Category English Language

How is a meaningful word formed? For example, how did a chair get its name [from Middle English, before that from Old French chaiere (or chaire which means ‘bishop’s throne,” and chaise meaning ‘chair’), which is from the Latin cathedra ‘seat’, in turn from Greek kathedra]. Yet, why did the Greeks call it “kathedra”? We do not know. In other words, we my know the origin of the word, but cannot find out the origin of the root word.

There are indeed words whose origin is very clear to us. These words were inspired by people. People who stood out did something, and often, these actions came to be known after their names.

“Eponymous” is the adjective to describe all the words derived from people. The word “eponymous” comes from the Greek adjective eponymous, which is itself from onyma, meaning “name.” Many eponyms are names of products, inventions or scientific discoveries coined after the person most closely associated with it. Example: macadam, guillotine, pasteurization. Other eponyms come from characters in fiction, mythology, pr geographical locations. Example: Rambo, hermaphrodite, marathon. Scientific terms have been created to honour a famous person or a friend. Think “watt” and “ohm”. What is interesting about eponyms is that they are words that came out of a deliberate naming process. These words did not evolve over a period of time.

Interesting eponyms

Here is a small list of eponyms: each has an interesting person behind its history!

1. Bowdlerize: “remove offensive words or passages from a written work before publishing it.” From Thomas Bowdler (1754-1825) who published an edition of Shakespeare that left out such things as the porter scene in Macbeth. After this bowdlerization, women who had been disallowed to read the plays by their parents/husbands, were now free to read them.
2. Boycott: “refuse to do business with someone.” From Charles C. Boycott (1832-1897), the Irish land agent. Boycott refused to conform to land reforms supported by the Irish Land League. The League then prevented Boycott from using stores, postal service and other places in the area. Today, boycotting is an important tool in campaigns against unjust rules and social conditions.
3. Cardigan: “style of swaeter that opens at the front.” From James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan. He was one of the commanders in the field on the day of the fatal Charge of the Light Brigade in the Crimean War. He wore a knitted waistcoat to keep warm during military campaigns.
4. Lynch: “Lynching” once meant any kind of on-the-spot punishment without trial, through flogging. Today it means to beat someone in a mob frenzy without a trial. From William Lynch, the author of “Lynch’s Law.” The “law” was an agreement with the Virginia General Assembly in 1782 that allowed Lynch to capture and punish criminals in Pittsylvania County without trial. The country had no official courts.
5. Machiavellian: “characterized by expediency, self-interest, and deceit.” From Niccolo Machiavelli (1469-1527) who wrote The Prince (1531), a book on political theory. In it, Machiavelli argues that the most effective for men and governments to achieve and maintain power is to act smartly without worrying about moral considerations.
6. Mirandize: “to read the legal rights to a suspect arrested on a criminal charge.” From Ernesto A. Miranda (1941-1976), a labourer whose conviction on kidnapping and armed robbery was overturned because arresting officers had failed to inform him of his legal rights.
7. Oscar: “statuette awarded for excellence in film acting, directing, etc., giving annually since, 1928 by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.” The name “Oscar” was first applied to the statuette in 1936. The story: Margaret Herrick, the Academy’s librarian, took a look at the first statuette and said: “He reminds me of my Uncle Oscar!” her uncle was Oscar Pierce, wheat farmer and fruit grower, and the statuette was named Oscar.
8. Wellingtons: “waterproof boots of rubber or sometimes leather reaching to below the knee and worn in wet or muddy conditions.” Named for Arthur, 1st Duke of Wellington (1769-1852), who had many things named after him. These included a style of coat, hat, and trousers as well as varieties of apple and pine trees.

 

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How many questions do you ask on a given day? Do you always get the answers you need? What kinds of questions are successful in getting you answers? It is good to know the trick to ask the right questions in the right way. We ask questions for two main reasons. Can you guess what they are? Yes, to get information (why, what, who, where, when, how) and to confirm a statement (yes or no).

Our first task is to form a sentence that asks a question. “We play football every evening” is not a question. A statement has to be converted into a question (or an interrogative) sentence. To do that, we change the word order.

1. We put a question word in the beginning start with what/why/who/which/when/how and complete the sentence. In the end we place a question mark(?). Who is the Prime Minister of India?
2. We put a helping verb (is, were, has, have, did) in the beginning, complete the sentence and place a question mark. Have you read the book of Human Bondage?

