Toast of the town?

    中國日報網 2016-06-17 11:44

     

    Toast of the town?Reader question:

    Please explain this headline: Wine museum is toast of the town.

    My comments:

    Toast of the town?

    That means the wine museum is a favorite place to go to, attracting lots of visitors – wine buffs and everyone else alike.

    We know round the dining table that if you propose a toast you mean to offer to have a drink in honor of a person. So here, you can see the wine museum as a person to whom everyone raises a glass because they like it, the museum, so much.

    Toast, originally is, well, burned bread and, surprise, not for eating directly but for dipping into beer.

    Well, apparently in the past (18th Century), beer drinkers used to dip a piece of newly roasted bread into their beer to get that burned-wheat flavor, which, surprise, surprise is considered particularly palatable by many. If you have ever tasted the Irish Guinness beer, you know what I mean. Anyways, suffice to know that once upon a time, beer and roasted bread (toast) were de rigueur and they went hand in hand. And, back then drinkers liked to raise a toast every time they buy a drink, as the Phrase Finder explains (Phrases.org.uk):

    As to the phrase ‘the toast of the town’, this came about at the exclusively male drinking clubs of the early 18th century. The ‘toast’ was the woman who was regarded as the reigning belle of the season. The chaps were invited to flavour and heat their wine with hot spiced toasts and drink to ‘the toast of the town’. The English Poet Laureate Colley Cibber wrote about ‘toasting’ in the comic play Careless Husband, 1705:

    Ay, Madam, it has been your Life’s whole Pride of late to be the Common Toast of every Publick Table.

    Later in the 1700s it became the norm for any celebrated person, male or female, to be applauded by a toast.

    All clear?

    All right, media examples:

    1. The snow is mostly melted after a near-record storm immobilized much of New York for nearly four days last week. But before non-New Yorkers gloat -- beware -- the Big Apple’s storm offers just a taste of a crop of problems that are likely to be coming your way.

    Nationally, billionaire New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has been the toast of town for cutting budgets -- and resisting raising any kind of taxes on Wall Street. He proposed to that snowed-in folks enjoy the snow day by taking in a Broadway show, but residents of Brooklyn and Queens weren’t lazing about, they were digging themselves out, or waiting for help -- that didn’t come. And that wasn’t just the fault of the polar weather but their mayor’s priorities.

    The conservative rumor mill did its best to make sure people never put two and two together. They spent their week blaming the Right’s new favorite target: unionized public employees. As Dave Johnson at the Center for American Progress notes, propaganda machines begins with a simple narrative, repeat it endlessly, and then tie current events to the narrative to drive the point home. The blizzard narrative became that it’s not tax cuts or layoffs that trigger state shortages and service crashes. It’s the workers. Public Services fouled up? It must be public service workers’ foul play.

    - Public Workers Getting Snowed, Indypendent.org, January 4, 2011.

    2. Looking for a good investment? Natalie Portman and Kristen Stewart are pretty much guaranteed to make you money — like, a lot of it.

    The “Black Swan” and “Twilight” beauties (respectively) are the toast of the town as they top the list of Forbes’ Best Actors For the Buck, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

    Portman ranked No. 1, bringing in $42.70 in box office returns for every dollar the studios spend on her, with K.Stew close behind with a $40.60 return on investment. Despite headlining such big franchises as “Twilight” and “Snow White and the Huntsman,” Stewart was bested by Portman mostly due to the incredible $329 million worldwide gross of “Black Swan,” which cost all of $13 million to produce.

    - Natalie Portman and Kristen Steward: Best Actors for the buck, MTV.com, December 26, 2012.

    3. The Blackhawks are the toast of the town in Chicago, and that is driving ticket prices skyward on the resale market.

    “This year’s Stanley Cup is better than [previous Stanley Cup Final matchups when Chicago played against] Boston or Philly,” said Max Waisvisz, a partner with Chicago-based ticket marketplace Gold Coast Tickets.

    Chicago played more home games in each of those winning Stanley Cup Final years, but that won't be so in this one. Considering the Hawks played the first two games of this Stanley Cup Final vs. the Tampa Bay Lightning on the road and, in the best case scenario, would play a total of three games in Chicago, “not having home ice is great,” Waisvisz said.

    Great for ticket sellers, that is.

    StubHub spokesman Cameron Papp tells RedEye the average cost of a ticket to Monday night’s Game 3 clocked in at $1,060. For Wednesday night’s Game 4, that average price jumps 20.9 percent to $1,282. Should the series go to a sixth game, which would be played at the United Center next Monday, that number climbs nearly $300 to $1,575, or 48.6 percent higher than the cost of a ticket to Game 3. By comparison, data from apartment rental site Zumper shows the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in Chicago is $1,780.

