Outline marketing plan for the next year for Atlantic Quench 02133 Essay - 1

Outline marketing plan for the next year for Atlantic Quench 02133 - Essay Example The main competitors and their product mix are also analyzed. This is followed by an in depth analysis of the company in terms of the 4ps, SWOT, PESTEL of external environment of the company. This is followed by a strategic analysis of the company and designing objectives of the company derived from SWOT. After performing these, future marketing strategy of the company is designed. Market analysis and past performance evaluation plays an important role in determining the future strategies of a company. The current paper is an effort towards understanding the market conditions existing in the fruit juice sector in the U.K, the U.S and globally so that suitable marketing strategies can be formulated for Atlantic Quench Cranberry for the coming year. The paper takes into consideration vivid description of the fruit juice industry. Accordingly suitable strategies are laid down which can facilitate the firm to grow in the coming years. The beverage sector is subject to frequent changes and therefore it becomes essential to frequently analyse the trends and accordingly adopt changes. PEST analysis is a useful tool for understanding the conditions existing in the external environment. Changes in external environmental conditions such as political, economical, social and technical may either cause organizations to grow or lead to losing their market strength. For such reasons, PEST analysis is a widely used system by organizations across the globe for strategic evaluation. The political framework existing in the nations of U.K and the U.S are quite stable and supportive towards growth. However the governments of both the nations are seen to impose immense tax burdens, especially post the financial crisis times. This has restricted the economic spending of the people in general. Interest rates have also increased on loans provided to organizations. This may impact the growth related activities for Atlantic Quench. The company may be required to depend upon internal

