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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Monday, 11 June 2007
Yearning and beyond
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…
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.
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]
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?
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
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]
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