Wonderland of Words by Shashi Tharoor PDF Download

Details of Wonderland of Words by Shashi Tharoor Book

Book Name: Wonderland of Words
Authors: Shashi Tharoor
Pages: 164
Genre: Fiction
Publish Date:16 January 2025
Language: English
Format: PDF, ePub, Mobi

Book Review:

The thing about the english language is if you use a word wrongly widely enough that will become an accepted usage what about a-s-t-h-m-a asthma yeah i just see you know people should lighten up a bit too many people get intimidated by the language start mugging up dictionaries

which are the pronunciation and grammar errors that indians typically make do you have certain ones which are your pet peeve and you'd like to correct the nation because you are the english teacher to the nation unofficially no well i the pet peeves are really pedantic ones which i ought to outgrow

but i keep correcting my staff on two very common mistakes one is the habit of using the word presently this is not an indian problem it's a global problem presently to me now whereas presently means soon so i'll be there presently is correct english but i'm doing this presently makes no sense because presently it does not mean i'm doing it now it does not mean in the present or at the present or at present so that's that's one thing that

i sometimes get irritated about however the thing about the english language is if you use a word wrongly widely enough that'll become an accepted usage the americans by the way have a similar problem with momentarily correct because momentarily means uh for a moment but the americans use it to mean in a moment and so you can actually sort of talk about a pilot enhancing an airline that we will be airborne momentarily and the english passenger has a heart attack because he thinks that means the plane is going to crash he's only going to be in the air for a moment the other one is importantly

i don't think important needs a lead because important is already an adverb yeah so it's perfectly all right to say most important i believe such and such and such or there's this and this and that and more important this importantly is a is is superfluous you know that's right um and it's it's an unnecessary addition again as i told them being a bit pedantic so you don't have to worry about it

what about the words like revert yeah revert and uh what is the other one yes i should revert to you and the other one is um um yes uh please intimate me of your uh yeah of your of your intentions or whatever yeah so what is that these are all victorian english which stuck with us

but which the english stopped using in the same way yeah but i mean my understanding of revert is to turn back into a former state like ice reverts to water when it melts so when people write to me that i will revert to you i tell them you can't turn into me go turn back god you are as much of a pain and desire another very common one again not just India

but everywhere is confusing reluctant and reticent reticent only means reluctant to speak right it can't be used to mean generally enlightened you know when i asked him this question he was reticent means he was reluctant to speak it yeah but to say that he was reticent uh to take ten steps forward or whatever is wrong because reticent is only about speaking and reluctant is what people mean

but they confuse it too a lot that's a global problem not just an indian problem so there's a few words that i'm going to spell out and because everybody gets it wrong and i want them to hear the so the first

so this is about pronunciation so the first word is pronunciation what is the right and the wrong way of saying this word pronunciation is correct and not pronounceable not pronunciation yeah pronunciation um and it's actually linked to enunciation right which is to speak clearly and it's not linked to pronoun which is where the confusion comes from yes and what about asthma asthma yeah so asthma and not asthma no exactly and epitome episode epitome and not epitome that's right not hyperbole

but hyperbole yes and uh just one more uh p-l-u-m-b-e-r plummer plummer though these are trivial mistakes my dear english what about the vw confusion what what is your take on it so that that's actually partly because in most indian languages there isn't a difference right and therefore people

who are comfortable in indian languages yeah um often find themselves eliding one or the other so it's it's it's actually so common a mistake that you know it's almost embarrassing to point it out but in india you might say adverb i don't know instead of saying adverb you might say adverb et cetera

i had a teacher who said bite your v's and kiss your w's so this is interesting you're putting it so you know use your upper teeth on your lower lip and say very and that's right and then make the duck face which is one of the millennial words wolf so yeah so that's it okay very good yes i like that bite your v's and kiss your w's good listen to teach my grandson

one day is there something that you would like to say about the english language or the way indians speak english or anything else relating to english or english in india no i i just see you know people should lighten up a bit i mean unfortunately um too many people get intimidated by the language start mugging up dictionaries honestly

that's utterly pointless to my mind to my mind what happens with the language is you use it to communicate you use it express ideas use it to give and gain pleasure if all of that is not happening then you don't need it so to my mind if you're coming across words and books that you don't know read more books you'll find out what they mean don't mug up dictionary [Music] you

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