How can we ask questions?

We can ask questions in different ways, depending on what we want to know. Let’s first see the 5Wh + 1H questions.

5Wh + 1H questions

These are the most common. All quiz programmes have these questions.

Read these examples. (Find the answers!)

1. Who was the greatest king of India?
2. When was the last time India won a gold medal in the Olympics?
3. Where can you find the highest mountain ranges?
4. What is the national song popularized by A.R. Rahman?
5. Why does the sun rise in the east?
6. How do animals in the water breathe?

5Wh +1H questions can be further divided into Interrogative pronouns, Interrogative adjectives and Interrogative adverbs.

1. Wh Interrogative pronouns [The question words are pronouns]

• What is your favourite game?
• Which is known as the ‘Manchester of the South? (Coimbatore)
• Whose is this pencil box?
• Who threw rubbish in the classroom?
• Whom do you want to see?

2. Wh Interrogative adjectives [The question words are adjectives, followed by the nouns they qualify.]

• Which city is known for mangoes?
• Whose telephone number do you want?
• What language do the Nagas speak?

3. Wh Interrogative adverbs [The question words modify verbs.]

• When will you buy me a mobile phone?
• Where were you last night?
• Why did you leave the tap open?
• How did you fix your glasses?

Embedded questions

These questions start with an auxiliary verb and have a noun clause (answers the question What?) starting with a Wh/ H word. The following table will make it clear.

Auxiliary	Subject	Verb	Object	Noun clause
Can	you	tell	me	how it happened?
Could	you	please tell	us	where we can find a hotel?
Does	she	want	to know	why we went away?

The noun clause in these sentences is a question. It is embedded in another sentence.

Echo questions

You find these questions in speech alone. Here statements are made to sound like questions by raising the pitch in the voice in the end.

1. India has won the match?
2. I can eat the cake?
3. I can leave the classroom now?
4. You fell off the bicycle?

Yes/No Questions

Here the ‘be’ verb or the auxiliary verb begins the sentence.

1. Is she your friend?
2. Do you drink cola?
3. Has the bell gone?

Questions tags

These are short questions added to the end of the sentence to make sure the information is correct or to find out what the listener thinks about something.

Tips:

• If the statement is affirmative, the questions tag is negative. If the statement is negative, the tag is affirmative.
• The tense and the pronoun forms are the same in the statement and the tag.

 

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Has this happened to you.? You are listening to someone speaking and soon you lose the thread of what they are saying — because you are distracted by their grammatical errors, poor sentence construction, wrong method of splitting the sentence and repetition. Then you ask: “What was that person saying?” it is not difficult to speak without errors. “Errors in speaking” means your listeners will misunderstand you, or as in my case, will not pay attention to what you are saying. Faulty grammar and poor choice of words may lead your listener to think you are rude. Why do you have to say, “oh, no, that’s not what I meant!” Remember what Winston Churchill said: “All, men make mistakes, but only wise men learn from their mistakes.”

Here is a list of common conversation mistakes and the right way to speak those sentences:

Incorrect: My friend asked her that why she was late.

Right:  My friend, asked her why she was late.

Incorrect: You should immediately inform him our mistake.

Right: You should immediately inform him of our mistake.

Incorrect: I will exptain you the what happened.

Right: I will explain to you, what happened.

Incorrect: He gave a speech which received nationwide attention.

Right: He made a speech which received nationwide attention..

Incorrect: She decided to give the exam.

Right: She decided to take the exam. [A teacher gives an exam, while students take the exam.]

Incorrect: There is no other alternative.

Right: There is no alternative.

Incorrect: She has learnt the speech word by word.

Right: She has Learnt the speech word for word.

[The phrase “Word by word” means “one word at a time “Word for word” describes the relationship between two sets of words. Word for word shows accuracy while word by word is about the method you use to learn something.]

Incorrect: Kiran secured only passing marks in English.

Right: Kiran secured only pass marks in English.

Incorrect: Hardworking children have a thirst of knowledge.

Right: Hardworking children have a thirst for knowledge.

Incorrect: My daughter pays more attention to music than study.

Right: My daughter pays more attention to music than to study.

Incorrect: Please see a dictionary for knowing the meaning of this word.

Right: Please consult a dictionary to find out the meaning of this word.

