Relax, Refresh your English knowledge 65
316. How is the word ‘debacle’ pronounced?
The first syllable ‘de’ is pronounced like the word ‘day’. The following ‘a’ is like the ‘a’ in ‘bath’, ‘path’, and ‘ask’, and the final ‘cle’ is like the ‘ckle’ in ‘tackle’, ‘buckle’ and ‘pickle’. The word is pronounced ‘dayBAAkl’ with the stress on the second syllable. This is one way of pronouncing the word. When you say that something was a debacle, what you mean is that it was a total disaster. It was a fiasco. This is just one of the meanings of the word. *Keshav’s first performance as a stand-up comedian was a debacle: the audience kept booing him.
317. What is the difference between ‘arrested’ and ‘detained’?
When a policeman arrests someone, he is levelling a charge against the individual. The officer is accusing the individual of having committed a crime. In order to arrest someone, a policeman usually requires a warrant. When the police ‘detains’ someone, they are merely forcing him to stay. In this case, the individual hasn’t been charged with a crime: he hasn’t been arrested as yet. If the policeman feels that the person has information regarding a crime, he may choose to ‘detain’ him. It doesn’t mean he thinks that the person is guilty of a crime. Both the guilty and the innocent can be detained. *The minister was detained for questioning.
318. What is the meaning of ‘chairdrobe’?
‘Chairdrobe’ is a combination of two words: ‘chair’ and ‘wardrobe’. There are people who are too lazy to put away their clothes in their cupboard. They prefer to leave their washed and unwashed clothes on a chair, instead. The piled up clothes on the chair is called ‘chairdrobe’. *Go through my chairdrobe. You’ll find the shirt you’re looking for. ****** I take a very practical view of raising children. I put a sign in each of their rooms: ‘Checkout Time is 18 years.’ — Erma Bombeck
319. What is the meaning and origin of the expression ‘kiss of death’?
In the old movies dealing with the Mafia, whenever the Don kissed someone squarely on the mouth, it meant the person was going to be ‘bumped off’ soon. It was the kiss of death. The idiom ‘kiss of death’ refers to an action which results in the ruin or failure of something. It is the instrument of a person’s downfall. Throwing up on the stage was the kiss of death for Rahul’s acting career. The origin of the idiom, however, has nothing to do with the Mafia. Judas helped identify Jesus to the Roman authorities by kissing him. The idiom ‘kiss of death ’refers to the betrayal of Jesus by Judas in the Garden of Gethsemane. The earlier expression, I understand, was ‘Judas kiss’.
320. What is the meaning of ‘He works like a Trojan’?
The expression is considered rather old fashioned, and is seldom heard nowadays. The Trojans were people who lived in the beautiful city of Troy. They were believed to be very courageous, and when the Greeks invaded their city, they defended it in a determined manner. The expression ‘to work like a Trojan’ means, ‘to work hard’. Rahul is a good person to have on the team. He works like a Trojan.
A collection from the Open Page Supplement of The Hindu Newspaper
Courtesy: Sri Upendra, the writer of the above
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