By Lois E. Wilson
One day when I was searching through the dictionary, I paused when I noticed it took more than a page to cover the word “break” with its uses and its grammatical forms: break, breaking,
breaker, broke and broken. I’m not wasteful with the knowledge. So here goes with some examples:
As I awoke, the sun’s rays were breaking through the clouds. It was daybreak. It is time for breakfast. One origin of the word “breakfast” is to eat in the morning and break the fast your body endured overnight. You think, “At ten I’ll take a break from work and have a coffee break.”
While the Olympics and other sports are on TV, we see athletes break into sweat when they vie to break records. Wrestlers and boxers are told to break their clinches. In basketball and racing participants try for fast breaks.
They break horses, and then train them to do many events such as jumping, cross country, and dressage. Many athletes never break training and strive to the breaking point to acquire their goals. Wait! There’s a station break with breaking news: USA broke ahead in the medal count!
Over the weekend, there was a break-in at a bank. That’s breaking and entering—breaking the law. The burglars’ car broke down near the site; they fled trying to make a break for it. Police are working to break the case.
Her beau broke his promise to be faithful, and her heart is breaking. War has broken out between them. She has decided to break up with him—he would have been a home-breaker. She asked herself, “Why do I never get a break when it comes to love?” As Neil Sedaka put it in his song, “Breaking Up Is Hard to Do.”
Bill had always thought “break the bank” referred to when a gambling establishment had more money won than its bank possessed at the time or that someone had won the lottery. He had a break-through moment when he realized his purchase of a luxury car had caused a personal break in his budget. His assets had broken into a freefall. He was broke.
What he chose to do about the situation wasn’t groundbreaking—it was more common sense, and it broke the fall. He sold the luxury car and purchased an economy one he could afford. He got a second job to tide the family over. Before long he was breaking even each month and began saving part of his income.
Well, I suppose you’ve had enough so I’m going to give you a break. As they say in theatrical slang, “Break a leg!” That phrase is not to be taken literally. Some say it originated before applause when people stomped their feet in approval. During Elizabethan times, the audience would bang their chairs on the floor— and if they liked the performance enough, the leg of the chair might break. So “break a leg” is a wish for success in your endeavors. So like the Kelly Clarkson song—it’s “Breakaway” time for me. Enjoy your breaks today!