KNOWLEDGE SPECTRUM ENGLISH - 1. origin of ‘clean bill of health', Who or what is a ‘fax potato'? Do you ‘part from' or ‘part with' someone? Is it okay to say, ‘I described him what I had seen'?

Dear Comrades,

During the 1980 & 1990s, the Hindu newspaper published in its Tuesday supplementary paper in which on the open page a column titled as “Know Your English written by Sri Upendra was published. It was really interesting and I used to cut the relevant portions and paste them in sheets and still preserve them. It contains more than 1000 episodes. I want to share the collections of Dr Upendra who is still doing the yeomen service through private channels. Thanks to him. Readers are requested not to repost the matter in any group since I don’t know whether the author got any copyright. I am sharing this with closed circulation on my website for the postal fraternity just for reading and enjoyment. The following is the collection published in one month in four Tuesdays. Hope you will enjoy it.

 

1.   What is the meaning and origin of ‘clean bill of health'?

When you visit the doctor and he gives you a clean bill of health, you should be happy because it is an assurance that there is nothing wrong with you physically. The doctor is informing you that you are in the pink of health! When used with things, the idiom means that the object is in good condition.

*Of the 20 buildings inspected, only four were given a clean bill of health.

The ‘bill' in the idiom has nothing to do with the amount of money you have to pay the doctor. Such bills seldom bring happiness! In the old days, the captain of a ship was handed over a document by the port authority which certified that there was no infection or epidemic at the port from which the vessel set sail. This document was called the Bill of Health and unless it was presented at the next port, the ship was refused entry.

2.   Who or what is a ‘fax potato'?

We have several different types of potatoes these days. A ‘couch potato' is someone who sits in a chair or a sofa and watches TV all day; he eats and drinks sitting in front of the tube. A ‘mouse potato' is someone who spends his time sitting in front of a computer, surfing the web. A ‘fax potato', another addition to the growing list of human potatoes, is someone who specialises in sending faxes to people: the receiver may be less than a hundred feet away, but instead of getting out of his chair and talking to the person concerned, he sends him/her a fax. Like the couch potato, the fax potato is rather lazy and remains glued to his seat.

3.   Why is the abbreviated form of ‘will not' ‘won't' and not ‘willn't'?

There was a time when it was ‘willn't'. In Old English there were two forms of ‘will': these were ‘will' and ‘wyll'. With the passage of time ‘wyll' became ‘woll'. When the negative ‘not' was added to the two existing forms, they became ‘willnot' and ‘wollnot'. The latter, over a period of time, changed to ‘wonnot'. When ‘willnot' and ‘wonnot' were contracted, they became ‘willn't' and ‘wo'not'. Later, ‘wo'not' became ‘won't'. For some time, both ‘willn't' and ‘won't' were used. It was only in the 18 {+t} {+h} century that ‘won't' became the preferred contracted form of ‘will not'. In the battle of wills, ‘will' won the first round, while ‘woll' took the second. ‘Will' muscled out ‘woll', while ‘won't' knocked out ‘willn't'.

4.   Is it okay to say, ‘I described him what I had seen'?

No, it isn't. You usually describe something to someone or you describe to someone something. In the sentence you have given, you need to include the word ‘to' before ‘him'.

*I described to him what I had seen.

5. Do you ‘part from' or ‘part with' someone?

It is possible to use both. When you ‘part from someone', you take leave of the individual.

*I think the time has come for you to part from him.

When you ‘part with' someone or something, you let go of them.

*Ram's new landlord didn't allow pets. Since he wasn't willing to part with the dog, Ram moved to another place.

“A little inaccuracy sometimes saves tons of explanation.” — Saki