Relax, Refresh your English knowledge 55
266. Is it okay to say, ‘He returned back home’?
In India, it is common to hear people say, ‘He returned back the book to the library’ and ‘She returned back from Mumbai yesterday.’ The word ‘return’ means to ‘go/come back’. Therefore, there is no need for you to say ‘return back’: the word ‘back’ is redundant in this case. It is okay to say ‘come back’, ‘turn back’, and ‘get back’, but not ‘return back’. *Please return the book to the library by this evening. *** “Society, my dear, is like salt water, good to swim in but hard to swallow.” — Arthur Stringer
267. How is the word ‘homage’ pronounced?
The ‘o’ in the first syllable sounds like the ‘o’ in ‘hot’, ‘pot’, and ‘got’, while the ‘a’ is like the ‘i’ in ‘bit’, ‘hit’, and ‘sit’. The ‘g’ is pronounced like the ‘j’ in ‘just’, ‘jump’, and ‘juice’, and the final ‘e’ is silent. The word is pronounced ‘HO-mij’ with the stress on the first syllable. When you pay ‘homage’ to someone, you usually show respect to him and say nice things about him. You have great admiration for the person, and as a result praise him for his achievements. *We must pay homage to the man and his incredible achievements.
268. Which is correct: None of you have/has answered the question correctly.
Both are correct. The word ‘none’ is actually from ‘not one’. Based on this, people have argued that when ‘none of’ precedes a plural noun, the verb that follows it must be singular. Nowadays, it is okay to use either a singular or a plural verb with ‘none of’. In formal contexts, the British prefer a singular verb. The Americans, on the other hand, mostly use a plural verb after ‘none of’. *None of my father’s articles have/has been published in that journal.
269. What is the meaning of the expression ‘beyond his ken’?
The word ‘ken’ is Scottish in origin, and it is means ‘to know someone or something’. Therefore, when you say that something is ‘beyond your ken’, what you mean is that you do not know anything about it. It is something that is beyond your understanding. *Please don’t talk to me about grammar. It is just beyond my ken.
270. How do you refer to someone who in his 60s?
You must be thinking of the people in the Prime Minister’s Cabinet. They are all pretty old, aren’t they? A person who is in his 60s is usually referred to as a ‘sexagenarian’. The first syllable is pronounced like the word ‘sex’, and the following ‘a’ is like the ‘a’ in ‘china’. The ‘g’ is like the ‘j’ in ‘juice’ and ‘joke’, and the ‘e’ like the ‘i’ in ‘sit’, ‘bit’, and ‘pit’. The ‘a’ is like the ‘ai’ in ‘fair’, ‘hair’, and ‘pair’. The word is pronounced ‘sex-a-ji-NAI-ri-en with the stress on the fourth syllable. *The teenager said she was in love with a sexagenarian.
A collection from the Open Page Supplement of The Hindu Newspaper
Courtesy: Sri Upendra, the writer of the above
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