UNDERWEAR or UNDERFASHIONS?

‘Euphemism’ means a mild or indirect word or expression which is used to refer to something unpleasant or embarrassing. Perhaps many of you often use the phrase ‘pass away’ to mean ‘die’, as in ‘Her mother passed away last night’. ‘Washroom’ is another familiar euphemism for ‘latrine’. Another popular euphemism is ‘senior citizens’ which stands for ‘old men and women’.

By using such expressions as pass away, washroom and senior citizens, an unpleasant or embarrassing idea can be successfully conveyed.

When you say ‘the Prime Minister passed away’, that expression has a certain degree of respect. Likewise, when you ask someone, ‘Excuse me, can I use your washroom’, you can bypass the embarrassment of the more direct word ‘latrine' or 'lavatory’. Take another example: haven’t you noticed how happy and proud the old people feel when they hear someone refers to them as ‘senior citizens’?

Here is a list of some popular euphemisms:

The underprivileged = the poor.

[eg The government’s new scheme for the underprivileged.]

Underfashions (undergarments) = underwear.

[Excuse me, where is the underfashions section in this mall?]

Pre-owned vehicle = a used car.

[I am planning to buy a pre-owned vehicle.]

Social disease = sexually transmitted disease.

[AIDS is a social disease.]

Hair stylist = barber.

[Tom’s father is a hair stylist.]

Sleep with = have sex with.

[She left her husband for ever after seeing him sleeping with the girl next door.]

What's the shape of your NOSE?

Nose is one of the most important organs in every living organism. And when it comes to looking beautiful, its significance is even more important. That is the reason many of the celebrities in Hollywood often come in the limelight after having undergone nose job (a slang term for ‘rhinoplasty’ meaning a plastic surgery performed on the nose).

Will you believe that even a long way back in 1940s, female celebrities used to get their nose job done! Marilyn Monroe was one of the first celebrities to publicly admit to having plastic surgery done. Today, it is an open secret that many celebrities in Hollywood like Angelina Joulie, Cameron Diaz, Jennifer Aniston, Ashlee Simpson etc have already got their nose operated to make it look more beautiful. Besides them, even desi actresses in many other -woods like Bollywood, Mollywood, Kollywood etc have also undergone rhinoplasty. eg Shilpa Shetty, rakhi Sawant and Sherlin Chopra - to name a few.

Now let us take a quick look at different types of noses that people have.
ROMAN NOSE = a nose with a slight bump on the upper part of the nose bridge.

GREEK NOSE = a nose that has a straight bridge, without a hump or a bent.

HAWK NOSE = a nose which is convex (bent outwards) in all its length.

CELESTIAL NOSE = a nose which is concave (bent inwards) in all its length.

SNUB (adj) = short, fat and turned up at the end. (e.g. a SNUB-NOSED child)

So, what kind of nose do you have? Please comment and let me know.

SHOULD or SHOULD HAVE TO is correct?

Many speakers of English in non-English speaking countries often use 'SHOULD HAVE TO' in speaking and writing. Among them, sentences like the following are very common.
1) “I SHOULD HAVE TO complete my assignment within three days”
2) “You SHOULD HAVE TO pass this test”

But, according to English grammar, this is a wrong use. Instead of using SHOULD HAVETO, you must use either SHOULD or HAVE TO. The reason is SHOULD is almost equal to HAVE TO although there is a slight difference in detailed grammatical analysis.

So, the previous wrong sentences can be rewritten as follows:
1) “I SHOULD complete my assignment within three days”
OR
“I HAVE TO complete my assignment within three days”

2) “You SHOULD pass this test”
OR
“You HAVE TO pass this test”

You can also express the same idea by using ‘WILL HAVE TO’ as in,
“I WILL HAVE TO complete my assignment within three days”, “I WILL HAVE TO pass this test” etc.

Impressive Slang

Here are a few slang terms you can use to impress your friends!
SWALLOW A DICTIONARY (ph)= use long & obscure words when speaking.

[SWALLOWING A DICTIONARY is considered to be the best English in India!]


