Availing Leaves
A viral post on Facebook about the “slow cashier” provides this example of a common error made by many. Two errors, in fact, in one paragraph: He also said that she has enough leaves that could be availed (and get … Continue reading
Stepney
When your car gets a puncture (increasingly called a “flat tyre” in the non-American parts of the English speaking world) in India, you open the “dicky” (“boot” in British-influenced countries), (“trunk” in America) and get the “stepney”. What’s a stepney? … Continue reading
Jewellers
The words “jewel”, “jewellery” and “jewellers” are commonly mispronounced. The “w” should be almost silent, i.e. “jooal”, “jooallery” and “jooalers”. This was brought home by a story in Mid-Day.com and this picture (credit to Mid-Day): The Marathi sign board uses … Continue reading
One premise, or premises?
When you talk about a building or some other fixed enclosed space, it is “the premises”. It is never “the premise” or “a premise”. e.g. “She entered the premises.” A railway compartment is never “premises”. A building or a hut … Continue reading
Coats or Quotes?
There is a good reason a “quote” is spelt differently from “Coat”. Simple. They are pronounced differently. “Quote” is pronounced “kwote” (क्वोट). “Coat” is pronounced “koat” (कोट)
Goa or Gova/Gowa/Goya?
Saw this float at the 2016 Republic Day parade in New Delhi. Why is it “Gova/Gowa” in Devanagari? Why not गोआ ? In Konkani they use “Goya” (गोंय), as in Goenkarancho (English transliteration by Goans): Very confusing.
Plural’s don’t have apostrophe’s
Very often one sees an apostrophe (followed by an “s”) used to denote a plural, e.g. pizza’s. Here is a tip for those who don’t want to learn the rules: Don’t use an apostrophe again and you will be correct … Continue reading
English pronunciation is “chaos”
Dr. Gerard Nolst Trenité (1870 – 1946), was a Dutch observer of English and wrote a poem The Chaos to illustrate how it is so frustrating to a non-English native speaker. Here is an extract from the poem, which has … Continue reading
Vends
I saw a concocted, unnecessary word – “vends”, used only in North India. It probably means “vendors”, which is the word to be used if communicating with educated people outside India.
What is your good name?
I still hear Indians saying, “What is your good name, sir?” (Sometimes, it is “sirji”.) Stop translating from your Indian language, such as Hindi – “aap ka shubh naam kya hain?” Although you were brought up to be polite in … Continue reading