It's a steal

Wordsmith / FRANK KRISHNER

“Please explain the difference between robbing, stealing, and burglary,” says Chandan Kumar from Kurji. “What does live by one’s wits mean?” asks Akansha in her e-mail. “Recently I came across the word “filch”, is it the same as pilfer?” wonders Kumar Gaurav from BS College, Danapur.

Steal is to take something that belongs to somebody else without permission and without is knowledge. If you take another person’s property illegally or without right or permission in a secret manner, you are stealing. While my brother was busy playing video games, I stole his share of cake. The act of stealing something is also known as theft. A thief is someone who steals things, usually secretly and without violence.

Pinch and nick are informal words that mean steal. Manoj was caught pinching money from his mother’s purse. Those jeans he’s wearing are far too expensive, I wonder if he nicked them!

Pilfer is to steal small amounts of anything in a way that it wouldn’t be noticed. In India, small boys can be seen pilfering coal from goods trains. I know that my servant pilfers sugar and ghee, but he’s very poor and I haven’t the heart to punish him.

Burgle means to illegally enter a house or office and steal things. The other day, a man was caught burgling the house of a police officer! We returned from holiday to find our apartment had been burgled. [Americans use the word ‘burglarized’].

Shoplift is when you take things from shops without paying for them, especially by hiding them in your clothes or in a bag. A person who shoplifts is a shoplifter.

To rob is to take money or property from a house, bank, shop, or other place by using threats or violence. Two men entered the train and robbed it at gunpoint. The gang robbed the Central bank yesterday, escaping with over a million rupees. To mug [usually used in the passive voice] is to violently attack someone in the street and rob them. Since she was mugged, Sunita has been scared to go out on her own. The number of muggings in our area has doubled since last year. A hold-up is when someone goes to a bank or shop with a gun and demands money.

Learn-a-word

Live by your wits
To exist by taking advantage of any opportunity you have. Kids thrown on the streets with no family to support them have to live by their wits.
Manage by clever expedience rather than hard work or wealth. People who ‘live by their wits’ use any means available to survive. Deepak's never held a steady job but manages to live by his wits.

wordscore: unscramble these words [they all have something in common]

AORCT WRERIT PRERFOERM ECDIRTOR

[Last week’s solution: Salary, Wages, Income, Profit]

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Colour me bad!

Wordsmith / FRANK KRISHNER

The idea for today’s column comes from an advertisement for mobile phone handsets. The ad is about colours raining down on people. Indeed, colour is an inseparable part of our lives and culture. And that’s the reason for it being an inseparable part of any language.

To be colourless is to be uninteresting, dull, and boring. When we say that a person is colourless, we mean that he lacks personality. A colourless speech is boring. “Nothing that politician said stands out in my memory. I’m afraid he’s a dull, colourless man.”

To be off colour means not to be at one’s best, or to feel slightly ill or queasy. Leander Paes usually plays brilliant tennis, but he has been a bit off colour recently. Shruti is a little off-colour this morning because she was up dancing till three a.m.! A joke or story that is meant to be amusing, but ends up offending the listeners is said to be off colour.

To give colour or to lend colour to a story, report, account or explanation means to make it more believable. The smashed windshield and the bullet holes in the side of her car lent colour to her story that she was attacked by bandits.

A highly coloured report or story is one that is exaggerated or biased. Shyam gave us a highly coloured account of his encounter with a crocodile. The highly coloured report sparked off a riot between two communities.

To paint in bright colours /to paint in dark colours means to describe something in a flattering/ unflattering way. When Ali returned from Dubai he pretended he was doing well financially and painted his life there in bright colours. Salma painted her relationship with her mother-in-.law in dark colours.

True colours is more than just the title of a famous pop-song. When we see someone in his [or her] true colours, we understand his [or her] true character, often for the first time. Abhinav appeared to be very generous, but when he made a fuss about giving his overworked servant five rupees, we saw him in his true colours. When a person shows himself in his true colours, he reveals a hidden side of his nature. We thought he was a very grumpy old man, but he showed himself in his true colours when he kept everyone laughing at the party.

With flying colours means with great success or distinction. Ravi passed the test with flying colours.

Learn-a-word

Premature
Before the usual or expected time. Use ‘premature’ especially to refer to medical conditions happening before the normal or natural time. Alcoholism is the cause for premature death. Women seem to worry about premature ageing. A premature baby is one that is born too early.

wordscore:
unscramble these words [they all have something in common]

SAYLAR SEWAG OMINCE PITROF

[Last week’s solution: Gleam, Flicker, Flash, Beam]

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Cheat, fool or mislead?

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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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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Fear, Panic, Alarm, Dread…

Wordsmith / FRANK KRISHNER


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.

Americans also use the word to mean a raised path alongside a road.

We usually call such paths ‘pavements’.

wordscore: unscramble these words [they all have something in common]

PETLAN SCOOMS AXGALY TESLATELI

[Last week’s solution: Economics, Politics, Geography, Arithmetic]

Delicious, Mouth-watering, or just Palatable?

Wordsmith / FRANK KRISHNER

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]

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]