Wordsmith / FRANK KRISHNER
Recently two truly sensational events occurred in Bihar. The first was the crowning success of the ‘Super 30’ experiment. The second was that three students who were coached by the Super 30 team accepted payment to endorse a commercial coaching institute. These commercial organisations tried to deceive the public. The Super 30 teachers, stung by the ingratitude and dishonesty of these students decided to discontinue the project.
It is said that that you can fool all the people for some time, but you can’t fool all the people all the time.
Fool means to make someone believe something is true or real when it actually isn’t. You may fool someone just for fun. People fool each other on April Fool’s Day. I fooled the cook by putting salt in the sugar bowl. It is wrong to fool another person by making a promise you don’t expect to keep.
Cheat means to fool a person by doing something he or she doesn’t notice. Ravi cheated Stuti out of her piece of cake by eating it when she wasn’t looking. It is dishonest to cheat at a game or cheat on a test. The three Super-30 students tried to cheat when they pretended to be from other institutes. Did they think that their teachers wouldn’t notice?
You mislead someone when you cause him or her to go in the wrong direction or away from the truth. If you are offered something free and later find that you have to pay for it, someone is misleading you. The low price of this shirt misled me into thinking it was a real bargain, but I later found out that the fabric was of poor quality.
Trick means to fool by cheating or misleading. A magician tricks his audience.
Deceive and hoodwink mean ‘give a false impression in order to fool and confuse people’. You deceive another person when you lie to him. The rogue coaching institutes tried to deceive the Chief Minister by passing off the super 30 students as their own. Hoodwink is a less formal expression. I was hoodwinked into believing that this glass stone was a diamond!
Bluff means to fool someone by pretending to know more than you really do. At a recent interview, some students said that they regularly read Shakespeare, but you could tell that they were bluffing.
Learn-a-word
Dilemma
Strictly speaking a dilemma is a choice between two (or more) undesirable alternatives. Administrators are faced with the dilemma of cutting public services or increasing taxes. It is incorrect to use ‘dilemma’ when you really mean ‘problem’. Whether to choose ‘Arts’ or ‘Science’ for a graduation course isn’t a dilemma, it’s just a perplexing situation.
wordscore: unscramble these words [they all have something in common]
GAMLE FLERICK FASLH BAME
[Last week’s solution: Expert, Crack, Fluent, Adroit]
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Wednesday 18 July, 2007
Cheat, fool or mislead?
Sunday 24 June, 2007
Accomplishing a deed?
Wordsmith / FRANK KRISHNER 
Students in Patna are thrilled that a Bihari student is the All India topper of the CBSE Boards. The local newspapers put the news of his accomplishment on the first page. This brings us to some words that are so close to each other in meaning that they are often misused.
An accomplishment is something that has been accomplished, done or completed. It isn’t just anything. It must be something that took knowledge and, usually, hard work. When you have solved a hard arithmetic problem or made it to your school football team, you can be proud of your accomplishment.
An achievement is the accomplishment of something unusually dangerous or difficult. Courage and effort are needed to achieve, and an achievement is always admirable. Ken Noguchi led a team of Japanese and Nepali climbers and returned with 500 kilograms of tins, old tents, food and medicine left over decades by other climbers. He estimates he has collected some 9,000 kilograms of rubbish from Mount Everest during his five trips to the peak. Now that’s an achievement!
An attainment is the accomplishment of a goal or an objective through hard work and a plan of action. An attainment is the successful completion of an unusually challenging task. Ken Noguchi will use the rubbish from Everest to influence mountaineers against turning Everest into a garbage dump. This is his real goal. When mountaineers will stop littering Mount Everest, it will be Noguchi’s attainment!
A deed is whatever is done. You might call any kind or helpful or useful act that someone does a good deed.
A feat and an exploit are accomplishments. A feat requires more courage and strength than a deed. Learning a new skill is a feat. Bungee jumping off the Howrah bridge is a feat of skill and daring. An exploit is an accomplishment that requires even greater daring and heroism than a feat. Have you read any books about the exploits of Shivaji, Sher Shah Suri, or Prithviraj Chauhan?
Learn-a-word
Boring /Bored
Something that is boring is not interesting in any way and makes you feel tired: a boring job in an office.I thought the party was really boring. A boring person never says or does anything that is interesting. Don’t confuse ‘boring’ with bored. If you feel bored, you are not interested in something, or have nothing interesting to do. Be careful not to say ‘I am boring’ when you mean ‘I am bored’.
wordscore: unscramble these words [they all have something in common]
XEERPT ACKCR FUELNT DRAOIT
[Last week’s solution: Pretty, Lovely, Beautiful, Stunning]
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Monday 11 June, 2007
Yearning and beyond
Wordsmith / FRANK KRISHNER
Yesterday afternoon, I was watching Deepa Mehta’s marvellous movie, Water. There is a scene in the film where an old, toothless widow yearns to have a ladoo. She constantly talks about how the sweets tasted on her wedding day, decades ago.
