Computer spell checks?

A note on computer spell-checks.

Language is beautiful. And yet, it's as delicate as a dandelion. At times, one small mistake, one gentle puff of breath, can blow your creation apart. In response to a query by Manali from St. Xavier's Ranchi' I'm posting some advice based on the Oxford language reference:

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.

The first one is that any unfamiliar words such as scientific or technical terms, proper names, abbreviations not in general use will register as errors and throw up alternative suggestions (often deeply absurd).

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.

It should also be pointed out that many spell-checks will automatically operate on the basis of American (rather than the accepted British-Indian) spelling unless they are altered accordingly.

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]

This is really big!

Wordsmith / FRANK KRISHNER



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!

There was a gigantic oak in the middle of the meadow.

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

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.

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.

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]

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.

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]

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'