PE 9/2 Arianna Huffington Speech – Part 1

I would literally cut out his columns, underline them, and learn them by heart. When I finally met him, I was petrified and tongue-tied.

* learn by heart: to memorize something

ex> As a boy Scout, I had to learn the Scout’s Credo by heart.

Note> “Learn by rote” means to memorize something without thinking about what you’re memorizing.

* tongue-tied: not being able to speak because of nervousness

= speechless; at a loss for

ex> Adults often get tongue-tied while trying to speak another language.

Nevertheless, he invited me to dinner, and I prepped for the date not by going to the hair dresser but by reading everything he was writing. I read every detail about Northern Ireland.

* prep for: to get ready for something

ex> Tyler and Betty prepped for the test by asking each other questions.

Then I hit 30 and I desperately wanted to have children. He wanted to have cats. So I did something that I was terrified to do: I left the man I deeply loved.

* hit 30 (40, 50, etc.): to reach a certain age

ex> Mr. Simons had just hit 70 when he decided to run his first marathon.

In life, the things that go wrong are often the very things that lead to other things going right. Or as Max Teicher, who is graduating today, put it to me last night

* put it to someone: to tell someone in a certain way

ex> As the king put it to his general, “Win the war or our head is coming off!”

ex> The way she put it to me made it seem like she was only leaving for a vacation, not forever.