lexicon
Words in vogue
Deepti

THE European slang of dinks or Double Income No Kids took some time to reach the Indian society. The next related acronym is oink i.e., One Income No Kids. One can wait and watch to see how long this one takes to catch us! At present, young Indian parents seem to be diosk or Double Income One Spoilt Kid! Meanwhile, where yumpie had turned into yuppie; the latter has given way to the shorter yup and has created the verb ‘yuppify’ meaning ‘to make suitable for yuppies’.

The four skills of language complete the range of language proficiency. Whether assessment demands the four skills or not, any effective language teaching course must give time and attention to listening, speaking, reading and writing. Earlier, it was difficult to practice listening and speaking without a proficient teacher or the right opportunity. Perhaps, due to this aspect, assessment in most places was limited to reading and writing. Today, it is very simple as there is a full range of self-help material available in the market and on the internet too.

Just like men and women, words, too, are known by the company they keep. While collocation is a usual pattern in most languages as in ‘black coffee’ or ‘bright day’, often words tend to get stale in the same kind of company. Then, they get to be called `E9s’. Some of the clich`E9s from the past year are: at the end of the day, fairly unique, I personally feel/think, at this moment in time, with all due respect, absolutely true, 24/7 and it’s not rocket science.

The words ‘classic’ and ‘classical’ are frequently confused. Both refer to different fields. ‘Classic’ is used in the sense of: one, ‘recognised value or merit’, two, ‘serving as a standard of excellence’, three, ‘simple and tasteful’ and four, ‘typical and well-established’. As a noun, ‘classic’ is close to ‘classical’ as it refers to the great literary works of an age. ‘Classical’ relates to the traditional forms of the arts as opposed to the relatively mode.