Yearning means the feeling of wanting or needing something. This feeling includes the feeling of fondness, compassion, or love. The old sailor had a yearning to go to sea.
A desire is a yearning or a wish for something. A miser has a desire for more and more money. Santosh has a desire to see the Taj Mahal. Mona has a desire to grow slimmer.
A longing is a deep desire or yearning for something that is presently out of your reach. During the cold and wet monsoons in Darjeeling, we have a longing to see a clear sky.
A craving is usually a strong yearning for some kind of food. Pregnant women develop cravings for sweet or sour foods. In the movie, the vampire developed an insane craving for blood.
Thirst can mean simply a desire for something, or it can mean a yearning for something to drink. In a Dalit village in Sasaram, the children had a thirst for pencils and paper.
Hankering is a perfectly good word to use when you have a mild yearning for something. Ramesh has a hankering for iced tea on hot summer afternoons.
If something is to your liking, it pleases you and you may want to have it – if you haven’t already. If someone has a liking for motorcycles, he probably reads books about them, goes to bike shows, and hopes to own is own motorbike some day.
If something suits your taste. You like it. Most people have a taste for samosas. You have to develop a taste for litthi and chokha. You may not like them the first time, but after a while, you discover that you like. Bhojpuri music videos do not suit my taste.
A preference is the liking of one thing better than another. He has a preference for Hollywood movies.
Learn-a- word
Competitive
Someone who is competitive seems to enjoy competing and is always trying to do better than other people. A competitive situation is one in which people try hard to do better than each other, for example in a business or an entrance examination. I hate playing ludo with Rajan, he’s so competitive. Working in advertising is very competitive.
wordscore: unscramble these words [they all have something in common]
PETRTY LELOVY IFEAUBUTL SNNTUNIG
[Last week’s solution: Planet, Cosmos, Galaxy, Satellite]
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Sunday 27 May, 2007
ANNOUNCEMENT
Frank Krishner is accepting queries and questions. So shoot, and your questions [and Frank Krishner's answers] may appear in a forthcoming Wordsmith column in Education Times.
Recommendation: visit http://fragbows2.blogspot.com/ for interesting information.
Fear, Panic, Alarm, Dread…
I was just listening to a film review on the BBC. It was all about a new film that tells a story about zombies taking over London. It sounds like an unpleasant film, but thousands of people go to horror films every week to get their much needed dose of fright and fear.
Fear is familiar to most people. It is an upsetting and unpleasant response to danger. Sometimes fear causes a person to lose courage. Sometimes we use fear to mean only a mild concern or worry about something, for example, you may fear that rain may spoil the picnic, or fear that you will not make it to your friend’s birthday bash.
Fright is sudden fear, it may not last for a long time. A sudden sharp sound may give you a fright and make you jump.
Alarm also means sudden fear. You feel alarm when you suddenly become aware of danger nearby.
Apprehension is a fear or concern about something bad that may occur. The Bihar government move to the Bihar Electric Supply Corporation has caused apprehension among the workers . They fear they may lose their jobs.
Dread is an intense fear of something that may happen. It suggests fear of facing whatever is coming. Usually dread also means loss of courage. The thought of returning to the empty house filled her with dread. His dread of going to the dentist made his toothache disappear.
Panic is sudden and extreme fright, which results in unreasonable and frantic activity. It was the driver’s panic that caused him to step on the accelerator rather than the brake after his car went over the side of the bridge.
Panic is often used to describe the fear felt by a group, not just one person. A shout of ‘bomb’ in a crowded multiplex caused a panic.
Terror is extreme and intense fright. It has a numbing affect on people. The approaching flood brought terror to the villages along the Baghmati river.
Learn-a-word
Causeway
A causeway is a road that is built up across a body of water. It is a raised road, not to be confused with a bridge. A bridge is a construction that spans two ends of a water body, such as a river.
wordscore: unscramble these words [they all have something in common]
PETLAN SCOOMS AXGALY TESLATELI
[Last week’s solution: Economics, Politics, Geography, Arithmetic]
Tuesday 22 May, 2007
Delicious, Mouth-watering, or just Palatable?