Easy Jet: Company Operation Strategy

Easy Jet: Company Operation Strategy This report is about the Easy Jet airline company operation strategy and illustrates it order winner qualifier and its supply chain management. Easy Jet, creation of Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the son of a Greek shipping magnate who founded the company, based on the low-cost, no-frills model of the US carrier Southwest, in 1995. In November 1995, Easy Jet started flights from Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh with two leased Boeing 737-300s with at a price of  £29 one way. As it was the beginning Easy Jet acted as a virtual airline which contracts in everything from pilots to check-in staff. Reservations and Seats are being sold over a telephone reservation system only. In 1996 Easy Jet takes delivery of its first wholly owned aircraft and goes international with first services to Amsterdam from Luton. In 1997 Easy Jet launched its website, www.easyjet.com which than from 1998 onwards form an vital part of the business concept and this provides for some 90% of the bookings today. In Janua ry 1999 first of five Airline series is transmitted on ITV, giving the company nationwide opening to an audience of around nine million viewers, providing free publicity. Now Easy Jet offers 88 routes from 36 European airports. Easy Jet further expanded its fleet and routes by acquiring British Airways low-cost subsidiary Go. The grouping deal was completed in August 2002 and created Europes biggest low-cost airline, before rival Ryanair. Easy Jet main focuses is to provide its customers with safe, good value, point-to-point air services. Easy Jet offers a regular and reliable product and fares appealing to leisure and business markets on a range of European routes. To attain this they will develop their citizens and set up lasting associations with their suppliers. The achievement of Easy Jet is based on some fundamental trade features which save costs, at the same time as continuing to attract people flying. Easy Jet uses internet for online booking and issuing of travel vouchers which in returns saves enormous fees normally paid to travel agents. The www.easyJet.com web site is open for business 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year for public and this website is designed as user friendly for providing better services. Easy Jet offers one-price, one-way tickets, giving passengers greater litheness, not forcing them passengers to be away from home. If any changes to be made in tickets Easy Jet only charges  £10. Easy Jet focus on the short term travel business and focuses only on the 149 seats Boeing 737 aircraft. This operation strategy maximises services, whilst dropping maintenance costs. Easy Jet prefers smaller, less congested airports where landing charges are lower and turnaround times are faster. Easy Jet does not offer free in-flight food or drinks. Snack food and drinks can be bought before or during the flight. Easy Jet favours an casual business culture with a very flat administration configuration, which eliminates unnecessary and une conomical layers of organization. All workforces are encouraged to dress casually, (Source: www.easyjet.com). In order to maintain the good reputation and to maximise the profit company needs to make and maintain long term plans, and this plan includes company goals and understanding challenges so that to get best outcome from the implemented strategies and to differentiate companies from its competitors. As in this competitive world, internet based and global open market, it is very essential for companies to have a clear plan for attaining their targets (Hill, 2005). To maintain the shareholder value so called business strategy, for the success of company business strategy must be supported by others operations like finance, administration and marketing. Like a football team, players support the team strategy same in the company everyone role in the company supports the business strategy. Operation strategy is long term plan for the operation function that helps in outlining the design, procedure and making sure the correct use of resource and man power to support the business strategy. Operation strategy must be aligned with the business strategy to get the best of the best outcome. For the smooth running of operation and maximising the profit it must be known that what customers company is serving, what are the companies values. Secondly market environment must be known, markets trends, economic status of the market, political values and trends in the society. Environmental scanning let the company knows to explore opportunities and treats, exploring gaps in what consumers need and what competitors are doing to fulfil those requirements (Waller, 2003). Operation strategy can be formulated when business strategy is finalized. Operation strategy of Easy Jet can be best illustrated on its order winners and order qualifiers. Order winner and qualifiers are both very much important, with the order qualifier an organisation needs to qualify and re-qualify to stay in competition and in the market, order winner and qualifier is based on time and depended on market status, so they both changes over the time in the market, (Hill, 2005). Order winners and order qualifiers are the backbone for the successful operation management, (Hill, 2005). The first and main order winning of Easy Jet is low cost, it means that Easy Jet offers services at a low cost and prices, and this is their main business strategy, and this strategy helps Easy Jet to maximise its profit margin by implementing low cost strategy. Easy Jet mostly focuses on cutting costs in their operations, like reducing labour cost, materials and other facilities which can be avoided in providing services. Easy Jet emphasises on giving some extra training to employees to get the maximum outcome and lowering the fragment. Facilities which are provided by Easy Jet are rationalized, using mostly single type of airlines so that minimizing the cost on maintenance of different types of aeroplanes also routes of Easy Jet are mostly short so it can help Easy Jet to minimise cost of crew changes, maintenance, inventories of parts and many other administrative charges whi ch varies from airport to airport. Easy Jet mainly uses low crowded airports and prefers secondary airports in major cities to avoid high administrative charges. Mainly route is point to point so that they dont have to invest extra on onward connection for passengers and baggage. No meals provided and passengers can buy what they want on board and no printed boarding passes to avoid convolution and speed up ticketing and boarding. Easy Jet human resource department also plays important role in this strategy, they train newly employees to perform multi tasks and emphasis on team work to maximise the customer services. Quality of service is Easy Jet order qualifier as their strategy focuses on the service regularity which means how much their quality fulfils customers demands and single class configured cabins. Dependability is order qualifier for Easy Jet, as Easy Jet fast and reliable deliveries of parcels across Europe in low cost gives them