91. “People say that he has the reverse Midas touch.”
“Reverse Midas touch? What does it mean?”
“Well, you know the story of King Midas, right?”
“Of course, I do! Everyone knows that story. Midas was the king who wanted everything he touched to turn into gold.”
“The very same. So, when you say that someone has the Midas touch, you mean....”
“Anything that the person undertakes becomes a huge financial success.”
“Right. So, what do you think ‘reverse Midas touch' means?
“The exact opposite! Any project that the individual undertakes results in failure.”
“If your boss has the reverse Midas touch, why was he hired?”
“The usual story. He is related to the Chairman.”
92. “Hmm. I see you have a new TV. Didn't you say you had quit watching TV?”
“My uncle and aunt will be spending a week with me. They are screenior citizens.”
“Screenior citizens? I've heard of senior citizens, but....”
“A screenior citizen is a senior citizen who spends a lot of his time in front of a screen. It could be the television or the computer screen.”
“Well, in that case, my grandmother is a screenior citizen. She spends her entire day watching serials.”
“My dad is a screenior citizen too. He spends all his time on the computer. Why have you brought your brain bucket? Are you going somewhere?”
93. “Brain bucket? What are you talking about?”
“In informal contexts, a motorcycle helmet is referred to as brain bucket.”
“That's funny. Whenever I ride the scooter, my father insists that I wear a brain bucket.”
“The way you drive, it's sound advice. Remember the accident you had last month? If it hadn't been for the brain bucket, you might have ended up hurting yourself quite badly.”
“That's true. Some people, instead of wearing the brain bucket while driving, choose to strap it to the bike.”
“Such people are realised souls.”
“Really? What makes you say that?”
“They have probably realised that the motorcycle or scooter is a lot more valuable than what is inside their head.”
94. What is the meaning of ‘cyber hoarding'?
When you hoard something, you collect large amounts of it and hide it in a safe place. In the past, it was common practice among retailers to hoard sugar, wheat, rice, etc. A cyber hoarder is someone who collects a lot of meaningless things and stores them on his computer. In this case, the things he saves are emails, word documents and pictures he himself has taken or received from others. Although he may never look at any of these items, he will not delete them. He will go on collecting a lot of junk.
*Cyber hoarding is something I don't believe in. As soon as I've answered an email, I delete it.
95. What is the difference between ‘gulp back' and ‘gulp down'?
When you ‘gulp down' something, you swallow large amounts of it very quickly. When a person gulps down his food, he makes little or no effort to chew it – he merely swallows sizable chunks.
*The principal gulped down a cup of coffee before rushing off to the airport.
When you ‘gulp back' something, you force it back. For example, when you gulp back the tears, you attempt to hold them back.
*Rohan had a difficult time gulping back the sobs while watching the movie.
A collection from the Open Page Supplement of The Hindu Newspaper
Courtesy: Sri Upendra, the writer of the above
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