The wedding season is on, and that means invitations to groaning buffet tables loaded with fragrant, delicious food. If you are looking for interesting and accurate words to describe your future mother-in-law’s cooking, try some of these.
Delicious describes something that is pleasant and appealing. Silence is delicious if you are trying to sleep. Usually delicious is used to describe the good taste of food. May I have some more of that delicious chocolate cake? The chicken biryani smelled so delicious that I could hardly wait to eat. Food that has little taste or flavour is insipid.
Luscious means extremely delicious. It usually suggests that there is a special quality about something that makes it super delicious. The sight of luscious chilled mango salad makes my mouth water. By the way mouth-watering is another word for extremely delicious and appetizing.
Delightful and delectable can mean delicious. We had a delightful meal at Rohit’s house last night. Something is delectable, when it is finely flavoured or delicately constructed, like a plate of Sushi.
One meaning of delicate is delicious. Many delicious foods have a delicate flavour. Mushrooms and whipped cream are two such foods.
Appetizing and savoury can both mean agreeable or pleasant. Food that looks and smells good is appetizing. Savoury is often used to describe highly seasoned or spicy foods. That tea-stall serves up savoury samosas. Both appetizing and savoury can be used for things other than food. Ramesh’s report gave an appetizing introduction to J.K. Rowling’s new Harry Potter novel. The winter air was filled with the savoury smell of burning leaves.
Tasty means appetizing or pleasing to the taste. Hot chocolate on vanilla ice-cream is tasty.
Palatable is not really a synonym of delicious, but you can use palatable when you mean that something is acceptable. That wasn’t the best mutton curry I’ve eaten, but it was palatable. His mother’s suggestion that he clean his room was unpalatable to Hari.
Fragrant is not a synonym of delicious, but it can be used to describe something that has a pleasant or sweet odour, such as food. The fragrance of cooking Basmati rice filled the hut.
Learn-a-word
Controversial
Something that is controversial causes a lot of disagreement and angry argument, especially in the newspapers, or on radio and television etc. Railway minister Laloo Prasad is famous for his controversial statements and actions.
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wordscore: unscramble these words [they all have something in common]
TECHOCOLA LAANVIL AWRYBERSTR COAPRIT
[Last week’s solution: Exercise, Sport, Jogging, Skipping]
Sunday 13 May, 2007
All about the Blues
Colours play a vital part in the way we express ourselves.
Today let’s look at some idioms built around the colour ‘blue’. The newspapers in India talked about the ‘boys in blue’. Who are they? Now, any Indian cricket lover would say, “They’re the Indian cricket team, silly! In England and America, the ‘Boys in blue’ are the policemen. ‘Blue’ refers to the colour of the uniforms.
Our team looked blue when they didn’t win their matches. Indian cricket fans felt rather blue as well. When you look depressed or discontented or feel the same way, you look blue or feel blue.
A bolt from the blue means unexpected bad news, like a bolt of lightening from a blue sky. You can expect lightening if the sky is grey, not when it’s blue and cloudless. When Bangladesh defeated India, it was a bolt from the blue.
To happen out of the blue is to happen unexpectedly. Pakistan Coach Bob Woolmer was murdered. It happened out of the blue. I was feeling lonely and blue, but a long forgotten friend appeared out of the blue with two tickets to the Bob Dylan concert.
Rahul Dravid is no longer the blue-eyed boy of the Indian selectors. A blue eyed boy is a man or a boy who is a favourite. The expression is usually used in a critical sense, with negative overtones, to describe someone who has been singled out for special favours or attention by someone in authority.
A blue moon is a second full moon day appearing in the same month. That’s rare. If you get on a plane and just happen to be seated beside Shah Rukh Khan, it’s an experience that happens once in a blue moon. Now, if you haven’t taken some evidence of your encounter with him, your best friend may not believe you. You may try to tell her it’s true till you’re blue in the face, but she won’t be convinced. Blue in the face means to make a huge [but useless] effort to win a person’s agreement.
Learn-a-word
Offensive
Offensive words, jokes , or actions are not only impolite, they make people angry because they show no respect for people’s values, or moral or religious beliefs. His racist jokes are offensive. To find something offensive means to think it is offensive. Some listeners may find the language some Bhojpuri songs offensive.
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wordscore: unscramble these words [they all have something in common]
ERECSEXI OSTPR GOGGIJN PINKSPIG
[Last week’s solution: Tiger, leopard, Panther, Jaguar]
Saturday 5 May, 2007
This is really heavy!