Incorrect: she has read just two fifth of this book.

Right: She has just read two -fifths of this book.

Incorrect: Please open your book on page fifty-two.

Right: Please open your book at page fifty-two.

[When you are referring to a particular portion of any page, it means you are talking about the text or content on that page and so you should prefer “on the page”. For e.g. The answer is on page 15. But, when you say “at page”, it means you are referring to entire content on the page.]

Incorrect: My mother likes the poetries of Ramanand.

Right: My mother Likes the poetry of Ramanand.

Incorrect: I have written the answer paper with ink.

Right: I have written the answer paper in ink.

[When you, write with something, it indicates your medium of writing or a tool that you use for writing. For e.g. Pen, pencil, chalk, etc. But, when you write in something, it shows your style of writing or the way (method) in which you want your writing to appear – either in ink, in gel etc.

Incorrect: I want a red pen to write.

Right: I want a red pen to write with.

Incorrect: My mother wilt teach you reading and writing Hindi.

Right: My mother will teach you how to read and write Hindi

Incorrect: Can you please tell me the cost of this book?

Right: Can you please tell me the price of this book?

[We tend to use ‘cost’ and ‘price’ interchangeably. When you purchase an item, the amount of money that you pay to the seller is a price. But the amount of money or expenses the seller spends to manufacture and market that product is its cost.]

Incorrect: We decided to pass away our time in the Library.

Right: We decided to pass our time in the library.

Incorrect: I beg pardon from you.

Right: I beg your pardon.

Incorrect: Please shut up! I have lost my patience.

Right: Please shut up! I have Lost patience.

Incorrect: Can I know the name of your favourite teacher?

Right: May I know the name of your favourite teacher?

Incorrect: Tomorrow, the classes will begin at 11 a.m. in the morning.

Right: Tomorrow, the classes will begin at 11 in the morning.

Incorrect: What is your good name?

Right: May I know your name?

Incorrect: The examination is approaching near and the syllabus is not yet completed.

Right: The examination is approaching and the syllabus is not yet completed.

Incorrect: Ask him to sit besides me while filling the admission form .

Right: Ask him to sit beside me while filling the admission form.

Incorrect: My neighbours son is in boarding.

Right: My neighbour’s son is in the boarding school.

Incorrect: The village girls go to school by foot.

Right: The village girls go to school on foot.

Incorrect: No Less than ten students were injured in the accident.

Right: No fewer than ten students were injured in the accident.

 

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The biggest hurdle when you write is the starting point the first line. We have seen, innumerable pictures of crumpled paper around the spot where people wrote by hand or using a typewriter. Today we simply stare at the blank screen on the PC or a laptop or the mobile notebook. Oh, how do I start my letter, story, novel, poem, class essay?

Yes, the starting line is crucial. Cross it with confidence, with aplomb, with a beautiful sentence. It can be a quote, a statistic, a proverb or just a thought. it can contain a mystery or say something unbelievable. it Can provoke, or make a critical remark about something we all Love. It can be bold, soft, loud, gentle or harsh. Or a study of contrasts as in the famous first sentence by Charles Dickens in “A Tale of Two Cities.” Here it is:

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way -in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only” How is it for an opening sentence? Gripping, isn’t it?

Here is the opening line from George Orwell’s “1984”: “It was a bright, cold day and, the docks were striking thirteen.” You do want to read the rest of the book, right? Or this. “Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, of number four, Privet Drive were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much.”

You know who wrote this, right?

Whatever it may be, make sure that kindles the readers interest. Make it compelling. It should, hook the readers and funnel their curiosity. Great writers have always given a lot of thought to how they kick-start their story/novel. Authors have admitted that they draft and re-draft that first line to make it perfect. Good, writers know the worth, of the time spent on crafting the “flag-off’ sentence. Take your time, mull over it, write and read it a few times till you get it perfect.

 

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How do we write a descriptive essay, asked the students? Here are some pointers. First, think of the “Why?” What will your essay tell your readers? Your descriptive essay should create a verbal, picture of the thing/place/event/feeling you wish to write about. It should get your reader engaged, in the sight, sound, touch, taste and, smell of the place/event you describe. Your essay is a success if you can get your reader to visualise your words of description. You need to show – not tell the reader the beauty of your subject by illustrating it.

Be sure of the topic.

