Fun English

Fun English 

 Twitterati

 A keen and frequent user of the social networking service Twitter is called a twitterati.

 'He was no celebrity but considered himself one retweeting celeb twitteratis.'

 By the way, retweet means 'forward a message posted on Twitter to another user.'

 The word is coined on the pattern of literati and glitterati. You can find this word listed in online dictionaries such as Oxford and Macmillan.

RISE or RAISE

When something goes up on its own, it rises.

 'Cost of living rose by four per cent.'

 'The water level rose beyond danger level.'

 When you move or lift something to a higher position or level, you raise it.

 'Don't raise the bridge; lower the river.'

 'Those who know the answer can raise their hands.'

DRESS-DOWN FRIDAY / FRIDAY DRESSING

A Friday when you can go to work wearing casual or informal clothes is called dress-down Friday.

 It is casual Friday in American English.

Do you use your right brain?

 Do you use your right brain? If so, solve this puzzle. Between the two words given here, you can use a word that will suit both the words in forming a compound word.

Example:

Cross ----Place

Cross FIRE place: crossfire; fireplace

You do it now.

Break ----- Hall

Water -----Rope

Film ----Cut

Chair ---Room

Power ------- Master

Answers: break-dance-hall; water-tight-rope; film-crew-cut; chair-leg-room; power-station-master.

  

Where in the world is this?

 Given below are some phrases. The letters of the phrase can be unscrambled to make the name of a country.  Can you find the countries hidden in the phrases?

Hand tail.

Main oar.

Neat grain.

Igloo man.

Answers  Thailand, Romania, Argentina and Mongolia.

What is the difference between meet and contact?

Contact means to write or telephone somebody.

Do not  hesitate to contact us if you have problem with the product.

Contact the front office for more details?

In everyday English people use get in touch with rather than contact.

Can I have your mobile number so that I get in touch with you when you are not at work.

Meet means to see somebody in person.

I will meet you tomorrow to discuss this.

RHYMING SLANG

Reddy, pull an I declare to the Charlie Horner there, and keep your heart and lung under control lest the dime a pop should barge in, and  take you  to ginger ale for creating nuisance.  And, if you don’t stop, I will switch and bone the dime a pop myself!

I am sure that you would have had difficulty making sense of what you have read, and unless you are familiar with what is called Rhyming Slang, you would not understand certain expressions used in the passage above.

Rhyming slang used by people of East London, is today, used in America, Australia and Britain. It is not common in educated speech, and therefore, be careful when you use them in your everyday speech in a hurried enthusiasm.

In the passage above, I declare is a chair, Charlie Horner, corner. Heart and lung is your tongue, and dime a pop is cop. Ginger ale stands for jail while switch and bone is telephone as verb.

What is uncles and aunts then? It is your pants. To amuse you here are some expression from rhyming slang:

Bacons and eggs: legs

Bonny fair: hair

Brothers and sisters: whiskers

Fine and dandy: brandy

Pot of jelly: belly

Kiss the cross: boss

Nancy prance: dance

Johnnie Rump: pump

Leg rope: hope

Ruby rose: nose

Three or four: door

Smear and smudge: judge

Aha, look for more in the dictionaries for rhyming slang!

DO YOU KNOW

- that FACULTY, besides meaning 'a teacher or a department in university', also means 'a particular skill' or 'talent'?

 'He had a great faculty for retaining information.'

 'For intellectual virtues we want judgement, decision and the organ of concentrativeness -- every faculty in the free use of all limbs -- and every idea in constant air and exercise.

 ~ James PYCROFT about cricket.

ON CHRISTMAS

 Or At Christmas?

 If you say ‘on Christmas’ you mean the twenty-fifth of December.

 If you say ‘At Christmas’ you are referring to Christmas vacation.

 ‘The movie is releasing on Christmas.’

 ‘I will be in Mumbai at Christmas.’

 ‘The best place to be at Christmas is Goa.’

Ha,ha!

 Salesman: 'Madam, this incense stick is such that when you burn it in your flat, the fragrance reaches the neighbour's.'

 Lady: 'Great, do sell them to our neighbour.'

HOW TO TALK ABOUT SPENDING MONEY

 SPEND

 It is a common word used to mean to 'use money to buy things':

 'I bought a pair of jeans and a T-Shirt and I spent only Rs. 1000/-.'

 'How much do you spend a month on entertainment?'

 SQUANDER

 It is used to mean to “waste money on unnecessary things, instead of saving it or using it carefully”:

 'His son squandered the family fortune on gambling and booze.”

 SPLASH OUT

 It is used informally to mean to “spend a lot of money on something you really want or will enjoy:

 'Let’s splash out on bottle of champagne.'

 'People often splash out for Diwali and then regret it later.'

 BLOW

 It is used informally to mean to spend a lot of money on something, especially something you do not really need:

  'Her husband blew all their savings on a new sports car.'

MAKE A FUSS OF SOMETHING

 MAKE A FUSS ABOUT SOMETHING

 When you make a fuss about something, you complain about it.

 'She made a fuss about the mail he had sent.'

 When you make a fuss of something, you pay a lot of attention to something to show that you are pleased with it.

 'He was making a fuss of the pretty girl he had met recently.'

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

 ~ Winston Churchil

The difference between ATMOSPHERE and AMBIENCE

 You can use ‘atmosphere’ as a countable and an uncountable noun. Atmosphere can refer to a feeling that a place or an event gives you. It affects your mood.

 ‘The atmosphere in the room changed when the music started.’

 ‘I love the place. It has a relaxed and homelike atmosphere.’

 ‘It was the last day of college, and there was the atmosphere of friendliness everywhere.’

 ‘It was their first annual meeting and there was an atmosphere of optimism and expectation.’

 If you say a place or event has atmosphere, you mean that it is interesting.

 ‘With so many speakers and so many papers to read, the seminar lacked atmosphere.’

 ‘It was a drab movie with stereotyped plot, totally lacking in atmosphere.’

 You might be wondering what then are the mixture gases surrounding the earth. Well, that also is atmosphere, but it is ‘the’ atmosphere.

 Mostly used in singular, ‘atmosphere’ means the air inside a room.

 ‘With incense burning continuously, the room had a smoky and fragrant atmosphere.’

 Ambience means the quality or the character that a place has.

 ‘All classrooms must have an ambience of relaxed curiosity and friendly discussion.’

SEE OFF / SEND-OFF

 If you see a person off, you go to the airport or railway station to say good-bye to him or her.

 'They went to the airport to see their boss off.'

 If you give a send-off to someone, you have a party (or an occasion) to say goodbye to a person who is leaving (a job or retiring from a position).

 'On the last day, they gave a send-off to their trainer.'

  

The difference between GIVE and PROVIDE

 To provide or to give means to let someone have something.

 'The organization provides medical care to all its employees.'

 'She gave the beggar a hundred rupees.'

 Provide is more formal than give, and is used when something is made available to people in general or when the person receiving something is not mentioned.

 'The army provides quarters, ration and other allowances to both soldiers and officers.'

 'We give you ration and other allowances besides quarters and medical-care.'

CUT TO THE CHASE

 'Cut to the chase' is an idiom from the movie industry meaning 'come to the point.'

 The Free Dictionary online defines the expression as: (film) a term used in action movies meaning, to shift the scene to the most exciting part, where someone is being chased. It is used metaphorically to mean "get to the main point".

 Example:

 'Sir, what is the meaning of 'participle'?'

 'The past participle is used in the perfect tenses. The present perfect tense and...'

 'I know that the past participle is used in perfect tenses. Cut to the chase and tell me the meaning of the word 'participle'.'

The difference between ITS and IT'S

 "Its" means "belonging to or relating to something that has already mentioned":

 "The dog wagged its tail."

 “The company has sold its assets."

 "The hotel has its own pool."

 "It's" is short for "it is" or "it has":

 "It's (It is) my life."

 "Where is the bag?"- "It's (It is) under the table."

 "It's (It is) my fault."

 "Get a move on. It's (it is) already too late."

 "It's (It has) been a wonderful day- thank you."

 "It's (It has) been raining since last night."

 Quiz time

 Say which 3 sentences in the following list are incorrect:

 1. It's up to you.

 2. I knew what model car it was, but I was not sure about it's colour.

 3. I haven't read it, but I have heard it's good.

 4. Check to see if its gone.

 5. It's my birthday today.

 6. It's over.

 7. It's raining.

 8. It's made of glass.

 9. "How is your dog?" - "Its not feeling well."

 10. "What happened to the dog?" - "It's hurt its paw."

 (Ans: 2, 4 & 9)

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'EACH' AND 'EVERY'

  If you note the word pattern, you will find that 'each' and 'every' are used with singular countable nouns.

 'Every employee carries an ID card.'

 'The result was the same each year.'

 You use 'each' when you talk about two or more things.

 'He had a gold bracelet on each wrist.'

 You use 'every' when you talk about three or more things.

 'Every student gave a 'thank you' card, and shook the teacher's hand.'

 You prefer 'each' when you think of people or items separately, and you use 'every' when you think of them as individual members of the group.

 'Each winner was given a gold medal and a cash award.'

 'Every winner was invited to the party hosted by the President.'

PUT/ THROW A SPANNER IN THE WORKS

 The phrase means 'to stop something from happening or going on' or 'to cause mayhem'.

 By the way, mayhem means 'an extreme situation when people are confused, excited and scared.'

 Experts say that this phrase was coined by P G Wodehouse and cite this line from his 'Right Ho, Jeeves, 1934'.

 'He should have had sense enough to see that he was throwing a spanner into the works.'

 Here is another example:

 'They were discussing and doing something. I just slipped by. I didn't want to throw a spanner in the works.'

 Can we say 'throw a spanner in the spokes'?

 The idiom is put/ throw a spanner in the works.

  

To dig in one’s heel.

 What will do you when engaged in a tug of war? You will be naturally placing your heels very firmly on the ground. The more the opposite group is pulling at the rope, the more stubbornly you hold it, your heel almost digging into the earth. It means that you hold your own.

 'When he told her not to go ahead with higher education, she dug in her heel and shot back, saying she would do so, come what may.'

 To be determined, stubborn, obstinate, not yielding, refusing to budge an inch, sticking to one’s guns, stand ground…..these are some of the meanings of ‘to dig in one’s heel’.