Every year, just as the school-year begins, you will hear parents talking about the heavy loads that their children have to carry to school. You may also complain about heavy homework!
Heavy is the opposite of light.
Heavy can also mean more than usual. Then it is the opposite of slight or thin. The heavy traffic caused us to come to a standstill. The heavy rainfall floods most of North Bihar. Heavy can also mean having great density. Her heavy hair needs to be trimmed.
We can also call something heavy if it is difficult or hard to bear. You can speak of a heavy responsibility and a heavy duty. They are not trivial. Her heart was heavy with grief. Heavy-hearted means unhappy or depressed.
Cumbersome means heavy and awkward, hard to carry or move. The cumbersome statue was finally brought into the museum.
Ponderous describes something that is not only heavy but very large, massive, or dull. Many old pieces of furniture are ponderous. Many students say that the novel “War and Peace” is ponderous.
Weighty and burdensome mean very heavy. Weighty can also mean or very serious or important. Packages can be weighty. A judge’s words may be weighty. The President delivered a weighty speech to the nation.
Thick can describe something that is heavily built or something that is very dense. Thick is the opposite of thin. A baseball bat is thicker at one end than the other. It would be hard to push your way through a thick crowd. The artist painted a picture of a thick forest.
[Send your feedback or questions to wordsmith.patna@gmail.com]
Learn-a-word
Heavy -handed
A person is heavy- handed, when he or she is clumsy or oppressive. A heavy handed person is not tactful. A heavy-handed headmaster may expel a student for not doing his homework. From this expression comes the modern use of ‘heavy’ to describe a villain or antagonist in a play or movie.
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wordscore: unscramble these words [they all have something in common]
GITRE OPLREAD PAERNTH GUAJAR
[Last week’s solution: Danger, Peril, Menace, Hazard]
Friday 27 April, 2007
It's Basic and Fundamental
Wordsmith / FRANK KRISHNER
Yesterday, I visited a bank at Boring Road. There was a notice in Hindi and a sign that told customers not to use mobile phones within the bank premises. Even so, there were three people merrily chatting away on their phones, talking in loud voices. When I pointed out the sign to one fellow, he grinned and said ‘This is Bihar!’ The basic reason that Bihar is backward is because even the educated people do not respect rules. Respect for the rule of law is fundamental to progress in any society. And this brings us to today’s theme word: Basic.
Basic describes the art of something that all its other parts depend on. The basic structure of a skyscraper is its steel framework. Without it, the whole building would collapse. An author develops a story from one basic idea. The basic reason for going to school is to learn.
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Fundamental can describe something like a foundation upon which other things can be built or added. One fundamental rule for drivers in India is to keep to the left side of the road. The constitution is the fundamental law of India. All law in India must conform to the spirit of the constitution. The right to live is a fundamental right.
First and primary mean before anything else. The first step in making tea is filling a kettle with water. Learning to read well is of primary importance. You have to finish primary school before you can go to a higher one. Red, blue and yellow are primary colours. From them other colours can be made.
A part that is necessary or essential to something cannot be taken away from it. Tracks are necessary to a railway train. The rudder is an essential part of an aeroplane. Wheels are essential to a car, but a CD player is inessential. The government supplies essential commodities [like rice, wheat, sugar and kerosene] to the poor at special prices.
Vital describes things that are basic to life or basic to staying alive. Food and water are vital to man. Breathing is a vital function.
[Send your feedback or questions to wordsmith.patna@gmail.com]
Learn-a-word
Old-fashioned
Opinions or ways of living that were common in the past, but are not the way most people think and believe now are old-fashioned. In those days, middle class Biharis thought love marriages were morally wrong, but this now seems very old-fashioned.
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wordscore: unscramble these words [they all have something in common]
DARENG PEILR ACMENE HADZAR
[Last week’s solution: Television, radio, cinema, internet]
Tuesday 17 April, 2007
Shifty, crooked and dishonest
Wordsmith / FRANK KRISHNER
Yesterday, as I was browsing through the morning newspaper, a thought struck me. There seemed to be a lot of dishonest people in the world. News about scams, robberies, bribe-taking and other shady deals reach our ears and eyes everyday.
Dishonest is the opposite of honest. Dishonest is used to describe some people and their actions. A dishonest person can’t be trusted. Someone who lies, steals, or cheats is dishonest. It is dishonest to copy answers on a test.
Untruthful and deceitful mean dishonest, false, and misleading. An untruthful account or story doesn’t report the truth. It covers up the truth and gives false information. A deceitful person lies and deceives others. He gives the wrong idea of things and makes people believe things to be true that are really false.
