Four (recommended) short stories

These are four stories I find specially interesting for you to read. We are not going to deal with them in class, but I would like you to go through the stories, learn vocabulary, and of course, enjoy these four quick-witted authors that have been icons for literature in English.

• Flight, by Doris Lessing 
• Eveline, by James Joyce
• Superman and Paula Brown's New Snowsuit, by Sylvia Plath
• The End of Something, by Ernest Hemingway

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Deadline: February 26th

On time vs. In time

These expressions are very similar, but there is a slight difference in meaning.

ON TIME

On time means that there is a specific time established when something is supposed/expected to happen, and it is happening at the planned time.

• My job interview is scheduled for 4:00 PM.
  If I arrive at 4:00 PM, I am on time for the interview.
• The flight is scheduled to leave at 10:30 AM.
  If it leaves at 10:30 AM, the flight is leaving on time.
• The class is supposed to start at 9:00.
  If it does start at 9:00 with no delays, it is starting on time.

If you say “He’s always on time” it means he is punctual; he always arrives at the correct time, he is not late.
If you say “He’s never on time” it means he is always late.

IN TIME

In time means that something happened at the last moment before it was too late; before something bad would happen.

• The accident victim was seriously injured; they got him to the hospital just in time.
  (If they hadn’t arrived at the hospital, he might have died)
• I missed the opportunity to go to that college because I didn’t submit my application in time.
• I left home early and arrived in plenty of time to catch my flight.
• I got stuck in traffic and arrived just in time to catch my flight.

We often say “just in time” to emphasize that something happened immediately before the limit/deadline, as you can see by comparing the last two example sentences.
There’s also the expression “in the nick of time” which even further emphasizes something happening at the last moment, immediately before the limit/deadline:

• The teacher said we had to turn our assignments in by 4:00 PM. I e-mailed her my paper at 3:58 – in the nick of time!
• In movies, a specialist often disarms a bomb in the nick of time, with just a few seconds left on the countdown.

Idioms related to TIME

Idioms related to TIME:

1. Against the clock

Este idioms tiene una traducción fácil, significa a contrareloj.

2. Just in time

También con un significado y utilidad como en el castellano, significa justo a tiempo.

3. Once in a blue moon

Este idiom puede resultar más difícil de entender porque no tenemos uno igual en castellano, hace referencia a cosas que pasan rara vez o muy de vez en cuando.

4. Behind the times

Este idiom se utiliza para referirse a cosas o situaciones completamente pasadas de moda.

5. Run out of time

Su significado: quedarse sin tiempo.

6. Time flies

Este es muy sencillo porque también lo usamos en castellano y de forma recurrente: el tiempo vuela.

7. Time will tell

¿Lo sabes? Es muy fácil… ¡El tiempo dirá!

8. The time of my life

Así se llama una canción muy conocida de la película Dirty Dancing y es algo así como nuestra expresión “de los mejores días de mi vida”.

9. The time is ripe

Ripe significa maduro, así que la expresión es algo así como: el momento oportuno.

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