ESSENTIAL or IMPORTANT

 Something that is essential is very important for you or for something.

 'Water is essential to living.'

 'In China it is essential to speak Chinese.'

 Something that has a great influence on somebody or on some event is important.

 'I have an important meeting to attend.'

 In short: important. Essential: very important.

SMART MAN, SMART WOMAN

 A successful man is one who makes more money than his wife can spend.

 A successful woman is one who can find such a man.

EXPLAIN ME or EXPLAIN TO ME?

 Do not say: Please explain me the difference between 'see' and 'watch'.

 Remember that you explain something to someone.

 'Please explain to me the difference between 'see' and 'watch.'

 When you say 'please explain me', you are asking me to explain you to someone. Now tell me, how do I explain 'you' to someone?

MANIAS

 A mania is an obsession or addiction to something. Here are some manias the names of which are interesting.

 alcohol: dipsomania

 books: bibliomania

 cats: ailuromania

 crowds: demomania / ochlomania

 death: thanatomania

 dogs: cynomania

 drugs: narcomania

 horses: hippomania

 oneself: egomania

 personal cleanliness: ablutomania

 talking: logomania

UNTIL NOW and SO FAR

 Both 'until now' and 'so far' mean 'till now' or ' up to the present'.

 Use 'until now' when you are speaking about a situation that has changed now.

 'Until now I thought there was no difference between until now and so far.' (Now I know there is a difference.)

 Use 'so far' to speak about a situation that remains unchanged.

 'So far no one has asked anything about discourse markers.'

MARRIAGE or WEDDING?

 Both words have a similar meaning: a marriage ceremony with rituals and feasts.

 Marriage is more formal than wedding. Commonly used term is 'wedding.'

 'I went to a wedding last night.'

 'The marriage took place at Tirupathi.'

 While wedding carries only one meaning, that of the 'marriage ceremonies', marriage has other meanings besides 'marriage ceremonies.'

 Marriage can mean the relationship between a man and a woman who are married or the state of being married.

 'His marriage to the singer was not a happy one.'

LOLCATS

 You might have seen them, and maybe, not known that they were the Lolcats.

 A lolcat is an image of a cat, often with a funny text in funny grammar.

 The word is actually Lol (laugh out (a)loud + cat. Here is a sample lolcat for you:

 Pix: the Internet

BANDWAGON

 If you think that bandwagon is wagon in which people ride, look up a good dictionary.

 Bandwagon refers to an activity that more and more people are becoming involved in.

 'Well, it is the IPL bandwagon that keeps people glued to TV.'

 Climb or jump on the bandwagon: to join something just because a lot of people are doing it.

 'Now many corporate houses want to jump on the IPL bandwagon; they want to own a team.'

SYMPATHY or EMPATHY?

 When you feel sorry for someone because they have a problem or a bad situation, you have sympathy for them.

 'Her husband had no job and when she said she was willing to take even menial jobs, I felt sympathy for her.'

 When you have the ability to put yourself in someone's shoes and understand their problems and predicaments, you feel empathy for them.

 'Empathy makes you understand people'

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE?

 He answered the question foolishly.

 He foolishly answered the question.

1. The answer was foolish. 2. His behaviour by answering the question was foolish.

EYE CANDY

 An eye candy is a person or thing that is beautiful and attractive but of not much worth. The person may not be intelligent or the thing useful.

 First used in 1984, the term eye candy is based on nose candy, another term for ‘cocaine’.

 ‘The serial was full of eye candy and cheap stunts.’

 Note that ‘eye candy’ is two words. It is an uncountable noun, and therefore, has no plural form. No *'eye candies'.

WHICH IS CORRECT?

 1. Looking forward to hearing from you.

 2. Looking forward to hear from you.

No, only the first is right.

CUT TO THE CHASE

 'Cut to the chase' is an idiom from the movie industry meaning 'come to the point.'

 The Free Dictionary online defines the expression as: (film) a term used in action movies meaning, to shift the scene to the most exciting part, where someone is being chased. It is used metaphorically to mean "get to the main point".

 Example:

 'Sir, what is the meaning of 'participle'?'

 'The past participle is used in the perfect tenses. The present perfect tense and...'

 'I know that the past participle is used in perfect tenses. Cut to the chase and tell me the meaning of the word 'participle'.

WHAT IS THE MEANING OF ‘LET’?

 A good question.

 ‘Let’ means to allow someone to do something.

 ‘Let him speak.’

 ‘Let them go now.’

 Let is informal. In written English, people use ‘allow’.

 ‘Allow him to speak.’

 Let can also mean ‘not stop something from happening.’

 ‘Let the car run idle.’

 ‘Let the phone ring.’

 You use ‘let go’ to say ‘stop holding something.’

 ‘Let go of the brake. The car will not move otherwise.’

 Use ‘let us’ or ‘let’s’ to make a strong suggestion to a group you belong.

 ‘Let’s go to a movie.’

 CAUTION

 With ‘let’ do not use ‘to’: Let him go and not *Let him to go.

 With ‘allow’ use ‘to’: Allow him to go and not *Allow him go.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

 I don't feel any difference

 and

 I don't feel any different?

I DON’T FEEL ANY DIFFERENCE.

 Imagine you are comparing two kinds of fabrics, and you feel the texture, and then say:

 ‘I don’t feel any difference.’ (Between the two types of fabrics.)

 I DON’T FEEL ANY DIFFERENT

 Imagine you are not well, and your friend gives you a pill, and asks you after a couple of hours how you feel, and what would you say?

 ‘I don’t feel any different.’

  

LITTER, TRASH, RUBBISH AND GARBAGE

 ‘Litter’ means small pieces of rubbish or trash such as paper bags, bottles or cans that people have left lying in a place (mostly public places such as a railway platform or a public garden).

 ‘Don’t drop litter here.’

 COLLOCATIONS Drop litter or leave litter.

 ‘Trash’ is waste especially paper, cardboard and other dry material.

 ‘His draw was full of trash, and it was difficult to trace the cheque.’

 COLLOCATION Dump trash, throw away trash, empty trash and throw out the trash.

 ‘Rubbish’ like trash is dry waste such as cardboard boxes, paper and other such things.

 ‘The pavement was littered with rubbish.’

 COLLOCATION ‘Littered with rubbish, put rubbish out, collect, remove or take away rubbish, clear, clear out, dump, dispose of, throw, throw away or throw out rubbish.

 Garbage is waste, especially food and other waste material.

 ‘The garbage stinks.’

 COLLOCATION Take out, collect, remove, dispose of, dump, dispose of, throw, throw out, throw away, pick up and leave trash.

 Note: It is ‘dispose of’ and not ‘dispose OFF’.

Speak or talk?

 There is little difference between the two words. Both imply that we converse with people. However, speak is more formal than talk.

 “I have to speak to your parents,’ the teacher told the boy.

 ‘We were talking about you, and there you are.’

 If you read the examples given below you will note that ‘talk’ is informal.

 When she entered the room, everyone stopped talking.

 Did you talk to your parents about your girlfriend?

 When the lecturer invited questions, no one spoke.

 Similar is the case with ‘talk’ and ‘speech’ referring to lectures.

 'There was a talk by Professor Seshan on social media engagement.'

 'It was a speech of hyperspace by Michio Kaku.'

 When it comes to language at home, you use speak and not talk. We speak Hindi at home, and not ‘We talk Hindi at home.’

 When you stop speaking to someone, you are not on speaking terms. Do not say: 'We are not on talking terms.'

 Over the phone we use ‘speak’.

 ‘Could I speak to Mr Gawde?’

 Both ‘speak with’ and ‘speak to’ are correct.

 With words such as ‘sense’ or ‘non-sense’ we use talk.

 'He talks sense.'

 'Do not talk non-sense.'

English Vinglish

 Why should I not use ‘the’ with India?

 The definite article or the specific determiner ‘the’ is not used with names of places.

 We say - ‘India’ and not ‘the India.’

 ‘Sri Lanka and not, ‘the Sri Lanka.’

 I understand, but what I do not understand is why ‘the’ before ‘United States of America’?

 You must remember that ‘the’ here is used before ‘united’ and not before America.

 ‘The’ here has more or less the meaning of ‘this’ or ‘that’; that the intended meaning is ‘the united of’, ‘the union of’, or ‘the collection of’. It is logical that we are speaking of a particular group of states in America. That is why the ‘the’ before the United States of America.

 We use ‘the’ before names of places when the name has a plural form. The same logic; the collection or group of. Thus we have The Netherlands and The Philippines.

 Now you understand why there is no ‘the’ before India?

 Can I say ‘a’ India? No, you cannot because ‘a’ means one of a set. A book means one of the books, but I do not know which one. If you say ‘a India’, it means one of the Indias and I don’t know which one.

 Now do you understand why there is no ‘a’ or ‘the’ before India?

Do you know?

 When a female horse and a male donkey mate, the offspring is called a mule, but when a male horse and a female donkey mate, the offspring is called a hinny.

 The rule of thumb

 The phrase “rule of thumb” is derived from an old English law which stated that you couldn’t beat your wife with anything wider than your thumb.

 Tidbits

 One of the longest English words that can be typed using the top row of a typewriter (allowing multiple uses of letters) is ‘typewriter.’

 The first couple to be shown in bed together on prime time television was Fred and Wilma Flintstone.

 The term, “It’s all fun and games until someone loses an eye” is from Ancient Rome. The only rule during wrestling matches was, “No eye gouging.” Everything else was allowed, but the only way to be disqualified is to poke someone’s eye out. (Unfortunately progesterone wasn’t available in Ancient Rome, so if you lost the match, you were still prone to eye gouging from the wife.)

  

Alone or lonely?

 Alone means without anyone around. She was sitting alone in the room. He lives alone. I wish to be left alone now.

 Lonely means to be alone and unhappy because of it. She felt so lonely when her mother died. Don’t feel lonely. We are here. You know what, even the dog felt lonely when its master died.

 In informal American English, lonesome is used with the meaning of lonely. The city was new and the first days he enjoyed his stay. Then he started feeling lonesome.

 If you want to emphasize alone, you use all with it. ‘He lived there in his ancestral house, all alone.’

 You don’t use alone before a noun. For example, you don’t say an alone man. You use lonely or solitary: A lone soldier guarding the post. A solitary pine tree stood in the field. It was a vast stretch of land with a solitary church and not a soul for miles.

