LEXICON
From English to Globish
Deepti

‘Alpha’ is a word game in which each player has to find English words that begin and end with the same letter. By turns, players are given an alphabet and they give words that begin and end with it. Can you think of any? Here are a few to warm you up: lull, ewe, nylon, peep, radar, kick, window, target, Xerox, health, gang and bulb.

‘In general, there is no obligation upon clerks on duty to supply change for any sum tendered, should circumstances arise in which a customer offers for goods or services rendered a coin or note of larger denomination than its total indebtedness, and expresses a wish to receive change. It must be borne in mind that clerks have not been issued with any authority that would warrant their requesting change from a customer in the circumstances already stated.’ The above is a sample of circular, perfectly obscure language that means: ‘Desk clerks are neither bound to give change, nor authorised to demand it’.

If you remember the formal and frozen letters to the editor 10 years ago, you will have realised the simplicity of language today. Recall ‘the esteemed newspaper’, ‘hallowed columns’ and ‘for favour of publication’ and you will be immensely grateful for today’s functional email. The main goal of all communication is the exchange of meaning; English, in particular, is getting simpler day by day. To facilitate global communication, it was proposed some time ago that it should be called Globish and should have a purely functional vocabulary for those who need it for restricted use.

‘Until’ is frequently misused in sentences like ‘The school caters for children until the age of eleven’ or ‘the new tunnel means that we can drive until Shimla’. In the former, ‘up to’ in place of ‘until’ is correct and in the latter ‘all the way to’ is correct. ‘Until’ should be used in relation to time and ‘up to’ for a specific age.