71. “Have you been watching the Commonwealth Games?”
“Yes, I have. But I don't find the events as
interesting as the games played by Kalmadi and his friends.”
“That's true. Some of the interviews they gave were
really hilarious.”
“Yes, they were. But, unfortunately, the image of the
country took a terrific beating.”
“Took a beating? When you say someone took a beating,
doesn't it mean that the individual was defeated?”
“You are absolutely right! The expression ‘take a
beating' has several different meanings. One of them, as you have pointed out,
is ‘to be defeated'.”
“For example, I can say, our team took a real beating
in yesterday's game.”
“Your team did get beaten quite badly. Now then, ...”
“How can the image of a country be defeated?”
72. “When you say that the image has taken a beating,
you mean that its reputation has been damaged.”
“A very different meaning, then! How about this
example? The Minister's image as a clean politician has taken a severe
beating.”
“Politicians and corruption. They go together, don't
they? I wish we had a magic bullet which would root out corruption in our
country.”
“Magic bullet? Are you going to go around shooting
people?”
“Of course, not! When you say you have a magic
bullet, you mean you have the perfect solution to a problem.”
“In other words, you have the solution to a problem
that was once considered unsolvable?”
“Exactly! That's why it's a ‘magic bullet'.”
“Well, I'm afraid there is no magic bullet which can
solve all our problems.”
“According to doctors, there is no magic bullet
against cancer or AIDS.”
“Talking about doctors, did our doctor's son come to
you for advice?”
73. “Yes, Ajit came to see me yesterday. Every time I
made a suggestion, he just threw it back in my face and....”
“Threw it back in your face? What does it mean?”
“It means that the person rejected your offer to help
in a very unpleasant manner. The person turned you down very rudely.”
“In other words, the individual behaved in an
ungracious manner.”
“I guess you could say that. Whenever my father tried
to advise me when I was young, I used to throw it back in his face. I used to
tell him that he didn't understand my problems at all.”
“All teenagers do that. As far as they are concerned,
their parents don't know a thing.”
“Sad, but true.”
“Are you going to talk to Ajit's mother about his
attitude? It would....”
“Definitely not! She has a tendency to overshare, and
that makes me distinctly uncomfortable.”
74. “Overshare? Is there such a word?”
“Yes, there is. When you overshare, you give too much
information about yourself. The information is rather personal, and very often
embarrasses the listener or reader.”
“I see.”
“The first time I met my neighbour, he talked about
the problems he was having with his wife. That in my opinion was a definite
overshare.”
“I agree.”
75. How is ‘bête noire' pronounced?
The ‘bête' is pronounced like the word ‘bet', and the
‘o' in ‘noire' is like the ‘w' in ‘wet', ‘was' and ‘will'. The final ‘ire'
sounds like the ‘a' in ‘path', ‘bath', and ‘ask'. One of the ways of
pronouncing the word is ‘bet NWAA', with the stress on ‘noire'. The word is of
French origin, and it literally means ‘black beast'. When you say that
something is your bête noire, you mean it is something that you avoid or
detest. The object or person is a great source of annoyance.
*The new Vice-Chancellor is the bête noire of all
feminists on campus.
*Madhu's particular bête noire is a sink full of
dirty dishes.
A collection from the Open Page Supplement of The
Hindu Newspaper
Courtesy: Sri Upendra, the writer of the above
Post a Comment