How to write good emails

 Any communication can become good if you understand the other recievers’ position: their mood, their needs and their time.

 So before you compose your mail, determine if you were the receiver, how would you expect the mail to be. What would you like to get out of it?

 With this in mind, you will compose a good mail if you remember the following points:

 Fill in all the required fields: To; cc and bcc. Before you fill, find out whether the persons you are copying to are really in the communication loop. Will they need to see what you are writing to the receiver?

 Fill the subject field. This will enable you to get the attention of the reader and help him or her set priority to their reading of the mails.

 If you are replying to a mail, you had better click the reply button instead of composing a new mail. This will enable you to see the chain of mails and keep track of the communication.

 Begin with appropriate salutation: Dear Sir/Madam; use ‘Hi’ if you are familiar with the person to whom you are sending the mail.

 Establish a rapport by saying: “I have heard of Veta from friends. I have been to your website a couple of times and found some pieces interesting to me.’

 Say what you want to say; don’t beat about the bush. That means your mail will be short, readable and elicit immediate attention and action.

 Keep your language straight and simple. Do not use big and fancy words. Instead of saying I will escalate the information and later cascade it, say, I will pass the information to people concerned.

 Do not use ALL CAPS or ‘all lower case’; if you use ALL CAPS you are screaming at the reader. All lower case sends a signal that you were not good at school.

 Close your mail with appropriate lines. Sincerely--------, Warm-----, Thanks and regards and so on.

AT or IN?

 This is a frequently asked question: where to use ‘at’ and ‘in’.

 You know that words such as ‘at’ or ‘in’ are called prepositions. They are used before a noun, pronoun or an –ing word.

 Examples: at Hyderabad, in maths, in reading books.

 Prepositions show relationship in place, direction, time etc. Let us look at ‘at’ and ‘in’.

 Place

 Use in when you are giving a location in a general way.

 Our office is in T Nagar.

 Use at when you are giving the exact location.

 Our office is at 33, Burkit Road, T Nagar.

 I will wait for you in the theatre. (Could be anywhere in the theatre or around)

 I will wait for you at the gate. (Exact location.)

 Use in for month and year.

 In January.

 He joined the army in January.

 In 2012.

 We started the fb page in 2012.

 Use ‘in’ for the periods of the day.

 In the morning.

 In the afternoon.

 In the evening.

 In/at night.

 Use at with ‘midday’, ‘midnight’ and ‘noon’. (Exactly 12 of the clock or 12 o’ clock.)

 Use at for events.

 At a party, at a wedding or at a meeting.

 Use ‘at’ with ‘good’ and ‘poor’.

 He is good at writing programmes.

 She is poor at maths.

 With ‘weak’ use ‘in’.

 I am weak in maths.

  

PROPERTY or PROPERTIES?

 He is a wealthy man. He has lots of properties in Pune and Goa.

 If you are speaking about what a person owns, you use ‘property’ and not ‘properties’.

 ‘The management is not responsible for any loss or damage of personal property.’

 ‘The police recovered a lot of stolen property from the man arrested.’

 When you are speaking about the quality or features of a substance or things , you use ‘properties’.

 ‘Ginger has medicinal properties.’

 ‘Gold has a number of useful properties.’

 Look how the word ‘properties’ is combined with other words.

 Chemical properties, physical properties, electrical properties, optical properties, magnetic properties, healing properties and medicinal properties.

WHAT DOES ‘PUT DOWN THE PAPERS’ MEAN?

 Resign? Wrong.

 You hear this expression used quite frequently in the Indian variant of English, particularly in the IT industry. When a speaker uses ‘put down the papers’ he or she means ‘quitting a job’.

 ‘Neelima called me and said she had put down her papers.’

 Well, that means ‘Neelima called me and said she had resigned from her position.’

 The dictionaries do not list ‘put down the papers.’ As per standard English ‘if you put something down,’ you keep it down.

 ‘When the doorbell rang, he put the newspaper down to open the door.’

 You can put something in, though. When you put something in, you are asking for something in an official way.

 ‘She put in a request for an advance on her salary.’

 ‘To avail yourself of this offer, you must put in your order by midnight tomorrow.’

Ache or pain?

 Ache and pain, both, refer to the discomfort one feels when one is not well or when one is hurt. Pain is sharp and short, while ache is dull and persists for a longer time. Pain is difficult to ignore while ache can be put up with for some time, at least.

 When the doctor inserted the needle of the syringe, he felt a sharp pain.

 I have had a headache since morning.

 Ache goes mostly with nouns such as head, stomach, ear and back to form compound nouns like ‘headache’, ‘stomachache’, ‘earache’, and‘ backache’ .

 But beware: chest pain is dangerous and needs immediate medical attention; a heartache is one you feel when someone you love does not treat you well.

 When you feel unwell in a general way, you say you have ‘aches and pains’.

CONVEY or COMMUNICATE?

 Some pairs of words seem to have similar meaning but on close examination, you find some subtle distinctions between them. One such pair of words is ‘convey’ and ‘communicate.’

 When you express something to a person or a group of people, without using words, you convey that something to them.

 ‘You can convey your love with a simple gift.’

 ‘The colour of the flower you give can convey your feelings to her.’

 ‘I have been sent to you to convey that everything is okay at home.’

 ‘The speaker wanted to convey that reading indeed improved your vocabulary.’

 When you communicate with people, you use words, signs or writing.

 ‘Within the office, they communicated between themselves using Gtalk.’

 Sometimes, ‘communicate’ like ‘convey’ can mean to express without using words.

 ‘Dogs can communicate their happiness by wagging their tails.’

 You can communicate something to someone such as a group of people but not to one person.

 You do not say: Please communicate my regards to your parents.

 Here you use ‘convey’. Please convey my regards to your parents. Look, here the person is only taking your ‘regards’ to the other person, and not telling him or her exactly what you said.

What is oxymoron?

 Oxymoron is a technical word. When you deliberately combine two words that mean the opposite of the other, you have an oxymoron.

 Cold fire

 Old news.

 Look at the very word oxymoron: oxy means sharp, and moron, means stupid.

 Here are some amusing oxymorons for you:

 A LITTLE big.

 A BLUE rose.

 BORN dead.

 DAILY special.

 DULL knife.

 EXTREMELY average.

 FINALLY again.

 FEMALE gunman.

 CHILLI halwa. (An Indian version for you.)

 HOLY war.

 Dear visitor,

 Thanks for visiting this page. Your comments and ‘likes’ encourage us to do much better. We therefore ask you to post your views, ask questions and share this post with your friends. You know that learning happens well when it is done collectively.

 Let us begin with two words this time: ‘question’ and ‘doubt’

 If you have any doubts, you can ask?

 If you have any questions, you can ask?

 Is there a difference between the two?

 Yes. When you want some information, you ask questions. For example, after a class, you want some additional information about a point taught, you ask questions.

 ‘I have a question. What is the meaning of the word ‘participle’?’

 ‘Gentlemen, I am now ready to take your questions.’

 ‘You have any questions?’ asked the interviewer.

 Doubt is a feeling of not being sure about something. You do not know whether something is true or right.

 You don’t ‘ask’ doubts, but you have doubts.

 ‘Some people still have doubts as to whether man landed on the moon at all.’

 ‘She still has doubts about the person’s suitability for the job.’

 Do you have any questions about ‘doubt’ and ‘questions’?

About or on

 A lecture on particle physics

 A lecture about particle physics

 In this context, both ‘about’ and ‘on’ means ‘concerning’: a lecture on particle physics and a lecture about particle physics.

 Use ‘on’ when the kind of communication you are talking about is serious and a formal one, and suitable for specialists.

 ‘He gave us a lecture on psycholinguistics.’

 ‘There was a talk on nanotechnology and space travel.’

 ‘They have published a book on press laws.’

 Use ‘about’ when the communication you are talking about is not very serious; it is informal and general where even the general public can participate.

 ‘He gave us a series of talk about raising children.’

 ‘It was book about how to teach children to write.

 What are these posts about? Are they ‘on’ grammar and usage or are they about ‘grammar and usage’?

 They are about grammar and usage.

This superstar’s bilingual is likely to go on the floors by the end of next year?

What does ‘go on the floors’ mean?

 Maybe the writer meant that the movie will start production by the end of next year. There is no idiom such as ‘go on the floors’.

 Floor, as an idiom, means the exclusive right to address an audience.

 ‘Give a chance to Mani to speak, and he will never share or leave the floor.’

 ‘I will speak when I get the floor.’

 The verbs used with this ‘floor’ are to get, to have, to hold or to grant. Get the floor, have the floor, hold the floor, grant someone the floor.

 When you are floored by someone, you are surprised or stunned by them or by what they do.

 They spectator were floored by the series of helicopter shots.’

 When you ‘are in on the ground floor’, you start something from the very beginning where you are at an advantage. This idiom alludes to a ride in the lift. On the ground floor, the crowd is not much, but as it ascends, the number of people in the lift keeps increasing.

 ‘Next time you are promoting a new business, tell me in advance. I want to be in on the ground floor.’

 Clean the floor up with someone means to beat up the person.

 ‘Don’t have traffic of this kind with me. I will clean up the floor with you.’

 Let us close with ‘this is my floor’. Imagine you at the back in an elevator, and you want to get off on the fifth floor. When the floor arrives, you say ‘this is my floor’ to let people standing in front of you to make way.

About or on

 A lecture on particle physics

 A lecture about particle physics

 In this context, both ‘about’ and ‘on’ means ‘concerning’: a lecture on particle physics and a lecture about particle physics.

 Use ‘on’ when the kind of communication you are talking about is serious and a formal one, and suitable for specialists.

 ‘He gave us a lecture on psycholinguistics.’

 ‘There was a talk on nanotechnology and space travel.’

 ‘They have published a book on press laws.’

 Use ‘about’ when the communication you are talking about is not very serious; it is informal and general where even the general public can participate.

 ‘He gave us a series of talk about raising children.’

 ‘It was book about how to teach children to write.

 What are these posts about? Are they ‘on’ grammar and usage or are they about ‘grammar and usage’?

 They are about grammar and usage.

The dress fits you. The dress suits you.

 When you say that the dress fits you, you mean that dress is of correct measurement. It is neither big nor small, neither tight nor loose.

