Know Your English (June 2001)

Know your English

``I WAS watching a movie last night and the hero kept saying `hang loose'. Any idea what it means?''

``When you tell someone to `hang loose' or `stay loose', you want him/her to remain calm. You want the person to relax.''
``If Roshni hangs loose she will definitely do well in the audition. How does that sound?''
``Sounds great. The champ knew that all he had to do to win the championship was to stay loose in the fifth set.''
``When the Principal began to worry about the coming exams, I told him to hang loose.''
``I wouldn't tell the Principal to hang loose if I were you. You see, the expression `hang loose' is considered slang. It should be used only in informal contexts.''
``I see. Tell me, what....''
``...it's unbearably hot today. Last night I just couldn't sleep.''
``Hang loose. The summer is almost over.''
``What makes you say that?''
``It's started raining in Kerala. So it should start raining in here pretty soon.''
``I don't want it to rain `in here'. I want it to rain here.''
``What's the difference? They mean the same thing, don't they?''
``No, they don't. When you say that you want it to rain `in here', it means you want it to rain inside this room.''
``Rain inside the room! That happens every year during the monsoon season. You see, that's how badly our roof leaks. So, if I say, `It snowed in here', does it mean that it snowed inside the room?''
``That's right. You don't want that to happen, do you?''
``Given how hot it is right now, I wouldn't mind a bit of snow inside the room.''
``You have a point there. But if you would like it to snow all over the city, then you have to say `here' instead of `in here'.''
``I wish it would snow here.''
``I am sure many people would enjoy the experience.''
``Well, did you finally get a chance to meet your boss' wife?''
``Yes, she came to the party last night.''
``Well, what was she like?''
``When she walked into the room, I had to do a double take. You see, ....''
``....no, I don't see. What does `double take' mean?''
``When you do a double take, you react with surprise. For example,...''
``...is it like looking at something the second time just to make sure that you saw it correctly the first time?''
``I guess you could say that. Suppose your physics teacher returned your test paper and you found that she's given you a hundred. How would you react?''
``I guess I would close my eyes and take another look just to see if I had seen it correctly the first time. You know just to make sure that I wasn't dreaming!''
``Well, in that case you would be doing a double take.''
``I think I understand now. How about this example? When I saw Hritik walk in with my friend Ganesh, I did a double take.''
``That's a good example. When the joggers at the park saw a tiger sitting under a tree, they all did a double take.''
Tell me about your boss' wife. Why did you do a double take after seeing her?''
``She is really beautiful that's why. When I saw her standing next to my boss I was reminded of the story of the beauty and the beast.''
``Is she short? Or is she a medium height woman?''
``You don't say `a medium height woman'. A better way of saying the same thing is `of medium height'. Yes, my boss' wife is a woman of medium height'.''
``I see. The man who robbed the bank was of medium height. How does that sound?''
``Why do you always come up with examples where someone gets killed or robbed?''
``That's me, I guess.''
``In that case, I had better be nice to you. Ten years from now chances are you'll become an MLA or MP.''
``I was thinking of becoming the Chief Minister.''
``With your attitude, you probably will become one. Any way, getting back to what we were talking about. In the good old days most of our actresses were short. Now many of them are of medium height. Some of course are tall.''
``I and my friends were talking about the same thing the other day. We were...''
``....my friends and I were talking about the same thing.''
``What?''
``You cannot say `I and my friends'. It's always `My friends and I'. Similarly 'Revathi, Kumar and I....''
``....I get the point. `I' always comes at the end. Is that what you are saying?''
``Exactly!''
``My friends and I saw a great movie yesterday.''
``Devi and I couldn't meet Professor Shyamraj yesterday.''
``Talking about Devi, I understand that he won the singles title.''
``I did a double take when I heard about that!''
* * * * *
``The surest sign that intelligent life exists elsewhere in the universe is that it has never tried to contact us.'' - Bill Watterson


Source:
The Hindu daily, Tuesday, June12, 2001