strength to attain and sustain their cus tomers. Flexibility is the order winner for Easy Jet as they provide wide range of basic and frequent services, changes the volume of services and changing the timings of services to fulfil the customers demands. Low cost administration gives them to attain maximum profit and Easy Jet focuses on entirely IT system which can accessed from anywhere in the world so they are embraced with the concept of paperless offices. Strong work force, highly trained, quick responsive to the customers, flexible in performing multi-tasking and strong customer and technical capabilities of the employees are the order qualifiers of Easy Jet. Low price of tickets is the order winner of Easy Jet, Easy Jet offers very cheap tickets to different destinations of Europe as compare to the other airlines, which not only attract more customers but also this strategy playing important role in maximizing their profit as Easy Jet already reduced other unwanted costs. Using of latest IT system is order qualifier f or Easy Jet, Internet has greatly uplifted electronic commerce and deeply linked customers and suppliers. Minimising the overall journey time is order winner for Easy Jet, fast turnaround keeps Easy Jet services continue for high earning and avoiding its planes to return to main point, and by doing so it has its number of flights increased with low number of planes. Consistency and reliability is the order qualifier for Easy Jet as more than 90% of the flights arrived within 15 minutes which is nearly equal to British Airways. Easy Jet increased its customer service and save  £750,000 on existing functioning costs by signing an on demand CRM deal with Right Now Technologies. With Europes leading low-cost airline growing its passenger volume by 20% each year, additional operational costs will be achieved with a series of on-going modern customer service projects. At first Easy Jet will set up Right Now Serviceà ¢Ã¢â‚¬Å¾Ã‚ ¢ across all seven of its European web sites to help manage the linked enlargement in customer communication, (Source: DataMonitor). For the successful business there must be interactions and collaboration between operations and marketing. The operations department are accountable for providing the order-winning and order-qualifying criteria identified by marketing group, that empower products to win orders in the open market. This process starts with the corporate strategy and ends with the standards that either keeps the company in the running order qualifiers, (Hill,2005). The main airport for Easy Jet is Luton airport. Although Easy Jet flights to many Europe major cities, Easy Jet still misses some important airports to stay like London Heathrow airport. People who live in London, this is a very problematic point to move to Luton airport to get the flights. Although by this Easy Jet save extra charges but loses some customers as well so at one side Easy Jet saves money on other side it loses customers. Online booking service is indeed order winner for Easy jet but some elder people and people who dont use internet find difficult and not very convenience to book, so Easy Jet must have telephone line services for booking which will not cost them much but this service will indeed attract more customers and booking services of Easy jet will be more user friendly, and this use of IT services and online booking services can become their order winner for the company. Low cost air tickets is order winner for Easy jet as they dont have any interaction with tr avel agents but as the flying demands are getting more and more day by day so Easy Jet needs to establish some business to business relationship with travel agencies to attain more customers especially corporate customers which normally get tickets from travel agencies, (Source: easyjet.com). From 1995 until now, Easy Jet has increased their aircrafts from only two to 92 aircraftsà ¯Ã‚ ¼Ã…’including 21 aircrafts of Airbus A319, 33 aircrafts of Boeing 737-700 and 38 aircrafts of Boeing 737-300, at the end of September 2004. And for the expansion of its market, they prepare to increase their Airbus aircraft to 117 during the next three years. As the airline industry of whole world is not prosperity after 9/11 attacks. So that the aircraft deal from, Easy Jet is a very big deal for the suppliers and there is really big benefit for the suppliers. From this point, it is clear that bargaining power of Easy Jet is higher than the suppliers. The direct point of Easy jet supply chain management is to deliver the exact material to the precise position at the right time. The next objective is to manage the parts, procurement and supply chain function as resourcefully as achievable. At this time the company divided its service into seven segments, Parts trading, allotment, additio nal remarketing, preliminary provisioning and sourcing, inventory letting, revamp managing, stockroom and logistics. With the integrated supply chain concept, instead of providing these functions on an individual or a little at a time basis. Easy Jet offers a sustain alternative that embraces the whole range of its various services. It helps in holding much more functions an operator requires in a consistent overall plan that is shaped in alliance with the airline, (Harvard Business Review). So according to Porters generic strategies, which is purely based features of the operation of Easy Jet, main operation strategy the Easy Jet engaged is focus cost management, which is called low cost, no frills,(www. www.bized.co.uk) So it concluded that Easy Jet adopted simple straight forward low cost strategy, minimizing and avoiding unwanted cost to be in competition with other airlines operating in the sky. Easy Jet operation strategy mainly works with effect because quick and on time turnaround, cheap services, avoiding paper work like paper used in ticketing during boarding and reduced the cost of travel agents. Numbers of planes are few but utilisation rate is perfect and exact, mainly using low rate airports for landing and take-off. Some threats and risks are there for Easy Jet, as time goes on and Easy jet gets bigger and renewal of contracts needed so there are chances of raise in cost. Easy Jet key to success is remaining undemanding so that cost can be remained low and keep the usage of planes high so that they can guarantee their constant profit and quality service. References:- Hill,T. (2005), Operation Management, Plagrave Macmillan NewYork. Waller, L.D. (2003), Operation Management, Gray Publishing Kent. Information available on www.easyjet.com, accessed on 10th December 2010. Information available on www.datamonitor.com, accessed on 25th November 2010. Information available on www.crm2day.com, accessed on 15th November 2010. Afuah, A. and Tucci, C. 2002, Internet Business Models and Strategies: Text and cases, 2nd edition, McGraw Hill Information available on www.businessteacher.org.com, accessed on 15th December 2010. Journal paper of Harvard Business Review, Strategies to flights low cost rivals. Information available on www.www.bized.co.uk, accessed on 25th December 2010. Information available on www.www.docshare.com, accessed on 25th December 2010.