NAIL-BITING (adj)= causing great anxiety or tension
[The NAIL-BITING cricket match between India and South Africa]

FLUFF (n)= useless/unimportant information.
[He couldn't give us anything but FLUFF]

SHITKICKING MUSIC (n) = music which makes you get up and dance.
[I couldn't help dancing to the SHITKICKING MUSIC they played]

WASHY (adj)= (about a liquid) too watery.
[The soup she made was really WASHY]

PLAY GOOSEBERRY (idm)= to be a third person with two people who have a romantic relationship & want to be alone together.
[Carry on guys, I don't want to PLAY GOOSEBERRY in between]

 
NB If you want to receive such words daily through SMS (only in India), type JOIN JACOBS and send it to 9223492234

GOOD EVENING OR GOOD NIGHT? WHICH IS CORRECT?

The use of the common farewell phrases like 'good evening' and 'good night' often causes a lot of confusion and argument among the people whose first language is not English. Let me try to throw some light on this issue.

Being a full-time language trainer, I am greeted by a number of students each passing day at different times. The greeting phrases they use when they meet me in the morning, afternoon and evening are, of course, nice to listen and grammatically correct too.

But when it comes to taking leave in the evening, their courtesy turns un-English. Many students in India (adults too) use 'good evening' when they take leave in the evening! But according to correct English, they must say 'good night'.

So, when you leave your friend, teacher, boss or whoever next time in the evening, remember to wish them a 'good night'. It does not matter the sun is still up on the horizon.


Happy learning,
Jacob (Nova English Campus)

Most commonly mispronounced words in India.

It is an undeniable fact that we Indians have acquired a not-so-bad command of English language but the mispronunciation of certain words is very common among a good majority of English speakers in India. Here are a few examples I frequently notice:

Without a doubt, it can be said that almost every Indian, even those who don't speak English, pronounce the word 'cycle' accurately. But when it comes to bicycle, it's a different story; most of Indians pronounce it as /baisaikl/ whereas the correct pronunciation is /baisikl/!

Another very common word that many utter in the wrong way is 'bury'. Almost every Indian pronounce this word just as it is spelt (apologies to those who don't). But the actual pronunciation should be /bery/. The same rules goes with 'burial' too - /beriəl/.

'Blessed', when used as an adjective is mispronounced as /blessd/ in India whereas the English say /blesid/! However, as a verb (in past tense), it must be pronounced as /blest/, not /blesd/.

Likewise, many Indian speakers of English have two different pronunciations for the words 'blue' and 'blew'; in this country, it is /blyoo/ for 'blue' and /bloo/ for 'blew'. The standard English has, but, the same pronunciation for both the words i.e. 'bloo'. The same pattern must be followed in the case of 'flew' and 'flu' as well!

Another widespread misuse is in the pronunciation of the word 'chassis' which means the frame that a vehicle is built on. While the internationally accepted pronunciation of the word is /shaesi/, many Indians speak it as /chesis/!

Regards & Happy Learning!
Jacob (Nova English Campus)

CAN or MAY? Which is correct?

There are a number of simple but confusing aspects of grammar that many speakers of English are worried about. Unprofessional advice from teachers and peers with little or outdated knowledge in English further worsens the situation.


Let's take an example of such two controversial grammatical terms: CAN and MAY. Most of the speakers of English are, of course, familiar with the meanings and basic usage of these two words.


But the confusing question is, are CAN and MAY interchangeable when it comes to asking or granting permission?


The answer is 'YES'!
Many people think that CAN is used only to show 'ability/capability', and they argue that it is wrong to replace MAY with CAN in a request like,
'May I ask you a few personal questions?'.


In fact the majority of modern grammarians and successful writers are nowadays use both CAN and MAY to ask or grant permission though a damned few still oppose it! So, you may use either "May I ask you a few personal questions?" or "Can I ask you a few personal questions?" as both have exactly the same meaning and are acceptable in modern English.


The only difference between them in this context (permission/request) is that MAY is a little more polite than CAN. Therefore, try to use CAN in informal situations (at home, with friends etc.) and MAY in formal ones (in an interview, an official discussion etc.)