Knowledge Spectrum - English 5 Chilling at home, How is the word ‘baton' pronounced? keep tabs on someone, meaning of ‘dead letter, & disguise' and ‘guise

 21. That's true. By the way, why are you home so early? Not well or something?”

“I'm fine. I've taken a couple of days off.”

“You've taken a couple of days off! That's rather unusual. What do you plan on doing?”

“I'll probably be kicking it at home.”

“Kicking it? Looks like the World Cup fever has got to you too. You'll be kicking the ball around...”

“No, no, no! When you say you'll be kicking it, you mean you'll be relaxing.”

“In other words, you'll be chilling at home.”

“I guess you could say that. For example, after a hectic two weeks, the champion kicked it on the beach with his family.”

“My friends and I are kicking it at the mall tomorrow. Would you like to join us?”

“You must be joking. Arvind's new job doesn't allow him to kick it in the mornings.”

“That's too bad.”

“Yes, it certainly is.”

22. How is the word ‘baton' pronounced?

If you are thinking of the stick that is passed from one runner to another in a race, there are two different ways of pronouncing the word. The British pronounce the first syllable like the word ‘bat' and the second like the word ‘on'. They pronounce the word ‘BAT-on' with the stress on the first syllable.

The Americans, on the other hand, pronounce the ‘a' like the ‘a' in ‘china' and the ‘o' like the ‘a' in ‘father', ‘path', and ‘bath'. They pronounce the word ‘be-TAAN' with the stress on the second syllable.

23. What is the meaning and origin of ‘keep tabs on someone'?

When you keep tabs on someone, you monitor or keep track of what he is doing. You are constantly watching the individual, and as a result you know what he is up to. It is possible to use the expression with things as well.

*I keep telling my wife she needs to keep tabs on our bank balance.

*Raju feels that his wife is keeping tabs on his every move.

As for its origin, the only thing that people are certain about is that the expression was first used in America. According to some scholars, in the mid-19 {+t} {+h} century, bartenders started using a slate to write down the number of drinks each customer had consumed. Another name for the slate was ‘tablet', and it is from the shortened form of this word that we get ‘tab'. Since the bartender had to watch each customer carefully to keep track of the number of drinks he had consumed, the expression ‘keep tabs on' began to mean ‘to monitor'.

24. What is the meaning of ‘dead letter'?

In the old days, when snail mail was the primary means of staying in touch with someone, it was important to write the address of the recipient correctly. Sometimes, the writer of the letter didn't do this. When the address was incorrect, it became more or less impossible to deliver the letter.

A letter that remained unclaimed or undelivered was called ‘dead letter'. And where were such letters stored? In the ‘Dead Letter Office', of course! People who use email are probably familiar with the term ‘dead letter directory'.

25. What is the difference between ‘disguise' and ‘guise'?

A celebrity often wears a disguise when he wishes to go unnoticed. In order to make sure that nobody recognises him, he makes a conscious attempt to alter his looks. He may decide to sport a wig, wear the kind of clothes that he normally doesn't, etc. By changing his appearance, he is pretending to be someone that he is not. People usually wear a disguise in order to fool or trick others.

*In many of our old movies, the King always used to disguise himself as a beggar.

The word ‘guise' has a negative connotation as well: it suggests that the individual is pretending to be something that he is not. In this case, he doesn't necessarily alter his appearance; he changes his manner or behaviour. He puts on a front.

*She got him to tell her all his secrets under the guise of friendship.

A collection from the Open Page Supplement of The Hindu Newspaper

Courtesy: Sri Upendra, the writer of the above