Shakespeares Macbeth as Tragic Hero :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

Macbeth as Tragic Hero The character of Macbeth is a classic example of a Shakespearean tragic hero.   There are many factors which contribute to the degeneration of Macbeth of which three will be discussed.   The three points which contribute greatly to Macbeth's degeneration are the prophecy which was told to him by the witches, how Lady Macbeth influenced and manipulated Macbeth's judgment, and finally Macbeth's long time ambition which drove his desire to be king.   Macbeth's growing character degenerates from a noble man to violent individual.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The prophecies which were told by the witches were one of the factors which contributed to the degeneration of his character.   If it had not been for the witches telling him that he was to be Thane of Cawdor, Thane of Glamis, and King of Scotland, Macbeth would still be his ordinary self.   As a result of the prophecies, this aroused Macbeth's curiosity of how he could be King of Scotland.   As the play progresses, Macbeth slowly relies on the witches prophecies.   Shakespeare uses the witches as a remedy for Macbeth's curiosity which corrupts his character.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The influence of Macbeth's wife, Lady Macbeth also contributed to his degeneration of character.   Lady Macbeth's character in the beginning reveals that she is a lovable person. When Lady Macbeth was ready to kill King Duncan herself, it showed that Lady Macbeth could not murder King Duncan because he reminded her of her father.   This proves that Lady Macbeth has a heart deep inside her.   Lady Macbeth plays an important role in this play because she provided a scheme which caused Macbeth to assassinate King Duncan.   After Macbeth had killed King Duncan, he later regrets on his wrong doing.   At the point of this play the audience can note the change in Macbeth's character. Macbeth's first murder was a trying experience for him, however after the first murder, killing seemed to be the only solution to maintain his reign of the people of Scotland. Therefore, it was Lady Macbeth who introduced the concept of murder to Macbeth.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Macbeth's ambition also influenced his declining character. However, Macbeth's ambition had not been strong enough to carry the motive to kill King Duncan.   Lady Macbeth's influence also comes in to play because if not for Lady Macbeth, his ambition would not have been intensified enough to drive him to obtain and maintain his title of King of Scotland no matter what it took, even if it meant murdering.

