The most famous song that uses "wish" as "if only" — Wish You Were Here by Pink Floyd.
By the way, песня посвящена Сиду Баррету, музыкальному гению и отцу-основателю Пинкфлойда, который из-за долгого потребления наркоты получил проблемы с головой. Когда после долгого лечения Сид вдруг пришел в студию, вся команда была шокирована его видом, он как бы отсутствовал, he was not here, he was a shadow of his former self with empty eyes.
💉Наркотики это зло, друзья.

So, so you think you can tell
Heaven from Hell
Blue skies from pain
Can you tell a green field
From a cold steel rail
A smile from a veil?
Do you think you can tell?
Did they get you to trade
Your heroes for ghosts
Hot ashes for trees
Hot air for a cool breeze?
Cold comfort for change
Did you exchange
A walk on part in the war
For a lead role in a cage?
How I wish, how I wish you were here
We're just two lost souls
Swimming in a fish bowl
Year after year
Running over the same old ground
What have we found?
The same old fears
Wish you were here

🍦 9 QUID FOR 2 ICE CREAMS

Грета уже не та, у нас новый кумир! 👆


#etymology
👉 Quid is a slang expression for the British pound (GBP or £), the currency of the United Kingdom.  The nickname stems from the Latin phrase “quid pro quo,” which translates as "something for something."

👉 One pound and p — "фунт с копейками". A quid equals 100 pence, and the symbol for the penny is "p"; hence an amount such as 50p (£0.50) properly pronounced "fifty pence" is often pronounced "fifty pee" /fɪfti piː/.

The guy is goddamn right.

Урок от Рейгана как правильно отвечать на намёки про преклонный возраст (да, в США давным-давно были времена когда президенты действительно умели в дебаты):

Mr. Trewhitt: ... you were tired after your most recent encounter with Mr. Mondale. I recall yet that President Kennedy had to go for days on end with very little sleep during the Cuban missile crisis. Is there any doubt in your mind that you would be able to function in such circumstances?

THE PRESIDENT: Not at all, Mr. Trewhitt, and I want you to know that also I will not make age an issue of this campaign. I am not going to exploit, for political purposes, my opponent’s youth and inexperience. "

◼️УШНОЙ ЧЕРВЬ

#Etymology
Ещё более 1000 лет назад англичане начали использовать слово earworm в прямом его значении — как синоним жука earwig, "уховёртка" (в Европе, в том числе в России, бытовало поверье, что уховертка может залезть в ухо спящего человека и прогрызть барабанную перепонку). Позже, в 19 веке начали называть так кукурузного червя-вредителя. Но современное значение пришло в английский из Германии 🇩🇪

Meanwhile, in Germany, the parallel term Ohrwurm still referred to the earwig, but in the late 1950s and early 1960s, those inventive Germans began applying the name for this pest which supposedly burrowed into your ear to a piece of music that wouldn't get out of your head and plays there again and again.

Though this use of earworm first showed up in English in the early 1980s, it was later popularized by Stephen King in his writings.

А ещё пишут, если в описании указать "earworm", сгенерированная с помощью AI музыка получается лучше — как тут удержаться и не проверить? Так что 🤘let's rock 🎸👇

🎸@HackThisEnglish Rock Anthem

I'm jumping the gun, let's hit the ground running,
Piece of cake, don't you see? No need for cunning.
It's raining cats and dogs, don't throw in the towel,
Keep your eye on the ball, let's make the crowd howl.

Hack this English, bend it, don't break,
Play on words, oh for goodness' sake!
Hack this English, twist and turn,
With idioms and puns, let it burn!

He's barking up the wrong tree, but I let the cat out,
Spill the beans, it’s no big deal, just don’t pout.
Break the ice, hit the nail on the head,
Cut to the chase, before we're put to bed.

Don't beat around the bush, don’t pull my leg,
Don't put all your eggs in one basket, I beg.
It's a blessing in disguise, a diamond in the rough,
Keep your chin up high, don’t sweat the small stuff.

So when life's a piece of pie, don't put it on the back burner,
Kick the bucket list, become a real earner.
Through thick and thin, come rain or shine,
Hack this English, the pleasure’s all mine!

#FunFact: What’s the most popular Russian fairy tale in the English-speaking world? No, it’s not Masha and the Bear, despite the cartoon’s popularity. The correct answer is Baboushka and the Three Kings. Не слышали о такой? Вот краткий сюжет: 👇

К одинокой русской старушке приходят три волхва и зовут к новорожденному Исусу. Бабка долго собирается, выходит лишь под утро, и не может найти дороги. С тех пор каждое Рождество она выходит на поиски, бродит по заснеженным тропинкам, по пути раздавая всем детишкам подарки.

In most editions (there are dozens), it’s labeled as a Russian folk tale. Some sources even claim it’s the main association foreigners have with Christmas in Russia —apparently, gifts for Russian children are traditionally brought by the Baboushka (WTF!).

#etymology
The story was written by Ruth Robbins, and the book became famous thanks to the Russian illustrator Nicolas Sidjakov (he was born December 16, 1924, in Riga, Latvia, of Russian parents who had fled the country during the Revolution).

Baboushka and the Three Kings gained popularity when it won the Caldecott medal as the best illustrated American children's book in 1961. Stylistically, these images will remind you of stained glass windows and the abstraction of Egyptian murals with Byzantine faces. The pages are done in five colors only (black plus blue, yellow, an orange-red, and green). The result gives the book a religious tone that makes you imagine you are reading from an illuminated manuscript done during the middle ages. 👇

Откуда вообще взялась история про старушку, заменяющую Санта Клауса в России, неужели Роббинс просто её выдумала? Вот и нет, возможно она и сама верила что это народная сказка. Потому что история появилась ещё в 19 веке, и придумана другой американской писательницей Аделаидой Скил, для которой прообразом русской Christmas babushka послужила ведьма Бафена. Бафена, бродящая по домам в сочельник, как раз и была фольклорным персонажем, вот только испанским, а не русским.

Over the past 60 years, the fairy tale has been republished so many times that it has firmly established itself in Western culture as a stereotype about celebrating Russian Christmas.

Так-то. 🎄

🖤 УКСУСНЫЕ ВАЛЕНТИНКИ

#FunFact
Празднование дня св.Валентина берёт своё начало в XII-XIII веке. В ХIX веке, когда многие англичане уже умели читать и писать, стало модным посылать друг-другу анонимные открытки-валентинки. А вскоре, так как твиттера тогда ещё не было, валентинки придумали использовать как средство стёба над ближним — так появились Vinegar Valentines.

Vinegar valentines were commercially bought postcards that were less beautiful than their love-filled counterparts, and contained an insulting poem and illustration. They were sent anonymously, so the receiver had to guess who hated him or her; as if this weren’t bruising enough, the recipient paid the postage on delivery.
👇

vinegar valentine:
MISS NOSEY

On account of your talk of others' affairs
At most dances you sit warming the chairs,
Because of the care with which you attend
To all others' business you haven't a friend.

vinegar valentine:
BALD HEAD

Your bright shining pate is seen at all shows
And invariably down in the bald-headed rows,
Where you make conspicuous by your tender care
Your true ardent love for that one lonesome hair.

vinegar valentine:
OLD MAID

She's caught a poor cat and a bird,
But she can't snare a man, so we've heard,
It's the old maid's sad fate
To lose out on a mate
And take tea—but s-sh! not a word.

vinegar valentine:
"WRITE YOU DOWN AN ASS? 'TIS DONE SIR."

Oh what a pretty Valentine, And so like you, friend of mine, For every one says you're an ass, And other donkeys quite surpass.