WELL
I'LL BE!
THE
ANSWER TO A QUESTION YOU NEVER ASKED
Why is Ireland called the Emerald Isle?
Speaking of things Irish, why is the home of that proud culture
known by the popular epithet the Emerald Isle?
Anyone who has ever visited the island knows it truly is as
green as the gemstone, thanks to the frequent rains for which
the island is also noted (Ireland receives between 30 and
50 inches of rain in an average year, with some areas receiving
in excess of 80 inches). The name was popularized by Dr. William
Drennan, an Irish physician and poet, in a poem he wrote around
1800 entitled “Erin.” Two stanzas from the poem
read:
When Erin first rose from the dark-swelling flood,
God blessed the green island, he saw it was good.
The Emerald of Europe, it sparkled
and shone
In the ring of this world, the most precious stone…
Arm of Erin! prove strong, but be gentle as brave,
And, uplifted to strike, still be ready to save,
Nor one feeling of vengeance presume to defile
The cause, or the men of the Emerald Isle.
According to George
Stimpson, this is sometimes said to be the “original
use” of the Emerald Isle;
however, in an 1815 introduction to the poem, Dr. Drennan
said the phrase was first used in “’Erin, to Her
Own Tune,’ a party song written without the rancour
of party in the year 1795.” That song was published
anonymously.
Dr. Drennan was
hopeful that Emerald Isle would someday become associated
with the name of his country “as descriptive of its
prime natural beauty, and its inestimable value.”
Source: George Stimpson, A Book About A Thousand
Things.
A typical Irish landscape, which vividly shows
why the island got its name
|
 |
PLAIN
ENGLISH
Today’s Lesson:
fast vs. quickly: the proper
use of adverbs and adjectives.
One of the most common mistakes I hear in English is the use
of the adjective fast for the adverb
quickly:
Incorrect: You finished your homework so fast!
In this case, fast is acting as
an adjective, but it has no noun to describe
(was the homework fast?).
Correct: You were so fast!
Here, the use of an adjective is correct, since it describes
the pronoun you.
“Finished” is an action, so it is appropriate
to use an adverb to describe HOW the action
was done:
Correct: You finished your homework so quickly!
Another example of this common blunder is the use of the adverb
badly for the adjective bad.
Incorrect: I feel badly for you.
In this sense, the verb “feel” is not an action
verb; it describes a state of being, so it should be modified
by an adjective:
Correct: I feel bad for you.
The bottom line: use an adjective to describe
a NOUN, and an adverb (ends in –ly)
to describe an ACTION.
|