 When you say that the dress suits you, you mean that the colour and style match your looks and complexion.

 You use suit to say that some arrangement is convenient to you.

 Want to meet me in person? Monday would suit me.

Above or over?

 Above means in a ‘higher position than something’. Over also means the same. Above is more common than ‘over’.

 ‘Our office is above/over the bank.’

 ‘There was a helicopter hovering over the palace.’

 Above means more than a particular number, amount or level.

 ‘The temperature is above normal.’

 You can use ‘above’ to mean ‘greater than something’.

 ‘We value service above business.’

 If you are asking for the difference between ‘above’ and ‘over’, here we go:

 When something is not directly over, use above.

 ‘They have a farm house above the lake’ and not: ‘They have a farm house over the lake’.

 When something covers or touches another below it, you use ‘over’.

 ‘The clouds hung over the hill.’

 ‘He put his coat over the vest.’

 You use over when something crosses another.

 ‘The train sped at 120 kilometers over the bridge.’

 ‘The helicopter flew over the palace.’

 While you use ‘above’ for measurement (above sea level), you use ‘over’ for ‘ages’ and ‘speed’.

 Thus you say:

 ‘People over 18 are permitted to see this film.’

 ‘You will be given a ticket for speeding if you drive over 40 in this zone.’

  

What is the difference between ‘expect’ and ‘hope’?

 When you expect something, you think it is likely to happen because you think there are reasons for it to happen.

 ‘I am going on a tour of Mumbai and expect to be back this Saturday.’

 ‘The train is expected to arrive at 4 o’ clock.’

 ‘Preeti is expecting a baby.’

 When you hope something will happen, you want it to happen but you are not sure whether it will or not. Hope has an emotional tone to it.

 I hope he will get placed.

 Hope that this quarter business will be good.

 Hope you liked this post.

What is the difference between abbreviation and acronym?

 You know that a short form of a word or phrase is called abbreviation.

 VIP: Very Important Person.

 FYI: For Your Information.

 USA: United States of America.

 An acronym is an abbreviation that you can read and pronounce as a word.

 NATO: Pronounced ‘nato’ and not as ‘en’, ‘ei’, ‘t’, ‘o’. NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

 Some more acronyms:

 UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

 ICRISAT: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.

 Note:

 Articles are usually dropped before acronyms. Do not write ‘he works in the UNESCO’ just because your grammar teacher asked you to use ‘the’ before ‘union’ or ‘united.’

 He works in UNESCO.

 Perhaps you are quite familiar with the computer term GUI, Graphical User Interface. Is it an acronym or an abbreviation? How do you pronounce it?

 Answer:

 It is both. Some people read it as ‘g’, ‘you’, ‘I’ and some pronounce it as ‘Gooyey’.

   

VOCABULARY TIPS:

 Do not say ‘fresher’ when you are referring to a person who has recently earned a bachelor’s degree. Fresher means a first year student in a college.

 A second-year student is called ‘a sophomore’.

 While speaking or writing to someone, do not say ‘I will revert to you’ or ‘revert back’ to you. Revert means to come back to the original position or status.

 First it was Mumbai, then Bombay, and the name reverted to Mumbai again.

 Say ‘I will get back to you’ or ‘I will call you back’ or ‘I will write to you soon’.

 ‘Whole’ or ‘entire’?

 Though both the words mean the same—all of something—careful users do not fail to make a distinction.

 They use ‘whole’ when the statement they are making about something is neutral or good.

 The whole nation celebrated the victory.

 He told the whole truth.

 Entire is a synonym of ‘whole’ but good writers reserve it for statements about which they feel bad.

 I wasted the entire day waiting for him.

 They burnt the entire library destroying rare documents and books.

 Sometimes, it doesn’t matter which word you chose.

 We spent the whole/entire day reading and watching TV. (neutral)

HAVE BEEN TO OR HAD BEEN TO?

 Not just the learners but also careful users of the language want to know the difference between ‘have been to’ and ‘had been to’.

 We use ‘have been to’ to say that someone has gone to a place, to attend an event or to see a person and come back.

 Where have you been? (Where did you go and come back?)

 I have been to the dentist’s. (I went to the dentist and now, I am back)

 Have you been to Mumbai?

 Yeah, twice.

 Have you been to Mt Kailash?

 No, I have not been to. I would love to.

 Use ‘has been to’ with ‘he’ or ‘she’.

 He has been to Bangalore.

 She has been to her mother’s.

 He says he has never been to doctor all his life.

 She not been to a school at all. She taught herself to read and write.

 ‘Have been to’ or ‘had been to’?

  Use ‘have been to’ to speak about the recent visit or the frequency of visits.

 Have you been to Delhi?

 Yeah, twice.

 Yes, sir, I was on leave for a month. I have been to my hometown. (recent visit)

 Use ‘had been to’ to speak about an earlier visit, before the recent one.

 I have been to Singapore. (recent)

 I had been to that place first when I was a child. (earlier )

Expensive or costly?

 When you say something is expensive, you mean that it costs you a lot of money, but it has the money’s worth.

 An expensive car or an expensive watch.

 When you say something is costly, you mean that it costs you a lot, but you think that you are paying more for it.

 Five hundred rupees for a cell for the watch? Costly! I can get it for fifty rupees.

If the 50th anniversary is called Golden anniversary, what is the first anniversary called?

 This is an interesting question.

 The first anniversary is called ‘Cotton Anniversary’.

 And want to know about other anniversaries? Here we go:

 2nd anniversary: Paper

 3rd anniversary: Leather

 4th anniversary: Fruit, Flowers

 5th anniversary: Wood

 6th anniversary: Copper or Wool

 8th anniversary: Bronze or Pottery

 9th anniversary: Pottery or Willow

 10th anniversary: Tin

 25th anniversary: Silver

 40th anniversary: Ruby

 60th anniversary: Diamond

 70th anniversary: Platinum

 Can I say ‘he is out of station’?

 Do you want to say that the person is out of town? Say it so.

 Station does not mean a city or town. Station is a place where trains or busses stop, station is a place where you get some service such as refilling of petro or the service of police.

 Station is a place where radio or TV programmes are broadcast and station can also mean someone’s position in society.

 Now tell me what ‘out of station’ means.

The life is a challenge .

 Face it.

 Is there an error in ‘the life is a challenge’?

 Yes. Do not say ‘the’ life; say ‘life’ when you are speaking generally.

 ‘The’ before uncountable nouns and plural nouns do not make them to mean all. For example, ‘the’ books does not mean all books. The life does not mean ‘life’ in general.

 Note the difference in the pairs of sentences given here.

 Bring ‘the’ books. (Particular books, books which you and I know which)

 Books are expensive today. (All books)

 Have you read the life of Swami Vivekananda. (Life of one person)

 No one knows when life started on Earth.

 Switch on the light.

 Light travels at 3,00,000kilometres per second.

Escalate

 ‘I will escalate this to my team leader.’

 What is the meaning of the word ‘escalate’ here?

 People working in the IT industry are familiar with this usage of ‘escalation’ meaning that a problem to be solved or a piece of information will be passed to superiors—people higher in hierarchy, knowledge or experience.

 Passing ‘a problem’ or a piece information to lower level employees is called ‘cascading.’

 However, the dictionaries barring a few do not list these meanings.

 Dictionaries define escalate as ‘increase the effect or intensity of something.’

What is the meaning of ‘dust off’?

 One meaning of the phrase is obvious—to remove dust off your person or clothes or something by removing the dirt or dust by rubbing them with your hands or with a piece of cloth.

 The second meaning of the phrase is to take some unused thing, and clean it for using it again.

 He dusted off the old coat when he was called for an interview.

What is the difference between can and able to?

 You use can when you want to speak about the ability, skill, time, opportunity or equipment you have, to do something.

 I am free. I can help you with your work.

 He can calculate the value of pi to the twenty-seventh digit.

 I cannot read without glasses.

 Can is used to speak about the general ability you have.

 I can speak Urdu, but I cannot write it.

 In order to speak about an ability in the immediate present, you use am/is/are able to.

 Are you able to hear me now?

 Able to is also used to speak about ability in the past or future.

 Will you be able to complete the work by this evening?

 I was able to get only two tickets to the show.

 When you are talking about machines and equipment that can do something, use can and not able to.

 The printer is able to print 10 copies a minute.

 The printer can print 10 copies a minute.

What is the difference between around, about and approximately?

 Approximately means not exactly but close to what you mention. When you say approximately one million, you say it is close to one million—not much lower or higher than one million. Around and about can mean approximately.

 My weight is around 140 pounds.

 My weight is about 140 pounds.

 My weight is approximately 140 pounds.

 My weight is close to 140 pounds.

 When you want to give the exact piece of information, you do not use around, about or approximately.

 My weight is 140 pounds.

Advance or advanced?

 Which is correct? He is doing a course in advance English or advanced English?

 Advance can mean forward movement of a group of people, development in science, money paid before the commencement of work or attempts to start a sexual relationship.

 Advanced, on the other hand, means ‘having the most modern or recently developed ideas or methods’, at a high or difficult level or at the last stage of development.

Who said that the Brits didn’t have a sense of humour?

 Look at some of the church signs in the UK.

 Adam blamed Eve.

 Eve blamed the snake.

 And the snake didn’t have a leg to stand on.

 All services are different.

 We leave the repeats to TV.

 As you pass this little church,

 Be sure to plan a visit,

 So when at last you are carried in,

 God won’t ask who is it?

 Can’t sleep?

 Don't count sheep.

 Talk to the shepherd.

 Speak well of your enemies.

 After all, you have made them.

 Let us help you study

 For your final exams.

 God is perfect.

 Only man makes misteaks.

 We are the

 Soul agents in this area!

Cliché

 Recently Padmashri Kamalhasan, veteran actor, delivered an outstanding extempore speech in Shailesh J Metha School of Management – Mumbai.

 In one context he says that – I’m not going to use the cliché of hitting the title that is giving to me. Let’s now see here what the meaning of the word “Cliché” is.

 Cliché is an expression or an idea that has been overused to the point of losing its original meaning or effect, especially when at some earlier time it was considered meaningful.

 Examples:

 All is fair in love and war.

 A matter of time.