If the question paper says, “Describe a place you, visited,” make your decision. Which place will this be? Take one (it is “place”, not “places”) and recall everything you noticed while you were there. What did it took like? How big was it? What was remarkable about the place? What were the people like? The shops? Monuments? What experiences in the place left a deep impression on you?

Form an introductory paragraph.

Start with a bit of drama. Create a scene that will hook your reader at once. It can be something like, “My encounter with the city turned out to be a tourist’s nightmare.” Tell the reader what happened and then go on to say how you warmed up to the place.

If you are writing about a person, put in some drama the way you met him/her. Or describe an incident in his/her life that impressed you. See that the introductory paragraph sets the tone for the rest of the essay. Tell the reader what the subject of the essay is dearly.

Create a roadmap

The next step is to write a thesis statement. This is a single idea that will dominate the essay. Writing a thesis statement helps to focus your thoughts on the topic. It emphasises the purpose of the essay and streamlines the way the information conveyed to the readers. The thesis statement forms the roadmap of the essay. It could be something like, ‘This popular seaside city attracts millions of visitors all year; I wondered what it would offer me by way of memories.”

Get to work!

One way to write the description is to follow the spatial order. Write what you see to your right, left, in front. What can you see above? “From where I sat, I could see the spire of the church to my right and a row of pretty houses to the left.”

Idea 2: Draw five labelled columns on a sheet of paper, each one headlined by one of the five senses – the taste, sight, touch, smell and sound of your topic. Write the feelings you associate with the topic in the appropriate column. These sensory details wilt help you with material to fill up the essay. Make your description”spicy” and interesting. “I walked following the heady aroma of strong coffee and reached a small chocolate shop that had a bubbling outdoor chocolate fountain.”

When to start:

Once you have the information, start to write. See that all your sentences support the main thesis statement. You write just one essay at a time. So do not deviate from the topic. Flesh out your paragraphs with interesting (and funny!) descriptions. “Where is the coffee smell from , I wondered, till I realised the fountain was pouring out coffee-scented chocolate. This is a coffee chocolate city!”

Set your paragraphs.

Let each paragraph describe one aspect of the city. You can start with a brief history, and go on with the different sensations that you experienced, in the following paragraphs. Use the standard five-paragraph format. Use the Compare-contrast tool in your description. Which place did this city remind you of? How can it be compared to the city that you come from? Mix long and short sentences judiciously.

Conclude with a flourish.

“Cannot believe a week has passed, since I set foot here!” “It is already time to leave!” Them make a brief summary of what you, have written so far. XYZ is a city of clean beaches, wonderful promenades, historical monuments, calm and serene by lanes, houses with window-boxes of flowers…” Remember, what people read last is what they remember most!

Wrap it up!

See if your essay meets the requirements of the word limit. If it is too short, add your feelings about the object. Write a “clincher” sentence. “As I board the flight out of this city, what souvenirs do I carry with me? Sure, some were bought at shops. But the ones that will stay with me are the memories of the wonderful hospitality of the people, the Lovely beach, the food and the quaint atmosphere that is so welcoming. I know I will come back here.”

If it overshoots the word-Limit cut out the clichés — phrases that mean nothing, like “as you know”, “I think”, “I feel”, “as mentioned before”. Write direct sentences; avoid the passive voice. React, the essay carefully. Check for any grammar, punctuation or spelling errors. Turning in the essay with mistakes shows carelessness and lack of pride in your work. If you find sentences that are not particularly descriptive, rewrite them before proofreading. React the essay aloud to see if the sentences flow naturally. Reacting it to a friend or a helpful relative will also help.

 

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There is no way you can escape talk about climate change today. And a lot is written about it – its definition, reasons for it, how it affects us, remedial action. Every time I read about climate change I find new words and phrases related to it. As someone put it. “The Language surrounding climate change is changing right alongside the climate itself.” How many of the words and phrases mentioned in this article you, are familiar with?

Climate change:

The phrase “climate change” began Life as “global Warming.” It began to be used in the 1950s and was explained, as: “a long-term rise in Earth’s average atmospheric temperature.” In 1896, Swedish, scientist Svante Arrhenius declared that global warming existed and the reason was human behaviour. However, writers and speakers found the term, “global warming” confusing. Would the Earth just continue to get warmer and warmer and eventually have no winter at all? Scientists and, science writers needed a term that described the phenomenon in a better way. So they chose the term “climate change.”

