Relax, Refresh your English knowledge 90
429. What is the meaning of "on a wing and a prayer"?
If you say that you are writing an entrance exam "on a wing and a prayer", what you mean is that you are not confident that you will pass. You are hopeful, but chances are you are unlikely to succeed. You are relying more on luck, rather than your ability. *Anju was playing the game on a wing and a prayer. She had no idea what she should do to win. *Raju is taking the interview on a wing and a prayer. The expression became popular during World War I. The story goes that a pilot managed to land his plane successfully even though one of his wings had been badly damaged. When his friends asked him how he had managed to land his crippled plane, the pilot replied that it was his prayers that kept the aircraft aloft. To which one of his fellow pilots quipped, "A wing and a prayer brought you back!"
430. What does "Rx" stand for in a doctor's prescription?
Many words commonly used in medicine come from Latin. The Rx is the abbreviation of "recipo" meaning, "take". The doctor is giving you a recipe for your cure and he wants you to take it! If you look at a doctor's prescription carefully, you will find that a line runs across the foot of the letter R. This, I understand, is actually the symbol of the Roman god of medicine, Jupiter. All medicines come under his protection. That's understandable, I guess. Given the illegible manner in which some doctors write their prescriptions, we need all the protection we can get!
431. How is the word "peccadilloes" pronounced?
The first syllable is pronounced like the word "peck" and the following "a" is like the "a" in "china". "Dill" rhymes with "pill", "chill", and "fill", while the final "oe" is like the "o" in "go", "so", and "no". The main stress is on the third syllable. A "peccadillo" is a minor sin or fault. *The star's latest extra marital peccadillo didn't go down well with his fans.
A collection from the Open Page Supplement of The Hindu Newspaper
Courtesy: Sri Upendra, the writer of the above
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