Relax, Refresh your English knowledge 134
565. What is the difference between `fatal' and `fateful'?
Sometimes it is reported in newspapers that a man involved in a fatal accident was admitted to the local hospital. You wonder why because anything that is fatal always results in the death of an individual. *Dilip's decision to walk across the frozen lake proved fatal. The sentence suggests that Dilip drowned in the lake. `Fatal' can be used with abstract things as well. For example, one can say, "The sloppy manner in which Akshay did the project proved fatal to his career." "The article in the tabloids about the star's wild parties proved fatal to his marriage." In both these sentences, the word is used to mean disastrous or destructive. Fateful is related to fate. When you talk about a fateful day, you mean that it was a day that changed your future or your destiny — the outcome is usually bad. *Ganguly will always remember the fateful day he went to the press to complain about his new coach.
566. What is the meaning of `face in the crowd'?
When there are a lot of people around you and there is nothing about you which makes you stand out, then you say that you are just a face in the crowd. You go unnoticed by most individuals. It is what happens to most of us when we go to the stadium to watch a one-day international; we become a face in the crowd. *Narender hates attending big parties. He doesn't like being a face in the crowd.
567. What is the meaning and origin of `pleased as Punch'?
This idiom, which Ravi Shastri uses quite frequently while commentating, has been around for over 400 years. Someone who is pleased as Punch is extremely happy; he/she is elated. *Devidas was pleased as Punch when he got his promotion. The `Punch' in the idiom has nothing to do with the drink or the blow that villains seem to receive from our film heroes. It refers to a character in a 17th Century puppet show called `Punch and Judy'. The main character, Punch, was a very content person who sang cheerfully all the time. Hence the expression, pleased as Punch
A collection from the Open Page Supplement of The Hindu Newspaper
Courtesy: Sri Upendra, the writer of the above
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