Friday December 23, 2005
Gump expression
By FADZILAH AMIN
WHAT does it mean when one says “stupid is as stupid does”? – Shukri
The expression comes from the film Forrest Gump, starring Tom Hanks. Forrest says this in answer to someone’s question: “Are you stupid?”
The expression means that you are considered stupid if you act stupidly; in other words, it is by your actions that you are judged.
This expression is a variant of the much older English proverb “Handsome is as/that handsome does”. It was used in a novel, The Vicar of Wakefield (1766), by Oliver Goldsmith. Let me quote the relevant part:
“Well, upon my word, Mrs Primrose, you have the finest children in the whole country.”
“Ay, neighbour,” she would answer, “they are as heaven made them, handsome enough, if they be good enough; for handsome is that handsome does.” (OED)
Two meanings of “handsome” are used in this expression: the first is “attractive” and the second is an adverb (now “handsomely”) meaning “generously” and “graciously”. So, the expression means that a person is considered attractive only if he is also generous and gracious in his personality.
Plural ‘minutes’
I WOULD appreciate your assistance in clarifying whether the word in bold below should be used as “were” or “was”:
The minutes of the 136th meeting of the Committee held on 20th August, 2005, were approved as an accurate record of the proceedings. – Reader
The plural verb “were” should be used, because “minutes”, in the sense used in your sentence, exists only in the plural form.
What is ‘t-up’?
MY company organises many activities or events and each of them requires a detailed programme.
Every time I look at a programme, a “t-up” is always used to mean “introduce” or “highlight”.
For example, “The emcee will t-up the singer.”
I’m wondering if this word exists and how it should be written properly. – Desperate to learn
I couldn’t find the term “t-up” but “tee up” is a golf term, meaning “to prepare to hit a golf ball by placing it on a tee” (OALD 2005).
Could this term be used informally as a metaphor to mean “to prepare the audience to hear the singer by introducing him/her”?
In that case, it would be similar to “kick off”, a metaphor from football, that is used informally to mean “start”, as in “I’ll kick off the discussion with a few words.”
A goody bag
IF the announcer is going to reward a radio listener for answering a question correctly, should the reward be “a goody bag” or “a goodies bag”?
My opinion is it should be the latter because the plural form should be used. – Lau Lee Seng
According to the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (2005), the term is “a goody/goodie bag”.
Although the bag may be full of “goodies”, when “goody” is used as a noun modifier before another noun, the singular form is used. However, the plural form is used in the phrase “a bag of goodies”.
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