Crazy English

English can be funny and difficult as it is simple and interesting sometimes. Look what language maven Richard Lederer says: In this unreliable English tongue, greyhounds aren't always grey (or gray); panda bears and koala bears aren't bears (they're marsupials); a woodchuck is a groundhog, which is not a hog; a horned toad is a lizard; glowworms are fireflies, but fireflies are not flies (they're beetles); ladybugs and lightning bugs are also beetles (and to propagate, a significant proportion of ladybugs must be male); a guinea pig is neither a pig nor from Guinea (it's a South American rodent); and a titmouse is neither mammal nor ‘mammaried’.

WHAT DOES THE WORD 'STATION' EXACTLY MEAN?
1. STATION
(4 senses as a noun, 1 sense as a verb)
A facility equipped with special equipment and personnel for a particular purpose

2. TV STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
Station for the production and transmission of television broadcasts

3. AID STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
(military) a station located near a combat area for giving first aid to the wounded

4. AIR STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A base for military aircraft

5. BUS STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A terminal that serves bus passengers

6. GAS STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A service station that sells gasoline

7. PAY-STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A coin-operated telephone

8. WAY STATION
(2 senses as a noun)
A stopping place on a journey

9. FIRE STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A station housing fire apparatus and firemen

10. COACH STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A terminal that serves bus passengers

11. POWER STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
An electrical generating station

12. RADIO STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
Station for the production and transmission of radio broadcasts

13. RELAY STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
An amplifier for restoring the strength of a transmitted signal

14. SHORE STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
Military installation servicing naval forces

15. SPACE STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A manned artificial satellite in a fixed orbit designed for scientific research

16. STATION AGENT
(1 sense as a noun)
The person in charge of a railway station

17. STATION HOUSE
(1 sense as a noun)
A station that serves as headquarters for police in a particular district; serves as a place from which policemen are dispatched and to which arrested persons are brought

18. STATION WAGON
(1 sense as a noun)
A car that has a long body and rear door with space behind rear seat

19. TRAIN STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
Terminal where trains load or unload passengers or goods

20. PETROL STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A service station that sells gasoline

21. POLICE STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A station that serves as headquarters for police in a particular district; serves as a place from which policemen are dispatched and to which arrested persons are brought

22. REMOTE STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A terminal connected to a computer by a data link

23. SOCIAL STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
Position in a social hierarchy

24. STATION KEEPER
(1 sense as a noun)
The police sergeant on duty in a police station

25. STATION WAGGON
(1 sense as a noun)
A car that has a long body and rear door with space behind rear seat

26. SUBWAY STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A terminal where subways load and unload passengers

27. BOOSTER STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
An amplifier for restoring the strength of a transmitted signal

28. COALING STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A seaport where ships can take on supplies of coal

29. COMFORT STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A toilet that is available to the public

30. FILLING STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A service station that sells gasoline

31. LOOKOUT STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A structure commanding a wide view of its surroundings

32. POLLING STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A place where voters go to cast their votes in an election

33. PUMPING STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A house where pumps (e.g. to irrigate) are installed and operated

34. RAILWAY STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
Terminal where trains load or unload passengers or goods
35. SERVICE STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A station where service is provided

36. WEATHER STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
One of a networks of observation posts where meteorological data is recorded

37. DRESSING STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
(military) a station located near a combat area for giving first aid to the wounded

38. GASOLINE STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A service station that sells gasoline

39. RAILROAD STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
Terminal where trains load or unload passengers or goods

40. SAMPLING STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
An observation station that is set up to make sample observations of something

41. FIRST-AID STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A station providing emergency care or treatment before regular medical aid can be obtained

42. MISSIONARY STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
An organization of missionaries in a foreign land sent to carry on religious work

43. TELEVISION STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
Station for the production and transmission of television broadcasts

44. OBSERVATION STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A station set up for making observations of something

45. POWER-STATION WORKER
(1 sense as a noun)
A worker at a power station

46. STATION OF THE CROSS
(1 sense as a noun)
A representation of any of the 14 stages in Christ's journey to Calvary
47. LINK-ATTACHED STATION
(1 sense as a noun)
A terminal connected to a computer by a data link

BON BON

Have you ever used words prefixed with ‘bon’? These words have a very nice and tangy feel when they roll off your tongue. For instance:

Bon Voyage : Literally : good voyage. Have a nice trip.
Bon Vivant: Literally: good liver. A person who likes to party.
Bon appétit: Literally: good appetite. Enjoy your meal.
Bon ton: Literally: good tone. For high society.
Bon mot: Literally: good word. Clever remark.
All these words orginate from French. And as you may have guessed, the word 'Bon' means 'Good'
Bonjour. Have a good day!

THE QUALITY OF A GOOD TEACHER

The teacher who is indeed wise does not bid you to enter the house of his wisdom but rather leads you to the threshold of your mind.
- Khalil Gibran

WHEN WIT AND LANGUAGE COMBINE EFFECTIVELY

War doesn't determine who's right; War determines who's left.

BRAINFART

Yes, there are times when your mind goes blank and you cannot think of even simple things such as the value of 2+2. Students say that they have this feeling when they sit an examination. Don't worry if you are feeling like banging your head or pulling your hair in such situations.

You have just had a BRAINFART. And most of have it sometime or the other.

ICECREAM HEADACHE

Have you ever had a sharp momentary pain in your head following a large bite or a deep gulp of something very cold? This is often accompanied by a few seconds of facial numbness.

If you have experienced this then you have suffered an icecream headache better known as BRAIN FREEZE.
_________________

Watch this space tomorrow for Brain-Fart.

WEIRD NAMES FOR EVERYDAY THINGS

Maybe, you thought they had no names. They have, and here they are:

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN

'What is your boss like?' AND 'what does your boss like?'

What is your boss like is a question that enquires about the boss's character. Whereas what does your boss like enquires about the boss's likes and choices of things.

HAT DO YOU CALL A PHOTOGRAPH OF YOURS THAT YOU SHOOT YOURSELF WITH A MOBILE OR A WEBCAM TO UPLOAD ON A SOCIAL MEDIA WEBSITE?
SELFIE!selfie
informal
a photograph that one has taken of oneself, typically one taken with a smartphone or webcam and uploaded to a social media website:
'Occasional selfies are acceptable, but posting a new picture of yourself every day isn’t necessary'

MAKE A FUSS OF SOMETHING
MAKE A FUSS ABOUT SOMETHING

When you make a fuss about something, you complain about it.
'She made a fuss about the mail he had sent.'
When you make a fuss of something, you pay a lot of attention to something to show that you are pleased with it.
'He was making a fuss of the pretty girl he had met recently.'

CUT TO THE CHASE

'Cut to the chase' is an idiom from the movie industry meaning 'come to the point.'
The Free Dictionary online defines the expression as: (film) a term used in action movies meaning, to shift the scene to the most exciting part, where someone is being chased. It is used metaphorically to mean "get to the main point".
Example:
'Sir, what is the meaning of 'participle'?'
'The past participle is used in the perfect tenses. The present perfect tense and...'
'I know that the past participle is used in perfect tenses. Cut to the chase and tell me the meaning of the word 'participle'.'

PUT/ THROW A SPANNER IN THE WORKS

The phrase means 'to stop something from happening or going on' or 'to cause mayhem'.
By the way, mayhem means 'an extreme situation when people are confused, excited and scared.'
Experts say that this phrase was coined by P G Wodehouse and cite this line from his 'Right Ho, Jeeves, 1934'.
'He should have had sense enough to see that he was throwing a spanner into the works.'
Here is another example:
'They were discussing and doing something. I just slipped by. I didn't want to throw a spanner in the works.'
Can we say 'throw a spanner in the spokes'?
The idiom is put/ throw a spanner in the works.

Q-Tip

A Q-tip is a cotton bud: a short stick with cotton at each end to clean your ears.
Cotton bud is British English; Q-tip, a registered trademark, is American English.

 

 

To dig in one’s heel.

What will do you when engaged in a tug of war? You will be naturally placing your heels very firmly on the ground. The more the opposite group is pulling at the rope, the more stubbornly you hold it, your heel almost digging into the earth. It means that you hold your own.
'When he told her not to go ahead with higher education, she dug in her heel and shot back, saying she would do so, come what may.'
To be determined, stubborn, obstinate, not yielding, refusing to budge an inch, sticking to one’s guns, stand ground…..these are some of the meanings of ‘to dig in one’s heel’.

LIKEWISE or SIMILARLY

Both words mean the same: in the same way. Likewise is used in formal speech or writing.
'The trainer aimed at the bull's eye and told the trainees to do likewise.'
'The president spoke lauding the achievements of the party. The secretary did similarly.'
In spoken English 'likewise' is used to return someone's greeting or polite statement.
'Drop in some time.' 'Likewise.'

UNTIL NOW and SO FAR

Both 'until now' and 'so far' mean 'till now' or ' up to the present'.
Use 'until now' when you are speaking about a situation that has changed now.
'Until now I thought there was no difference between until now and so far.' (Now I know there is a difference.)
Use 'so far' to speak about a situation that remains unchanged.
'So far no one has asked anything about discourse markers.'

We are what we repeatedly DO, excellence then, is not an act, but a habit.
-ARISTOTLE

Ubersexual:

I don’t know whether you have heard of this word ‘metrosexual’. When i first came across this word in a cinema magazine saying that Shah Rukh Khan was a metrosexual, I thought it had something to do with sex in metros. Well, that’s naïve. The word means ‘an urban male with a strong aesthetic sense who spends a great deal of time and money on his appearance and lifestyle.’
That was an eye-opener that made me look for other such words. Here’s what I found, not in the dictionary but on the net. Ubersexual—a heterosexual man who is masculine, confident, compassionate and stylish. The phenomenon of the ultra-groomed metrosexual man, such as David Beckham, 30, is over. Now men have to be ubersexual — more macho but still in touch with their feminine side, like Jamie Oliver, 30.
Let me conclude with ‘technosexual’; a technosexual has got nothing to do with sex. He is a male with a strong aesthetic sense and love of technology. You find these technosexuals, not in the networking or software side but in the design and animation field.

WHAT DOES ‘PUT DOWN THE PAPERS’ MEAN?
Resign? Wrong.

