lexicon
Microcosms within the macrocosm
Deepti

Humour arises when language learners turn misuse into an art form. Here is one such classic (from Richard Lederer’s Anguished English) that is attributed to an M.I.T. teacher, who found it in one of his students’ essays: "The girl tumbled down the stairs and lay prostitute at the bottom." Displaying a sense of fun, the teacher commented in the margin, ‘My dear sir, you must learn to distinguish between a fallen woman and one who has merely slipped!’

More classic bloopers go thus: ‘The bowels are a.e, i, o, u and sometimes w and y.’ ‘The difference between a king and a president is that a king is the son of his father, but a president isn’t’.

Francis Bacon wrote, "Some books are to be tasted, others swallowed, and some few to be chewed and digested; that is, some books are to be read only in parts; others to be read but not curiously; and some few to be read wholly, and with diligence and attention".

Today, experts have proved him right. Research has demonstrated that the reading skill can be divided into two types: the first, intensive (books meant for chewing and digestion) and the second, extensive (to be tasted and occasionally swallowed).

Words are always evolving and developing. Often, the development ushers in a change of meaning. An example of such a word is the word ‘hoity-toity’. This word comes from ‘hoit’ that meant ‘behaving boisterously’. In earlier times, a hoity-toity was a person who had frivolous fun or a gathering that was very loud and naughty. Somewhere along the way, this sense became obsolete and the sense of ‘conceited, snobbish’ took over. So, today if you want to use slang for ‘conceited’ you would say ‘hoity-toity’.

Avenge and revenge often confuses people. ‘Avenge’ is more commonly used as a verb and refers to the act of avenging someone or yourself for a wrong or suffering or an act is avenged. ‘Revenge’ is mostly used as a noun as in sentences like ‘It is difficult to take revenge on someone who is far away’.