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]