Classroom Management Essay

Introduction This paper will present the importance of setting standards within the classroom. Transitioning is one the most important part of planning. Without a classroom management students will not understand the role that they play within the classroom community. I believe the one of the most important details in the development of lesson planning is implementing effective transitioning to minimize behavior problems. Students need to in a positive and encouraging environment for them to succeed and setting high expectations for them. Establishment of rules The purpose of setting classroom rules is to create a safe yet challenging environment. I believe that educators should strive daily to meet the needs of students spiritually, socially and mentally. The theoretical foundation applied by an educator is like a roadmap that enables the students to arrive at their intended educational expectations. An educator’s theoretical foundation should be precise, integrated and complete. Such a model should consider each aspect of students being. When God created man, He made man in His own image. Man is a spiritual being, who possesses a soul that lives inside a body. And yes, having an established prevention class makes it all possible. Gaining students trust and respect is a very critical first step in creatinine a positive learning environment. If I can have respect for my students as well as having them respecting each other, I believe this leads to a safe environment where learning can take place. I believe that students should be a part of creating the classroom rules because they will be more likely to comply. By creating the rules they will have a personal and moral connection. In kindergarten the students learned the school rules and of course they would have to be implemented throughout their school career as a student. The first grade daily rules will be posted at the appropriate eye level so that students have easy access to the rules. The rules will be posted and consistently followed throughout the school year. I will discuss the rules, consequences, and rewards with the class daily. It is imperative that I set the expectations of the classroom immediately. This will be ongoing practice throughout the school year. I will also encourage the parents to go over the classroom expectations at home. As we begin to create the classroom rules, I will model/discuss with the students what a good classroom rule looks like. For example creating mini lesson that include possible scenario’s along with consequences as a result of the unwarranted behaviors. This way they understand what is expected of them when creating the rules. I will explain to the students that I will develop the first five of the six classroom rules. I will write all the rules of the board and in a student centered discussion ask why they think this rule is important. The first rule is to follow directions the first time that they are given. Second, listen when others are talking at all times. Third, raise your hand and wait to be called on before responding. Fourth, work quietly and do not disturb others. Fifth, you must keep our hands to yourself at all times. Each day student’s will have a chance to earn â€Å"smile sticks. † Smile sticks can easily be earned whenever a student is displaying appropriate behavior by: following directions, walking quietly in the hallway, helping others, etc. At the end of each week, smile sticks are counted and each student with 8 or more sticks will get a chance to pull from the treasure chest. Parents will be notified daily of positive and negative experiences. Daily Routine On the second day of school will go over the rules discussed on the first day and revisit the class tour. On this day, I will go over the morning routine that is displayed daily within the classroom. The students will be asked to come in and immediately select their breakfast and begin to eat. The students as well as parents will receive information on the time breakfast is served, and the amount of time provided to students. Next, I will discuss and model the appropriate items to bring into the classroom from the lockers located within the classrooms. I will next discuss the importance of attendance and being tardy to school. Then I will discuss/model and teach appropriate procedures for sharpening pencils, restroom, and turning in assignments. Parents will receive a welcome letter that tells about me. The parents’ will also receive a school handbook and classroom expectations. Setting daily routines is important for all grade level students but especially lower L students. On the third day we will get to know each other and I will provide an assignment â€Å"getting to know me† the students will take this assignment home for homework. This sheet will allow them to go home and complete with their parents and come to school ready to share. I will store the assignment within their file so that I can always use it as a reference guide. The classroom tour Each day within the first week of school it is important that students get comfortable with their new environment. We will take a classroom tour and learn where all resources and materials are within the classroom. Once we have gone through a tour and I explained as well the demographics of things, we will do a quick assessment. I will choose a student by pulling Popsicle sticks randomly. An example of this assessment is to simply ask questions. For example: â€Å"If I need to find my writing journal, where would I go to retain it? † This exercise would give students moving about within the classroom and getting comfortable and familiar with the placement of various tools and resources. Transitions Students often find it difficult to transitions between assignments and changes class periods. I have witnessed difficulties at all age levels and it is a task that must be made smooth by all teachers. According to Kellough & Jarolimek, smooth transitions can be facilitated by implementing structured activities that help students make these transitions. Transitions are less trouble when teachers plan them carefully during their preactive phase of instruction and write them into their lesson plan. (Kellough & Jarolimek, 2013) A significant stumbling block to the flow of instruction is in attention to transitions between activities, lessons, subjects, or class periods. It is here that teachers are likely to feel that they are less effective in maintaining the flow of instruction. Effective transitions are structured to move students from one activity to another, both physically and cognitively. The goal of smooth transitions is to ensure that all students have the materials and mind-sets they need for a new activity The start of the day students will begin their bell work assignment on a daily basis. Once bell-work is completed then students will begin journal writing based on a selected topic. During transition periods the student will be able to earn table points. The table with the most points at the end of the week have to opportunity to pick a prize from the treasure box. The transition procedure will be explained throughout the school year. Once we complete the lesson the students have two minutes to prepare for the table point game. Preparation includes putting away their current supplies and sitting as an effective leader and finally pause. The table that is prepared in this manner first, gets an opportunity to answer the first question in the point game. With this activity I am able to assess the students’ knowledge of the prior lesson as well engage them in a fun activity. Using transitions as a tool to help maintain the flow of instruction will ensure meaning instruction. During the transition for lunch, I will set clear and concise directions through-out our daily interactions. Twenty minutes before lunch the students will wrap up their math lesson and collect reading material from their baskets (DEAR). Students will begin to line up once their table is called and will proceed to the lunchroom. Conclusion Today most classrooms suffer do to a lack of effective planning in the area of classroom management. A classroom prevention plan is imperative to having a successful year and students reaching the goals set forth by educators. I believe that if students are a part of creating the classroom rules, they will be less likely to fall short of following the rules. On the first day of school first graders are for of energy, nervous and anxious of what’s to come ahead. Parents are standing in the door way afraid to say goodbye but excited for the journey that their first grader is about to embark on. Establishing a structured environment in the beginning and allowing the parent and students to have access to clear rules and expectation is the recipe for a successful school year! References Van Brummelen, H. (2009). Walking with God in the Classroom: Christian Approaches to Teaching and Learning. Colorado Springs, CO: Purposeful Design Publications. Kellough, R. D. , & Jarolimek J. (2005). Teaching and learning K-8: a guide to methods and resources (9th ed. ). New York: Macmillan.

