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IN The Completely Superior Person’s Book of Words’, the author, Peter Bowler states that ‘Words are not only tools, they are also weapons. The first object of this book is to provide the ordinary man in the street with new and better verbal weapons`85’ Here are a few samples from the list he provides: abligurition (extravagance in cooking and serving), equipollent (equivalent), xenodocheinology (love of hotels and inns), yemeless (negligent) and habiliments (clothing). These words are not just weapons, they are WMD or nuclear weapons, Mr Bowler!

If you are learning or teaching the pronunciation of English, you need to keep an important factor in mind. After years of research, it has been proved that mother tongue influences the way learners pronounce certain sounds of the target language. If the mother tongue is very different in terms of the sound system, there would be problems that will require a solution. This explains the curious differences that exist in pronunciation among learners from the different states of India: the ‘ischool’ (school) of UP, the ‘yegg’ (egg) of Tamil Nadu and the ‘milak’ (milk) of Punjab.

In British slang, the word ‘gob’ refers to the mouth. Some linguists trace the origin of this word to the Irish ‘gab’ meaning ‘talk’ as in ‘gift of the gab’. Gob has given many slang words like ‘gobdaw’ or ‘a foolish and gullible person’ and ‘gobshite’ or ‘a despicable person’. In the same vein, ‘gob-smacked’ refers to the feeling of being flabbergasted. ‘Gob-smacked’ owes its origin to the theatrical gesture of clapping a hand over the mouth as a sign of intense surprise.

Perk is the short form of perquisite that is any extra benefit a person receives in their job. An example of the use of this word is; ‘Discount at bookshops is one of the perks of being a teacher.’ When something is required as a condition before something else can be done or granted, then the word is prerequisite. As an example of this usage take a look at this sentence: ‘Honesty is a prerequisite of a banker’s job’.