Shifty is another word for evasive and deceitful. It is an informal word. A shifty person tries to mislead you by suppressing the truth or by hiding a part of it.
Crooked is the opposite of straight. It usually describes something, like a road or path, which has curves or bends. Crooked can also be used to describe a person. A crooked person bends or twists the truth. He is dishonest and untruthful. When that company offered us something for nothing, we knew the deal must be crooked.
Hypocritical means pretending to be honest and straightforward. A hypocritical person may say he firmly believes in something which he actually doesn’t care about. He may say he supports a principle in public, but his private actions may be opposed to the same principle he says he supports.
A person who is untrustworthy can’t be trusted to do what is right and fair. He can’t be dependable and reliable. You wouldn’t choose an untrustworthy boy for your class president.
Dishonourable means without honesty, honour, or respect. It is a strong word. It is dishonourable to break an agreement, an oath, or a promise. The soldier received a dishonourable discharge from the army because he committed a serious crime.
Learn-a-word
Zombie
A zombie is supposed to be a corpse [a dead person] brought to life by witchcraft. A zombie is brain dead, and stumbles around. Zombie is used to describe a person who is dull, lifeless or apathetic. Before my morning cup of coffee, I am a zombie.
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wordscore: unscramble these words [they all have something in common]
VISETLEION ODIRA CIMNEA NINERTET
[Last week’s solution: Exercise, Activity, Process, Movement]
Sunday 8 April, 2007
It’s all about building
Nowadays, we hear several people talking about ‘building up’ Bihar. Some talk about re-building Bihar. Roads are being built, buildings constructed. Plans to beautify Patna are being developed.
Construct means build, but has an added meaning of making something according to a definite and often complicated plan. Architects, Engineers and carpenters are all needed to construct a super mall and multiplex. Lata can construct a doll’s house from paper and pins. Some people say that the news shown on television is constructed because of the way in which the stories are chosen or the order in which they are placed.
Manufacture means make or produce something using machines, usually in a factory.
Assemble means to bring or fit parts together. Each part of a computer is manufactured and then all the parts are assembled.
When you fabricate something, you make it out of many parts, according to a pattern. It has an added meaning of building something in a clever and unusual way. The boys fabricated a raft using old tyre tubes, two bamboos and string and then they floated down the river. Fabricate can also mean to make up a story to fool or deceive someone. Ramu fabricated an excuse for being late.
Develop is to build upon. Develop can mean make a change, make some improvement, make available, or even grow. According to the Patna Development Authority, a citizen’s park will be developed from the garbage dump. Exercise develops your muscles.
Learn-a-word
Ridiculous / Absurd
Ridiculous and Absurd are adjectives .Use them to describe plans, suggestions, situations etc. which are so stupid that you cannot believe anyone would think of them or allow them to happen.
They’re asking a ridiculous rent for that apartment. What an absurd suggestion!
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wordscore: unscramble these words [they all have something in common]
EXSEERCI CAVITTIY PRESSOC MOMENVET
[Last week’s solution: Bowler, Stumped, Batsman, Umpire]
Sunday 1 April, 2007
Imagine: no bees, no music, no heaven!
Imagine, there’s no heaven, above us only sky…
John Lennon, the legendary singer-composer wrote Imagine. If you haven’t heard the song, it’s time you did. The best way to sharpen your skills in any language is to listen to its music. Folk, country, and protest music is usually clear and easily understandable. [John Lennon was once part of the legendary group, The Beatles. He's the one with the glasses]I was listening to the radio, and I heard that thousands of honey bees are dying in the orange-growing areas of the United States. Imagine millions of orange flowers with no bees to pollinate them. What a disaster!
Imagine means to see something in your mind. When you imagine something, you are letting your mind create or invent ideas. Imagine can also mean ‘think that something is true or something will happen even if you have no proof or reason for thinking so’. Since it’s a holiday, I imagine Ramesh and Roshan are playing cricket in the park.
Suppose means ‘think that something is possible’. I suppose the Indian team has a very good chance of winning the World Cup.
Guess means to form an opinion about something when you don’t really know much about it. You might guess a person’s age, or the weight of a cake at the school fete. I guess those bees are dying because of pesticides or global warming.
Fancy is to form a picture of something in your mind. Children fancy things that really aren’t possible. Seema fancied she was on a space-shuttle touring the moon. It’s so warm. I fancy an enormous ice-cream will cool me off nicely.
Realise means ‘understand something fully and clearly’. I hope the Americans realise that their fruit industry will collapse if the bees continue to die. She realised That she had made a mistake. [Note: Realise is often spelt realize. A few years ago, realize was considered ‘American’. Today, both spellings are acceptable.]