Greenhouse effect:

This term began to be used in 1975. It came from theory that greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide, water vapour and methane led to atmospheric heating. This let the sun’s energy through to the ground but impeded the passage of energy from the earth, back into space. This “greenhouse effect’ contributed, to global warming. The phenomenon, similar to how heat is trapped, inside ct greenhouse, was first explained by Joseph Fourier in 1827.

Global Warming:

The term “global warming” was recognised, and used widely in the late 1980s, after NASA scientist James Hansen told the U.S. parliament that there was clear cause-and effect relationship between greenhouse gases and global warming. In 2006, when former Vice-President Al Gore released the documentary An Inconvenient Truth in which he talks about carbon emissions, the phrase “global warming” got a big boost.

Polar Vortex:

The term polar vortex has been used widely across the world since 2014. The term came into existence to describe weather that brought extremely cold temperatures to parts of North America and Europe. The vortex is “a mass of swirling cold air that naturally exists at the Earth’s poles,” and in the Northern Hemisphere, during winter, the vortex expands, sending blasts of Arctic air to Canada and the U.S. This causes wild weather events described as “polar vortex.”

Green New Deal:

In February 2019, Senator Ed Markey and Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of the U.S. Congress (parliament) introduced, the Green New Deal (GND), a plan to fight climate change. The plan asked for investments in clean-energy jobs and, infrastructure, with the aim of “decarbonizing” the economy by shifting away from fossil fuels. The plan, is modelled on former President Franklin Delano Roosevelt’s New Deal in the 1930s. The word, “Green” was added to show that the plan was “environmentally sound, or beneficial.”

Microplastics:

This term, alarms naturalists and, environmentalists, and should alarm us too. Plastic reaches oceans and waterways, and then degrades into smaller pieces. Plastic pieces that are less than five millimetres in length have been called microplastics since the 1990s. They are now actively polluting every patch of water on Earth. They have been found in the Arctic, in the fishes caught across the globe and in human stool.

Single-use plastic

This term is a rage now, with governments thinking seriously of banning them. Single-use plastics are plastic items used once and they thrown away, like water bottles, straws and carry bags.

Ocean acidification:

Scientists believe that along with the landmass and the atmosphere, the oceans are also getting warmer. This causes ocean acidification. It means the ocean is becoming more acidic, and, the ocean floor is slowly being dissolved by the acid in the water. Scientists warn that something similar happened, during the Permian-Triassic period, leading to over 90% of marine species becoming extinct.

Climate refugees:

A refugee is “someone who is forced, to flee for their own safety, especially to a foreign country.” Since 2008 more than 24 million people have been displaced by extreme weather. Droughts, floods, deadly storms and heavy snowfall have driven people out of their homes to temporary shelters. These are the climate refuges. The term “climate refugees” was first coined in the year 1995.

Negawatt:

“Negawatt A negavvcitt is “a unit of energy that is saved by conserving energy.” The term derives from, “megawatt” unit of measuring electricity. Negawatt is the opposite of megawatt – “nega” is short for “negative.” The term has been around since 1984. Scientists give us proof to show that creating energy-saving technologies may be even more beneficial than trying to find alternative energy sources. Efforts Like the Green New Deal tell us to use energy carefully, reduce energy spending and get negawatts. So the term “negawatts” is being used often. Solastalgia

Climate change isn’t just having a disastrous effect on our environment. It’s also having an effect on our mental health and well-being. Environmental change can cause real distress and anxiety. People are traumatised by sudden floods, storms and severe drought. Wildfires triggered by climate change disrupt people’s Livelihoods and Iifestyles. In the early 2000s, environmental philosopher Glenn Albrecht named, this environmental distress solastalgia. In a 2007 report of drought and coal-mining in Australia, Albrecht wrote that “people exposed to environmental change experienced negative affect that is exacerbated by a sense of powerlessness or Lack of control, over the unfolding change process.” The word “Solastalgia” combines the Latin solacium, (“comfort, solace”) with the Greek algos, “pain.”

Use these words when you speak and write. Knowing the right words to discuss the sorry state of our environment and the reasons for the degradation will help to find ways to solve problems. Language is a powerful tool to express our anxiety. It helps to start discussions on what we need to do collectively to reverse the damage caused by climate change.

 

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