To Post or Not to Post (2)

Susan: Oh, I do that, too. There are so many different social networks and blog sites available. It’s easy to stay in touch with people you don’t see very often.

Julie: In some cases, maybe. But I don’t really want people I don’t talk to regularly to know what I’m doing or where I’m going. That’s just creepy.

Susan: Then you can be more particular about who you friend and who can see your updates. But I like keeping large numbers of people in the loop by posting a single message.

Julie: I guess. But that doesn't mean I want everyone I’m friends with to see what I post. Besides, some people respond a little too quickly to my posts, and it makes me uncomfortable.

Susan: Oh, that just shows that your friends are interested in what you are doing or thinking. You shouldn't let that bother you. These sites are great for sharing so many things.

Julie: I guess so, but sometimes people share too much information. They post pictures that are inappropriate or uninteresting, or they share things that are unimportant.

Susan: Well, that’s one opinion. Maybe what you think is unimportant is actually really interesting to someone else.

Julie: Maybe. But I think I’ll stick to just posting what I think is important.

Info Cloud
Like all languages, English is constantly changing. New words are born. Old words die out. And existing words change form and meaning.

That’s right. Like the word “friend,” for hundreds of years, it was a noun. Just eight years ago, it became a verb.

Turning nouns into verbs is called verbing, which is funny because the word “verb” itself is a noun.

Right.

One reason verbing happens is because of new technology. With certain new inventions, we discover we need to describe an action that previously did not exist.

For example, using a microwave oven. When the appliance came out in the 1950s, there was no quick and easy way to tell someone you were going to heat or cook something in one.

Right. But people are practical. And it didn’t take long before someone took microwave, the noun, and turned it into a verb.

So now if you want a quick snack, you just throw something, like a bag of popcorn, into the microwave and “microwave” it.

Right. Technology is a huge driving force behind verbing. Consider some of the other nouns we've recently turned into verbs, words like text, bookmark, access and, of course, Google.

Grammar Gym
How you doing today, friends? My name is Liz, and thanks for joining me here at the Grammar Gym. In our article today we see this sentence: But I think I’ll stick to just posting what I think is important. That’s our Grammar Tip sentence. Our focus today is on the phrase: stick to.

Normally we use “stick to” to talk about how things are connected together on the surface, like:
When gum sticks to the bottom of your shoe, it’s not easy to get it off. But in today’s sentence, there are no objects with surfaces that are connecting to one another. Instead, “stick to” is an informal way to say “to focus on one activity and not on other activities.”

For example, parents might tell their kids: Just stick to your homework; don’t waste time on other things. Or: It’s not healthy to stick to your computer all day and not to other things. If you turn to today’s Grammar Tip section in your magazine, you’ll find more example sentences there.

And that’s it for today. This is Liz from the Grammar Gym. See you next time.

Language Lab
creepy adj.令人緊張不安的，令人毛骨悚然的
- Ellen couldn't fall asleep after hearing those creepy stores.
creep n. 指毛骨悚然的感覺
- The dark corner of the building always gives me the creeps.

particular adj.詳细的，特别的，指定的，講究的
particular about 特别講究在某方面要用 "about"
- Martha is very particular about food.
- In our training, particular emphasis will be put on self-expression.
我們的訓練會特別看中自我的表達

inappropriate adj.不合適的,不恰當的 [in 字首-否定/ appropriate 合宜的, 恰當的]
- It's inappropriate to cut into other people's conversations.
appropriate -合宜的，合適的，恰當的
- Is it appropriate to call him directly?

stick to something phrasal verb 對某件事堅持不變的
1 to do or keep doing what you said you would do or what you believe in, even when it is difficult [= keep to]
 - Jennifer decided to stick to her story no matter what.
stick to something -緊跟著
2 to keep using or doing one particular thing and not change to anything else
- Make sure that you stick to the trail.
緊跟著登山路徑


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