lexicon
Exciting lingo
Deepti

The following are English translations placed alongside actual signs that have been collected by Roger E. Axtell from various countries. At a Belgian drycleaner’s: ‘Men — for best results, drop trousers here. Ladies — leave your clothes here and spend the afternoon having a good time’. In a Russian cemetery: ‘You are welcome to visit the cemetery where famous Russian and Soviet composers, artists and writers are buried daily except Thursday’. So, let’s not laugh at ‘my head is eating circles’.

Susie Dent has documented the foodie terminology that accompanied political activity recently. Obama has been the exciting factor for creating the word ‘latte liberal’ due to his effort to win over the coffee-drinking left-leaning liberals. ‘Latte liberal’ has come to stay, used for any person who espouses the ideals of socialism while leading a less than egalitarian lifestyle. On comparison with the ‘beer-track’ Clinton, Obama has been labelled ‘Dunkin’ Donut Democrat’ or ‘wine track politician’.

‘Economic’ and ‘economical’ are often treated as synonyms whereas they have different implications. The former is connected with the economy of a country as in ‘The country’s economic growth is considered to be too slow’. The latter describes anything that is cheaper to use than a similar thing as in ‘gas is more economical than electricity’. So, a country needs ‘economic’ support and not ‘economical’ and a crisis of the economy is ‘economic’, not ‘economical’. Also, ‘travelling around India is economic’ is incorrect as is ‘economical’ in place of ‘economic’; but, ‘travelling around India is more economical than travelling around Europe’ is correct.

An SMS that is doing the rounds reads thus: ‘The Briteesh ruled avar country phor meni ears, dhey destroid avar kalchar, so wot? Let as destroy dher langvage lyke dis. Send eat tu aal yor phrends’. Jokes apart, a language that permits ‘destruction’ is bound to live the longest. To remain a living language, growth and change are essential. Any language that becomes purist in its usage is well on the way to death. The very fact that today we talk about ‘Englishes’ ensures the growth and longevity of English.