Believe means to imagine or trust that something is true or real. If a person believes in someone or something, it is hard to change his [or her] mind.
Learn-a-word
Daring
DARING: someone who is daring is not afraid of doing something new, unusual, or shocking, especially in areas such as art, fashion, and design. ‘Daring’ is also used to describe the ‘thing’ that the daring person did! Many boys copied John’s new and daring hairstyle. The more daring girls imitate Mallika or the Spice Girls.
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wordscore:
EBOLWR SEDTUPM AMBATSN PIUMRE
[Last week’s solution: Education, University, College, School]
Saturday 31 March, 2007
Computer spell checks?
A note on computer spell-checks.
Surely, some readers say, the advent of the computer spell-check makes all this learning of rules, patterns and exceptions quite obsolete.
Unfortunately not. The computer spell-check is really just that – a useful check. It cannot guarantee accurate spelling, only inform you that certain words you have written do not appear in its dictionary and suggest possible alternatives.
Reliance on this facility has two main drawbacks.
This is not usually very harmful, but can be a nuisance for someone writing on technical subjects or in some other specialised field. It is usually possible to augment the spell-check dictionary to include any other terms that you require.
The second drawback is much more serious. The computer will fail to recognize a genuine error, however ridiculous or damaging, if it corresponds to the correct spelling of a different word. So if I wrote
The computer spell-check is a handy tool but could not be used as a crotch (meaning crutch)
The error would pass undetected.
Tuesday 27 March, 2007
Honesty, Truthfulness, Sincerity …
Wordsmith / FRANK KRISHNER
During election time, there is a lot of talk about honesty. People say that many politicians in Bihar lack honesty. Some politicians make promises they do not mean to keep. Others try to hide their wealth from the income tax department. Honesty is a virtue that some people say has virtually disappeared from public life.
Honesty is acting or speaking truthfully. It’s the opposite of deceit and dishonesty. You show your honesty by not stealing, cheating, or telling lies. You do not try to hide information from people. A teacher relies on your honesty when she leaves the room during a test. Godavari talked about her experience of HIV with courage and honesty. If you are honest, you tell people what you really think, without hiding the truth.
Truthfulness means being open with people and not trying to hide anything from them. It means always telling the truth. A person is respected for truthfulness in his dealings with others.
Sincerity also means honesty. It is saying what you really feel or doing something that you really believe in. I promised in all sincerity to do my best.
Frankness means to talk in an honest and direct way, especially about subjects that are difficult to talk about. The doctor was very frank with me and told me I didn’t have long to live.
A person of honour is honest and fair. He is thoughtful and considerate of other people and always shows them respect. If someone is ‘held in honour’, he is greatly respected. To ‘uphold the honour’ of something means to defend its name and good reputation. Our cricket victory upheld the honour of the team. You give a person your ‘word of honour’ when you promise that you can be trusted to do [or not to do] something.
Integrity is a strong word that means honesty and trustworthiness. A person of integrity can always be trusted to do what is right and just. He or she would never try to deceive anyone or give someone a false impression.
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Learn-a-word
Study
We often hear eager young students saying “I read in class four”. This is wrong. The correct word is ‘study’. You read in a library.
STUDY: to learn about a subject by reading books, going to classes, and doing work that your teacher asks you to do. It’s difficult to study when there’s a party next door. I’ve been studying English for a year now. Hari’s in London, studying to be a doctor.
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wordscore: unscramble these words [they all have something in common]
EONDUTCAI SIUVERNITY CLEOLGE SHOCOL
[last week’s solution : Business, Company, Manager, Industry]
Tuesday 13 March, 2007
This is really big!
Somu was upset. His mother had given him a big apple. A big boy with a big stick took it away. Then his best friend gave him a big hug and shared a big piece of chocolate with him. Somu gave him a big smile.
Big is a small, three-letter word used in so many places that it boggles the mind. It may be used to mean older as in ‘big boy’. It may mean large. Big is over-used and tired. Let’s give it a rest and explore some other words that work just as well.
Large describes something more than average in size or amount. Mmmm! Give me a large slice of that rich chocolate cake!
Huge, gigantic, and mammoth are good words for large. Something huge is larger than usual or ordinary size. I bought a huge packet of potato chips. Something is gigantic or mammoth if it is larger than other things like it. This plant has one gigantic tomato. We were stopped by a mammoth guard. He was over six feet tall!
