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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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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