    “In terms of sales, home games for the Blackhawks this year are up 14 percent compared with 2013’s Stanley Cup” Final, Papp said via email.

    But while the average Stanley Cup Final ticket will set you back about a month’s rent, there are deals—by comparison—to be had, provided you’re willing to compromise on things like, well, not having a seat.

    Standing-room-only tickets to Game 4 started around $330 as of Monday night on StubHub. If you want the luxury of having an actual seat, that’s going to cost you more than double, with the cheapest available seat, a single in Section 306, going for around $710.

    Papp said the key to getting in without sacrificing an arm and a leg is to hang out around the United Center and let the market wait itself out.

    “We do tend to see prices drop as it gets closer to game time, but for events that are in such high demand, anything can happen,” he said. “We always recommend that buyers download StubHub’s app and set a price alert so when the price changes, they will be notified immediately.”

    - In Chicago, higher demand drives Blackhawks ticket prices skyward, RedEyeChicago.com, June 9, 2015.

    本文僅代表作者本人觀點,與本網立場無關。歡迎大家討論學術問題,尊重他人,禁止人身攻擊和發布一切違反國家現行法律法規的內容。

    About the author:

    Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.

    (作者:張欣 編輯:丹妮)

     
    中國日報網英語點津版權說明:凡注明來源為“中國日報網英語點津:XXX(署名)”的原創作品,除與中國日報網簽署英語點津內容授權協議的網站外,其他任何網站或單位未經允許不得非法盜鏈、轉載和使用,違者必究。如需使用,請與010-84883561聯系;凡本網注明“來源:XXX(非英語點津)”的作品,均轉載自其它媒體,目的在于傳播更多信息,其他媒體如需轉載,請與稿件來源方聯系,如產生任何問題與本網無關;本網所發布的歌曲、電影片段,版權歸原作者所有,僅供學習與研究,如果侵權,請提供版權證明,以便盡快刪除。

    中國日報網雙語新聞

    掃描左側二維碼

    添加Chinadaily_Mobile
    你想看的我們這兒都有!

    中國日報雙語手機報

    點擊左側圖標查看訂閱方式

    中國首份雙語手機報
    學英語看資訊一個都不能少!

    關注和訂閱

    本文相關閱讀
    人氣排行
    熱搜詞
     
     
    精華欄目
     

    閱讀

    詞匯

    視聽

    翻譯

    口語

    合作

     

    關于我們 | 聯系方式 | 招聘信息

    Copyright by chinadaily.com.cn. All rights reserved. None of this material may be used for any commercial or public use. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. 版權聲明:本網站所刊登的中國日報網英語點津內容,版權屬中國日報網所有,未經協議授權,禁止下載使用。 歡迎愿意與本網站合作的單位或個人與我們聯系。

    電話:8610-84883645

    傳真:8610-84883500

    Email: languagetips@chinadaily.com.cn

    在线播放无码高潮的视频| 熟妇人妻无乱码中文字幕真矢织江| 中文字幕av一区| 精品国产毛片一区二区无码| 中文字字幕在线中文无码| 精品久久久久久久久中文字幕| 波多野结衣AV无码| 亚洲成A人片在线观看无码不卡| 最近2018中文字幕在线高清下载 | 最好的中文字幕视频2019| 无码乱人伦一区二区亚洲| 中文字幕在线视频第一页| 在线观看中文字幕| 中文字幕乱码无码人妻系列蜜桃| 波多野42部无码喷潮在线| 无码专区永久免费AV网站| 国产成人精品一区二区三区无码| 中文字幕你懂的| 久久精品中文无码资源站| 中文字幕在线无码一区| 免费无码国产V片在线观看| 久久av无码专区亚洲av桃花岛 | 国产免费无码一区二区| 亚洲精品无码乱码成人| 久久无码高潮喷水| 国产成人精品无码一区二区三区| 线中文在线资源 官网| 欧美亚洲精品中文字幕乱码免费高清 | 中文字幕在线观看日本| 久久中文字幕人妻熟av女| 亚洲av无码一区二区三区人妖| 日韩精品无码永久免费网站 | AV无码久久久久不卡蜜桃 | 中文字幕在线无码一区二区三区| 久久青青草原亚洲av无码 | 中文字幕人妻无码专区| 最近高清中文字幕无吗免费看| 中文字幕日本人妻久久久免费| 91视频中文字幕| 中文无码喷潮在线播放| 国产成人无码一区二区三区在线 |