Parthenon marbles

Marbles are a collection of classical Greek marble sculptures, Inscriptions and architectural members. This collection was originally part of the Parthenon temple and other buildings around It on the Acropolis of Athens, Greece. They are a masterpiece for ancient Greek art and a treasure for the world. Those statues as always been part of the Pantheon complex until the Turkish conquered Greece and gained the power allover its artifacts and properties.It had been relatively easy for Thomas Bruce, the seventh earl of Elgin, Britain, to buy from the Ottomans' ambassador a wide range of art pieces for a low price. He removed 56 pieces from the temple's frieze, 15 mottoes, and 17 pediment sculptures, plus a caryatid and a column from a nearby temple; and he exported them in his own courtyard. After few year he found himself forced to sell the collection to the British nation which deposited It In the British Museum for safekeeping, where It Is still today.But long before their arrival In England those statues had been battered by wars, fires, earthquakes, whippets, destructions by sawing off chunks of sculptures and other kind of damage. They have been scrubbed, cleaned with abrasive substances and eventually reburied again with stained wax. Since Greece got back its independence, the folk and the politic leaders have been fighting to take the Pantheon Marbles back home as well as Britain has fought to keep them in the British National museum. The case had been brought even to the European Union'sCourt of Justice but the marbles are still nowadays so far from their native place. Throughout the history of the world many nations has lost important pieces of their art as well as other countries and populations have stolen them. Whether it's right to keep those masterpieces or give them back to their owner Is a very controversial issue and the world hasn't found the ‘right answer' yet. Everyone Just cares about their own business and they both want to keep other's populations piece of art and have back theirs own.First of all I think we should stop seeing ancient art as a producer of money but as a precious gift to admire. Second of all we should stop seeing those artifacts as a property of that state instead of the other but as a property of the entire world. Having said that I think that every piece of art could have been more enjoyed and admired in its own primal place. And I don't mean Just the country where it's from, but when possible, even the building where it had been placed.I think it should be an extraordinary emotion to see what and how it should kook like many years before us, in the place where that object was made up for, its real home. Many years ago I visited the pyramids, I was a kid so I don't remember it very clearly but I do remember how sad I was when I found out that inside they were almost empty. I expected to found a mummy, sarcophagus, canonic urns and all the stuff that belonged to that pharaoh and that pyramid. I was so disappointed that someone had Just took them away, to bring them who knows where. Years later I the best Egyptian collections I have ever seen.But when I was there I felt so sad, I felt eke a thief because that pieces were not from Turin and neither from Italy and then it didn't look so good as it could look in the pyramids, the real place where they belong. I think art is not Just the piece itself, self-standing, but related to the environment it was designed for. Only in that way it could be admired for its own beauty and purpose. So If I had the power, I'd give every piece of art back to their primal home, and not because of the money or whatever but because there it can shine as no where else in the entire world.

