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Casey, one of my loyal readers, wrote some time ago asking what "from activity to activity" means without offering an example from which he might have seen that phrase.

In reply I asked him to find an example involving that phrase. "I promise," I wrote in reply, "that I'll answer the question if you do the exercise – if, that is, you still could not work out its meaning after doing the exercise." I believe the question answers itself if one sees a particular phrase in action a few times. I often find that to be the case at any rate.

Anyways, I challenged Casey to do more, adding: "I want you to do this so that you won't feel guilty that you have not done your part. Please do your part and expect me to do mine."

Fair enough, Casey came back with the following: "I tried to find some examples involving the phrase 'from activity to activity' but still I couldn't find any. The point is that I came across this phrase in an examination paper, and it just gave the phrase asking us to give the Chinese meaning of the phrase. There was no context at all. And I've never seen the phrase anywhere before. So believe me, I've done my part. Would you please be kind enough to tell me the meaning of the phrase? It would be better if you could give examples."

Fair enough. Now that Casey's done his part, I can tell the truth. And the truth is, sorry for being fussy, Casey, but there is precious little to explain.

"From activity to activity", you see, means nothing more than "from one activity to another activity." In talking about things and when we don't have to distinguish them, one from another, we say "from something to something".

You've heard of people hopping "from job to job" for years without finding their comfort zone, haven't you? You've probably heard of the professional eater in Beijing who goes "from hotel to hotel", and "from conference to conference" to have a free lunch at the buffet offered to participating panel members. From TV, you must have heard of migrants moving "from city to city" in order to give births to children in the hope of getting that evasive son (for the sake of posterity, to be sure) and keep away from family-planning enforcement officials from the hometown.

And the Communist Party, of course, has always been marching "from victory to victory."

Laughs aside, here are more examples from the media (I've done my part as well).

1. from activity to activity:

Chances are, every kid on your block is juggling music lessons, sports practices, theater rehearsals, or a myriad of other extra-curricular activities designed to put them on the track to future success.

Resist the pressure to follow suit, says psychologist Alvin Rosenfeld, author of "The Overscheduled Child: Avoiding the Hyper-Parenting Trap." Today's fast-paced society encourages parents to shuttle their childrenfrom activity to activity, Rosenfeld argues, leaving too little free time to just be a family and enjoy spending time together.

- Teen: Over-achievement, over-scheduling, family.go.com, August 19, 2007.

2. from person to person:

Headline: From Person to Person, Genetic Maps Reveal (National Geographic News, November 22, 2006).

3. from country to country:

Headline: Tax policies vary widely from country to country, OECD study shows (oecd.org, December 10, 2005).

4. from event to event, from spectacle to spectacle:

One minute, we are still debating election returns in Ohio and Florida. And then, in a flash, the story largely disappears and the subject changes. Quickly, we have moved on as the news media converges on Fallujah to report on, and in the view of many, support what may be the bloodiest chapter to date of the Iraq war.

Media coverage lurches from event to event, and from spectacle to spectacle as a substance deficit disorder hyperactively drives the news agenda. No sooner are we focused on one major story, than another intrudes to change the subject and insures that there is no time for follow-up, much less thoughtful processing. - From Florida to Fallujah: What the News Coverage Covers Up, MediaChannel.org, November 9, 2004.

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About the author:

Zhang Xin is Trainer at chinadaily.com.cn. He has been with China Daily since 1988, when he graduated from Beijing Foreign Studies University. Write him at: zhangxin@chinadaily.com.cn, or raise a question for potential use in a future column.