KNOW YOUR ENGLISH

KNOW YOUR ENGLISH

How much rabbit food is too much?

“What are you doing here at this time of day? Isn’t it hot? Don’t you...”

“What a silly question! You know that we’ve been having a really bad weather the past...”

“We don’t usually say ‘a really bad weather’. The word ‘weather’ is not preceded by ‘a’. For example, we’ve had really good weather the past few weeks.”

“Do you really think so? They’ve been having terrible weather down in Australia.”

“Yes, they’ve been having miserable weather. Tell me, how did...”

“No, you tell me. Do you have any of the goodies you bought yesterday?”

“I’m afraid not. Ganesh came by this morning and finished off most of the things. He...”

“That doesn’t sound like Ganesh. He doesn’t usually eat between...”

“Apparently, his wife has been starving him. The poor chap’s diet mainly consists of rabbit food. You know that he....”

“Rabbit? I was under the impression that Ganesh was a vegetarian. Guess I was...”

“He is a vegetarian. When you say that someone has been eating rabbit food, it means he’s been eating raw vegetables.”

“You mean something like a salad?”

“That’s right! People who don’t like eating salad or raw vegetables usually refer to them as ‘rabbit food’. It shows their contempt.”

“It’s their way of suggesting that these things are meant for rabbits. Not for human beings!”

“Exactly! Usha is fond of rabbit food. Says she can live on salads for days together.”

“Well, Ganesh is not Usha. He sees raw vegetables as nothing more than rabbit food.”

“Good example! Some of my colleagues have rabbit food for lunch.”

“I don’t mind rabbit food, actually. I nibble on raw carrots every now and then. I see that you’re still going through the same document that you were...”

“It’s a copy of the contract our company will be signing in a week’s time. My boss wants me to go through it with a fine toothcomb to make sure...”

“With a fine tooth comb? What are you talking about?”

“When you go through something with a fine tooth comb, you study it very carefully. You examine it in great detail.”

“How about this example? When her earrings went missing, Hema went through her cupboard with a fine tooth comb. She managed to find them.”

“That’s a good example. The police realise that it’s an important case. They’ve been going through the evidence with a fine tooth comb.”

“What do you plan to do once you’ve finished going through the contract with a fine tooth comb? Do you want to go somewhere?”

“I can’t. I have to discuss the contract with my boss. Tell me, what are you doing here at this time of the day? Aren’t you supposed to be in college?”

“Our college timings have changed. So, I...”

“We Indians are fond of the word ‘timings’. But do you know that native speakers of English don’t use the word? Many dictionaries don’t even list ‘timings’. Those that do, say that it’s Indian English.”

“Really! What do native speakers say instead of...”

“They usually talk about ‘office hours’ and ‘working hours’. My office hours are between 9:30 and 7:00.”

“Those are my sleeping hours!”

* * *

“It’s so dry, the trees are bribing the dogs.” Charles Martin 

S. Upendran 

The author teaches at the English and Foreign Languages University, Hyderabad. upendrankye@gmail.com

Thanks to : THE HINDU - 12.03.2017

Know Your English

Why you should stop mansplaining

What is the meaning of ‘mansplaining’? (KS Nitya, Vellore)

‘Mansplaining’ is a relatively new word; it is a combination of ‘man’ and ‘explaining’. The word is normally used with men. When a man ‘mansplains’ the rules of cricket to a woman, he usually does so in a condescending manner. He is certain that the woman he is talking to knows nothing or very little about the game and that she understands very little about the technical aspects of the sport.

To ensure that the woman understands what he is saying, he simplifies or dumbs down his explanation. He mistakenly assumes that he knows more about the subject than the woman he is talking to.

Anil was trying to mansplain organic chemistry to my cousin — quite forgetting that she had majored in chemistry.

Treat us as your equals. Don’t give us your mansplanations!

What is the meaning and origin of ‘pipe dream’? (N. Sastry, Kakinada)

This is an expression that has been around for several hundred years. According to scholars, it refers to the pipe used by drug addicts to smoke opium.

Like any powerful drug, opium has the ability to transport an individual to a totally different world. While under the influence of the drug, the person believes that the hallucinations he experiences are real.

Therefore, when you say that something is a ‘pipe dream’, what you are suggesting is that it is a mere fantasy; something that will be impossible to achieve. It is a wish or desire that is unlikely to come true.

Wanting to buy a house in this neighbourhood is nothing more than a pipe dream.

Getting Indians to follow traffic rules! That’s a pipe dream.

How is the word ‘genteel’ pronounced and how is it used in everyday context? (Babu Rao, New Delhi)

The first syllable ‘gen’ rhymes with ‘when’, ‘pen’ and ‘ten’, and the second with the words ‘peel’, ‘feel’ and ‘kneel’.

The word is pronounced ‘jen-TEEL’ with the stress on the second syllable. Many consider this word to be rather old fashioned and limit it to formal contexts. When you say that a person is ‘genteel’, what you mean is that he is someone who belongs to the upper class; an individual who is polite and well mannered. The word is mostly used to suggest that the person is a well-bred individual.

It has a negative connotation as well. It can be used in everyday context to refer to someone who is trying very hard to come across as being well bred; someone who does not belong to the upper class, but pretends that he is.

Jasmine was born into a very genteel family.

What is the difference between ‘alternate’ and ‘alternative’? (V Nagesh, Hyderabad)

If you play tennis or cricket on ‘alternate’ days, you play the game every other day — not every day. For example, you may be playing on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.

‘Alternative’, on the other hand, suggests that there is a choice to be made. A person needs to choose from the things that are available. In American English, the two words are often used interchangeably.

Sarah was allowed to use the washing machine on alternate days.

The bank won’t lend us the money. What’s the alternative?

upendrankye@gmail.com

S. Upendran

Thanks to : THE HINDU – 19.02.2017