Know Your English (Feb2001)

Know your English

``SO, DID you drop your cousin off at the station?''

``No, he didn't want to be dropped off. I walked him till the auto stand though.''
``To the auto stand.''
``What?''
``I walked him to the auto stand. You don't walk someone till the auto stand. The word 'till' and 'until' are generally not used in connection with distance.''
``What are they used with then?''
``You normally use `till' and `until' in connection with time. For example, my cousin and I kept studying till 6:00 o'clock.''
``I'll stand here until the bus comes.''
``The baby finally fell asleep when we reached Pune station. It continued to sleep till we reached Mumbai.''
``In that sentence you are talking about the amount of time the baby slept.''
``Exactly!''
``Tell me, when is `to' used?''
``When the focus is on distance or a particular destination. For example, the children were told to run to the airport. It's wrong to say the children were asked to run until the airport.''
``How about this example? As the bus was late, we walked to school.''
``Sounds good. When the new highway is completed, I plan to drive all the way to Jammu. Now then, shall we....''
``....wait a minute. Before you move on to something else. Tell me, is there a difference between `till' and `until'?''
``Not really. They mean more or less the same thing. In most cases, they can be used interchangeably. `Until' can be used in both formal and informal contexts. `Till', on the other hand, is restricted to informal ones.''
``I see. Someone told me that...''
``....the phone is ringing. Could you answer it please?''
``It's Uma. She says that....''
``....tell the airhead that I will call her up later.''
``She said that she would ring you up this evening. Around 8:30. By the way, Uma is definitely not an airhead.''
``Do you know what `airhead' means?''
``I think I do. Isn't an airhead someone who is very stupid?''
``That's right, an airhead is a stupid person. Someone who has nothing but air between his ears. He/she doesn't have a brain.''
``I see. How about this example? We have a lot of airheads in my class.''
``Are you one of them? Ha! Ha! When I was in Hyderabad recently, I saw several airheads make a U-turn on the flyover near my....''
``....there are many airheads like that in our city too.''
``True. Some airhead has put sugar in the salt bottle. By the way, the word `airbrain' means the same thing as `airhead'.''
``I see. Can I say, I saw some airbrain jumping from one building to another.''
``I suppose you could. Many people believe that my boss is ....''
``...let's not talk about your boss. Tell me, have you seen Uma's father recently? I ...''
``...I avoid him. He is not all there.''
``What do you mean that he's not all there! He's always there in his office.''
``That's not what the expression means. When you say that someone is not all there, it means that you think that the person is slightly crazy.''
``I suppose it's an expression used in informal contexts.''
``That's right. Here's an example. When the interviewer saw Ashok talking to himself, he figured that he wasn't all there.''
``When you meet Jugal the first time, he gives the impression that he's not all there. Actually, it's just an act he puts on.''
``I know. You cannot expect much help from Lalit. He's not all there.''
``What about you then? You never help people. Does that mean that you are not all there?''
``You know, now that I think about it, I must be crazy. How else can one explain having friends like you?''
``Hard work never killed anybody...but why take chances?''
- Anon

Source:
The Hindu daily, Tuesday, February 13, 2001