Relax, Refresh your English knowledge 68
331. Trees and hedges are sometimes cut in the shape of animals. Is there a word for this?
The clipping of shrubs and trees in the shapes of animals is called ‘topiary’. The ‘top’ rhymes with the words ‘hope’, ‘soap’, and ‘dope’. The ‘i’ is like the ‘y’ in ‘yes’, ‘yet’, and ‘you’, and the following ‘a’ sounds like the ‘a’ in ‘china’. The final ‘y’ is like the ‘i’ in ‘it’, bit’ and ‘fit’. The word is pronounced ‘TOPE-ye-ri with the stress on the first syllable. This is one way of pronouncing the word. ‘Topiary’ comes from the Latin ‘topiarius’, meaning ‘ornamental gardener’.
332. What is the meaning of the expression ‘ad nauseam’?
Let’s begin by dealing with the pronunciation of this Latin expression. The first word is pronounced like the word ‘add’. The ‘au’ in ‘nauseam’ is like the ‘au’ in ‘caught’, ‘taught’, and ‘naught’, and the following ‘se’ is like the ‘zi’ in ‘zip’ and ‘zinc’. The final syllable is pronounced like the word ‘am’. The expression is pronounced ‘add NAU-zi-am’ with the main stress on the first syllable of ‘nauseam’. When someone talks about something ‘ad nauseam’, he talks about it so much that it becomes extremely boring for the listeners. *The Minister talked ad nauseam about his achievements.
333. What is the meaning of ‘get to the bottom of something’?
When you try to get to the bottom of something, you do everything you can to find the truth about it. Very often, you choose to spend a lot of time exploring the problem in order to have a thorough understanding of it. It is only after this that you discover the truth about something. *The investigators need to get to the bottom of this fraud.
334. What is the difference between ‘avoiding taxes’ and ‘evading taxes’?
Most people try to avoid taxes, not evade them. When you evade paying taxes, you are doing something illegal. You are deliberately choosing not to pay taxes; you are failing to fulfil your duty as a citizen of this country. Evasion suggests dishonesty. Our politicians are often accused of evading taxes. When you succeed in avoiding paying taxes, you make use of the rules and regulations that are in place to your advantage: you find legal ways of paying less taxes or not paying anything at all. In this case, you are not doing anything illegal. ****** “An intelligence test sometimes shows a man how smart he would have been not to have taken it.” — Laurence J. Peter
335. How is the word ‘besiege’ pronounced?
The ‘e’ in the first syllable sounds like the ‘i’ in ‘it’, ‘bit’, and ‘sit’, and the following ‘ie’ sounds like the ‘ee’ in ‘fees’, and ‘cheese’. The final ‘ge’ is like the ‘j’ in ‘jam’, and ‘jump’. The word is pronounced ‘bi-SEEJ’ with the stress on the second syllable. The word has several meanings. When soldiers, for example, besiege a town, they surround it. They prevent people and supplies from entering or leaving the town. When a person is besieged, he is surrounded by other people. The moment he walked out of the stadium, he was besieged by reporters. The word can also be used to mean, ‘to make many requests or complaints about something.’ The radio station was besieged with telephone calls from angry women.
A collection from the Open Page Supplement of The Hindu Newspaper
Courtesy: Sri Upendra, the writer of the above
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