Saturday, August 11, 2001
W O R D  P O W E R


A wet blanket — one who discourages others or spoils their fun by disapproving of or refusing to join in the activities.

— He’s such a wet blanket. He refused to participate in any of the games.

To burn one’s fingers — to suffer because of incautious or meddlesome behaviour.

— I knew he would burn his fingers if he invested so much money in this company.

To nip something in the bud — to destroy something at an early stage of its development.

— Sara wanted to be a model but her parents nipped that idea in the bud.

Fair-weather friend — a person who stops being a friend when one is in trouble.

— I had warned you that Tina was only a fair-weather friend.

 


To bring the house down — to make the audience laugh or clap enthusiastically.

— The play was a superhit! It really brought the house down.

Under fire — being criticised severely

— Mrs Shah is under fire from all sides for the dowry demands made by her.

See or look at something through somebody’s eye — to view or consider something from somebody else’s point of view.

— If you had seen this problem through my eyes you would have realised the cause of my anxiety.

At daggers drawn — bitterly hostile.

— He is at daggers drawn with his neighbours and has not spoken to them for the last two years.

Discover

Fill in the blanks to find synonyms of beautify

1. A __ R_.

2. B___CK

3. E_B___ISH

4. G__N__H

5. D_C_R__E

6. FE_T__N

7. G__D

Looking back

To kick the bucket is to die. It is believed that during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, a man who wanted to commit suicide, would place a bucket upside down on a table and stand on it to hang himself from a rafter. Then he would kick the bucket in order to kill himself.

Ponder

Mercy turns her back to the unmerciful — Young.

Score card

Adorn, bedeck, embellish, garnish, decorate, festoon, guild.

— Illa Vij

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