Tuesday, December 20, 2011

angel, angle

Angel or angel means a heavenly or supernatural winged being--
They always put an angel on the top of their Christmas tree.
Many people believe that angels visit Earth and help people.

Angle or angle ( rhymes with bangle ) means the place where two lines meet--
The corners of a box or room form a right angle.
You can find a picture of an angle in a geometry book.
Angle is also used to mean at a slant, or not straight--
Set the chair at an angle; it will look better.
Angle may also mean the approach of a writer to a story, an opinion piece, or an argument--
This writer has a fresh angle on the protest story.
Interviewing the chef may be a new angle, but I don't think it really adds to the story.

Now that you know that, you can say--
"The author decided to use the angle of interviewing people who claimed to have seen an angel."
"The two fences meet at an odd angle, making an image of the wings of an angel."

Note--to "angle" means to fish with a rod and bait or lure--
He stood on the bank all day, hoping to angle up his dinner.
A person who fishes in this way is called an "angler"--
The old angler made his own lures, and set great store by them.
To "angle" also means to use sly or coy hints to get something--
He's pretends modesty  to angle for a compliment.
He angled for a raise, but never came right out and asked for one.
"He's just fishing for a compliment" is also a common saying--
He's just fishing for a compliment.
When we say that someone is "fishing", figuratively, we usually mean trying to get information--
He is fishing to find out where she lives.
On the internet this is called "phishing" ( rhymes with fishing )--
He got an email from someone phishing for credit card information.
Note #2--"Angle" is a proper noun ( name of a specific person, place, and sometimes thing, always capitalized ), meaning one of the ancient people who once inhabited Great Britain. "Angle" is the root word of the term "Anglo-Saxon", still used to describe people of British heritage or descent--
Britain was once inhabited by Angles, Saxons, Picts, and Jutes.
Anglo-Saxon England was invaded and conquered by the Normans.

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