Bulky and massive mean large in size and often in weight. A bulky package may not be heavy, but it is awkward to carry. Something massive is not only bulky but surprising in size and appearance. The Bofors gun is massive, and so is a battleship.
Extensive and vast describe something that fills or covers a large or wide area. It is not limited to one place. The earthquake in Kashmir caused extensive damage. Gopal’s spelling was so bad he had to make extensive corrections throughout his paper. There’s a vast difference between living in Patna and in Mumbai. His speech covered a vast range of issues.
Immense describes something larger than normal in size or better than usual. Meena has an immense appetite for gol-gappas. Your performance in class shows an immense improvement over last month.
Enormous and tremendous mean shockingly large. Something enormous is much larger than you would ever expect it to be. The hippo at the zoo was enormous! The small girl wore an enormous hat. Tremendous describes something so big it fills you with awe and terror. The river broke the embankment with a tremendous roar. The dinosaurs in Jurassic Park were tremendous!
Learn-a-word
REPRESENT: to speak and do things for someone else because they have asked you to, for example in a meeting, competition, or a law court. Students will elect two people to represent them on the College Council. Our local MLA is supposed to represent us in the State Assembly, that’s why we elected him.
Sunday 11 March, 2007
Tough ones
I’m answering queries by Sunita and Dinesh, both from Patna, and adding a few other ‘difficult’ spellings! I usually use the Oxford Language Reference as a guide.
‘Abattoir’ [which means slaughter-house, a place where animals are killed and prepared for sale] has a single ‘b’, double‘t’.]
‘Accommodate’ and ‘accommodation’ are among the most misspelt words in English. There are two C’s and two M’s.
Advice is the correct spelling of the noun; ‘advise’ is how you spell the verb.
Annex is a verb, annexe is a noun. In American English the noun may also be spelt ‘annex’.
Apprise is always spelt –ise not –ize.
Tuesday 6 March, 2007
Let’s do something
Wordsmith / FRANK KRISHNER
Let’s do something
When a person is chosen for a task, he is chosen for his ability to do it.
Ability is being able to do something. You may be born with an ability. You can also develop an ability by learning to do something and then practicing it. Some people are born with an ability to sing in tune, even without lessons! But no one is born with the ability to read. We all have to learn to read. You have an ability for something [such as mathematics]; you have an ability to do something [such as driving a truck].
Talent is a special ability that one is born with. Lata Mangeshkar has talent, and so had Michelangelo. No matter how long Ramesh studied acting, he never became a star because he had no talent. Some people seem to have a talent for getting into trouble.
Skill and dexterity are abilities that you must develop. You develop the skill to do something, [like speaking English] by learning how. Then you keep on practicing until you can do it easily and well. Cooking is a skill, and so is typing or time-management.
Dexterity is skill in using your hands [or your legs] cleverly and gracefully – without fumbling or dropping things. A road-side cook shows skill in chopping up vegetables very fast. He shows dexterity when he flips the dough on to the pan, cracks the egg, and adds the dressing and produces the egg - roll all in one motion. On the pitch, Tendulkar showed great dexterity with his bat.
Ingenuity is cleverness in inventing or designing things. It is the ability to see new uses for everyday objects. It also means the ability to see, do, say or use something in a different way. She used a lot of ingenuity in designing a costume from an old sari.
Capability is the ability to carry out a task efficiently and well.
Different people, different shades of ability. We can describe them as being able, talented, skilled, dextrous, ingenious or capable, as the case may be.
Learn-a-word
Goosepimples or goosebumps?
HAVE GOOSEPIMPLES [British] HAVE GOOSEBUMPS {American]: When it is very cold, you may have small raised areas on your skin. Sometimes a scary story or TV show can give you a ‘chill’ and you may say you have ‘goosepimples’ or ‘goosebumps
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wordscore: unscramble these words [they all have something in common]
CORSLOU IBRLANTLI PATELSS VIRANBT
[last week: Business, Company, Manager, Industry]
Monday 5 March, 2007
Subjects joined by ‘or’
When personal pronouns [I, we, you, he, she, it, they] are joined by ‘or’ or ‘either …or’ , the verb is usually made to agree with the nearer of the two subjects.
Consider this:
He has to give in. You have to give in.
When joined:
Either he or you have to give in.
Either you or your brother has bitten this apple.
Do you have a question? Write to me at sikkimkrishna@gmail.com
And put ‘wordsmith query’ in the subject line.
Sunday 4 March, 2007
The 'either'-'or' factor
Manisha Agrawal from St. Xavier's College, Ranchi wrote:
I have some confusion with sentences like: "Either Shyam or Ram have gone to Kolkata" or will it be "Either Shyam or Ram has gone to Kolkata"? Which is correct and why?
