Relax, Refresh your English knowledge 27
131. “She must have been embarrassed. What happened to the case she had filed against her boss?”
“As expected, nothing much. The man got a slap on the wrist.”
“Got a slap on the wrist? Does it mean he wasn't punished at all?”
“No. It means that the punishment that was given was very light.”
“It was very light when compared to the wrong that he had done. In other words, he should have been given a harsher punishment.”
“The students beat up the watchman and ransacked the computer lab. The Vice Chancellor chose to give them a slap on the wrist.”
“Most Vice Chancellors are scared of students nowadays.”
132. “That's true. Now before you wear out your welcome, could you please...”
“Wear out my welcome? How can I possible wear my welcome?”
“When someone tells you that you have worn out your welcome, it means that you have stayed too long and they would like you to leave.”
“Raghu comes to our house so often that he has worn out his welcome.”
“Could you please get on with the interview?”
“Okay, okay. My first question is...”
133. What is the difference between ‘con someone into something' and ‘con someone out of something'?
Both expressions are mostly used in informal contexts. When you ‘con someone into doing something', you trick him into doing it. In other words, you deceive the individual into doing something that he may not really want to. It is also possible to ‘con oneself'.
*The salesman conned Vijaya into buying worthless shares.
*Rajiv conned himself into believing that everything was just fine.
When you ‘con someone out of something', you trick or deceive the person into giving you something — it is usually something valuable that he/she has.
*The young man conned the old lady out of her savings.
*Don't go to Shiva for advice. He'll con you out of the money?
134. What is the meaning and origin of ‘sail under false colours'?
This expression comes from the world of sailing. When you sail under false colours, you pretend to be something that you are not; you try to achieve your goal through deception.
*Amrit, the smart cookie, figured out that Hamsa was sailing under false colours.
*Vidya claimed to be an expert in the subject. But he was sailing under false colours.
The ‘colours' in the expression refers to the flag on a ship. It was standard practice for all ships to display the flag of the country they were from. The only people who didn't always follow this rule were pirates. If a pirate wanted to plunder a ship from Spain, he lowered the Jolly Roger (the black pirate flag with a skull and crossbones on it), and hoisted the Spanish flag in its place. This trick of sailing under a false flag enabled him to get close to the Spanish ship. When the two ships were within striking distance, the pirate lowered the Spanish flag and raised the Jolly Roger.
135. How is the word ‘conglomerate' pronounced?
There seem to be different ways of pronouncing this word. The British tend to pronounce the first ‘o', the first ‘e' and the ‘a' like the ‘a' in ‘china'. The ‘o' in the second syllable sounds like the ‘o' in ‘cot', ‘hot', and ‘not', while the final ‘e' remains silent. The word is pronounced ‘ken-GLO-me-ret' with the stress on the second syllable. Some people drop the vowel in the third syllable and pronounce the word ‘ken-GLOM-ret'. The word comes from the Latin ‘conglomerare' meaning ‘to roll together' or ‘wind into a ball'.
The term is frequently heard in the world of business. Several small companies coming together to form a relatively large business is called a ‘conglomerate'. The products or services offered by these small independent companies are usually varied.
*According to this article, Reliance is one of the biggest conglomerates in India.
A collection from the Open Page Supplement of The Hindu Newspaper
Courtesy: Sri Upendra, the writer of the above
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