Ads 468x60px

Pages

Know Your English (Mar 2001)

Know your English

``I HAVE been coming here every day, but you are never around. Don't tell me that you are already busy with next month's conference''


``I HAVE been coming here every day, but you are never around. Don't tell me that you are already busy with next month's conference''
``A conference requires a lot of planning. There are so many rules and regulations to be followed. Even my boss is stymied by some of...''
``....your boss is what? What was the word you used?''
``S..t..y...m..i..e The `y' in the first syllable is like the `y' in `my', `by', and `cry'. The `ie' in the second syllable is pronounced like the `i' in `kit', `bit', and `hit'. The main stress is on the first syllable `sty'.''
``But what does `stymie' mean?''
``Believe it or not, it's a word that comes from the world of golf. How would you feel if you were to find your opponent's golf ball obstructing your path to the hole.''
``Well, if the opponent's golf ball is between mine and the hole, I would probably feel pretty annoyed and frustrated I guess. I would probably feel that he placed the ball there to ensure that I didn't make any progress.''
``Excellent! When something `stymies' you, it prevents you from doing whatever it is that you had planned to. There is an obstruction which leaves you confused.''
``In other words you end up making no progress in whatever it is you are doing.''
``Exactly! Here's an example. The change that the new teachers tried to bring in was stymied by the administration.''
``How about this example? We had a test in physics yesterday. Most of the students were stymied by the first question.''
``That's a good example. My attempts to get a promotion were stymied when my boss' son applied for the same position.''
``Competing with the boss' son is not going to get you anywhere, is it? So, how is the preparation for the conference coming along?''
``Our Coordinator has been sweating blood ever since....''
``....sweating blood? Good grief! That sounds serious. Have you taken him to the doctor?''
``Doctor? What for? I don't ...Oh I see. When you say that someone is sweating blood, it doesn't mean he/she is really bleeding. It means that the person is working really hard to complete something.''
``I see. For a minute you had me worried there. Is `sweating blood' an expression used in informal contexts?''
``That's right. Here is an example. The old man sweated blood to put his grandson through college.''
``I usually sweat blood a month before the final exams. How does it sound?''
``Good. But six months before the final exams, you don't even sweat. Let alone sweat blood.''
``That's true. My nephew Vyomekesh is sweating blood to complete his science project on time.''
``Talking about nephews, did you....''
``....I wish that the Indian cricket team would sweat blood for the sake of the country.''
``They probably would if the Board made it clear that a player's pay would be determined by his performance, rather than his non performance.''
``Some of the newspaper articles dealing in cricket were very interesting.''
``Dealing with and not dealing in.''
``What is the difference between the two?''
``When a shop or a company deals in something, it does business buying and selling those things.''
``I see. So when you `deal in' something, you specialise in it. Is that it?''
``Well, yes. Here is an example. If you want to buy a good pair of jeans, go to my cousin's shop. He deals in jeans.''
``How about this example? When they started their business, they dealt only in stationery. But now they also deal in cassettes and CDs.''
``That is a good example.''
``Now tell me, what does `deal with' mean?''
``When a book or an article deals with a particular topic, it discusses or covers that particular topic. Here is an example. Corruption is a topic that is dealt with in detail in this book.''
``The article doesn't deal with how badly women were treated.''
``When a person `deals with' something, he/she usually handles that something. For example, the Rector dealt with the problem quickly.''
``Our batsmen must learn to deal with the Australian bowling.''
``I am sure they will be able to do that after the third test.''
``But we are playing only three test matches.''
``I know that. You see....''
``....I have an idea. Just as kids have a trial ball when they play cricket, our players should ask for a couple of trial tests.''
* * * * *

``Some women get excited about nothing and then marry him.'' - Anon

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

0 comments:


Hello Friends ! Please send your requests,comments,suggestions to improve this blog.
loading...
Learn English Grammar & Usage; Are U Anxious To Know The Science & Tech News; Where Are You ? Know The Changes; Health:News N Tips
Word of the Day

incarcerate discuss

Definition:(verb) Lock up or confine, in or as in a jail.
Synonyms:immure, imprison, jail, jug, put behind bars, remand, lag, put away
Usage:It can cost huge sums to incarcerate a prisoner for a year.
Article of the Day

Plant Reproduction

Unlike animals, plants are immobile and cannot actively seek out partners for reproduction. The first plants were aquatic and used abiotic factors, like water and wind, to carry male gametes to female reproductive structures. As plants moved from water onto land, they developed motile sperm cells that could travel via a thin film of water. Eventually, many plants evolved the pollen and seed structures common today. How do some plants attract the insect pollinators vital to their reproduction? More... Discuss

This Day in History

King Henry VIII of England Marries Sixth and Last Wife, Catherine Parr (1543)

By 1543, Henry VIII had had five marriages, which respectively ended in one divorce, one annulment, and three deaths—two by beheading. He then married Parr, his sixth and final wife. She had a good influence on the increasingly paranoid king—her third husband—and developed close friendships with his children, even acting as guardian of one of Henry's daughters after his death in 1547. Why, then, did Parr send her beloved stepdaughter, the future Queen Elizabeth I, away the next year? More... Discuss
Today's Birthday

Oscar Hammerstein II (1895)

The grandson of an opera impresario of the same name, Hammerstein studied law before beginning the theater career that made him one of the foremost songwriters in the US. In the early 1940s, he began a prolific and successful collaboration with Richard Rodgers that resulted in plays like The King and I, The Sound of Music, and the Pulitzer Prize winners Oklahoma! and South Pacific. How did New York City honor Hammerstein following his death in August 1960? More... Discuss

In the News

Quote of the Day
We are, and must be, one and all, burdened with faults in this world: but the time will soon come when, I trust, we shall put them off in putting off our corruptible bodies; when debasement and sin will fall from us with this cumbrous frame of flesh, and only the spark of the spirit will remain.
Charlotte Bronte
(1816-1855)
Discuss

Spelling Bee
difficulty level:
score: -
adj. Primitive in culture and customs; uncivilized
 
spell the word:
Match Up
Select word:










Match each word in the left column with its synonym on the right. When finished, click Answer to see the results. Good luck!