You hear this expression used quite frequently in the Indian variant of English, particularly in the IT industry. When a speaker uses ‘put down the papers’ he or she means ‘quitting a job’.
‘Neelima called me and said she had put down her papers.’
Well, that means ‘Neelima called me and said she had resigned from her position.’
The dictionaries do not list ‘put down the papers.’ As per standard English ‘if you put something down,’ you keep it down.
‘When the doorbell rang, he put the newspaper down to open the door.’
You can put something in, though. When you put something in, you are asking for something in an official way.
‘She put in a request for an advance on her salary.’
‘To avail yourself of this offer, you must put in your order by midnight tomorrow.’

What is oxymoron?

Oxymoron is a technical word. When you deliberately combine two words that mean the opposite of the other, you have an oxymoron.
Cold fire
Old news.
Look at the very word oxymoron: oxy means sharp, and moron, means stupid.
Here are some amusing oxymorons for you:
A LITTLE big.
A BLUE rose.
BORN dead.
DAILY special.
DULL knife.
EXTREMELY average.
FINALLY again.
FEMALE gunman.
CHILLI halwa. (An Indian version for you.)
HOLY war.
Now make your own list.

This superstar’s bilingual is likely to go on the floors by the end of next year?
What does ‘go on the floors’ mean?

Maybe the writer meant that the movie will start production by the end of next year. There is no idiom such as ‘go on the floors’.
Floor, as an idiom, means the exclusive right to address an audience.
‘Give a chance to Mani to speak, and he will never share or leave the floor.’
‘I will speak when I get the floor.’
The verbs used with this ‘floor’ are to get, to have, to hold or to grant. Get the floor, have the floor, hold the floor, grant someone the floor.
When you are floored by someone, you are surprised or stunned by them or by what they do.
They spectator were floored by the series of helicopter shots.’
When you ‘are in on the ground floor’, you start something from the very beginning where you are at an advantage. This idiom alludes to a ride in the lift. On the ground floor, the crowd is not much, but as it ascends, the number of people in the lift keeps increasing.
‘Next time you are promoting a new business, tell me in advance. I want to be in on the ground floor.’
Clean the floor up with someone means to beat up the person.
‘Don’t have traffic of this kind with me. I will clean up the floor with you.’
Let us close with ‘this is my floor’. Imagine you at the back in an elevator, and you want to get off on the fifth floor. When the floor arrives, you say ‘this is my floor’ to let people standing in front of you to make way.

The dress fits you. The dress suits you.

When you say that the dress fits you, you mean that dress is of correct measurement. It is neither big nor small, neither tight nor loose.
When you say that the dress suits you, you mean that the colour and style match your looks and complexion.
You use suit to say that some arrangement is convenient to you.
Want to meet me in person? Monday would suit me.

What is the difference between abbreviation and acronym?

You know that a short form of a word or phrase is called abbreviation.
VIP: Very Important Person.
FYI: For Your Information.
USA: United States of America.
An acronym is an abbreviation that you can read and pronounce as a word.
NATO: Pronounced ‘nato’ and not as ‘en’, ‘ei’, ‘t’, ‘o’. NATO: North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
Some more acronyms:
UNESCO: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.
ICRISAT: International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics.

Note:
Articles are usually dropped before acronyms. Do not write ‘he works in the UNESCO’ just because your grammar teacher asked you to use ‘the’ before ‘union’ or ‘united.’
He works in UNESCO.
Perhaps you are quite familiar with the computer term GUI, Graphical User Interface. Is it an acronym or an abbreviation? How do you pronounce it?
Answer:
It is both. Some people read it as ‘g’, ‘you’, ‘I’ and some pronounce it as ‘Gooyey’.

Can I say ‘he is out of station’?

Do you want to say that the person is out of town? Say it so.
Station does not mean a city or town. Station is a place where trains or busses stop, station is a place where you get some service such as refilling of petro or the service of police.
Station is a place where radio or TV programmes are broadcast and station can also mean someone’s position in society.
Now tell me what ‘out of station’ means.

Escalate

‘I will escalate this to my team leader.’
What is the meaning of the word ‘escalate’ here?
People working in the IT industry are familiar with this usage of ‘escalation’ meaning that a problem to be solved or a piece of information will be passed to superiors—people higher in hierarchy, knowledge or experience.
Passing ‘a problem’ or a piece information to lower level employees is called ‘cascading.’

" Talent develops in tranquillity, character in the full current of human life"

PRESENCE OF MIND AT JOB INTERVIEW

Super spy

A college graduate applied for a job as an industrial spy. Together with several other applicants, he was given a sealed envelope and told to take it to the fourth floor. As soon as the young man was alone, he stepped into an empty hallway and opened the packet. Inside, a message read: "You’re our kind of person. Report to the fifth floor."

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'IN THE MARKET' AND 'ON THE MARKET'?
When you want to say that something is available for people to buy, you say it is 'on the market'.
'You can't get guns on the market here.'
'The new album is on the market.'
When you say somebody is in the market, you mean that the person is interested in buying something.
'There were not many in the market for the high-end e-book reader.'

SUCCESS

If you think that name, fame and a 'fat' bank balance define a person's success, you will need to redefine it. The bottom line of success is happiness. Be happy and make others happy.
Was it Bob Dylan who said: 'What's money? A man is a success if he gets up in the morning and goes to bed at night and in between does what he wants to do?'
Think about it.

HA, HA!
MARRIAGE MIRAGE

Daughter: What is marriage?
Mom: "Marriage is just a fancy word for adopting an overgrown male child who cannot be handled by his parents any more".

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LOSE, LOOSE AND LOSS

LOSE, which rhymes with 'choose', means 'to unable to find something' or 'to have something taken away from you' or 'to have less of something'.
Don't lose the keys.
I often lose my pens.
He is trying to lose weight.
They don't lose so easily.

LOOSE, which rhymes with juice, is the opposite of "tight".
The new shoes are loose.
The boy has a loose tooth.

LOSS, which rhymes with cross, is the opposite of 'profit'; it also means 'not to have something or not to have enough of something'
The company suffered huge losses during the recession.
He suffered a gradual loss of memory
I am attending a weight loss programme.

SIBLING, STEP-BROTHER, HALF-SISTER

Siblings are children who have parents or one parent in common.
They are brothers and sisters. Remember that 'sibling' is gender-neutral word.
Half-brothers or half-sisters share one parent in common. Those who share the same mother are called uterine siblings and those who share the same father are called agnate siblings.
Step-brothers or step-sisters are children of step-father or step-mother from their previous marriage.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN LIE AND LAY

'LAY' (lay, laid, laid, laying) means to “put something in a horizontal position”:
She laid the baby gently on the bed.
The flies laid their eggs on decaying meat.
The water board laid a new pipeline across the city
The mother laid the table for dinner.
The minister laid a foundation stone for a new bridge across the river.
'LIE' (lie, lied, lied, lying) means to “speak an untruth”:
I have never lied to you.
She lied about her age.
'LIE' (lie, lay, lain, lying) means to “be in a horizontal position”:
He was lying on the bed watching TV.
"Please lie on the examination table”, the doctor said to the patient.
All night he lay awake worrying.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'DURING' AND 'WHILE'

'During' is a preposition. As a preposition it comes before a noun.
During summer.
During work.
During means 'from the beginning to end of a period of time or at some point in that period of time.
During summer: from the beginning to the end of summer or some point of time in summer.
'He works during night and sleeps in the day.'
'While' is a conjunction, and as a conjunction, it connects two clauses. It means during the time something is happening or all the time something is happening.
'Would you like to read the newspaper while I finish my work?'
'The phone rang while we were leaving.'

ENTER INTO?

You know that if you enter a place, you go or come in there.
'The boys stood up when the teacher entered the room.
~ Do not say 'enter into the room'.
When you put something into something, you can say 'enter something into something.'
'Some names are not yet entered into the database.'
You use 'enter into' when you are referring to an agreement, discussion, negotiation or contract.
'It is not known whether they entered into any agreement.'

OCCAM'S RAZOR

Most of us are called upon to make numerous decisions in life. Very often we are in an unenviable position of having to decide between two options, both of which seem good.
What do we do then?
We resort to the technique of Occam’s Razor.
Occam’s Razor is a term used in logic and problem solving. It derives its name from William Ockham (1287 – 1347), an English friar and philosopher who believed that simplicity was the essence of all things.
Always go for an option that appears simple. Your choice will work in your favour. Problems appear big as long as you have not got into the heart of the matter. With Occam's razor, they resolve into simple elementary issues.

TEN POINTS TO NOTE

1. You don't use an apostrophe to form a plural word.
2. When you say 'I couldn't care less', you mean 'I don't care.'
3. There, their and they're are three different words.
4. It's is short form of 'It is'; ' its' means 'belonging to it'.
5. Affect is a verb and effect is a noun.
6. Loose means 'not tight' and lose means 'to fail to keep something.'
7. Your means 'belonging to you' and you're is short for 'you are.'
8. He's is short for 'he has' and 'he is'. He's come. He's busy.
9. Don't use 'about' with discuss. We discussed movies.
10. Do not use 'on' with yesterday, today and tomorrow.

CATCH A BUS OR TAKE A BUS?
If you are looking for the difference between 'catch a bus' and 'take a bus', the dictionaries are not of much help.
Enter the discussion panels on the Internet, and you find this:
If you take a bus, you use the bus service.
'Don't go by the commuter train. Take a bus. It's quicker.'
If you catch a bus, you are boarding it.
'I have to rush. I have to catch the bus No 18.'

WHY YOU SHOULD NEVER GIVE UP LEARNING A SECOND LANGUAGE

A famous Tamil actor once said: If you know only your mother tongue, you are like an individual -- alone. If you know two languages, you have company. Three, and you are like a crowd. You can be bold and fearless.
Here are some inspiring quotes on language learning:
❝You can never understand one language until you understand at least two.❞
‒Geoffrey Willans
❝One language sets you in a corridor for life. Two languages open every door along the way.❞
‒Frank Smith
❝Learning is a treasure that will follow its owner everywhere.❞
‒Chinese Proverb

IF DON MEANS TO 'PUT ON'

what is the word for 'take off' or 'remove'?
The word is 'doff'. The Oxford Advanced Learners Dictionary defines the word as the act of taking off one's hat to show respect for somebody or something.
'He doffed his hat when the cortege passed by him.'
The dictionary says it is old-fashioned to use 'doff'.
Doff is mostly used with 'cap' or 'hat as objects.
'Don' and 'doff' are from late Middle English. Don: do on and doff: do off.

