Relax, Refresh your English knowledge 75
366. What is the meaning of `derring-do'?
This is a word which is seldom heard nowadays. Some dictionaries list it as being old fashioned. It means daring, displaying courage against overwhelming odds. The term is mostly used to refer to the daring actions which heroes perform in stories. The main stress is on `do'. *The title suggested it would be a tale of derring-do. It turned out to be a soppy love story. As children, when we misspelt a word, our teachers circled it, and made us rewrite it several times. Hoping that we would learn the correct spelling! When printers make an error in spelling, it sometimes results in the creation of a new word. Derring-do is one such example. The original expression as used by Chaucer was `dorrying don' meaning `daring to do'. Through a series of copying and printing errors, it became `derring-do'.
367. How is the word `dereliction' pronounced?
The `e' in the first syllable is like the `e' in `set', `bet', and `get', and the `e' in the second is like the `a' in `china'. The final two syllables rhyme with the words `fiction' and `diction'. The word is pronounced 'de-re-LICK-shen' with the stress on the third syllable. In some contexts, `dereliction' can be used to mean `failure'; failure to do one's duty. When you accuse someone of `dereliction of duty', you are implying that the individual deliberately chose not to do his work. It is a case of wilful negligence. *The students are taking the Principal to court for dereliction of duty. *What you and your friends did was a grave dereliction of duty. The word can also be used to mean `in bad condition'; it is normally used in reference to abandoned buildings.
*The old hotel was in a state of dereliction. The new owner wanted to renovate it. ****** "Half the lies they tell about me aren't true." - Yogi Berra
368. What is the meaning of ‘close on the heels of something’?
This is an expression which has been around for quite some time. When you say that something came close on the heels of something else, you mean that it came soon after or immediately after. Other expressions which have more or less the same meaning are, ’hard on the heels of something’ and ’hot on the heels of something’. The young couple had a baby close on the heels of buying a house. The expression comes from the world of hunting; when a hunter is close on the heels of an animal, he is very close to his prey.
369. What is the difference between ‘railroad someone into something’ and ‘railroad something through’?
Americans tend to use the word ‘railroad’ instead of ‘railway’. When you ‘railroad someone into doing something’, you are forcing the individual into doing it. You are compelling a person to do something without giving him much time to think about what he is being forced to do. The agent tried to railroad me into buying the old house. When you ‘railroad something through’, you force a bill through a legislative body. The bill is passed quickly without being given due consideration. Every year we see this happening in Parliament. On the last day, we managed to railroad the new constitution through.
370. Is it okay to say, ‘My friend wants to retire and live in a farm’?
No, it isn’t. Remember the lines from the nursery rhyme, ‘Old MacDonald had a farm’? We say, ‘And on his farm, he had a cow’. Just as one doesn’t play ‘in’ the beach, but ‘on’ it, one doesn’t live ‘in’ a farm, but ‘on’ it. How long have you been living on this beautiful farm? Nagesh finds it difficult to work on the farm during winter.
A collection from the Open Page Supplement of The Hindu Newspaper
Courtesy: Sri Upendra, the writer of the above
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