passed mistakes, but it will change my futur e. My trip started with volleyball, and I guess it all just went downhill from there. At the end of my summer vacation, going into ninth grade I decided to try out for Varsity Volleyball. During the summer, I had a huge ego, and thought my volleyball skills were next to godly. Sadly enough, the coaches did not recognize my obvious talent for the game, so I was demoted to a starter position on the Junior Varity (cough cough loser ahem cough) team. Being the pompous jerk that I was, I felt that my position on JV was unacceptable. I considered myself to be irreplaceable, and took JV for granted. I mouthed off to the coaches, skipped practices, ignored the other players, and did whatever I pleased thinking nothing of the consequences. By the second game, my coaches took notice of my direct negativity and disrespect. As a punishment, they didn’t start me the third game; in fact I was benched for almost the whole time. Of course, at that time in my life I was very immature...

Monday, March 2, 2020

Boots and Booty

Boots and Booty Boots and Booty Boots and Booty By Maeve Maddox The noun boot, meaning â€Å"a covering for the foot and lower part of the leg,† has been in the language since the early 14th century. The word existed in medieval Latin and entered English via French. The popularity of boots as footwear has never diminished, but our use of the word boot and similar forms doesn’t always pertain to the article of apparel. First let’s look at terms and expressions that do relate to footwear. bootleg: As a noun, bootleg is recorded in the 17th century with the meaning â€Å"the leg of a boot.† Nineteenth century American frontiersmen favored bootlegs as convenient places to carry knives and shooting irons. The term acquired its present associations with the illicit trading of liquor even before Prohibition became the law of the land in 1920; a handful of states outlawed alcoholic beverages earlier. For example, Kansas banned alcohol in 1881. A bootleg could conceal a small bottle of liquor. In current usage, bootleg denotes anything that is traded or trafficked illicitly: bootleg CDs, bootleg diamonds, bootleg babies, etc. As a verb, bootleg means â€Å"to traffic illicitly in liquor or anything else.† The verb bootleg is also an American football term meaning â€Å"to carry the ball deceptively.† bootstrap: as a noun, a bootstrap is a loop attached to the top of a boot to help the wearer pull on the boot. I’ve written about the figurative meanings of bootstrap here. boot camp: This is a term for U.S. Marine and Navy recruit training. The term boot as slang for recruit may date from the Spanish-American War. U.S. sailors wore leggings called boots and the term transferred to the sailors themselves. By extension, boot camp is now also used for any training camp or program that resembles boot camp by requiring rigorous training. The term can also refer specifically to a facility or program for juvenile offenders who are forced to follow a rigidly structured routine of drill and discipline. bootlicker: A cringing, favor-seeking toady is called a bootlicker: a person who would do any demeaning thing to please and flatter a person in power. You can find more terms for subservient people here. jackboot: a type of large, strong cavalry boot popular in the 17th and 18th centuries was called a jackboot; later it was worn by German military and paramilitary units during the Nazi regime. Even before its association with the Nazis, the term had acquired the connotation of military oppression. boot: As a verb, â€Å"to boot† can mean â€Å"to kick,† as in â€Å"They booted out the old superintendent and hired a new one.† As a verb in the context of computer use, boot derives from bootstrap. to boot: We still use the expression â€Å"to boot† with the meaning â€Å"in addition† or â€Å"as a bonus†: The guy’s a chronic complainer and a tightwad to boot. The most patient and behaved dog in the world (and she’s Irish to boot). We offer inexpensive prices for our AC and heating units and we will throw in a free thermostat to boot! The expression â€Å"to boot† comes from an obsolete noun boot, meaning â€Å"good, profit, advantage.† The related verb boot meant â€Å"to make better, to remedy.† You may have encountered the verb boot in Shakespeare: It shall scarce boot me To say â€Å"Not guilty.† Hermione, A Winter’s Tale, III.ii.24. booty: As a noun meaning â€Å"plunder, gain, profit,† booty comes from an Old French word, butin. As a noun meaning â€Å"a woman’s body (or a part thereof) as a sex object,† booty originated as 1920s black slang, possibly an alteration of another slang word, botty, meaning bottom or buttocks. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:100 Whimsical WordsThe Difference Between "will" and "shall"Prepositions to Die With