Paphos People

FIRE!

Fire is a small word with a huge amount of different meanings very few of them are good. If you fire a gun at somebody, don’t be surprised if you kill them, whereas if you fire somebody out, they no longer work for you. Don’t get these two mixed up but watch out if the person you have just fired carries a gun because he might return fire!
You can be fired up when you are excited about an upcoming enjoyable treat or full of fire when you are actually doing the aforementioned treat.
That’s just a few examples of how the English language can be misinterpreted with disastrous results if you don’t understand the peculiar English way of words having multiple meanings.
In America in 1976, Gary Gillmore a convicted double murderer elected to be executed by firing squad as was his choice. Strapped to a chair he was prepared for his demise. A squad of five marksmen all took aim on his heart so that no one person could be held responsible for the fatal shot. Under the hood, the last word that Gillmore heard was FIRE!
Enough of the gruesome gory stuff, not forgetting however how Guy Fawkes met his end and come to that Joan of Arc and countless dozens of witches shared the same fate, all perished in a fire.
So no matter which meaning you apply to fire the outcome will be destruction or even DEATH!

However, to lighten the mood a bit - imagine this scenario.
Let’s get all cosied up with a loved one, or even your wife, by a lovely homely log fire on a cold and dark Christmas Eve in a black and white country cottage in a beautiful picturesque Cotswold village. There is a promise of snow tonight resulting in a White Christmas tomorrow.
Soft romantic music is playing and you cuddle up to her on the sofa with a couple of port and brandies. Sensing the temperature falling outside the fire is stoked up with enough logs to last the evening. Passions are on fire and sparks begin to ignite between you both. Without a word having to be spoken, you both head upstairs, drinks in hand, to finish the evening off properly if you follow my meaning……
Meanwhile the cosy log fire is blazing away and, as logs do, sparks are flying around the room. One bright one lands on the sofa and it begins to smoulder giving off toxic gas filled fumes from the foam filled upholstery. These gradually fill the room and slowly creep up the stairs.
In the bedroom, you have both fallen asleep fuelled with port and brandy and the soporific feeling after intense passion.
Finally the smouldering sofa reaches the required temperature and spontaneously combusts into a raging fire. The timber frame building with its thatched roof is soon ablaze. The villagers look on helplessly and attempt to douse the fire with garden hoses. Unfortunately the house is totally destroyed before the fire brigade has even got into second gear. When they do arrive twenty minutes later there is nothing but a pile of ashes and two dead bodies. See I told you!
Merry Christmas!