FOUR QUESTIONS OF VALUE IN LIFE

1. What is sacred?
2. Of what is the spirit made?
3. What is worth living for?
4. What is worth dying for?
The Answer: LOVE

CELL PHONE ETIQUETTE

~ When in the company of others, keep calls to an absolute minimum.
~ Always turn your phone off in restaurants, cinemas and museums.
~ If you need to make a call, excuse yourself and step outside.
~ Keep your voice down in public. Don't shout out your business for all to hear.
Note: Give your number only to people whose call you will not hesitate to take.

EXPRESSO or ESPRESSO?

Remember that the strong black Italian coffee is espresso and not expresso.
The plural of espresso is espressos.

POSSIBLE or PLAUSIBLE

Possible and plausible are two different words.
If you say something is possible, you mean that it can be done or achieved. If an event is possible, it is likely to happen.
'Is it possible to learn English in two months?'
If you say something is plausible, you mean that it is reasonable and true and likely to succeed though you are not sure.
'Yeah, that is a plausible explanation.'
Possible comes from Latin possibilis, from 'posse' meaning 'to be able' while plausible comes from Latin 'plausibilis' meaning 'worth applauding', from 'plaudere' for plaudits.

PUSH THE ENVELOPE

When you push the envelope of something, you stretch the limits of it.
'Performers at reality shows often push the envelope just to gain some transient fame.'
If you think that pushing the envelope has something to do with paper envelopes, you are mistaken.
Envelope here in this phrase is from the aviation industry where it refers to a set of performance parameters beyond which is not safe to fly aircraft.
Flight envelope, service envelope and performance envelope of an aircraft refer to the design capabilities of the machine.
Test pilots are often asked to push the envelope to see how much can an airplane stand when pushed beyond its performance parameters.
Risky? Hm, the pilots know when to stop trying.

MURPHY'S LAW

Anything that can go wrong will go wrong.
Captain Edward A. Murphy, working as an engineer on Air Force Project MX981 in 1949, would not have imagined that a law would be named after him when he said of a bumbling technician working for him, 'If there is any way to do it wrong, he will find it'.
Here are some examples of Murphy's law:
~ The other line moves faster. (of a queue)
~ When you are late to work, your boss is early.
~ Anything dropped in the bathroom will fall in the toilet.
~ When you want to use the elevator, it has just started going up.
~ If you say something, and stake your reputation on it, you will lose your reputation.
~ When you are early to work, your boss is late.

CHAUVINISM
Napoleon's faithful soldier Nicolas Chauvin little knew how his name would be perpetuated. In his unquestioning devotion to his emperor he was accused of excessive patriotism, a sentiment which came to be called 'chauvinism' in a derisory manner. The meaning has shifted somewhat to imply male supremacy, and today chauvinism and chauvinist are cliches flung about by people who know nothing about their origin.

WHICH or THAT

You know that 'which' and 'that' can be used as connecting words.
Look at the following sentences:
'Those CDs, which are in jackets, are blank.'
('Which are in jackets' just gives additional information about CDs.)
'Those CDs that are in jackets are blank.'
(only those CDs in jackets and not the other ones.)
When you use 'that' you are identifying which one/s you are talking about.
When you use 'which' you are just giving additional information about what you are talking about.

LEXOPHILE

If you love words and word games and wordplays, you are a lexophile.
And if you are a lexophile, here is something for you to enjoy:
~ You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish. (play on tuna)
~ When fish are in schools, they sometimes take debate (the bait).
~ A thief who stole a calendar got twelve months.
~ A will is a dead giveaway.
~ Did you hear about the fellow whose whole left side was cut off? He's all right now.
~ When she saw her first strands of grey hair she thought she'd dye.
~ Police were called to a day-care center where a three-year-old was resisting a rest.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'VERDICT' AND 'JUDGEMENT'

A verdict is a decision reached by a jury stating whether a person is guilty of a crime or not.
'The verdict was 'not guilty'.'
Note: Verdict has other meanings too, such as, an opinion you have of something, or a decision made by a person, group or authority on something.
Judgement (also judgement) refers to an official decision given by a judge or a court of law.
'They were waiting for the judgement.'
Like 'verdict', 'judgement' has other meanings: an opinion, ability to decided and so on.'

Ha, ha!
ARE WE COMMUNICATING?

A man spoke frantically into the phone: 'My wife is pregnant and her contractions are only two minutes apart'.
'Is this her first child?' the doctor asked.
'No!' the man shouted, 'This is her husband!'

SO-AND-SO

You use 'so-and-so' when you want to speak about a person but you do not want to give his or her name.
'There was this Mr So-and-so who would never speak in the class but thought that by merely attending the class he could speak a foreign language.'
NOTE
You can use 'so-and-so' instead of a swear word (an abusive word) referring to a person who is unreasonable and unpleasant.
'He can be a real so-and-so when he loses his temper.'

WORD OF THE DAY
OD

Spiritualists and New Age thinkers believe that the whole creation is suffused with energy. And many are the names given to this energy: qui, prana or kundalini.
Scientists too once thought that there was a universal force that accounted for all natural phenomena, and they called it 'od'.
Od is the word for the day for you. Sounds odd? It does.

FEARFUL, FEARSOME

When someone is fearful, they are frightened.
'She was a fearful child who spent her entire childhood thinking that her father, who was a soldier, would never return home.'
When you describe something as fearful, you mean it is awful or terrible.
'He thought that his life was in a fearful mess, not knowing that luck would knock at his door soon.'
When you say someone or something is fearsome, you mean it is very frightening.
'Imagine the Third World War -- with all those fearsome nukes going off, ah, terrible!'

WORD OF THE DAY

You have at home all the modern conveniences: TV, telephone, electric heater, AC, Satellite TV and so on.
Do you have a word or expression denoting all these modern conveniences?
Yes, mod cons - an informal British English term!
'A house with all mod cons.'

HEN PARTY, STAG NIGHT

Hen party is a social event just before a wedding for a woman who is getting married and her female friends.
Sangeet? Yes, you are right. Sangeet is the Indian version of hen party.
Stag night is a bachelor party; a social event before a wedding for a man who is getting married and his male friends.

GRAMMAR, GRAMMAR
Here are some tongue-in-cheek remarks about English grammar from noted speakers, writers and celebrities.
Enjoy them and quote back at them!
The past is always tense, the future perfect.
~ Zadie Smith
My spelling is Wobbly. It's good spelling but it Wobbles, and the letters get in the wrong places.
~ A.A. Milne, Winnie-the Pooh
Synonym is a word you use when you can't spell the other one.
~ Baltasar Gracián
People who practice freedom of expression are terrorizing our grammatical way of life.
~ Bauvard, Some Inspiration for the Overenthusiastic
This is the type of arrant pedantry up with which I will not put.
~ Winston Churchill
I don't know the rules of grammar. If you're trying to persuade people to do something, or buy something, it seems to me you should use their language.
~ David Ogilvy
A preposition is a terrible thing to end a sentence with.
~ Winston Churchill
Enigmatic Churchill has managed to barge in twice.
- Says ‘Who?’

PUT SOMETHING TO SLEEP
SEND SOMEONE TO SLEEP

When you 'put something to sleep', you give drugs to a sick animal so that it dies without pain.'
'When he knew that his horse would no longer participate in derbies, he put her to sleep.'
When you put someone to sleep, you give the person drugs to make them unconscious before a surgery.'
'The doctor tried hard but he refused to be put to sleep.'
When you send someone to sleep, you make them start to sleep.
'The mother sang lullabies to send the child to sleep.'

UNIVERSAL GRAMMAR

It's perfectly obvious that there is some genetic factor that distinguishes humans from other animals and that it is language-specific. The theory of that genetic component, whatever it turns out to be, is what is called universal grammar.
~ Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky an American linguist, philosopher, cognitive scientist, logician, political commentator and activist. Sometimes described as the "father of modern linguistics", and is one of the most quoted personalities of the 20/21 century.

LOOK AT THE PICTURE OF MADURAI TEMPLE IN AQUATINT

If you are wondering what 'aquatint' refers to, here is the meaning:
Noun
1 A form of etching with acid on a plate partially covered with varnish that produces a print somewhat resembling a watercolour.
2 An etching or print made using this method.

Pic: columbia.edu

WORD OF THE DAY

What do you call a 'temple Kalash' in English?
Ans: finial.
Pic: temple.net

WORD FOR THE DAY
CASTANETS
A musical instrument made of two small round pieces of wood or plastic that you hold in one hand and knock together, used especially by Spanish dancers.

Faith is the argument of non-evident truths.

RECOGNIZE and IDENTIFY

When you recognize something, you know what someone or something is because you have already seen or heard or experienced or learnt about them.
'I saw this man on a commuter train. His face looked familiar, and then, I recognized him; he was my childhood friend, Madhu.'
When you identify someone or something, you not only recognize the person or the thing, but also, are able to establish other facts such as name, type and so on.
'The twins looked so identical that only their mother could identify who Sita and who Gita was.'

LIKE A RED RAG TO A BULL

If you refer to something as 'like a red rag to a bull', you mean that it causes someone to become very angry or upset.
'Don't mention the report to him. It is like a red rag to a bull.'
The American version of this is 'like waving a red flag to a bull.'
'Mentioning the media to minister is like waving a red flag to a bull.'

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN 'EARLIER' AND 'PREVIOUS'

If you want to know the difference between 'earlier' and 'previous', you have to read the definitions given in dictionaries carefully.
Earlier means 'before the present time or before the usual or expected time.'
'You are an insurance agent now. Where were you working earlier?'
'He got up early in the morning, had a bath, got dressed and rushed to receive her.'
'Send your resume; earlier the better.'
'Previous' means 'something existing before the current one.'
'The latest report says everything is okay. But I want to see the previous report.'

TOEING THE LINE

Fashion and style are often set by celebrities. The reasons for what they wear, what they sport and how they project themselves are known only to them; maybe to catch people's attention, or maybe because they feel comfortable or maybe just on a whim.
King Charles VIII of France (1470-98) was one such celebrity. He wore square-ended shoes and his courtiers copied him by wearing square-ended shoes. What most of them did not know was he wore them for comfort, not style: he had six toes on one foot!
Next time you copy someone's style, ask yourself for what; for style? For comfort? Whose comfort?
Basic idea source: Philip Ardagh's Kings, queens and emperors.