morals of gm foods essays

morals of gm foods essays In this essay I intend to explore the ethical implications of developing genetically modified plants and analyse if the advantages out-weigh the disadvantages. However before I start to discuss the ethical implications of this type of work it is first necessary to clarify exactly what is meant by ethics and genetically modified foods. Ethics are, The study of the general nature of morals and of the specific moral choices to be made by a person; or the rules or standards governing the conduct of a person or the members of a profession: medical ethics. (dictionary.com). In simple terms ethics are the moral code by which we live our lives. They tell us what is right and what is wrong and form our moral conscience. Genetically modified foods are foods where, Desirable genes can be transferred from an organism to a crop plant. (Inge, Rowland and Baker, 2000). This can lead to plants being resistant to viruses and in the case of the corn plant, making it resistant to drought. These are the evident advantages of genetically modified plants but there are disadvantages such as plants being modified so that they become resistant to herbicides and pesticides. If these plants cross-pollinate with other plants then this resistance could spread making plants resistant to all kinds of pathogens. So what are the implications of genetically modified plants? The main concern of many people is the safety of genetically modified plants. This concern arises from the implantation of animals genes into plants and from possible allergic reactions caused by implanting, for example, the genes from a Brazil nut into another product. This did actually happen with the development of a soybean which included a Brazil nut protein however the research was immediately stopped when an allergen problem was detected and the plant was never grown outside of a greenhouse. (Marchant ...

Belt Idioms

Belt Idioms Belt Idioms Belt Idioms By Maeve Maddox A striking headline from The Daily Beast got me thinking about all the expressions that make use of the noun belt: The Rustbelt Roars Back From the Dead I thought a post about belt idioms might be especially useful to ESL speakers. A belt is a strip of flexible material, such as leather, plastic, cloth, used with or without a buckle for wear (usually) around the waist. Some idioms are based on a belt’s narrow shape, like the following epithets for different sections of the United States. Corn Belt This term refers to the region in the north-central Midwest of the United States where corn (maize) and corn-fed livestock are raised. The Corn Belt extends from western Ohio to eastern Nebraska and northeastern Kansas. Cotton Belt This is the region of the South and Southwestern sections of the United States where much cotton is grown. Rust Belt Regions in the Midwest and Northeast that were once centers of manufacturing but which have become the sites of obsolete, abandoned factories are collectively known as the Rust Belt. Bible Belt Sections of the United States, especially in the South and in Middle West, where many residents hold fundamentalist religious beliefs, has long been referred to as the Bible Belt. The AP Stylebook warns journalists to use the term with care â€Å"because in certain contexts it can give offense.† Sun Belt Those states in the South and West, ranging from Florida and Georgia through the Gulf states into California are often referred to as the Sun Belt. Other belt idioms are based on the use of the belt as an article of clothing. to tighten one’s belt The meaning is â€Å"to spend less money.† A person who must spend less money on groceries may be forced to eat less and lose weight as a result. Losing weight makes it possible to fasten a belt more tightly. Example: Just as families and businesses across the nation have tightened their belts, so must the federal government. to get something under your belt This means â€Å"to complete some endeavor seen as necessary.† Example: Aled Davies has his first Grand Prix under his belt. to hit below the belt The meaning is â€Å"to take unfair advantage of someone.† In boxing, striking an opponent below the belt is against the rules. Example: Sarkozy hits below the belt as race for Elysà ©e hots up a belt and braces approach (British) a belt and suspenders approach (American) This refers to a way of doing things that involves more than the usual amount of caution. Either a belt or a pair of braces or suspenders is sufficient to hold up one’s trousers. Using both is excessive. Example: The combination of these factors- change in key staff and rapid growth- meant that there needed to be a â€Å"belt and braces†Ã‚  approach  to quality management  and staffing.   Constitutional protections seem to represent a belt and suspenders approach. put a notch on one’s belt This idiom can mean â€Å"to defeat an opponent† or t†o add something to a collection.† According to the lore of the Old West, every time a gunfighter killed a man, he cut a notch on his gun handle or along the edge of his gun belt. Example: For DeMint, the Moran victory is  another notch  on the  belt. Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Expressions category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:Spelling Test 15 Lessons for Mixing Past and Present TenseComma Before Too?