Relax, Refresh your English knowledge 44
216. What is the meaning and origin of ‘tilt at windmills'?
This is an expression which is not heard very much these days. When you ‘tilt at windmills', you are fighting enemies who don't really exist. You are doing battle with imaginary things. The expression can also be used to mean to waste one's time fighting over trivial issues; you may be fighting in vain against something or someone.
*Trying to root out corruption in politics is tilting at windmills.
The idiom comes from Cervantes' well-known novel ‘Don Quixote'. It is about the exploits of an elderly knight and his faithful servant Sancho Panza as they travel through the countryside trying to fight injustice. ‘Tilt' in this context means ‘to joust'; that is, to fight someone with a lance while riding a horse. In the novel, the slightly eccentric Don Quixote thinks that the windmills he sees are hulking giants, and like any true knight attempts to slay them with his lance.
217. How is the word ‘gratuitous' pronounced?
The ‘a' and the final ‘ou' are pronounced like the ‘a' in ‘china'. The ‘tu' in the second syllable sounds like the ‘tu' in ‘Tuesday', and the following ‘i' like the ‘i' in ‘bit', ‘hit', and ‘pit'. The word is pronounced ‘gre-TYUU-i-tes' with the stress on the second syllable. It comes from the Latin ‘gratuitus' meaning ‘done without pay, voluntary'. Nowadays, the word is mostly used to mean ‘unwanted' or ‘unnecessary'. For example, a friend may constantly advise you on how you should behave in the workplace, and what shares you should buy. If this advice is unsought, then you can call it ‘gratuitous' — it is uncalled for. People often talk about the ‘gratuitous violence' in films and children's video games. In this context, they mean that the violence is unwanted, excessive and inappropriate.
*Teenagers loved the gratuitous violence and nudity in the film.
*I am sick and tired of Anamika's gratuitous advice.
218. What is the meaning of ‘criticaster'?
The word consists of ‘critic' and ‘aster'. The suffix ‘aster' was borrowed from Latin into English to mean ‘inferior'. The word ‘criticaster' is used to refer to an inferior critic; someone who is petty and incompetent at his work. ‘Criticaster', ‘poetaster' (a person who writes bad poetry), ‘philosophaster' (a pretentious philosopher) and ‘politicaster' (a petty, contemptible politician) are seldom heard these days.
219. What is the meaning of ‘hogwash'?
This is a word which is mostly used in informal contexts in American English to mean ‘nonsense'. It is also used to describe insincere talk and bad writing.
*As expected, the Minister's answer was pure hogwash.
*Many M. Phil and Ph.D dissertations are nothing more than hogwash.
A ‘hog' is a male pig which has been castrated, and the ‘wash' refers to ‘swill' — the liquid containing waste food from one's kitchen. In the old days, people who raised hogs, used to feed them on kitchen scraps and leftovers. Since the scraps of food didn't have any nutritional value, any form of writing or talk which lacked substance began to be called ‘hogwash'.
220. What is the difference between ‘in camera' and ‘on camera'?
The expression ‘on camera' is mostly used in the world of television and films. When someone says that you are ‘on camera', it means that the cameraman has you in his sights; his camera is focussed on you. When you are no longer a part of what is being filmed or ‘shot', you are said to be ‘off camera'.
*The DIG didn't realise he was on camera when he made those comments.
‘In camera' literally means ‘in the room'. When you hold a meeting ‘in camera', it is held in a room; it is a private or a secret meeting. When a judge says he would like to meet the two lawyers ‘in chambers', he wants to meet them ‘in camera'.
*If it is a matter of national security, the trial will take place in camera.
A collection from the Open Page Supplement of The Hindu Newspaper
Courtesy: Sri Upendra, the writer of the above
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