BABA'S, HA, HA

A marketer cornered me at the mall and asked, "Which shaving cream do you use?"
"Baba's." He recorded my answer and asked, "Which aftershave do you use?"
"Baba's."
"Which deodorant do you use?"
"Baba's."
"Which toothpaste?"
"Baba's."
"Shampoo?"
"Baba's."
"Soap?"
"Baba's."
"Thank you. But what is Baba's? A foreign company?"
"No, Baba's my roommate!"

OOZE, TRICKLE and FLOW

When something (a liquid) oozes out of something, it flows slowly out of a small opening. Sometimes, what oozes maybe a thick liquid.
'He thought that the wound had healed, but saw that blood was still oozing of the wound.'
When something (a liquid) trickles, it flows slowly and without force, usually in a thin line.
'The water trickling from the dispenser made the vinyl floor slippery.'
When something flows (a liquid), it moves in one direction easily and continuously.
'The Ganges after flowing across 2, 525 kilometres of land, empties into the Bay of Bengal.'

Only in men's imagination does every truth find an effective and undeniable existence. Imagination, not invention, is the supreme master of art as of life.
~ Joseph Conrad

OUT OF WEDLOCK
Sure you know the meaning?
If you are asking what the meaning of 'wedlock' is, and how to use the word, I would like to begin with a word of caution: don't use it. It is old-fashioned.
Wedlock means 'the state of being married.'
A child born OUT of wedlock means that the parents of the child were not married when it was born.
'In those days a baby born out of wedlock was considered a great sin.'
If you thought that 'born out of wedlock' meant born after the wedding, correct your version.

WHAT IS ZERO HOUR
If you go by the dictionaries, zero hour is the time when an important event such as an attack or an operation is scheduled to start.
'They received a call from the President just minutes before the zero hour to call off the operation.'
In India, zero hour is the time between the end of the question hour and the beginning of a regular session in the parliament.

REDUPLICATION

LOOK at words such as mama or phooh-phooh.
The process of forming a word or a phrase by repeating a part of a word or phrase is called 'reduplication'. The repeated part is called 'a reduplicant'.
Such words and phrases sound pleasing or amusing when you use them, and sometimes, the sounds themselves convey the meaning of the phrases.
Willy-nilly: Whether you want it or not: 'He found himself helpless when she invited him to a party. He had to go, willy-nilly.
Note: willy-nilly can also refer to something that is done without any plan, order or organization. 'His mind was working willy-nilly and he wondered what had happened to his powers of discrimination.'
Wishy-washy: not clear and not-decisive. 'When you don't know, say you don't know. Don't be wishy-washy and give some vague explanations.
Here is some work for you to do now. Look up a good dictionary for the meaning of these phrases, and post them with examples in the comment box.
dilly-dally
holly-polly
pitter-patter
blah-blah
boo-boo
bye-bye
fender-bender
hocus-pocus
hodge-podge
itsy-bitsy
nitty-gritty
super-duper
teeny-weeny.
and don't forget the Indian 'english-vinglish', 'chai-wai' and 'pan-van'!

SPA

If you think that 'spa' is a fitness 'center' or a massage parlour, change your notion of the term.
Spa is a spring, the water of which has minerals, and bathing in which is considered good for health.
In the US, a health spa is a place where people go improve their health by exercise, swimming and beauty treatment.
The origin of the word is traced to the name of a town, Spa, in Belgium which has such a spring.

WHAT DOES POKE IN fb MEAN?
You can understand poke at facebook as to say 'hey, you! wassup', but some people have wrong understanding that poke at facebook is symbol of disturbing. Following are the correct meanings of poking at facebook.
1.A 'poke' is basically someone trying to get your attention. It’s one of the meaningless features that are used just to annoy someone.
2.If you poke someone not in your network and they poke back. You can view their profile even if your not their friend!
3.A poke is when you allow someone to see your facebook page for
3 days, so they can know who you are and hopefully add you as a friend.
Do share it so that when you poke your friend he knows the real meaning of poke and doesn't take it wrong.

MOSAICULTURE

It may not be easy, but it is not difficult either to guess the meaning of the word given above. It is a French term for the bedding of plants to form a geometrical pattern or a representational figure. If you still did not get the meaning of the term, the picture should explain.

TAKE CARE OF, CARE ABOUT and CARE FOR

If you take care of something, you look after it or take responsibility for it.
'She is Nancy, and she takes care of housekeeping.'
'I take care of my grandma.'
Take care also means 'be careful'.
'Take care when you are boarding the commuter train here. It stops only for a minute.'
Some people use 'take care' as 'goodbye'.
'Bye.'
'Take care.'
If you want to show someone that something is important or of value to you, you 'care about' it.
'Most people care about what others say, particularly what their peers say.' 'Care about' is commonly used in negative sentences:
'I am not going to speak to you again.'
'I don't care.'
Care for, like 'take care of', means 'look after'.
'Mother Teresa cared for the orphans and destitute children on the streets of Kolkata.'

OOZE, TRICKLE and FLOW

When something (a liquid) oozes out of something, it flows slowly out of a small opening. Sometimes, what oozes maybe a thick liquid.
'He thought that the wound had healed, but saw that blood was still oozing of the wound.'
When something (a liquid) trickles, it flows slowly and without force, usually in a thin line.
'The water trickling from the dispenser made the vinyl floor slippery.'
When something flows (a liquid), it moves in one direction easily and continuously.
'The Ganges after flowing across 2, 525 kilometres of land, empties into the Bay of Bengal.'

NEW WAY OF TEACHING THE ALPHABET
Thank God, A is still Apple!

SIBLING RIVALRY
The competition between brothers and sisters for parents' love and attention is called 'sibling rivalry'.
'It was a huge extended family and sibling rivalry was common.'
Sibling means a brother or a sister. It is a formal word, and people do not use it in everyday conversation.
Sibling comes from Old English Sibb meaning related.

AMBIENT ADVERTISING

Have you seen the ads on movie tickets that you bought? The ads on your train e-ticket. Sometimes, the ads are place on items that you use in everyday life.Well, such kind of advertising is 'ambient advertising.'
Here is the definition from Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English:
ambient advertising noun [ uncountable ]
advertising that is present on objects that are not usually expected to have advertising, for example on a train ticket or a receipt

HA, HA, GRAMMAR

When I was a kid, my English teacher looked my way and said, NAME TWO PRONOUNS.
I said, WHO, ME?

I CANNOT BUT ADMIRE HER

Look at how 'but' is used after 'cannot'. Here it means that 'I cannot help admiring her.'
It means that I could do nothing but admire her. That is I could only admire her and do nothing else.
You cannot but admire his spirit.
You admire his spirit.
You can use 'but' to mean 'except' after 'all', 'no one', 'everyone' and 'anyone'.
'No one but he knew the secret code.'
'No one except him knew the secret code.' ('except him' is informal)

'Everyone but Ramesh has accepted the invitation.'
'Everyone except Ramesh has accepted the invitation.'
But also means 'only' but the usage is old-fashioned.
'Don't rebuke him. He is but a kid.'
'Don't rebuke him. He is only a kid.'

The Land Of Happy

Have you been to the land of happy,
Where everyone's happy all day,
Where they joke and they sing
Of the happiest things,
And everything's jolly and gay?
There's no one unhappy in Happy
There's laughter and smiles galore.
I have been to The Land of Happy-
What a bore!

HA, HA

Two guys wearing hoodies approached the Pearly Gates.
Saint Peter said, "Wait here. I'll be right back." He found God and told him who was waiting.
God said, "How many times must I tell you? We're not prejudiced here. This is Heaven. All are welcome. Go back and let them in!"
Saint Peter returned to the Pearly Gates, sighed, then returned to God and said, "Well, they're gone."
"The guys in hoodies?'" asked God.
"No. The Pearly Gates!"
HELP
Hoodies:
A sweatshirt, with an integral hood and, sometimes, a large kangaroo pocket at the front.
Pearly Gates:
The entrance way to Heaven

'FIGHT' CORRUPTION OR 'BATTLE' CORRUPTION

'The candidate for Prime Minister says that he will fight corruption and induct clean ministers.'
Is it 'fight corruption' or 'battle corruption'?
Good question. Here are words that collocate with corruption:
~ attack corruption
~ combat corruption
~ curb corruption
~ eliminate corruption
~ end corruption
~ fight corruption
~ investigate corruption
~ involve in corruption
~ prevent corruption
~ root out corruption
~ stem corruption
~ stop corruption
~ tackle corruption
~ expose corruption
~ reveal corruption
~ uncover corruption
Did you find 'battle' in the list above?

ACCURATE or PRECISE?

Accurate means true and correct in every detail.
'The report gave accurate figures of income and expenditure.'
An accurate shot is one that hits the bullseye.
Precise means to be exact, clear and correct.
'They were able to locate the precise location of the ship.'
If you begin to think deeply, you will wonder if the two words don't mean the same. Well, they are almost synonyms. But if you look at the word origin, you may get a hint of some subtle difference between the two.
Accurate comes from 'accuratus' meaning done with care.
Precise comes from Old French 'precis' which in turn is derive from Latin 'praecis' meaning 'cut short'.
If all the details are calculated and given with care, it is accurate.
If the extra and irrelevant details are cut off, and only the essential ones given, it is precise.

WORD OF THE DAY
BOUNCER

A person, usually a tall and hefty man, whose job is to stand at the door of a club or a pub and prevent unwanted guests entering or to make people leave if they behave badly.

 

 

 

 

GOOD MORNING
With a smile!

A customer was harassing the airline ticket agent, yelling and cursing, but the agent was courteous and polite, smiling as he verbally abused her. When he finally left, the next person in line asked, "Does that happen often? I can't believe how sweet you were."
The agent smiled. "Oh, don't worry. I took good care of him. He's going to Detroit, but his bags are going to Bangkok!"

KLEPTOMANIAC

'a very strong and uncontrollable wish to steal, especially without any need or purpose, usually considered to be a type of mental illness.'
Why is it so difficult to explain a pun to a kleptomaniac?
They always take things ...literally!

"The universe is like a safe to which there is a combination – but the combination is locked up in the safe." (Peter DeVries).