It\u2019s strange how this works. Last episode, on Thursday, I read the whole transcript over and over trying to find one decent expression to use. I finally found one, \u201ckeep to yourself,\u201d but it wasn\u2019t even a great expression, to be honest. This time, I\u2019m looking back and I see five expressions I could choose. Here are the choices: turned out of office; the trail had gone cold; to dog the Church; less than fully (something), cooperative in this case; and to pay respects. But I have to choose just one. That\u2019s the episode format, and I\u2019m not about to break with the format. Even I am not above the rules of Plain English.<\/p>\n
Dogged by scandal. Did you hear that? In the 1980s, the Catholic Church was dogged by financial scandals. Dogged; d-o-g-g-e-d. There are two ways to use the word \u201cdog\u201d as a verb, and this is one of them. This was the passive voice, so let\u2019s turn it around and make it a little easier to follow. Scandals dogged the Catholic Church in the 1980s. What this means is that financial scandals caused worry, embarrassment, and suffering to the Church in the 1980s. This is one of those phrases we use with a very specific type of situation. There are only a handful of cases in which you can use the word \u201cdog\u201d like this, but the word is very very common in those few cases.<\/p>\n
Here they are, ready? Scandal. People and institutions can be dogged by scandal. The Catholic Church has been dogged by a sexual abuse scandal in recent years. FIFA has been dogged by corruption charges for as long as I can remember. The OIympics are frequently dogged by scandal; the head of the Japanese Olympic Committee had to resign after he was implicated in a vote-buying scandal to get the games in the first place. What else is new? Don\u2019t get me going on the Olympics.<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s another context. Legal or financial troubles. In fact, Jo\u00e3o Gilberto was dogged by legal and financial troubles in the final years of his life. He was involved in lawsuits and had a lot of debts to pay. <\/p>\n
Accusations, rumors, or unanswered questions. I don\u2019t keep up with the celebrity press, but I bet you can find instances of celebrities dogged by rumors of infidelity or things like that.<\/p>\n
Dogged by, then, is used when something causes a person or an institution worry, embarrassment, or concern about something important, generally about their reputation or essential character.<\/p>\n
Time for the quote of the week. We talked about cemeteries and burials and death. And I am just about done reading a massive biography of Winston Churchill. Churchill is a very quotable person. He has said many famous and witty things. As I was reading the book, I was thinking, I should grab a memorable quote and use it one day in Plain English. This is certainly not a quote I would have picked, except for today\u2019s topic. Before I tell you, I need to explain an English expression, \u201cto meet your Maker.\u201d That\u2019s when you die and you have to account for your life and your deeds in the eyes of God. Your Maker, the person who created all humanity, is God. When you meet your Maker, you face judgment. I\u2019m not saying this actually happens; that\u2019s a matter of personal belief. I\u2019m just explaining the expression.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s common for an older person to say he is not afraid to meet his Maker. A person who says that is confident in his life\u2019s accomplishments. He\u2019s at peace with the world and himself. He is confident he has led a moral life, etcetera. He\u2019s going to have a strong case when judgment day arrives.<\/p>\n
So here\u2019s the quote from Churchill: “I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for the great ordeal of meeting me is another matter.” When I read that, I just laughed. The implication is that God, having sat in judgment on every single person in history, would be unprepared for the ordeal of meeting him\u2014it just made me laugh.<\/p>\n
We need a good laugh after reading about exhumed remains and things like that, right? “I am ready to meet my Maker. Whether my Maker is prepared for \u2026 meeting me is another matter.”<\/p>\n