Thursday, March 26, 2015

JIMJAMS IN CATANIA

Images: Lorenzo Fragola on facebook


The city of Catania was one of the 24 chosen by McDonald's to participate in their "World's Biggest Breakfast" event on Tuesday and everyone who attended thought it was the cat's pyjamas, according to reports. This was especially so when Lorenzo Fragola, the catanese singer who won Italy's X Factor in December, appeared and sang in his very cute pyjamas.

The breakfast event took a different form in each of the cities, in order to appeal to the various cultures involved, and the Catania restaurant decided to turn it into a pyjama party - perhaps because the country produces such stylish nightwear. Anyone who turned up in decent, unscruffy pyjamas got a free brioche and hot drink, plus the opportunity to enjoy young Mr Fragola's music.

The twitter hashtag for the worldwide event was #imlovinit24 and, at the risk of being a spoilsport, I'd just like to put in a plea on behalf of English language teachers here: it's the devil of a job getting students to remember that certain verbs, including those that denote likes and dislikes, are not usually used in the present continuous and the "I'm lovin' it" campaign has not helped us! Yes, I know that the language is constantly changing and that the form is likely to become widely accepted in the not too distant future but for the purposes of most exams, it is not acceptable yet!

7 comments:

Lee said...

I agree, Pat. Only this morning I was mumbling away to myself about something similar!

I often mumble away to myself...grumble is more like it...about something or other! :)

Saucy Siciliana said...

We just got our very own McDonald's here in Trapani...it opened about 6 weeks ago among a lot of controversy:)

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Glad you agree, Lee. Hi, Saucy Siciliana. We had a MCDonald's here some years ago but the modicani saw it off, deciding they preferred their arancini.

Whispering Walls said...

Brioche sounds very un-McD!

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

It's what passes for breakfast, WW.

Liz Hinds said...

Great fun. Wouldn't that tense be appropriate though, in the case of, for example, a leisurely breakfast? I don't know; I'm not an English teacher.

Welshcakes Limoncello said...

Hi, Liz. Yes, as it's usage that drives language. But the form would be regarded as wrong in most exams.

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