The correct one is 'Either Shyam or Ram has gone to Kolkata."
The strict rule is : when two singular subjects [in this case Shyam, Ram] are joined by or
or either ... or, they require a singular verb and singular pronouns. [in this case has gone is the singular verb].
A doctor or a paramedic is always available on call, and he can provide emergency services.
However, there is a natural tendency to use the plural with two or more singular subjects when their mutual exclusion is not emphasised. This has poetic and literary use, as well as conversational use. Examples:
Be warned, my father's rage or anger may vent themselves on your poor head!
[rage and anger are synonyms, and though technically two subjects, they really mean almost the same thing.]
When one subject is plural, it is best to put the verb in the plural, and place the plural subject nearer to the verb.
Either the young man or his parents are to blame.
[In the example, 'young man' is singular, 'his parents' are plural.]
In my next post for Question Box, I'll discuss the either-or aspect with personal pronouns]
Friday 2 March, 2007
Girding Loins and Tightening belts
Ankit Kumar of BN College Patna wants to know whether ‘tightening one’s belt’ was the same as ‘kamar kasna’ in Hindi.
The phrase kamar kasna in Hindi refers to the action used by wrestlers and warriors when they got ready for a fight. They tightened the cloths around the lower parts of their body, partly to protect themselves from injury to the groin, and to ensure that loose clothing wouldn’t cause them bodily harm by getting entangled.
The English equivalent is to gird one’s loins [also girding up one’s loins]. Okay, boys, this is going to be a tough game, better gird your loins and get down to it!
This idiom is slightly out-of-date, but it does come in useful. Careful : don’t confuse loins with lions!
When we tighten our belts we are actually constricting our stomachs so that we can deal with being hungry. If we have been too extravagant and have over-spent money, we must tighten our belts in order to balance our budget. When we need to cut expenses, economise, adopt austerity measures, then, well, it’s time to tighten our belts.
Indian journalists often confuse kamar kasna with tightening their belts. If the army has to tighten its belt before a fight, it means that it’s facing problems with its supplies!
Interactive
Frank Krishner will answer your queries on Communicative English. If you have a question about grammar, usage or a niggling doubt, feel free to mail me at sikkimkrishna@gmail.com and put 'wordsmith query' in the subject line.
Special posts based on your questions will appear with the tag 'QUESTION BOX'
Saturday 24 February, 2007
What This Column Isn’t
Wordsmith / FRANK KRISHNER
Wordsmith is not a newspaper grammar lesson, nor a weekly dictionary. A smith is a person who fashions tools out of metal. A wordsmith is one who employs a healthy, vigorous word to take the place of a tattered, tired and worn out one. This column will explore words and their uses in simple language. It will help you get the feel and flavour of words to communicate better.
Have you noticed how you can describe one thing in so many ways that it sounds like a lot of different things? Amit, Karan, Sheila and Arif are eating a cake. Amit may say, “ Delicious!” Karan may describe it as ‘a bit oversweet and sticky’. Sheila may say it has a ‘delicate lemon flavour’ while Arif may say that it melts in his mouth!
Perhaps the most exciting thing about the English language is its wealth of words. It possesses all kinds – words that stretch, words that shrink; some that crawl and some that soar; silly ones and boisterous ones and melancholy ones; words to make you laugh or cry.
Whoever learns to use words well can use them as precisely as a surgeon uses a scalpel, as delicately as a musician uses a violin. And as powerfully as a warrior ever used a sword.
Your choice of words can change the tone of a statement. Who can’t see the difference, for example, between “Mother invited me to help clean the room” and “Mother told me to help clean the room”?
Think of the slight difference in the meaning of words that mean almost the same. Storehouse and treasury are words for a place in which you can save or store things. Whatever you want to save – furniture, newspapers, machinery – you put in a storehouse. You would put money or jewels or bars of gold in a treasury.
Your dictionary may be a storehouse of tired words worn from over-use. It is also a treasury, filled to the roof with good, vigorous, unused words. This column will walk you through the treasury.
Learn-a-word
Something that burns easily
FLAMMABLE [ æm∂b∂l] [adj] flammable chemicals, gases, and other materials burn easily and quickly and are therefore dangerous. Caution! Flammable substances. Highly flammable [= extremely flammable] Petrol is highly flammable.
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wordscore: unscramble these words [they all have something in common]
SINBUSSE CYOPANM MAENAGR INUYDSTR
