lexicon
Different strokes
Deepti
Play a while
SINCE politics is
a word game to a large extent, politicians at some time or the
other give interesting words to the lexicon. While India has its
own ‘India shining’ and ‘cattle class’ creativity, the
US political scene is responsible for many additions. The word
behindology’ meaning ‘the truth behind the spin’ has
emerged with reference to the ‘spin doctor’, the person who
makes the leader news-worthy. A political party is a ‘big tent’
when it accepts a range of political views within itself. ‘Dodgy
dossier’ refers to ‘dubious briefings or other similar
material released in support of a contentious policy’.
Precise usage
Effective,
effectual and efficacious all mean ‘producing a beneficial
effect’ of some kind but with different subtle nuances that
separate the proficient user of English from the
less-than-proficient. ‘Effective denotes an actual effect, not
a theoretical one as in: ‘The precautions have been effective
in preventing further outbreaks of the disease’. ‘Effectual’
is more theoretical, less real as, for instance: ‘Further
rules were deemed necessary for more effectual prevention of
absenteeism in the office’. Efficacious is used only for
inanimate objects and refers to any process, solution or course
of action sure to produce the required effect: ‘Vacations are
supposed to be good for you and this one has been notably
efficacious.’
Intriguing words
Why are piggy
banks called so? Well, the fact is that long ago, dishes and
cookware in Europe were made of dense orange clay called ‘pygg’.`A0
When people saved coins in jars made of this clay, the jars
became known as ‘pygg banks’. When an English potter
misunderstood the word, he made a bank that resembled a pig. And
it caught on.
Learn a little
While learning
English at school, three types of reading works together. The
first, oral reading or reading aloud is used all the time during
education but is rarely used once a person starts working.
Intensive reading is used to understand and analyse texts.
Whereas extensive reading is the kind that is most often used in
life and is also called ‘reading for pleasure’, the kind
that leads to a larger number of books covered.
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